Youtube gurus would have you believe that that there is a magic algorithm for success, that they’ve cracked the code, and if you watch their video, they will reveal those hidden secrets to you and you will be on your way to a million subscribers and massive success.
And so you go about chasing the algorithm, fumbling through thumbnail designs, and catchy titles and agonizing over what content to create to the point where you forget the reason you started your channel to begin with. You may have some success, or you may not. Maybe it takes much longer than the YouTube gurus imply it would take and every moment of the day you are checking your stats, and every video trying new things and now the thing you enjoyed doing just for fun has become a grind.
The challenge in striving for success is maintaining your grip on your why, your reason for starting in the first place. Maybe the secret to success isn’t the perfect thumbnail or the ideal title, maybe it is holding onto the purpose for doing it. Sure, refining the skills to perform the job more effectively must be something to aspire to do with each thing you create, but not at the expense of the reason you started the journey.
On a beautiful mountain hike, is it the destination the matters, or the journey? Is it possible to apply this same mentality to our creative efforts? To be present throughout the process remembering why we stepped foot on the trail to begin with.
Chasing YouTube success, or success in anything can be a grind. But if focus was on the process and the journey of creating, how could we look at what we’ve produced as unsuccessful? What is success after all? Is it only a million subscribers that validates our success, or is it that we succeeded by simply putting our own unique idea out into the world? Our audience will find us when we remain steadfast on our path, not for the destination, but for the journey. Don’t let your eyes look to far ahead. Stop to enjoy the place where you currently stand, and break from the grind of hurrying toward the destination.
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