You Vs You

I dedicate these volumes to You.

If you are finding yourself holding back your creativity in fear of disappointment, stick around. If you are reading this, then you prolly have a little flame flickering waiting to pour gasoline on it – something you want to be, do, create, nothing is impossible!

Content Creation is the lens in which I like to see the world, I express my truth through the content that I create. It's an amazing culture of the modern era that allows us to manifest something into existence using what is in our heads, and it's this manifesting that teaches me more about myself and the world every day. The content on its own doesn’t teach me these things but in fact it's the pursuit of one day being a successful content creator.

These motivational excerpts will not transform you into a “big streamer” with a five digit following and sponsorships queuing up like you were some kind of new hot stock on the market. If I were to sum this up and provide you with a TL;DR I would say it's to help aspiring talent believe in their ability to drive themselves all the way to discovering their potential. I hope these volumes can act as a little hand book to help you find your metaphoric car radio, perhaps think about easing your foot off the gas and taking the odd scenic route from time to time. Fed up of this metaphor? Whelp, you prolly want to buckle up as we Segway smoothly into our first stop on our journey.

The Content Car

“We are all in our own little car, sharing the roads together, perhaps even waving to people at crossroads, but ultimately we are all heading in different directions in order to reach our destination of choice.”

I picture the adult wage slaving life as a commute. We are all in our own little car, sharing the roads together, perhaps even waving to people at crossroads, but ultimately we are all heading in different directions in order to reach our destination of choice. Normally that is enough for me to wrap my head around the usual Monday to Friday Dolly Parton routine. However, Content Creation is different, this incredibly cheesy metaphor – in order to fit, was missing some much needed context.

Before you even begun your career journey inside your Content Car, you can probably remember the time where you had to build it from literally nothing. The reason why content creation is unique compared to other Career Cars is due to the fact that everything that makes your Content Car is manifested into existence from that genius jelly in your head, giving our car its unique performance and look - things like the aesthetic, branding, purpose and so on.

Beginning your journey can feel like a frustrating experience when you look out onto the open road and see other cars driving at full speed in the direction you're wanting to go, meanwhile you are stuck frantically trying to mash the gears into drive. This can make the first leg of your content journey feel like a toxically competitive and pressured experience right out the gate.

Pullover a second, amigo. The main reason I have created this metaphor based on open roads and not on a racetrack is because the mentality that comes with racing is competition and being numero uno. In the content world there is no 1st place, there is not a single platform that has adopted a “winner takes all'' framework, so if there is no winner, by definition there can't be a race. We are simply in our own cars, taking our own routes with the belief that we will arrive where we want to be

I honestly believe there are no limited spaces in the content creators parking lot. In other words you “making it” doesn’t ruin my chances of me “making it”. Like I said, we are not in a race and there is no time limit, so avoid seeing your hustle as a game of Crazy Taxi - exhausting yourself trying to reach goals within impossible deadlines (yeah, I found Crazy Taxi impossible to complete - still haunts me to this day).

Every Content Car needs to refuel when the tank is low, you must accept that fact. If you drive your car to the point of fuel exhaustion you will break down in less than ideal places. Taking a break from time to time is a great way to decompress, make improvements that were otherwise too intensive to do whilst on the road and give your mind some much needed maintenance. It's also a great opportunity to step out and take in the sights of your hard work. Reflection is a subtle art, you should avoid dwelling on past performance any longer than needed, a quick glance back to look for improvements, then it's back to facing forward. I guess you could say, focusing through the windshield is more important than fixating on the rear view mirror.

I have a question for you. Do you have complete control of your car - can you safely say that you have got the freedom to express your truth? I believe you'll never truly be comfortable driving if you feel like you're driving on ice. For example, sponsorships, teams or any other associated third parties, if you can't collaborate with these entities whilst being your authentic self, then you no longer have complete control of your car. Be authentic, always.

I hope this small excerpt may help reduce some anxiety for those who saw content creation as a competition. I personally find that with a calm mind, your head becomes free from pressure, thus leading to a healthy and steady flow of creativity. Next time, when you feel that pressure beginning to build back up and your flow is becoming turbulent, remind yourself there are no limited spaces at the top, and there are no winners. It's there waiting for you, when you're good and ready.

My next Volume will continue to help visualize content creation in ways that provoke a positive outlook towards this thriving space, until then, drive safe.