Getting first green tendencies on YouTube

This week, I noticed the first meaningful improvements on my YouTube channel. This article is a way to celebrate it, but more than that it is meant to encourage those, who are procrastinating.

First step

I published my first video, which has been working as a channel promo since 31st of December 2022. I got a clear idea for the opener and first definition of what I wish to share on the channel.

At the same time I recorded the video, that still reminds me I must move on. Ignore the discomfort, stop the inner dialogue. Have an idea? Execute it! Is it good enough? Hit that publish button. The video, in short, is about ignoring perfectionism and letting time validate my actions, whether they are perfect or not. Lack of action always leads to an imperfect future.

Future is the only perspective that allows us to see greatness.

Time allows us to gain perspective and judge how good the action was. Some points are minutes or hours away, while others are decades away. It requires modesty to not hurry with it.

This video was published on 10th of January 2023 and took me around a month to edit and hit that publish button. I was scared and unsure if it was good enough (actually I knew it was quite bad). I did not like much about it, but I knew I couldn’t fix it. Not back then. But the topic I chose made me publish it without waiting for perfection.

Now while writing this I realized this is a great example of self-running systems. Doing and sharing what matters to me cannot go wrong. There is always a reason to do it. Now I am getting used to a new idea. My will to do something is enough to do it. Sing a song, record a video, make a joke. Life becomes better.

Now with this approach, when I’ve watched my video dozens of times while editing I could not ignore the words I am saying myself. Why would I skip publishing a below-average video when I’m saying it’s fine to learn by doing?

This motivated me to take the first steps. But then I paused for another year. It was a year of deep work and I did not feel urge to record any video. Until I almost accidentally started this blog in December 2023.

Getting over first 10 shitty videos

A year later, in spring 2024 I thought I had time again to get back to the YouTube project. The problem was typical: I thought I had nothing to speak about. After reconsidering a couple of options, I thought it would be a great idea to build something and share the journey.

I started developing a Telegram bot and sharing the progress, trying to pass on the knowledge I had. I experimented coding, I experimented recording. I experimented a lot. The result was never great.

My outside the office channel did not raise any interest and my videos did not get attention. I knew these were not good enough, yet I was recording them, because I have been following my decisions. I was hitting that publish button.

When I reached MVP that worked for me I disconnected from my channel for 3 months to enjoy the summer. I can’t say I was destroyed by the lack of progress. I’d rather say I wanted to believe in miracle, that there are lots of people willing to reach me out. I avoided the punch into my face by aiming for a better results and being ready for the situation when things goes wrong.

The current state

For the first time on my channel I see green statistics. This is far from the big success, but the statistics shows that people are interested in my latest video. It was not about programming, but my channel is not strictly techie. I went for a distant ride, my bicycle broke and I made a video that receives some attention.

I took an action camera and a mic, which allowed me to record a relatively good sound. I took an SSD so I could use 5x lens on my iPhone to record higher quality footage of details. I barely used 50% of raw recordings where I’m talking. And I made a first attempt to do a sound design with effects.

Aha, almost missed that. While recording I was finally not thinking how bad it may be. I thought about doing the best I can right now in the current context. I didn’t have an operator or a friend who could take a footage on the go for me. I had to pedal myself despite challenging relief. Naturally, I was getting tired. My thoughts were not in perfect order and I was recording lots of useless talking. But I was myself that day, I had no resources overthinking things.

In a calm and focused atmosphere at my workplace, I steadily worked on the final results. I am happy my channel finally has its first decent video. The video I feel good to share. The video I’d like to refer to. It feels good to see the progress.

Vlogging highlights areas for self-improvement

Making videos for my youtube I learned a lot about myself. How I look, how I am perceived, how I talk? Have you had that feeling, being unsure about how well is your breath and is it your voice you’re hearing? While it is a different challenge to not get into a loop of overthinking, I started to pay a lot of attention to the way I speak.

My biggest pain point right now are long, sometimes endless, sentences. With short sentences it is much easier to cut parts out and match the cuts. And yes, it is much easier to prepare written texts. But I was always good at speaking from my heart, on the go and I want to develop the skill.

Writing is an essential skill, which is why I’m typing this right now :). The context I’ve been working for a long time as a programmer made me to rewire my brain and I am processing too much and I get tired of endless decisions I shall make on the go. Writing helps to focus, that’s for sure. If you’re running Youtube, consider starting a newsletter or a text-based blog. These activities are complementary and have potential to become a self-running system.