Seen as successful, but kinda lost

[Stroboscope]

Hello everyone!

I've been lurking around this forum for at least a year now, since the time I read MJ's both books. I finally created an account and I would like to start with an introduction.

My name is Martin, I'm 19 years old, first year in college studying computer science. Besides that, I'm a YouTuber with over 275K subscribers (in a pretty small European country).

I created an account here because I thought I could help someone with social media + content creation questions. However, later I figured I could also use some advice from you As the title says, a lot of my peers as well as random people see me as a successful young guy. I'm doing good on social media, I'm making about 3x national average and it's growing. At the same time, however, I'm totally lost.

It all comes down to my university. In the future I want to own a business, I've never even considered anything else. I enrolled in CS because I thought wherever I end up in the future, I will most likely use that technical knowledge + colleges are almost free here, so debt is not an issue. The thing is, programming was never something I naturally inclined to. Classes in high school were easy for me, but I've never done much studying at home. Now I'm thinking if it even makes sense for me to study it and if I wouldn't be better off studying economy, business, a combination of these with comp sci. Or perhaps to not attend university at all and just go in social media full time. Right now I would prefer to probably not do this and get a degree, since it's free. Also I think social media is not the safest bet for a more distant future.

What would you do in my situation? Thanks for any opinion!

 

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[Kasimir]

Hi mate,

First of all congratulations on your success.
A mix of being successful and being lost is something that often happens to entrepreneurs. Without knowing much I think you're at an important point. About now I'd say is the time to create something bigger out of your YouTube channel. And if it's difficult to do both at the same time, social media and creating a brand(not just merch). Yeah, it's possible but it's a lot of work. I would recommend you get a friend or so who is creative and doesn't hesitate to work more than 60+ hours/week. Then you build your business together.

You probably make a really good living with your ads and merch right now, but without knowing much I think you could change the game. Because most youtube just focuses on being youtube and that's alright but that the difference between a business owner and a YouTuber. Where do you live if I may ask? Youtuber in Europe in a small country that's difficult to do.

If you need any help let us know.

- Kasimir

 

[Stroboscope]

Hi mate,

First of all congratulations on your success.
A mix of being successful and being lost is something that often happens to entrepreneurs. Without knowing much I think you're at an important point. About now I'd say is the time to create something bigger out of your YouTube channel. And if it's difficult to do both at the same time, social media and creating a brand(not just merch). Yeah, it's possible but it's a lot of work. I would recommend you get a friend or so who is creative and doesn't hesitate to work more than 60+ hours/week. Then you build your business together.

You probably make a really good living with your ads and merch right now, but without knowing much I think you could change the game. Because most youtube just focuses on being youtube and that's alright but that the difference between a business owner and a YouTuber. Where do you live if I may ask? Youtuber in Europe in a small country that's difficult to do.

If you need any help let us know.

- Kasimir

Thanks for your reply!

And yes, I feel like this is an important point that could affect literally everything.

I've been thinking about "branching out" from YouTube for a long time. The problem is that I was never able to come up with something that would be relevant to what I do now on YouTube, so I could "use" (sound weird when I say it like that) the following I have. I produce educational/scientific/opinion-ish videos on a variety of topics. Do you have any ideas?


To answer your question - I live in Hungary.

 

[ants]

Congratulations on your YT stats - thats very impressive numbers and it gives you a good foundation to progress. Without knowing your strengths, your personality and indeed what you value in life it's hard to say which route would be best for you.

You could build up on your business interest by starting an SM agency as with that kind of following you could easily market yourself or use it to form authority in the subject. That would give you a taste of running a business on the side of the channel and you will have a better base to decide how you feel.

 

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[ShepardHumphries]

Hello everyone!

I've been lurking around this forum for at least a year now, since the time I read MJ's both books. I finally created an account and I would like to start with an introduction.

My name is Martin, I'm 19 years old, first year in college studying computer science. Besides that, I'm a YouTuber with over 275K subscribers (in a pretty small European country).

I created an account here because I thought I could help someone with social media + content creation questions. However, later I figured I could also use some advice from you As the title says, a lot of my peers as well as random people see me as a successful young guy. I'm doing good on social media, I'm making about 3x national average and it's growing. At the same time, however, I'm totally lost.

It all comes down to my university. In the future I want to own a business, I've never even considered anything else. I enrolled in CS because I thought wherever I end up in the future, I will most likely use that technical knowledge + colleges are almost free here, so debt is not an issue. The thing is, programming was never something I naturally inclined to. Classes in high school were easy for me, but I've never done much studying at home. Now I'm thinking if it even makes sense for me to study it and if I wouldn't be better off studying economy, business, a combination of these with comp sci. Or perhaps to not attend university at all and just go in social media full time. Right now I would prefer to probably not do this and get a degree, since it's free. Also I think social media is not the safest bet for a more distant future.

What would you do in my situation? Thanks for any opinion!

I agree that YouTube is not something you can count on for 20 years... however you are doing an awesome job right now! Way to go!!!

• Why do you want a CS degree? For the piece of paper or for the knowledge?
• College is a HORRIBLY way to learn stuff. It is slow, expensive and the info is old. It is good at making you a "woke" progressive citizen who will vote for "smart" streets, but it isn't a good way to learn stuff. You are an absolute expert in social Media / YouTube. 99.9% of the 23-year-olds studying that stuff in college are clueless compared to you.
• I suggest intelligently pausing "college" since you have $omething that is actually working.
• I suggest picking something in CS / YouTube / Interwebs/tech that you predict has a bright future, then studying that part on your own, and instead of college tests, make YouTube videos teaching what you learned. This makes you the expert and also helps you know the subject more deeply.
• I suggest living VERY frugally, the way MJ doesn't care for, like suffering poverty... but only for the next 250 days! Save money like crazy, no fancy luxuries, get a nest egg built up! I suspect that you are creative enough, that with a nice chunk of money and many new ideas floating around from your REAL study of CS, you just might discover an incredible opportunity within the next 8 months!
• Bust your butt growing your YouTube channel and also your social media consulting firm!!! Work what is working very hard and continue to grow it!

Also, what is your channel and please DO offer the rest of us your advice!

 

[Mr4213]

Here's my theory on your issue.

You're lacking clarity. (Which is common, especially at your age)

Because you're lacking clarity you're considering all of these different options.

To be effective and consistent you need absolute clarity as to what it is you want or are striving for. Once you achieve this clarity you'll be able to answer questions like these easily.

In my life I have a few very specific things that my day revolves around every single day.

Nothing else besides these very few and specific things matter to me.

Each day they are completed, I consider myself successful.

I've found that 99% of what goes on in the day is just noise. A distraction.

When I feel myself being pulled in different directions I ask myself "does this align with who I want to be or do for my entire life?"

If the answer is no I immediately forget about it because it's just a distraction. I'm thinking long term.

It seems like you're being pulled into different directions right now because you're not being clear with yourself.

First you need to find out with yourself what and who it is you want to be. Be extremely clear. Clarify it with direct statements not with vague words.

No one can tell you what degree to get or not get. Or whether you should even go to school at all. Every situation is unique.

What you do comes down to you and what your vision is.

Should you learn coding? Well that completely depends on what your grand vision is and how coding relates to that vision. Same with school or any of the other questions.

You can be anyone you want and accomplish anything you want if you are consistent.

What does 30 year old you look like and what does he do/learned/achieved? What about 60 year old you?

Once you figure this out you can then start deliberately modifying your behaviors so that you're consistently taking actions every day to become that version.

And then you can shrug off these questions because you know who you want to be when your older. If it's not getting you closer to that version the answer is simply no and you keep consistently moving forward.

So my advice is to spend some time with yourself in order to get clarity.

Should you go to school? Depends, does going to school align with what it is you're after? No? Yes? Then there ya go.

Ask yourself how all of these different paths relate to where and who you want to be when you're 30 or 60?

I spend 30 minutes a day learning Spanish. Not because I plan to use it for some business idea or something. But simply because I know that my vision for my future self is one where I speak fluent Spanish. It's important for me personally at the core, so that means I make time for it every day and if anything comes up that conflicts with that I drop it because it isn't important.

Your approach would be much easier if you gained some clarity.

You're much more effective when the environment you're in, revolves around what it is you're after and not the other way around. It sounds obvious and simple but I think most people miss this.

How do all of the different options you've brought up revolve/align with what you're actually after?

Whichever options align with your overall goal/who you want to be then I say those are the paths to pursue one step at a time. Every day is a great new day of opportunity to get just a little bit closer to your best self.

 

[Stroboscope]

Congratulations on your YT stats - thats very impressive numbers and it gives you a good foundation to progress. Without knowing your strengths, your personality and indeed what you value in life it's hard to say which route would be best for you.

You could build up on your business interest by starting an SM agency as with that kind of following you could easily market yourself or use it to form authority in the subject. That would give you a taste of running a business on the side of the channel and you will have a better base to decide how you feel.

Thanks! It was always hard for me to say what are my strengths, because I always felt like my view is biased. However, what I value in life, that's easy - freedom.

Social media agency is definitely something I will think about in the future. Always seemed like all of those agencies that already exist have no idea what they are doing

I agree that YouTube is not something you can count on for 20 years... however you are doing an awesome job right now! Way to go!!!

• Why do you want a CS degree? For the piece of paper or for the knowledge?
• College is a HORRIBLY way to learn stuff. It is slow, expensive and the info is old. It is good at making you a "woke" progressive citizen who will vote for "smart" streets, but it isn't a good way to learn stuff. You are an absolute expert in social Media / YouTube. 99.9% of the 23-year-olds studying that stuff in college are clueless compared to you.
• I suggest intelligently pausing "college" since you have $omething that is actually working.
• I suggest picking something in CS / YouTube / Interwebs/tech that you predict has a bright future, then studying that part on your own, and instead of college tests, make YouTube videos teaching what you learned. This makes you the expert and also helps you know the subject more deeply.
• I suggest living VERY frugally, the way MJ doesn't care for, like suffering poverty... but only for the next 250 days! Save money like crazy, no fancy luxuries, get a nest egg built up! I suspect that you are creative enough, that with a nice chunk of money and many new ideas floating around from your REAL study of CS, you just might discover an incredible opportunity within the next 8 months!
• Bust your butt growing your YouTube channel and also your social media consulting firm!!! Work what is working very hard and continue to grow it!

Also, what is your channel and please DO offer the rest of us your advice!

As I said, I went for the CS degree because it's something relevant for the future + universities are almost free here, but, well I'm reconsidering it now. I feel like the biggest benefit to college is the network. And yeah, I will surely try to offer advice!

Here's my theory on your issue.

You're lacking clarity. (Which is common, especially at your age)

Because you're lacking clarity you're considering all of these different options.

To be effective and consistent you need absolute clarity as to what it is you want or are striving for. Once you achieve this clarity you'll be able to answer questions like these easily.

In my life I have a few very specific things that my day revolves around every single day.

Nothing else besides these very few and specific things matter to me.

Each day they are completed, I consider myself successful.

I've found that 99% of what goes on in the day is just noise. A distraction.

When I feel myself being pulled in different directions I ask myself "does this align with who I want to be or do for my entire life?"

If the answer is no I immediately forget about it because it's just a distraction. I'm thinking long term.

It seems like you're being pulled into different directions right now because you're not being clear with yourself.

First you need to find out with yourself what and who it is you want to be. Be extremely clear. Clarify it with direct statements not with vague words.

No one can tell you what degree to get or not get. Or whether you should even go to school at all. Every situation is unique.

What you do comes down to you and what your vision is.

Should you learn coding? Well that completely depends on what your grand vision is and how coding relates to that vision. Same with school or any of the other questions.

You can be anyone you want and accomplish anything you want if you are consistent.

What does 30 year old you look like and what does he do/learned/achieved? What about 60 year old you?

Once you figure this out you can then start deliberately modifying your behaviors so that you're consistently taking actions every day to become that version.

And then you can shrug off these questions because you know who you want to be when your older. If it's not getting you closer to that version the answer is simply no and you keep consistently moving forward.

So my advice is to spend some time with yourself in order to get clarity.

Should you go to school? Depends, does going to school align with what it is you're after? No? Yes? Then there ya go.

Ask yourself how all of these different paths relate to where and who you want to be when you're 30 or 60?

I spend 30 minutes a day learning Spanish. Not because I plan to use it for some business idea or something. But simply because I know that my vision for my future self is one where I speak fluent Spanish. It's important for me personally at the core, so that means I make time for it every day and if anything comes up that conflicts with that I drop it because it isn't important.

Your approach would be much easier if you gained some clarity.

You're much more effective when the environment you're in, revolves around what it is you're after and not the other way around. It sounds obvious and simple but I think most people miss this.

How do all of the different options you've brought up revolve/align with what you're actually after?

Whichever options align with your overall goal/who you want to be then I say those are the paths to pursue one step at a time. Every day is a great new day of opportunity to get just a little bit closer to your best self.

Thank you for a very insightful answer. You are absolutely right, I have no clarity. The thing is I'm just totally unable to find it. My goals are probably similar to most people on this forum - to own a business, grow it, sell it and be free. If I ever do that, I would love to get politics or charity afterwards and just improve things - that's the ultimate goals. To be able to do whatever I want to do. And I just can't figure out the best, most efficient way to get there. Do you have any tips on how to find clarity?

 

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[Mr4213]

Thanks! It was always hard for me to say what are my strengths, because I always felt like my view is biased. However, what I value in life, that's easy - freedom.

Social media agency is definitely something I will think about in the future. Always seemed like all of those agencies that already exist have no idea what they are doing

As I said, I went for the CS degree because it's something relevant for the future + universities are almost free here, but, well I'm reconsidering it now. I feel like the biggest benefit to college is the network. And yeah, I will surely try to offer advice!

Thank you for a very insightful answer. You are absolutely right, I have no clarity. The thing is I'm just totally unable to find it. My goals are probably similar to most people on this forum - to own a business, grow it, sell it and be free. If I ever do that, I would love to get politics or charity afterwards and just improve things - that's the ultimate goals. To be able to do whatever I want to do. And I just can't figure out the best, most efficient way to get there. Do you have any tips on how to find clarity?

I was on a run today, and your post came up in my mind.

Here is the straight forward answer.

Entrepreneurship is a journey from A all the way to Z.

You don't go from A to Z straight away.

You go from A and then to B and then to C and maybe back to B then to C then to D ect ect.

Most people focus on how to get from A to Z and then get lost in the details and never take action.

If you're at A, don't focus on Z, focus on B. You know why? What works to get to Z might not work to get to B. But, B is a requirement before you can get to Z.

It doesn't matter how good the plan is to get to Z if it doesn't get you to B. Make sense so far?

So let's say you're going from city A to city C. Let's pretend you arrive at a car lot with hundreds of cars and trucks.

You need to pick a vehicle for the journey. What variables you use to pick a vehicle will differ depending on you and the situation. IE: Gas mileage, luxury, car or truck, 4 wheel drive vs no 4 wheel drive ect ect.

Now, city C is far far away right? So you know that you need to stop at city B first. Maybe it's to fill up on gas, hotel stay, ect.

Let's pretend that city B is in the country aka middle of nowhere with lots of muddy dirt roads.

Let's pretend city C is a nice big beautiful city with lots of nice beautiful paved roads.

Well, hmmm let's think about this.

I can pick a truck with four wheel drive that I know will get me through those tough muddy unpaved roads at city/town B.

However, the gas mileage is really bad so I'll spend way more on fuel. I'm not sure I have enough to cover the fuel cost.

I can pick a car with no four wheel drive but great gas mileage. Which saves me tons of money overall, but if I get stuck in a muddy road while going through B it's game over for the car.

Which one do you pick?

I'd pick the Truck. I might not have the money to pay for fuel all the way to C. But the point is to get to B and I know it will do that. I can figure out the fuel situation after arriving to B safely.

Does this make sense?

Here's how this relates to your real life situation.

You say you have a large amount of subscribers right?

Assuming you aren't full of crap (which I don't think you are) I'm inclined to believe you have certain skills.

The next step for you would be to use those skills + YouTube channel to increase your rate of pay in less time.

I'm not talking about a multimillion dollar business system right now. Nor am I necessarily talking about passive income either.

I'm talking about selling a skill/service that increases your rate of pay in less time.

This allows you to (eventually) free up most of your time and energy (while covering living cost) to pursue the ultimate goal. A business that frees you.

You're at point A. Point B is doing/selling/learning something that covers your basic living cost with less time and then using that free time to grow/expand on your current system or work on a whole new one that will make you free.

Now, getting from B to C will be completely different than A to B.

Focus on B not C. The obstacles to getting from B to C will come in time, after you have arrived at B. You won't even know what you need to get from B to C until you're at B and moving towards C. Which means C doesn't matter at all right now. Getting to B is what matters.

So my question is. If you have a successful YouTube channel that's covering your basic living cost, why arent you expanding on that to the next step?

Is it not covering your living cost? Well ding ding ding. There's the issue then. Take action and do what you need to do so it can cover basic living cost in less time (compared to a foundational job). That's the clear problem needing resolved if that's the case. You gotta cover that first (B) before you even worry about anything beyond that.

Let's say it does cover your living cost with less time.

If that's the case, and you are at B, why aren't you focused on growing that out to C? Are there things about it that prevent you from getting to C? Well then figure out how to modify it so it can get to C. If it can't be modified then use your skills (that I'm assuming you've learned to create it in the first place) and see if you can apply those skills in a different way that will get to C. Maybe you need to learn entire new skills to get to C. Completely depends.

How does college or whatever have anything to do with that? I'm not saying it can't, but what I am saying is that it completely depends on you.

As far as my advice on clarity.

I've been coming around to the idea that clarity only comes from knowing yourself first. Building a relationship with yourself.

When you know yourself and who you are, it then becomes clear to you what it is you're after. You're committed and dedicated.

You might not know exactly how to get what you're after, but you consistently improve each day to get a little bit closer to knowing how.

Do something consistently each day to get you a little closer to who you want to be. The rest will fall in place. But you need to figure out who it is you want to be first.

You don't know what you need to know until you know you need to know it.

When I started learning Spanish I didn't have a freaking clue what or where to start. There were so many things to learn it was overwhelming.

I created a quick process for learning it. IE: each day spend 30 minutes learning a total of 10 phrases. After learning the phrases learn the grammer rules. Then learn how to say it ect. Then move on to 10 more.

You know what happened? The original process I created didn't work. As I did it I started learning things I didn't know when I started.

You know what happened? I evolved the process as I learned things I didnt know I needed to learn.

Now it looks much different, and its more effective.

The point of me saying this, is this. Action beats inaction EVERY time. It's always better to start with a shitty plan then never start at all because you think there is a perfect plan.

I knew from the get go that my process for learning spanish wasn't going to be very good at teaching me Spanish.

The original process wasn't about making me fluent in Spanish. It was to make myself start. You only learn Spanish by doing Spanish! You don't learn Spanish by thinking about how you're going to learn Spanish!

If it wasn't for the crappy original process that I started with, I never would have started! Nor would I know what I do know about Spanish.

That crappy quick process I originally created was my point A and it got me to point B. Now that I'm at B I have a better idea on how to get to C.

Hopefully you read this because it took a minute of my time lol. I hope it helps you out somehow