I started a YouTube channel | NC1T Challenge 01
I was scared.
Scared to put my face online.
Scared of what people would say.
Scared of being judged.
Life is too short to live a scared life.
I know what I want to do.
I want to help people. Plain and simple.
I want to have a positive impact on the world and have a great time while doing it.
To help people at scale in today’s world is easier than ever.
Anyone can post something online for everyone in the world to see.
A single person can affect millions with the press of a button.
I’ve been writing articles and publishing my newsletter here for 3 months.
All written.
I was afraid to start making videos, even though I knew how powerful video was.
Let’s face it, not everyone is a reader. But videos? How many videos have you watched just today so far?
I noticed that a lot of writers I follow are starting to add in video to go alongside their writing.
Why?
Connection.
Reading someone’s words on paper is one thing.
But seeing someone’s face and listening to them talk about their ideas is a whole different ballgame.
I knew I would start a YouTube channel and start making videos at some point, but I’ve been putting it off.
I know I can get good at it.
The only way to do that is to start.
So 2 days ago, I recorded my first walking and talking video to Instagram. Here it is chopped up into 3 IG Reels:
It took a few takes to get in the zone. But at a certain point, you just have to say “f*ck it.” And let it rip.
After I posted these videos, the fear of talking to the camera was gone.
And guess what?
The flood gates are open now.
The next morning, I went and posted this video. A little morning walk & talk.
In public, talking to the camera because who gives a f*ck.
It’s safe to say, I have the bug now. I have that itch. I can’t stop.
It just so happens that I saw @zachpogrob talking about a challenge he’s starting on Monday called NC1T - No Cuts, One Take.
Here are the rules:
The timing couldn't be better. Well maybe a little bit.
I couldn't wait until Monday...
So, I went ahead and started the challenge last night.
I recorded my first YouTube video as my Day 01 of the 30 day challenge.
Here it is:
If you enjoyed that, you got 29 more of these raw unedited videos coming your way.
Stay tuned.
Make sure you subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss any updates.
And might I just say, this is only the beginning…
I have plenty of ideas for future videos and other series. It’s only a matter of time.
Look out 👀
In this first video, I talk about why I’m doing this whole thing.
Talking to the camera is a skill.
Just like any skill, it feels weird to do it if you haven’t done it before.
Expect to suck
If there's anything that I've learned so far about learning itself, it’s that you have to get through the initial hours of failure to then learn the skill. With each rep you improve. It’s something I’ve talked about here (Learn or Die: 8 Tips to Learn Anything Fast)
The reality is, you're going to suck at first and that’s totally fine.
It’s a prerequisite for learning the skill at all.
Right now, I'm not the best at talking to the camera, I'm just starting out. This is literally my first video. No editing, just letting it rip.
And I'm going to do this every day for the next 30 days, each day getting a little bit better.
NC1T - just grab the camera, talk to it, and figure it out along the way
Don’t overthink it. Pick a topic and let it flow.
As mentioned, I've had a few months now of writing articles online and I kind of always knew in the back of my mind that I was going to wind up making videos.
I’m planning on learning how to film and edit really well in order to make more cinematic style videos.
And this is a great way to launch into that. Because even in those types of videos, I’ll need to be able to speak to the camera like I am here.
Expecting to suck is something I wish I would have learned earlier in life at at the level of depth that I understand it now. It’s all reps.
Let's say, you’re like me and you play soccer, and you’re trying to learn how to juggle a soccer ball.
When you first start out, you suck at it. I mean, straight up, you're not going to be good. Accept that.
Say you're right-footed and you start juggling with your right foot. Eventually, you can string together a couple juggles with your right, but your left foot is completely useless. It’s just there to stand on.
But eventually, you start mixing in your left foot, then you can go back and forth. Left. Right Left. Right. Left. Right.
You get better and better, and then eventually, you can do some freestyle tricks like catch the ball on the back of your neck.
For me, when I think about how to learn a new skill, that’s what I think of.
So that's kind of what I'm thinking about now talking to the camera.
I'm just scratching the surface right now. I'm just starting to juggle the ball.
I'll make improvements with each video.
Just Start
Whatever it is you want to learn, the most important thing is starting.
The only way to learn how to do it is to do it. There's no getting around that.
I've been putting this off for a while, probably for years really. I probably always have known that I wanted to do the whole YouTube and content thing but, I don't know…I guess I was just scared of the judgment of other people.
It’s something I talked about in in the “Commit” videos you watched above.
There's no reason to be scared.
Literally no one cares.
If someone talks sh*t then it's on them, it's not about you.
Anyway, at the beginning of this year, I started my newsletter and began writing online.
I was influenced heavily by Dan Koe, as many others were/are.
A lot of people I see on X/Twitter talking about him.
And that's kind of why I started my newsletter and writing online in general.
Because I'm in this job right now. I have a 9-to-5 job. I'm in the tech industry, a customer support manager.
And it's a job probably not unlike many other people's jobs where you kind of fall into it.
You know, you graduate college, you get your first job, and then you realize it's not exactly what you want to do. Maybe it was at one point but you find yourself at this company working this job and, yeah sure, you get paid and maybe you like the people you work with. Maybe you don't.
I happen to like the people that I work with so I'm lucky in that regard. And it's a good company.
But it's just not it for me. I know it's not.
I just can't see myself working for a company where I'm building someone else's dream instead of my own. That ain't it.
But anyway, I've been a big YouTube watcher for a while and I have this theory.
The Game is Changing
My theory is that the game is changing.
More people like me are seeing people like Zach or like Dan and there are plenty of other people doing this now, too, and who are all taking online about whatever skills they’ve collected from growing up, or from college, or from their jobs, and they're realizing that they can make money online talking about whatever it is they're actually interested in. And they’re building an audience and a whole platform off of that.
Maybe I'm late to the game but hey, I'm here. And I think I have a perspective that is probably unique in a way but also common in the fact that people will be able to relate to me. Because I think there are a lot of people that don't like their jobs and now with the internet, and YouTube, and Twitter, and writing online we have an opportunity now to do stuff that our ancestors never had the chance to.
It's crazy to me honestly.
It's easier now than ever to get paid to do what you love. And I'll stand by that.
Like this is what I'm doing now and obviously I'm not getting paid for anything yet. This is merely for the love of the game. But this is it. You just gotta to do it to get better at it.
Talk about the stuff you're interested in.
Talk about your life.
Whatever you're learning. Whatever, man. It doesn't matter what it is.
There will be people who will f*ck with you and who will listen to what you're saying and who vibe with you.
Unless you're being an asshole. But if you’re here, I don't think you are, hopefully not.
The Next 29 Days
So that’s it.
I'll be doing 30 days of these videos.
I’m not sure if I’ll join the cohort with Zach or not, it’s about accountability, and I already committed to doing these. If I were to join, it would be more to network than anything else. Who knows, maybe I’ll join over the weekend.
I didn’t want to wait until Monday to start thought because I didn’t want the energy I have right now now to subside.
Here's the thing, I got this microphone about a month ago. And right when I got it, I had. friends visiting in town visiting me so I didn't get to really learn how to use it or anything and it just sat here on my desk since then. Same deal with the tripod I used.
But finally I’m using them. I don't think you need all this stuff to start, you could just pick up the camera and let it rip like I did in the Commit videos.
Literally just walking around my apartment talking to my phone like an idiot.
It's just a skill. If you're not used to doing it, how are you going to be good at it?
You have to get through the bad reps to get to the good reps.
I’ll probably watch these back and see what I can do differently. I already know probably looking at the camera is something I need to work on.
But one positive that I already noticed, is that just from doing the “Commit” videos and the “Morning Walk and Talk” video, I feel way more articulate in my meetings for my day job. I know it’s only been one day, but I feel like it’s just flowing out of me, even in meetings. Just calm. I don't know how else to describe it, but it’s a good feeling.
Recording while looking at the back camera is much harder than the front camera because you FaceTime with people and you kind of know how to do that already. But doing this where you can't see yourself, that's going to take some getting used to.
I jotted down some notes down before recording because I realized that one of the reasons why I took a couple of takes for the “Commit” videos is that I feel like when when you talk like this candidly, just on the spot, off top, you have things that you want to say and you can get going and going and you start kind of ranting, just riffing off and then for the major points that you wanted to say, you just completely forget that they exist.
You could probably see in the video from last night how I kind of pause in certain areas. If you pause it'll come to you.
I’m not a master at this yet.
So for now, I'm going to write things down, just little bullets. No sort of script or anything. It’s just so I remember what I'm actually talking about. I want to get away from doing that. I think part of learning this skill is to be able to just talk off top. No script. No outline even. Literally just let it rip.
I’ll get there. I think for this first one though it’s fine that I used my little crutch of an outline, but I really didn’t even look at it until the end after I hit all my points anyway.
So that’s a win. Already getting those reps.
Anyway, that is all for today.
I'll be back tomorrow so peace for now ✌️
