My videos suck, and I’m fine with that. Right now, it is more than 6 months since I started recording videos. I first wanted to create a daily short-vlog series where I would talk about how I’m dealing with my social anxiety by challenging myself to talk to a girl every day but guess what? My social anxiety won. So I stopped.
Then I had another idea. At that time I was pretty much addicted to the self-improvement content so I said to myself:
“Well, why shouldn’t I try to do videos like these?”
So I’ve come up with the idea of a Complete guide to self-improvement. The pre-planned series of the perfect self-improvement journey. I came pretty far, but did I finish it? No. An imposter syndrome and some technical limitations came my way and I gave up, again.
Or maybe, gave up is not the best word here. I’ve come up with yet another iteration. I’ve come up with the third and probably the best video-making idea of them all. I’m just being me. I talk about the stuff I’ve learned on my own journey. I no longer act like I’m someone else. I no longer pretend I know all the answers in the world. Because I don’t.
But guess what? These videos suck! I know it. And I’m actually fine with that. Let me explain why.
Video creation is a skill like any other
There’s no reason to think about it any differently than about things like programming, making music, or even proper exercising. And yet, for some reason, I always thought about making videos as something else. I imagined that my videos should have some certain quality like other videos I watch on YouTube from the beginning. And I was unable to realize that before the videos I was watching came tons of videos like mine. And how did they go from recording low-quality to high-quality videos? Through the pure act of recording. Of course. There is no better way to learn the skill than by doing it.
However, what I found out is that video creation is a much more complex skill than any I’ve ever learned. It’s not just about standing in front of the camera and talking a bunch of shit. No. There’s stuff you need to do before you start recording like coming up with an idea of a topic and ideally making a little script, then in my case, I need to find a place and time when I can film. When recording it’s also not just talking. You need to learn how to position your camera. How to use a mic. And how to actually speak. How to speak so people understand you. This is especially a challenge for me as I’m not a native English speaker. Once you finish the recording then the real work actually starts. If you know at least a little about video making then the obvious one is video editing. But that’s still not all. If I want to reach at least someone with videos like these I also need to work a lot on my title, thumbnail, and description. And once all of this is finished, it is also good to promote the video on your other media.
And these things are just the things I currently know about and do. I’m sure that the longer I will do the videos the more things I will need to do. So to be precise video making is not just a skill. It’s a set of skills. This means that it takes a lot of time to make some progress. This fact keeps me motivated. Because even though my videos still suck even after 6 months of making them, I still see huge progress when it comes to overall quality. Especially in the way I speak. That’s why I’m doing my best to keep doing those videos even though I currently don’t get anything in return.
I could find a second job and make more money but instead, I chose this. Why? I wanted to make some kind of YouTube channel since I can remember. When I was a little kid I was even recording some gameplays from games I played. But once I became more self-aware. Once the first signs of my anxiety appeared. I stopped. Because I saw how bad those videos were. I thought I was embarrassing myself with those videos. So I gave up on recording videos. But I wasn’t able to give up on my dream of creating content. Yet, every time I’ve had an idea, I also came out with some excuse for why it wouldn’t work. I don’t have a good camera, I have a slow pc for editing, I have no mic, I have no place to record, and so on and so on. But six months ago I said enough is enough. I no longer give a fuck about all the things I lack. And I started working with what I had.
It’s not perfect. And it will never will. It’s not even good. But I’m sure that with hard and consistent work I’m able to get to the quality I want.
That was my short story. Now. What about you? Have you started that youtube channel already? Did you start writing that book? Did you start with that sport? Or any other dream?
What is that one thing you’ve always wanted to do but you’ve just always found some excuse why you shouldn’t start? Let me tell you this. Fuck excuses. Just start. Take action. Take the first step. You don’t know how to start? Still not a good enough excuse, your first step will be to learn how to start. The only way you can turn your dreams into reality and even make sure they are really what you want from life is by executing them. Executing on them often, consistently, and as hard as you can.
Peace