Staying the course of your true north
YouTube love story
Turns out, YouTube is a Valentine’s Day baby. Founded 19 years ago in 2005, it has certainly transformed the content-creation landscape.
Its advent heralded a time when authentic storytelling through the lens of a camera became more accessible for aspiring creators. The opportunity to create cinematic video had gone mainstream, while epic storytelling, seemingly, was no longer the exclusive preserve of the professional filmmaker.
Vlogging, for instance, became immensely popular. People could document their day-to-day activities for new fans around the world. Indeed, the world was their oyster.
YouTube quickly cemented its place as a haven for anyone, not just professionals, interested in becoming a video maven. The opportunity for the man in the street to shoot cinematic videos was given a global shot in the arm and a truly mega content-creation powerhouse emerged. Technological advances in equipment, too, were concurrent.
As one could well imagine, it did not take long before it sparked a creator boom. At the helm of content creation’s new frontier, in many ways, YouTube spearheaded a modern gold rush. Being a YouTuber became a thing and it became an excellent way of making a living. The potential was enormous, still is, and so was the reward. YouTube’s effect: seismic.
YouTubers quitting the platform in droves
Fast forward to the beginning of this year and, increasingly, creators were expressing that they planned to quit the platform. The concept of “burnout” was extensively bandied around. Many viewers and fellow creators were left in a quandary. What was going on?
Ensuing years had showed that the platform had become crowded. Soon YouTubers encountered the same problems as with any crowded market –oversupply and demand saturation, as well as the inevitable rise of fierce competition.
The burden of producing content for platforms like TikTok and Instagram, among others, was also proving to be increasingly demanding. The competition for eyeballs was proving detrimental to creators while viewers were increasingly spoilt for choice.
Today, efforts to stay ahead of the pack mean near constant innovation. As more people succumb to YouTube’s allure, more sophisticated methods are required to game the algorithm and leapfrog others. What may have worked scant months before was becoming obsolete quicker than ever.
Inevitably, time treading the hamster wheel has become an unwelcome reality.
Evergreen drawcard
YouTube is popular not only because it rewards its creators handsomely; one of its biggest drawcards is evergreen content. As a veritable search engine second only to Google itself, the ability of creators to earn passive income from content that can be found through search for years to come, remains invaluable: return-on-investment gold.
In addition, changes in editing, software, etc., and not least Google’s “unhelpful” core update, which threw a spanner in the works of search engine optimisation (SEO) in 2023, makes YouTube seem like an even better bet, but alarmingly, it has started to take its toll on creators.
YouTuber Vanessa Lau
I discovered Vanessa Lau before she quit YouTube a while back, yet hers was the name that kept cropping up when folks lamented the situation at YouTube earlier this year.
I could not seem to find an actual YouTube video where she said she quit, but to my surprise, on 12 February, her video dropped. It was titled, I built a 7-figure creator business and quit. Here’s why.
At the height of her success, she had grown to more than 700 000 YouTube subscribers and about a 250 000 on Instagram. That is quite the following. So why quit at what was essentially the height of her fame and crest of her business? The answer intrigued me. It proved that authenticity matters no matter your age.
Authenticity
Authenticity was the buzzword of the early 2010s. Yet, in her comeback video, I heard the cries of a 20-something who felt as though she had lost herself in the process of creating a massively profitable business. It can happen to anyone, at any stage of their lives at any age.
It is like that well-known frog in the boiling water example. One only realises that it is a trap once it is already too late or one has travelled too far down a path. That is when Vanessa had the courage to shut it all down.
Self-worth issue spiralling out of control
Additionally, she had become stuck in a bad spiral of doubt and anxiety as well as poor sleeping and eating habits. A recipe for disaster if ever there was one.
Two of the reasons she cited are familiar bedfellows. Anyone who struggles with authenticity would be able to relate how easy it is to walk straight into the snare of pleasing people driven by the nefarious sense of not feeling good enough. This oftentimes deadly duo finds expression because most people do not understand their own worth.
Additionally, for Vanessa, an overwhelming, frenetic life led to a lack of gratitude because she started to compare herself to others more successful. Strangely, moving in different circles just amplified her lack of self-worth.
Warning for the older among us
But what significance does her story have for someone who is older and has been around the block a few times? For starters, we are not immune to falling prey to people-pleasing, doubt, fear et al. It just plays out differently.
Secondly, because we have so much experience, would it not be wise to find a way to pitch our services to young entrepreneurs who simply are not in the know about these things? We could help them to avoid both burnout and years-long sabbaticals. We may not have the same areas of expertise, but we can definitely see when they are threatening to walk off the cliff.
Relegated to yesteryear
As much as have experience in spades, we are often made to feel as though our usefulness has exceeded its sell-by date. It is easy to feel as though we have been relegated to bins reserved for those already past their prime. Often, feelings of inadequacy abound and dinosaur comments sting.
Many of us are totally unprepared. Hormones, natural slowing down, and ageing, are hard enough to cope with. Astoundingly, the respect accorded older folks of generations past is no longer part of the equation, compounding our sense of diminishing worth.
Yet, all that experience we have built up over the years is not wasted if we use it properly. Is the onus on us to find new ways of using it? I think it is.
Experienced staff fly high
Through my experience over the years, I have learned that institutional knowledge is critical and that employees who possess it should be treasured. It prevents unnecessary blunders and one can easily right the ship with the wisdom gained over the years. Not having that knowledge at a timely juncture can also be expensive. The trick for businesses is investing in workers across the age spectrum and then keeping them. Not a mean feat. Forbes described it this way:
“Now that people are living longer and “60 is the new 40,” as some like to say, it’s important for all leaders to recognise the talents of this group. Leaders should work harder to utilise, retain and promote older women.
Here are four key reasons why older workers are highly valuable:
- The world’s companies need more employees
- Experienced workers have more . . . well, experience
- Older workers don’t sweat the small stuff
- Older workers mentor others
I would like to emphasise what they had to say about sweating the small stuff as it has so much bearing on what we are discussing here:
“Many older people have learned not to get needlessly ruffled by the setbacks, internal politics, budget constraints, and limited resource allocation common in the world of work. Experience brings perspective, also known as maturity. Younger people, still trying to prove themselves and less experienced assessing the lasting impact of today’s obstacle, may take challenges personally, react emotionally, and fret unnecessarily about typical office hurdles. Older people can bring much needed equanimity to the office, ratcheting down the drama and serving as good role models of stamina and calm competence.”
ALIZA knox: Forbes
Forging a new way
Gone are the days when the trajectory of one’s path was quite finite. Over the past few years, it has been disrupted. Young people have pioneered it and, perhaps, we need to reclaim our place in the world. After investing in ourselves and understanding what we have to offer, we need to break societal norms and show them what we are made of.
Yes, as the much-touted saying goes: show don’t tell. I believe it is the reason we have to be so serious about upskilling, while making sure that we are healthy and well, so that we can step in when required.
Which brings me to what Vanessa started sacrificing and what she now priorities.
Health and wellness
Even those attempting to live a fulfilling, healthy life often run headlong into career opportunities that seem to suck the life out of them. Long hours of meaningless drudgery seem the norm to prove commitment to the job.
Why do many still continue to kowtow to this, knowing how miserable it makes them? Not only does it ensure terrible work-life balance, but it also affects personal as well as professional lives.
What is the driving factor? Could it be that workers have neglected to stay abreast of current trends and find themselves increasingly bogged down in “secure” jobs? Is the emphasis on youth well placed? Are hiring managers short-sighted? Is it just a case of societal norms playing out?
The silver lining
The winds of change are blowing. And yes, it is a good thing. Bain & Company released a compelling report about the workplace and the rising importance of older workers. Several riveting factors emerge worth mentioning.
“Populations are aging; work lives are lengthening.”
“Fewer young people are entering the workforce, due partly to lower fertility rates, partly to longer education. “
“By 2031, Japanese workers 55 and older will approach 40% of the workforce. According to Gallup, 41% of American workers expect to work beyond age 65. Thirty years ago, it was 12%.”
“Despite the shift, it’s rare to see organizations put programs in place to integrate older workers into their talent system.”
“The uncomfortable truth is that age-related work discrimination is widespread. Demographic reality will catch up with that attitude soon enough. And when it does, those firms that invest in recruiting, reskilling, and respecting the strengths of older workers will not just solve a part of their talent gap problem, they’ll create a workforce that’s more productive, more balanced, more diverse, and more loyal than the one they have today.”
Bain & Company
The report is worth exploring in full. Give it a read, I think it will encourage you no end. It would appear that, against all odds, the future is bright for those of us just hitting our stride. After years of wandering around in our personal deserts, learning to understand ourselves and figuring out where we best can make a difference, it seems it is finally our time to shine.
After all, we are the ones who have spent decades distilling what we are not and allowing it to crystallise what, indeed, we are. That equates to authenticity by the bucketful.
YouTube CEO’s secret sauce
It ties in beautifully to a wonderful remark made by YouTube CEO, Neal Mohan recently. He revealed the secret sauce to success, and longevity on YouTube by extension, gleaned through his own long career. He summed it up in four words: “Be true to yourself.”
A new kid on the block
Yet, it is hampered by the one constant in life: change. This year, a new kid on the block was unveiled. Like YouTube, years ago, this little upstart debuted on 15 February – and I believe it is going to upend the market for video creation as never before promising to have a significant impact even on YouTube and, definitely, content creation.
“OpenAI has built a striking new generative video model called Sora that can take a short text description and turn it into a detailed, high-definition film clip up to a minute long,” according to MIT Technology Review.
Fasten your seatbelts
Once again, the playbook has been changed for the umpteenth time and for some, thrown out of the window entirely.
It seems that everyone in the creative, digital space is in for a rough ride. As new technology completely upends life, careers and creative industries before our collective eyes, it is clear that authenticity will be the defining factor. Authentically telling our stories and compellingly communicating what differentiates us is the way forward. Neal Mohan’s sentiments ring particularly true.
“The experience at YouTube, Mohan said, taught him about the value of authenticity. By his estimation, the most successful creators on YouTube are transparent about their real lives and show their personalities in videos.”
Neal mohan, CEO of YouTube
With an avalanche of AI-related content out there, the thing that matters is the human ability to connect, inspire and touch hearts.
In the end, our ability to know ourselves and stay the course accordingly will prove to be our true north. It will surely help us to navigate our way forward through the morass of shifting ideologies and technologies too. The future developments are as daunting as their promise is exciting. I hope to be one of those adapting to all the changes confronting us and providing value for years to come. You?
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Click on the heart below if you liked it.
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