- I can explain.

All right, guys, I'm not gonna beat around the bush.

Obviously, there has been a pretty big change in my life.

Let's just get it out there in the open.

I got a new T-shirt.

I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.

(calm music)

You know it's getting real intimate

when I sit down on the floor for one of these videos.

Where to start,

I could start with combing my mustache

that's much better.

So yes, it's true, I have thought about quitting YouTube

and just taking a step away completely

from everything I'm doing here,

throwing in the towel.

I've been joking with Natalie that I'm just gonna retire

and be a stay at home house husband,

I think deep down, I knew that it was just a joke

and that I would eventually get back to it,

but I definitely faced a moment of crisis where,

I was really questioning my path

and whether I was doing the right thing

for the right reason.

This video it's gonna be personal,

it's gonna be about my story

and about what I'm working through

but I think that there are a lot of lessons for you,

if you feel like you're in a wreck right now,

if you feel like your long-term goals aren't aligned

with your daily actions.

I think that there are a lot of things that I learned

over the past couple of months

that I think you might be able to apply to your own life.

And so why did I want to quit?

That's a good question.

You know, I think for me, it came down to one question

and it's a question that

you need to constantly ask yourself,

am I doing this because I want to

or because I feel like I have to,

especially if you're looking for a career that is fulfilling

and that brings you joy and excitement,

you need to ask that question over and over again.

Am I doing this because I want to or I feel like I have to?

And I know that that's a privilege question

to be able to ask,

but if you want fulfilling work,

if you wanna spend your days,

your eight hours a day, 40 hours a week

doing something that you love,

you have to ask that question

because the answer is going to change.

For me, at some point I started to go from,

I get to make videos to, I have to make videos.

There was a 2018, 2019, where my channel was growing,

I was making new videos.

It was so exciting and fulfilling and challenging

and challenging in a really good way,

in a way that got me to, I think, push myself as a creator,

but then coincidentally or not,

definitely not coincidentally,

in 2020 last year, I really faced a slump creatively

where more and more it felt like I had to do it.

You know, I think that this is a common struggle

that all creators deal with.

It's, how do you stay relevant?

How do you continue to make interesting videos?

And then you get on this treadmill

and it feels like you can't get off.

And most people get off because they burn out

and they fall off the treadmill.

And so for me, it was more of just that constant knowing

the pressure

and really trying to find the excitement again.

And I did,

I did manage to work myself out of the rut

to the point where genuinely right now,

I can say that I am excited.

I'm excited about the work that I'm getting into.

I'm excited about the future and the projects

that I have planned

but it wasn't a straight line to get to this point.

And I'm sure there's gonna be many ups and downs,

I think that's the nature of doing creative work.

That's the nature of life.

There's always gonna be problems you need to overcome.

But I did find that there were three main things

that really helped me to get to this place

where I am right now,

where I am excited about my work.

And so I wanted to share those things with you because,

if you find yourself in the same place,

I think they might help.

So the first thing that I did was,

I started to take a step away from my work.

I think my highest rate of consistency,

I would make a video every single week.

And so at the beginning of this year,

I slowed down to every other week.

Now, if you happen to be your own boss

or you have the ability to work on your flexibility

with your schedule

or work in more time off,

or actually take your vacation time for once,

I think giving yourself a little bit of time here and there,

and especially extending those deadlines

where you feel that that pressure is unrealistic,

I think that is really gonna help to recharge

your batteries.

There's something scary about taking a step away

because we feel like we're gonna lose all the momentum

that we've built,

whether we've been in a career for two years,

five years or 10,

we feel like if we take a step away,

if we take a couple of weeks off or a month off,

take a little sabbatical between jobs

that we're gonna lose all that momentum

that the opportunities are gonna disappear.

There's a real fear of missing out in a sense

that we're gonna lose the progress that we've created.

But in my experience, even though I did take that time away

and I did slow down dramatically on the amount of content

I make for this channel,

I didn't see that I lost out on any momentum,

I can pick right back up where I left off.

And I come back after this break,

after slowing down, feeling so much more excited

about the work that I'm creating.

So create space and distance from the things that you love,

or the things that you once loved to find that spark again.

(slow upbeat music)

So when you're so entrenched in the day-to-day work,

the tasks, the to-do lists, the emails,

all the stuff that you have to do every single day,

when you get so swept up in your own deadlines

and your own work,

you're not finding room to get inspired by others.

And if you are feeling uninspired and unmotivated,

one of the best things that you can do

is consume art media and culture

that really gets you to think about life in a different way.

So for me, at the beginning of this year,

I started to re-pick up my habit of reading.

And this was a habit that I decided to build

at the start of the year,

it was my new year's resolution to read more.

And I certainly have read more.

I haven't quite been keeping up with my exact commitment

to read two books a month,

but I've been reading enough to feel inspired

and to get new ideas about business and entrepreneurship.

And I've been reading novels that have helped me to escape

from my own work and give me a little bit of space

and to be inspired by different stories

that I hadn't yet heard of.

One movie that I recently watched

that really inspired the hell out of me is,

Bo Burnham's, "Inside",

I'm sure you've heard of it.

So many creators have been talking about it.

So many YouTubers told me to go watch it,

that eventually I had to be like, all right,

I'll check it out.

I've been a big fan of Bo Burnham since his early days

on YouTube,

in fact, Bo Burnham is what inspired me to get into YouTube

in 2006 and make a parody rap video

that eventually got me sued for $7 million.

It's a long story.

I'm not gonna go into it here.

Eventually I'm gonna dive into that story.

I don't blame Bo for that,

but he's a brilliant creative

and what he did with that movie,

basically creating an entire film

over the course of the year in one room,

I could relate so much to that

because since the beginning of 2020,

I've been making videos mostly in my room,

not getting out of the house for so long.

To see what he was able to create,

the depth of creativity and humor

and emotion he was able to put into this film

was really remarkable.

And it inspired me.

I got halfway into that film even like within the first song

of that movie,

I was like, oh shit, like this is inspiring me.

Like, I'm like, I thought that I had tapped out

my creativity when I hadn't even begun.

And so if you're feeling uninspired,

go get inspired.

There's an unlimited number of books and articles and blogs

and podcasts and movies

that can help uplift you, inspire you

on the path that you're currently on.

So I don't know about you

but I have found that every two or three years,

I need a new challenge.

I need to really shake up my career

and the path that I'm on.

When I first got started out,

being a freelance filmmaker full-time was a huge deal.

And I was able to accomplish that by doing weddings.

And then after a couple of years of doing weddings,

I was like, ah, I don't think I wanna do weddings anymore,

I wanna do something different.

So then I started working with startup and tech companies.

I got good at that.

And so I was like, okay, I need a new challenge.

And so then I decided to make my first feature film.

I was able to prove that I could do that.

And so that's when I said, okay, I'm gonna start

a YouTube channel.

And so every two or three years,

I've had these turning points where I really transition

and push myself and challenge myself

in a new and unique way.

And I think so many of us see that in our own careers

where we work a job for a couple of years,

and then the challenge becomes dull

and we get so good at it,

so then we have to find a new path,

a new company to work for or a new business to start.

And so I think that you can't get too comfortable.

Eleanor Roosevelt has a quote

something along the lines of,

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

I think that's insane.

Eleanor Roosevelt, you're out of your goddamn mind.

That's too much scariness.

I'm not gonna do a scary thing every day

but I'm not Yes Theory.

They're amazing.

But I just can't do that much discomfort in my life.

But for me personally, it's,

I look at these big, scary, terrifying things

that we can do every couple of years

that can really shape the direction of our future.

And we can't be afraid to step out of our comfort zone

to do those things.

For me, what I've realized is, you know,

I've been doing this since 2017 or 18, three or four years,

and I'm probably past the point where,

I haven't challenged myself in the right way.

And so after really giving it some thought