How to be real & authentic for a self-development YT channel I want to create

[masterneme]

Hi,

With the popularization of AI tools I figured a way to make animated cartoons quickly.

I've been wanting for a long time to create a Youtube channel to talk about success, entrepeneurship and self-development for Spanish speaking people but it took too much time to make videos, so I gave up on the idea, but now things have changed.

The problem is that my life is a total mess and I feel like a total imposter doing anything about success when I'm nowhere near it.

And since my situation is not good I'm having some internal struggle really believing that my content would be helpful so I make a lot of excuses because of fear of being "exposed".

I know is silly and even more so since I'm not going to pretend that I'm something that I'm not.

So I'm thinking about ways to make this happen without triggering too much my imposter syndrome and without looking like a guru or like a whiney loser.

Right now, the idea I have is to create a character that looks like some kind of scholar. A very curious person that analyzes self-improvement methods or successfull people and their strategies.

But what about the people who want to interact with me? What if they ask me if what I show works for me? Should I just ignore them?

 

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[heavy_industry]

If you're doing this as a HOBBY, go for it.

But don't mindlessly regurgitate what you hear from other "self-improvement experts".

Instead, be honest and provide actual insight into your life's experience: the difficulties that you're encountering and the strategies you use to overcome them.

Nobody has figured out life in its entirety. We are all learning.

---

If, however, you're looking to start a "business"...

You better turn away quickly because you're about to enter one of the most sinister cesspools the internet has ever seen.

Not to mention an over-saturated market with very bad ROI on your time and 0 transferrable skills into other industries.

 

[masterneme]

If you're doing this as a HOBBY, go for it.

But don't mindlessly regurgitate what you hear from other "self-improvement experts".

Instead, be honest and provide actual insight into your life's experience: the difficulties that you're encountering and the strategies you use to overcome them.

Nobody has figured out life in its entirety. We are all learning.

---

If, however, you're looking to start a "business"...

You better turn away quickly because you're about to enter one of the most sinister cesspools the internet has ever seen.

Not to mention an over-saturated market with very bad ROI on your time and 0 transferrable skills into other industries.

I'm doing it mostly as a hobby but I'd would be lying if I said that I wouldn't like to make some money out of it.

I want to provide some insight but I don't want to talk too much about my life, I want to keep it private, this is what I want to figure out but I'm not sure how to act. Nowadays it looks like people and YT value a lot when the creator interacts in the comments but should I? I don't want to come across as a hypocrite talking about success while having none.

In Spanish there're not many people doing this, or at least that is my perception, people are more focused on politics and stupid controversies.

I'm not sure if I understand what do you mean by sinister cesspool, can you expand on that?

 

[StrikingViper69]

If your life is a mess, and you’re trying to advise people on self development, then you are being a fraud. It’s scummy and your conscience is telling you not to do it.

But it sounds like this AI tool you’ve learned is a skill.

Work on selling your skills as an AI animator. That’s something legit.

 

[Kevin88660]

I'm doing it mostly as a hobby but I'd would be lying if I said that I wouldn't like to make some money out of it.

I want to provide some insight but I don't want to talk too much about my life, I want to keep it private, this is what I want to figure out but I'm not sure how to act. Nowadays it looks like people and YT value a lot when the creator interacts in the comments but should I? I don't want to come across as a hypocrite talking about success while having none.

In Spanish there're not many people doing this, or at least that is my perception, people are more focused on politics and stupid controversies.

I'm not sure if I understand what do you mean by sinister cesspool, can you expand on that?

You don't have to be perfect to create content.

Share things you learned and your progress on YT could work.

Most finance topics YouTubers are not multi-millionaires.

 

[Stargazer]

If you want to have a YT channel, then you do need to engage with your audience otherwise there is no purpose to it.

There is an easy way for you to become authentic.

Simply start with your first video titled something like 'My life's a mess. Watch me turn it round' and juts open up about your life and where you are.

There wont' be a disconnect between the title and what you are saying then will there? People will root for you and follow along.

Then lay out a couple of areas that you wish to improve (makes it easier for an audience to follow) and start.

Dan

 

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[masterneme]

If your life is a mess, and you’re trying to advise people on self development, then you are being a fraud. It’s scummy and your conscience is telling you not to do it.

But it sounds like this AI tool you’ve learned is a skill.

Work on selling your skills as an AI animator. That’s something legit.

Yes that's correct I have an inner conflict but the term fraud is a little bit too strong to describe how I feel like because it's not like I'm going to sell get rich quick courses or start a success academy...

You have a good point though, maybe I can start with entertaining and/or inspiring cartoons and once I get some momentum and have more confidence on myself I can start introducing other topics.

I could use the scholar I mentioned as a recurring character and when the time comes use him to explain serious concepts.

Yeah, this could be the way, thanks.

 

[Andy Black]

It's not about you, it's about the people you can educate, entertain, and/or help.

Create the channel and post great tips and advice but in a more engaging or unique way than other channels. Be aware people could implement the advice you give so be careful or approach it from an angle where you're not telling people what to do.

There's a great cartoon history channel our 15 year old watches:

https://youtube.com/@OverSimplified

I watched a few of the videos with him and think they're amazing. I presume the facts in the videos are correct. I don't care if they're produced by a qualified historian (if that's a thing) or by some kid in his bedroom with a few history books on his shelf.

If people want to interact with your channel and videos then great. Except you don't have any videos up yet?

Bear this in mind:

"Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don't have."

I say go for it, and figure stuff out as you go.



Btw... I've wanted to script and record videos for various subjects for ages but don't want to do talking head or even have to be on camera. I've thought of animations and cartoons but haven't found out how yet (I've not been looking too hard mind). I'd love to know what tools can help do this nowadays.

 

[masterneme]

You don't have to be perfect to create content.

Share things you learned and your progress on YT could work.

Most finance topics YouTubers are not multi-millionaires.

If you want to have a YT channel, then you do need to engage with your audience otherwise there is no purpose to it.

There is an easy way for you to become authentic.

Simply start with your first video titled something like 'My life's a mess. Watch me turn it round' and juts open up about your life and where you are.

There wont' be a disconnect between the title and what you are saying then will there? People will root for you and follow along.

Then lay out a couple of areas that you wish to improve (makes it easier for an audience to follow) and start.

Dan

This is the other approach I was thinking about, to be 100% blunt from the beginning, if I do this my inner conflict would dissolve but I'm not sure about people rooting for me. I'm from Spain and schadenfreude is something that is deeply ingrained in our culture.

I'll think about this and see if I can find a way to combine both approaches.

 

[Andy Black]

Thread added here:

GOLD! - CHAT - YouTube Chat Thread & List of Progress Threads

Let's use this thread to chat about YouTube. If you've a progress thread then reply and I'll add it to the list in this opening post. I’ll keep this up to date. Please let me know if I’ve missed any. Progress threads in the forum: GOLD! - Creating a Thriving Personal Brand w/ YouTube - A...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Check out the first thread. James Jani started with one style of video and then pivoted.

You can do documentary style videos, curation/aggregation, breakdown, book reviews, analysis of other chanels, etc. There's all sorts of videos you can do where it's not about you.

Stop second guessing yourself and just start.

As James Schramko says, "You can't steer a parked car."

 

[Andy Black]

Btw... I don't think you need to engage with your audience. It might help with growth at the start, but I doubt bigger channels engage with every comment.

 

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[masterneme]

It's not about you, it's about the people you can educate, entertain, and/or help.

Create the channel and post great tips and advice but in a more engaging or unique way than other channels. Be aware people could implement the advice you give so be careful or approach it from an angle where you're not telling people what to do.

There's a great cartoon history channel our 15 year old watches:

https://youtube.com/@OverSimplified

I watche a few of the videos with him and think their amazing. I presume the facts in the videos are correct. I don't care if they're produced by a qualified historian (if that's a thing) or by some kid in his bedroom with a few history books on his shelf.

If people want to interact with your channel and videos then great. Except you don't have any videos up yet?

Bear this in mind:

"Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don't have."

I say go for it, and figure stuff out as you go.



Btw... I've wanted to script and record videos for various subjects for ages but don't want to do talking head or even have to be on camera. I've thought of animations and cartoons but haven't found out how yet (I've not been looking too hard mind). I'd love to know what tools can help do this nowadays.

Yeah I'm an overthinking mofo

I'm aware of it and it's a major reason why I opened this thread, writing/talking helps me make up my mind.

For the tools, leonardo.ai creates pictures and animations and with elevenlabs.io you can transform text to speech. In my case I just need some cool backgrounds and I will move characters and objects with some keyframes like they do on Game Theory.

But the main time-saver for me is TTS so I don't have to do any voice-over and edit it later.

I'll take a look at the list you posted, thanks.

Edit: I forgot to add CapCut, it has awesome filters and effects and "auto captions" is amazing.

 

[masterneme]

Thread added here:

GOLD! - CHAT - YouTube Chat Thread & List of Progress Threads

Let's use this thread to chat about YouTube. If you've a progress thread then reply and I'll add it to the list in this opening post. I’ll keep this up to date. Please let me know if I’ve missed any. Progress threads in the forum: GOLD! - Creating a Thriving Personal Brand w/ YouTube - A...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Check out the first thread. James Jani started with one style of video and then pivoted.

You can do documentary style videos, curation/aggregation, breakdown, book reviews, analysis of other chanels, etc. There's all sorts of videos you can do where it's not about you.

Stop second guessing yourself and just start.

As James Schramko says, "You can't steer a parked car."

LOL when I read James Jani I knew it sounded familiar, I have watched a couple of his videos

I'll read his thread.

 

[Andy Black]

Yeah I'm an overthinking mofo

I'm aware of it and it's a major reason why I opened this thread, writing/talking helps me make up my mind.

For the tools, leonardo.ai creates pictures and animations and with elevenlabs.io you can transform text to speech. In my case I just need some cool backgrounds and I will move characters and objects with some keyframes like they do on Game Theory.

But the main time-saver for me is TTS so I don't have to do any voice-over and edit it later.

I'll take a look at the list you posted, thanks.

Edit: I forgot to add CapCut, it has awesome filters and effects and "auto captions" is amazing.

My kids use Blender to animate stick figures (fighting each other of course).

 

[zeta_]

There wont' be a disconnect between the title and what you are saying then will there? People will root for you and follow along.

This is big. Storytelling has been and is one of the most useful tools you can use when creating content (YouTube videos on this case) in my honest opinion.

 

[Guest050x2]

I'd bet money you'd see more success with "My life is trash, but I can change it. Watch!" vs. "I'm a rich retard (when it's obvious you aren't)."

Btw, those of us that actually do this see your fraud, and yeah, most of us laugh at you.

The underdog story > another wannabe Andrew Tate clone.

Cheers.

 

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[masterneme]

Hello there @zeta_ I see that this is your first comment on this forum, welcome!

I'd bet money you'd see more success with "My life is trash, but I can change it. Watch!" vs. "I'm a rich retard (when it's obvious you aren't)."

Btw, those of us that actually do this see your fraud, and yeah, most of us laugh at you.

The underdog story > another wannabe Andrew Tate clone.

Cheers.

There are not many examples of underdogs, are there? It may give me an edge against all the guru wannabes...

 

[Guest050x2]

There are not many examples of underdogs, are there? It may give me an edge against all the guru wannabes...

No. But also keep in mind there's a reason for that. It goes back to the thought process of "No one wants to hear about how Jeff Bezos spent 20 years building Amazon in a garage. They want to hear about how he's worth 100 trillion... or whatever." It shatters their view(s) on success, makes them accountable, etc.

Therefore, if you go the authentic "underdog" approach, while I do genuinely believe you'd find success with it, you will have to be just that: authentic. It may involve showing the world your "vulnerable side."

The "alpha males" of the world will probably laugh at you. That's okay. Because what you're actually doing is creating content that's attacking several different angles simultaneously, and it isn't forced (e.g. it inherently comes with the content material).

A) You're showing men they can "be vulnerable" and express their struggles with growing their lives
B) You're showing emotion. Make no mistake about it: the world may completely lack empathy and compassion, but on an individual basis (e.g. someone watching a YouTube video), your emotional pull/angle will serve you well
C) You're showing people that, regardless of their background/where they come from, the possibility of growing their lives/net worth/etc. is more than possible
D) You're pushing realistic self-growth and development
E) You're showing your legitimate processes without saying, "Pay 15k for this."
Etc.

Otherwise, if you want to bullshit it, go rent a Lambo for a day or 2, buy some F*ckboy outfit, and spend a day or 2 shooting shorts about how you're hung like a horse, worth 250M, and have 150 girlfriends. Or whatever those people do. Eventually, you'll start meeting/landing lames who are desperate enough to give you 15k for your "top of line F*ckboy training."

Just make sure you commit to the lie 24/7.

Cheers.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hello there @zeta_ I see that this is your first comment on this forum, welcome!



There are not many examples of underdogs, are there? It may give me an edge against all the guru wannabes...

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FdszfZgewSI&pp=ygUbSmFjayBtYSBwcmUgbWlsbGlvbmFpcmUgYmJj

 

[masterneme]

Relevant video on this topic:

 

[masterneme]

I've been meditating about this and I'm not going to do personal development stuff for now, I don't think I'd feel comfortable and I'd end up making up excuses and procrastinating.

But I found some channels doing "feel-good/motivational" videos and I can do that. There're also a lot of people making funny videos that are very successful.

I'm going to start with some cartoons and see how it goes.

I'm very busy right now, I'm currently taking several courses, including one on cybersecurity and another one on full-stack development. I was also awarded free access to some of the Google courses available on Coursera.

But I think I can manage to get some free time and progress slowly. It's an opportunity to test some productivity strategies and, if things go well, maybe I can decide if it's worthy or not to produce personal development content. At least in this case I'd have real recent experience to talk about and I wouldn't feel like an imposter.

 

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[MomentumMaker]

If you want to have a YT channel, then you do need to engage with your audience otherwise there is no purpose to it.

There is an easy way for you to become authentic.

Simply start with your first video titled something like 'My life's a mess. Watch me turn it round' and juts open up about your life and where you are.

There wont' be a disconnect between the title and what you are saying then will there? People will root for you and follow along.

Then lay out a couple of areas that you wish to improve (makes it easier for an audience to follow) and start.

Dan

If you want to have a YT channel, then you do need to engage with your audience otherwise there is no purpose to it.

There is an easy way for you to become authentic.

Simply start with your first video titled something like 'My life's a mess. Watch me turn it round' and juts open up about your life and where you are.

There wont' be a disconnect between the title and what you are saying then will there? People will root for you and follow along.

Then lay out a couple of areas that you wish to improve (makes it easier for an audience to follow) and start.

Dan

"Simply start with your first video titled something like 'My life's a mess. Watch me turn it round' and just open up about your life and where you are."
Dan, that is perfect advice for Masterneme and a million other people (myself included) who want to start a YouTube channel, but whose life is currently a mess. Thanks for sharing that with us!

 

[masterneme]

I went through the book "The One Thing" again and I realised that when I created this thread I was having a severe case of shinny object syndrome, so I decided to just write these ideas to my someday/maybe list and focus back on the most important things.

Which means that I'm not going to open a personal development channel even if it would be cool, because it would drastically reduce my levels of attention and energy that would be better spent on my actual projects.

I'm going back to "my market" which is first person shooters/game development and I already started doing some stuff.

I initially started with Unreal Engine with the purpose of making some sort of semi-open source first person shooter with retro aesthetics. This turned out to be a bad decision for many reasons and I decided to switch to Unity.

This is an opportunity to go back to do devlogs and showing some cool sh1t I come up with. I've been doing some research and it looks like weapon animations get a lot of attention so I may do some of that, I don't see myself doing tutorials but I could create some funny machinimas or timelapses.

Anyway, I paid the Steam Direct fee and hopefully I can release a small little game I'm preparing in a month or two.

Let's see how it goes!

 

[masterneme]

Hi, I continued doing research and experimenting because my health was f*cked up and I'm getting some serious improvements. I decided to start sharing what I'm doing because it's going to blow up soon, it's something that it will help a lot of people too and I won't feel like an imposter talking about it, and yes that includes my personal life, which it still is a big mess

I already have material for a blog I'm setting up and I'll prepare my socials and brainstorm ideas for videos this week, I'm very excited!

I'll make updates from time to time, wish me luck!