My love life.

Have you felt stuck in life?

And what do you do to overcome that feeling?

Do you ever compare yourself to others on social media?

How many kids would you like to have?

When will you get married?

Do you suffer from imposter syndrome and how do you deal with it?

Hello, this is Taylor.

If you're new here, I'm a management consultant and a YouTuber, blah, blah, blah.

I'm from Los Angeles, California, but now I live in New York City.

OK, first question.

This is a warm up question.

Where did you go to college and do you miss it?

I went here for college.

And yes, I miss aspects of college.

I miss being geographically close to so many of my friends and having a built in context to see them every day, aka in the classroom, around campus, at parties, etc.

But it's not like I want to be back there.

Making my own life where I am now is awesome.

Financial independence is awesome.

So, of course, while I miss aspects of college, it is a different phase of my life that I look back on very fondly.

But I am now happily in a new phase.

OK, no more warm up questions.

How much money do you make?

To be completely honest, a lot more as of late on account of YouTube growth and some really great sponsorships, which has been a dream come true.

Not necessarily the money being the dream come true, but just seeing growth after literally thousands of hours of editing and learning how to create an engaging video in general over the last two years has been way more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.

And the income that I make from this is just a bonus on top of my full time consulting income.

So I am very, very grateful.

I've been tinkering with the thought of making a how much I make video where I actually go through the different income streams and amounts for each one.

I like those videos.

I know they can rub some people the wrong way, but also who cares?

I don't know. Let me know in the comments if you'd want to see that.

Another random filming location.

Since you've got Antarctica kicked off, amazing.

Have you been to all seven continents?

Thank you.

And no, actually, I have not been to Africa.

Cape Town is a pretty high on my bucket list.

So once I go there, that will be my seventh continent.

Do you get nightmares?

Funny you should ask.

I had a grueling nightmare last night.

I woke up in cold sweats and jumped up in bed only to realize that my nightmare was actually a reality.

And that reality is that 72.2% of you guys are not subscribed.

OK, worst joke ever. I know.

But in my defense, most YouTubers who make that joke are like 10% of you guys are not subscribed.

And for me, it's 72.2%. OK, I'm begging you for your pity.

No, I'm not. But I am begging you to subscribe.

Hit the like button while you're at it, too. I'd appreciate it.

What's the first country that comes to mind when you think of working abroad?

I'll give you a hint.

This is the fierce snake.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Come here, mate.

The most venomous snake in the world.

Tips for actually doing content creation.

But keeping it professional.

Still, no TikTok dancing.

I can talk a lot about YouTube tips in general.

That's the problem with these Q and A's is they give me so many different spinoff video ideas.

And I'm just like, I'll save that for another video.

But then I never actually do the other video.

Anyway, back to your question.

Ideally, you find the overlap between the videos that people want to see and the videos that you like to make.

That's my Venn diagram.

Here's an example.

You might want to make a My California Road Trip video.

But if you're first starting out, very few people will be compelled to actually click on that video because they have not established a connection with your personality or your filming style yet.

Versus if you make that video, but frame it in a slightly different way where you can title it the 10 best things to do on a California road trip.

Then it's actually a searchable video and clearly promises to deliver some value to the viewer.

That advice is more so for people who are just starting out.

If you have a following and a lot of people who just watch you for your personality or for your editing style or what have you, then you can make that My California Road Trip video and people will still watch it, which is very liberating as a creator.

Nonetheless, whether you're a beginner or you have a following,

I still think it's important to try to deliver some value a decent amount of the time.

I try to find a balance of entertainment and delivering some value in most of my videos, like my New York City apartment tour, for example, that is pure, mindless entertainment that caters to a wide audience.

So I tried to make it lighthearted and funny.

But I also took a minute to discuss the legality of flex walls in New York City and talk about how much it would cost to actually install one depending on what type of flex wall it is.

I'm not saying I'm a Wharton professor out here teaching some serious concepts, but I know that I at least appreciate when I walk away from a video feeling like I learned something new.

So I do try to incorporate that in most of my videos.

Also, these tips are based on the assumption that you want to grow on YouTube.

If you just like making videos and you want to make that My California Road Trip just for fun and you don't care about a lot of people seeing it, then obviously there's nothing wrong with that.

The tips I'm giving are more so for channel growth.

Ever been to Croatia?

Yes, I have. And it is gorgeous.

I'm also about 25% ethnically Croatian from my dad's side.

Fun fact. I need some water.

Water!

Are you happy in general with where you are personally and or professionally?

In general? Absolutely.

I actually have some very exciting life updates I'll be sharing soon related to my personal and professional satisfaction.

But high level? Yes.

Moving to New York City, for example, which is the biggest life change I've ever made besides going to college on the East Coast, I guess.

It's made me a lot more independent because even though I have a lot of friends here, my four closest loved ones, six if you count these rascals, do not live here.

And this is the first time I've been away from all four of them at the same time.

I don't know why that sounds so mysterious.

But anyway, even though I generally am very happy with where I am personally and professionally,

I still always feel like there is something that I can improve on.

And this seamless transition brings me to today's sponsor, BetterHelp.

Let's talk about mental health and therapy for a sec.

One of the ways that I really came around to thinking about therapy is through analogies.

We get our cars serviced to prevent bigger problems down the road.

We work out and see doctors to prevent illness and injury in our bodies.

We go to the dentist to prevent cavities.

And therapy is the same thing.

It is routine maintenance for your mental and emotional health.

It does not mean that anything is wrong with you.

It means that you are investing in yourself to keep your mind healthy.

BetterHelp is customized online therapy that offers video, phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist.

So you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want to.

You just fill out a questionnaire to help assess your specific needs and then you get matched with a therapist in under 48 hours.

Then you schedule secure video and phone sessions.

Plus, you can exchange unlimited messages and everything you share is completely confidential.

Something I discussed in my latest BetterHelp session with my therapist, Gretchen, was to take a moment to appreciate the everyday small things in life that can go unnoticed when I am laser focused on work for days at a time.

You can also request a new therapist at no additional charge anytime.

So many people use BetterHelp that they are currently recruiting additional therapists in all 50 states.

So join the over two million people who have taken charge of their mental health through BetterHelp.

Get 10% off of your first month at betterhelp.com slash Taylor Bell.

And thank you, BetterHelp, for sponsoring this video.

OK, I got quite a few on whether or not I suffer from imposter syndrome and if so, how I deal with it.

Sometimes, yes, but a lot less than I used to.

I think I felt imposter syndrome the most in school, not in high school, but in college.

Going to an Ivy League university,

I was surrounded by very smart, high functioning people 24-7.

And while I have strengths of my own and I was there for a reason, it would be very easy, for instance, to notice in class if the person sitting next to me understood a concept faster than I did or if a friend of mine seemingly had to study less than I did to do well.

So stuff like that.

It was never debilitating, but when you're surrounded by just brilliant people all the time, it can be easy to feel kind of stupid.

Yet I wouldn't have it any other way.

I really like to be surrounded by people who bring me up.

And so the trade off is worth it, in my opinion.

But I mentioned that I don't feel that as often anymore.

Realistically, a lot of that is probably because I'm no longer in a context where that comparison to the person next to me is so visible, like in a college classroom.

And then with consulting,

I'm not usually working alongside someone at my level that I can easily compare myself to.

You know, I'm usually working directly with a manager.

And finally, something else I would say, one good thing that comes with age is that you generally become more confident in who you are, at least I certainly have.

So that makes a big difference as well, in terms of not feeling imposter syndrome as much.

Ideal place to settle down? California.

I am not married to L.A., but somewhere on the California coastline between San Diego and San Francisco would be lovely.

And for retirement, way down the line,

I hope to have property in a number of spots and just kind of hop around between them.

But for home base, Carmel, California.

I could retire there.

Have you felt stuck in life?

And if so, how do you overcome that?

One hundred percent.

And I go through this pretty frequently, where even though I am generally very happy with where I am in my career and personally, like I said,

I still go through these moments where I ask myself, like, what am I even doing?

Like right now, even what am I doing?

It's an uncomfortable feeling that I think everyone in their 20s faces where you just feel kind of directionless.

I haven't found one surefire thing that just fixes this problem for me.

But one thing I like to do is set aside a day, usually a Sunday and usually by myself, where I pack up my backpack with whatever book I'm reading, my headphones and my laptop.

I go to a coffee shop that I know I like.

I get a coffee and a baked good.

I sit down.

I open my laptop to try to get some creative juices flowing, whether that's starting a script to a new video or at least writing down some ideas.

If the creative juices just aren't flowing, I don't get mad at myself because there's no use in trying to force it.

And so then I'll just read my book.

And if the weather is nice, I will do this 100 percent of the time outside, either along the Hudson River or somewhere like right here on the grass.

My point here is I like to take a reset day for myself, doing things that I know make me feel happy and make me feel relaxed.

And that usually puts my mind at peace.

If you feel stuck to the point where you think you need a serious career shift, that's a little bit different and a different discussion.

I'm more so talking about that sort of uncomfortable, anxious, directionless feeling that can pop up fairly often, especially for people in their 20s.

How much money do you think is enough to be financially independent?

Question mark. Top zero point one percent.

For context, I think that the top zero point one percent annual income in the US is like two to four million dollars or something like that.

So no, totally depends where you live.

If you are somewhere like this, where the cost of living is very high, if you support a family.

But to give you something that might be helpful, you can take the 50 30 20 budgeting rule of thumb, which says you can put 50 percent of your after tax dollars towards needs, 30 percent towards wants, and then put 20 percent towards savings slash investments.

I personally think that the 30 percent towards once is a little too high, but it will, of course, differ depending on your situation.

And that's just sort of a budgeting rule of thumb that you can use to evaluate your financial independence and what that might look like for you, depending on your income and circumstances.

Do you ever compare yourself to others on social media?

Not a ton, to be honest, but I think it's inevitable, too.

At least a little bit subconsciously.

I probably do it with people that I went to college more so than influencers.

But one good thing about social media is that you can also curate it.

So you see what you want to see.

If there's one person whose photos always seem to make you feel like you're not doing enough with your life or you're not traveling enough or whatever it might be, just unfollow them.

Seriously.

And if it's a friend who you don't want to unfollow, you can just mute their posts.

And on the flip side of that, you can follow people who, you know, make you feel inspired or motivated.

I like to follow YouTubers whose content or editing style I admire.