HOW YOUTUBE CHANGED MY LIFE *in 4 months*｜my youtube story and advice for getting started

Summary

In this video, Reys reflects on how starting a YouTube channel 4 months ago has positively impacted his life. He shares why he began the journey, having recovered from an eating disorder and wanting to help others, and details the challenges and rewards he's encountered. Reys highlights how creating videos has boosted his confidence, reignited his creativity, and helped him embrace imperfection. As his life transitions after college, Reys is committed to continuing YouTube, despite the upcoming challenges. He also encourages others to take the leap and start their own channels.

Takeaways

• 😀 The creator started the YouTube channel 4 months ago, and it has significantly impacted their life.
• 🎓 The video coincides with the day after the creator's college graduation, marking a transition in their life.
• 📹 They began the channel to share their experiences overcoming an eating disorder and to help others with similar struggles.
• 💡 The creator waited years to start the channel but finally decided to challenge themselves and step outside their comfort zone.
• 💪 Confidence has been a major benefit of starting the channel, especially after successfully committing to weekly uploads for 4 months.
• 🧠 YouTube has reignited the creator’s creative side, which had been overshadowed by academic focus during school.
• 😅 Starting the channel has helped them embrace imperfection and overcome their perfectionism, learning to publish content even when it’s not perfect.
• 🎯 The creator has realized their dream is to create content that helps and inspires others, despite initial fears of failure.
• 📅 Although life is becoming busier with a new job and other commitments, the creator is determined to continue making weekly videos.
• 📚 They are considering expanding their channel beyond fitness and nutrition to topics like reading, productivity, and organization.

Q & A

Why did the creator decide to make this video?

The creator made this video as a milestone marker to reflect on the 4-month journey of content creation on YouTube and how it has changed their life. It coincides with their college graduation, marking the end of a period where they had more time to focus on YouTube.

What were the three main sections of the video?

The three main sections of the video are: 1) Why the creator started YouTube, 2) Four ways YouTube has changed their life, and 3) The future plans for the channel.

What initially motivated the creator to start a YouTube channel?

The creator was motivated to start a YouTube channel because they wanted to share their journey and insights from overcoming an eating disorder, hoping to help others who might be struggling with similar issues.

How did the advice from Ali Abdallah influence the creator’s journey on YouTube?

Ali Abdallah’s advice that 'your first 50 videos are going to suck, and that’s okay' helped the creator push through self-doubt and perfectionism. It reminded them that the initial videos are for learning, not perfection, and that progress comes from consistently making videos.

What is one of the biggest challenges the creator faced when starting their channel?

One of the biggest challenges the creator faced was the fear of failure and being judged by others. They were worried they might start the channel and then give up, but they decided to push past the fear and take a leap of faith.

What are the four ways YouTube has changed the creator’s life?

The four ways YouTube has changed the creator’s life are: 1) Boosting their confidence, 2) Re-sparking their creativity, 3) Challenging their perfectionism, and 4) Helping them own their dreams.

How has creating YouTube videos improved the creator's confidence?

The creator gained confidence by setting and achieving the goal of uploading a video every week for 4 months. This experience taught them that they can accomplish hard things and it reinforced their belief in their abilities.

In what way did YouTube rekindle the creator’s creativity?

YouTube reignited the creator’s creativity by allowing them to explore their passion for content creation, something they had put aside for years due to academic pressures. The more they created, the more their creative 'muscle' was strengthened.

How has YouTube helped the creator deal with their perfectionism?

YouTube forced the creator to embrace imperfection, as they realized that striving for perfection would prevent them from ever publishing videos. They started accepting that mistakes and bloopers are part of the process and embraced their authentic self.

What are the creator’s future plans for the YouTube channel?

While the creator’s life is about to get busier after college graduation, they are committed to continuing their weekly uploads. They also plan to expand the channel’s content beyond fitness and nutrition, potentially discussing topics like reading, productivity, and organization.

Outlines

00:00

🎥 Starting a YouTube Journey

The creator reflects on how starting the YouTube channel four months ago has significantly impacted their life. They introduce themselves and discuss the timing of the video, coinciding with their college graduation. The creator highlights how the past four months of content creation have been a unique period of focus, emphasizing their hard work and dedication. They outline the structure of the video: why they started YouTube, how it changed their life, and their future plans.

05:01

🔍 Why YouTube? The Origin Story

The creator explains their long-standing desire to start a YouTube channel, dating back to their teenage years after recovering from an eating disorder. They wanted to share their experience to help others avoid the struggles they faced. Over time, their mission evolved as they healed further. Starting the channel was also a personal challenge to step outside their comfort zone. Despite initial fears of failure and self-doubt, they pushed themselves to take the plunge, influenced by advice from Ali Abdaal. They recount how his words, particularly about accepting that early videos will likely be poor quality, helped them overcome their perfectionism.

10:02

📈 Gaining Confidence Through Consistency

The first way YouTube has changed the creator's life is by boosting their confidence. When they set the goal of uploading a video weekly, they weren’t sure if they could maintain the pace. Despite these doubts, they've successfully uploaded every week for four months, which has reinforced their belief in their abilities. They share that hitting 160 subscribers, while small to some, is meaningful to them. This accomplishment has instilled confidence not only in their skills but also in their self-worth and ability to impact others. Reaching video number 20 also allowed them to reward themselves by buying a new camera.

🎨 Rediscovering Creativity

The second way YouTube has changed the creator's life is by reigniting their creativity, which had faded during high school and college due to an intense focus on academics. Initially, they feared they lacked creativity, but creating content for YouTube has gradually brought that aspect of their personality back. They compare creativity to a muscle that gets stronger with use, emphasizing how making videos has rekindled their passion for creating and coming up with new ideas. YouTube has filled a creative void in their life, and they encourage others to embrace creativity through action.

😅 Embracing Imperfection

The third way YouTube has impacted the creator is by helping them confront and challenge their perfectionism. Previously, their fear of not being perfect prevented them from taking creative risks. Now, they've learned to accept that their videos will never be flawless, and that's okay. By embracing imperfections, such as minor mistakes in filming or editing, they've found more freedom in their creative process. The creator even incorporates bloopers and candid moments into their videos to emphasize authenticity. This shift in mindset has allowed them to release content without being paralyzed by the need for perfection.

🚀 Owning the Dream of Content Creation

The fourth and final way YouTube has changed the creator's life is by helping them embrace their dream of content creation. They've realized that their true passion is to create content that positively impacts others, despite the fear of failure or judgment. By vocalizing their aspirations and discussing their goals with others, they’ve become more committed to making those dreams a reality. They acknowledge that it might not be easy, and there's no guarantee their dream will come true, but they're determined to keep working towards it.

🌍 Navigating the Future

The creator talks about their upcoming life changes, including graduating from college, traveling, and starting a new full-time job. These new responsibilities will reduce the time they can dedicate to YouTube, but their love for content creation has grown so much that they are committed to continuing. They reflect on the challenge of balancing YouTube with other obligations but believe that prioritizing what's important will help them manage. They express excitement for expanding their channel’s topics beyond fitness and nutrition, inviting their audience to suggest ideas for future content.

🙏 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

The creator concludes the video by thanking viewers for their support, urging them to like and subscribe. They express deep gratitude for those who have followed their journey, and they encourage others who are hesitant about starting a YouTube channel to take the leap of faith. By sharing their own personal growth over the past four months, they hope to inspire others to pursue their own creative endeavors despite fears of failure or imperfection. They end with a positive message about self-discovery through content creation.

Keywords

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube channel is a platform on YouTube where content creators upload and share videos. In the video, the speaker reflects on their journey of starting a YouTube channel and how it has impacted their life, emphasizing personal growth, creativity, and connection with an audience.

💡Content Creation

Content creation refers to the process of generating topics, creating videos, and sharing content online. The speaker discusses how creating videos consistently for their YouTube channel has led to personal development, boosted creativity, and challenged their perfectionism.

💡Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the desire to avoid making mistakes and the drive for flawlessness. In the video, the speaker acknowledges their lifelong struggle with perfectionism and how starting a YouTube channel helped them embrace imperfections, leading to more authentic content creation.

💡Creativity

Creativity is the ability to generate new ideas or concepts. The speaker explains how running a YouTube channel has reawakened their creative side, which had been overshadowed by academic focus in recent years, and how it helped them feel fulfilled by engaging with their creative instincts.

💡Confidence

Confidence is a sense of self-assurance in one's abilities. The speaker shares that creating YouTube videos has significantly boosted their confidence, especially by taking on the challenge of consistently producing content despite self-doubt and learning new skills like filming and editing.

💡Challenges

Challenges refer to difficult tasks or obstacles to overcome. The speaker highlights several challenges they faced, such as learning to film and edit videos, maintaining consistency, and managing their time while balancing other life commitments, yet emphasizes that overcoming these challenges has been rewarding.

💡First 50 Videos

The concept of 'First 50 Videos' comes from advice the speaker received, indicating that early videos will likely be imperfect but serve as a learning experience. This mindset helped the speaker overcome their fear of failure and focus on improving their skills without the pressure of immediate success.

💡Self-doubt

Self-doubt refers to a lack of confidence in one's own abilities or decisions. The speaker openly discusses their initial fears and insecurities about starting a YouTube channel, such as the fear of failure or judgment from others, and how pushing through this self-doubt helped them grow.

💡Personal Growth

Personal growth is the process of improving oneself through actions and experiences. The speaker's journey with their YouTube channel is framed as a major source of personal growth, teaching them to embrace new challenges, be more confident, and express themselves creatively.

💡Dreams

Dreams are aspirations or goals that one desires to achieve. Toward the end of the video, the speaker emphasizes how creating content aligns with their personal dreams of impacting others through social media, and they express the importance of owning and pursuing their dreams despite uncertainties.

Highlights

The creator started their YouTube channel four months ago, which has significantly changed their life.

They share that this video is special because it marks a milestone after their college graduation ceremony.

The first section of the video discusses why they chose to start the YouTube channel, including a desire to help others after recovering from an eating disorder.

They emphasize that a key reason for starting the channel was to challenge themselves and step out of their comfort zone.

Ali Abdallah’s advice about embracing imperfections and expecting the first 50 videos to be bad helped the creator push through self-doubt.

The second section highlights how YouTube has increased their confidence, as they have successfully uploaded one video every week for four months.

The creator acknowledges their 160 subscribers as a significant achievement and is grateful for the audience’s support.

The second way YouTube has changed their life is by reigniting their creativity, which had been dormant since childhood.

They reflect on how they once thought they weren't creative enough, but starting the channel proved them wrong.

YouTube has also helped them challenge their perfectionism by embracing imperfections in their content and accepting their authentic self.

They have learned to own their dreams of creating life-changing content for others, despite the fear of failure.

The creator is committed to continuing with YouTube even as their life changes dramatically post-graduation.

They plan to continue producing one video a week while balancing other life commitments like a new job and travel.

The creator shares their passion for expanding the channel beyond fitness and nutrition to include topics like productivity, reading, and organization.

They encourage viewers to take a leap of faith and start their own channels, highlighting how much they’ve learned about themselves in just four months.

Transcripts

I started this YouTube channel a little

over 4 months ago and 4 months later I

can honestly say that it has changed my

life here's

how what is up YouTube Welcome to

another video if you are new here hi my

name is reys it is so nice to have you

here and if you are not new here and

have seen some of my other videos thank

you so much for coming back to my

channel and clicking on this one today's

video is going to be a little bit

different than what I usually talk about

which is Fitness and Nutrition

because today I'm going to be talking to

you about my journey so far here on

YouTube the reason that I decided to

film this video now is because the day

that this video comes out is actually

the day after my college graduation

ceremony basically my life is about to

start changing really rapidly and it

pretty much marks the end of a 4-month

period where I've had a lot more time on

my hands to be able to devote to YouTube

and devote to content creation this has

been a project that I've really worked

hard and dedicated myself to for these

past 4 months and now that that time is

coming to an end it feels right to kind

of have some sort of Milestone marker if

you will I didn't really think I would

be doing a video like this this early on

but looking back to January when I

posted my first video I had no idea the

impact that it would have on my life in

such a short amount of time I kind of

broke this video up into three different

sections section one is going to be

about why I chose to do YouTube in the

first place and my journey to starting

this channel section two is going to be

about the four ways that YouTube has

changed my life in just a little over 4

months and section three is going to be

about the future and where I'm going

from here so without further Ado let's

get into

it so why YouTube and why did I start

this channel I feel like a lot of

creators say this but I have actually

been wanting to start a YouTube channel

for a very long time the first time that

I actually considered doing YouTube was

when I was years old and I actually did

start filming a first video I had the

idea to start a channel then because at

this point in my life I had just

recovered from an eating disorder that I

had been struggling with during 8th

grade and during my freshman year of

high school I had this feeling that I

went through what I did for a reason and

that reason was to help other people not

have to go through what I did I learned

so much from that really hard time in my

life and I felt like I had something to

say I think it's good that I didn't

start a channel then because because I

had no idea how far I still had to go

and over the years as I've continued to

heue my relationship with my body and

with food and exercise I think I've

learned so much more and that mission

has evolved and strengthened into what

it is today and what I preach on my

channel now another goal with starting

this channel was that I wanted to

challenge myself to get outside my

comfort zone and do something that I

never thought I could do and this

channel has definitely been out of my

comfort Zone I honestly still get

nervous every single time that I turn

the camera on even though there's no one

else in the room and I'm literally just

talking to a camera I was so scared of

starting for so long because I just

thought I would fail I thought I would

maybe upload one video and then get

scared and back out or make excuses and

decide that I'm too busy I would

announce that I was starting it and then

it just wouldn't go anywhere and

everyone would judge me for it then at

the beginning of this year I decided

that I was tired of waiting around until

I felt comfortable enough or confident

enough to start making videos so I just

decided to take the leap of faith and

just do it one thing that helped me a

lot in the beginning was Ali abdallah's

advice that was in one of his videos I

can't remember which one but he has a

ton of videos that are great resources

for new creators if you are looking to

start or grow your YouTube channel I

will link his channel down in the

description below but I remember him

saying in one of his videos something

that really stuck with me which is that

your first 50 videos are going to suck

and that that's okay because your first

50 videos don't matter almost no one is

seeing those videos those first 50

videos aren't about trying to get views

or get subscribers they are just for you

for learning how to do YouTube how to

film how to talk to a camera how to edit

this piece of advice has honestly helped

me so much because there are so many

times where I'm sitting there editing a

video or I'm even sitting there talking

to the camera trying to film film a

video and I just get super down on

myself because I feel like this just

completely sucks no one's going to want

to watch this no one wants to see this I

don't even want to keep watching this

and so in those moments I just remind

myself that it doesn't matter if it

sucks because it's not about trying to

make this video Perfect it's about me

learning and me learning how to make

videos like I said he has a lot of other

great advice so go and check out his

channel if you do want to see it I

highly highly recommend so that is one

piece of advice advice I have for people

who are looking to start a Channel or

who are just starting their channel do

not worry if you feel like your first

videos suck because they probably will

and at the end of the day it doesn't

matter those first 50 are just for you

to get your feet wet and to just

start so now let's get into part two of

this video which is the four ways that

YouTube has changed my life in the 4

months since I have started this channel

the first major thing that this channel

has given me is com confidence I will

say nothing gives you confidence than

doing something that you truly did not

think you were going to be able to do

when I started this Channel at the

beginning of January I made a commitment

to myself that I was going to upload one

video every single week and honestly

when I set that goal I was not totally

sure if I was going to be able to do

that I didn't know if I was going to

have enough ideas if I was going to have

enough time if I was going to be able to

figure out how to edit my videos I was

truly starting from square one I didn't

know know how to do anything in an

effort to commit myself even more to

this I bribed Myself by telling myself

that I made it to 20 videos of

consecutively uploading every week then

I would buy myself camera and since I

posted that first video on January 9th I

haven't missed a single week it

definitely hasn't been easy there have

been weeks where I've had to make

sacrifices in order to make sure that

the video gets finished and is uploaded

before the next Tuesday I've also

traveled a good amount in the past

couple of months so I had to make sure

that I was planning ahead of time and

scheduling when to film videos and when

I was going to be able to edit them in

order to make sure that I was still

uploading on my weekly basis and somehow

I've found a way to fit it in despite

the traveling despite my other part-time

job social things with my friends and

studying to be a personal trainer and

what this whole experience has taught me

is that if I set my mind to something I

can do hard things even things that

previously seemed impossible to me I

never thought I would be sitting here

today able to say that I have uploaded a

YouTube video every single week for 4

months but here I am it's not only given

me confidence in myself and my abilities

but it's also given me confidence in who

I am as a person and the value that I

can bring to others yes I only have 160

subscribers which does not seem like a

lot and in the grand scheme of things

probably isn't but I still see that as

160 people who see value in who I am and

what I'm doing enough to hit that

subscribe button and that alone just

means the absolute the world to me I

would also like to point out that this

is video number 20 and I did order that

camera last night the second way that

this channel has changed my life is that

it has re-sparked my creativity as a kid

I loved creating things the first two

things that I always said I wanted to be

when I grew up were an author and an

interior designer but then as I got

older and moved up in grades in school

and high school in college I began to

focus so much more on my academics that

it kind of overshadow shadowed any sort

of creative Hobbies or passions that I

may have had before a couple years ago I

even started saying that I wasn't a

creative person and I wasn't creative

that was actually one of the fears I had

and one of the things stopping me from

starting this channel was I was afraid

that I just wasn't creative enough and I

wasn't going to be able to come up with

enough ideas to make videos about or

have enough things to talk about but

just doing it and starting has really

begun to bring back that creative side

of myself that I feel like has kind of

just been lying dormant for a long time

I feel like I've had this creative hole

in me for a while and YouTube has really

started filling it again and all of it

has also led to a Resurgence in my

creativity creativity is exactly that it

is a muscle so the more you work it the

stronger that it's going to get so if

what is stopping you from starting a

YouTube channel is the fear that I had

that you're not creative enough then

listen to this the more time you allow

yourself to have with creating things

the more creative you are going to get

and the more creative you're going to be

able to be the third way that YouTube

has been changing my life is by

challenging my perfectionism I've been a

perfectionist my entire life and it's

been a major block to my creativity it's

my natural tendency to be afraid to put

anything out there that isn't perfect or

isn't exactly the way that I want it or

I had imagined it to be in my head when

I started my YouTube I quickly had to

accept that if I only was going to to

put out videos that I felt like were

good enough or perfect enough for me I

was never going to post anything so

instead of fighting the imperfection of

my videos I'm trying to just embrace it

if you've seen my other videos you can

probably tell it's already part of my

personality to not take myself too

seriously so I try to just Infuse that

into my videos it's why I'll often put

bloopers at the end or I'll put just

short little funny clips in there of me

messing up maybe switch them or showing

you guys my greasy hair my hair needs to

be washed literally so bad it's not just

me being my authentic self but it's also

me trying to be okay with the fact that

I'm going to be imperfect and these

videos are going to be imperfect

sometimes the camera angle is going to

be a little bit wonky sometimes I'm

going to spill things on myself I'm

often going to trip over my words but

that is okay because it is just all a

part of who I am and it's all a part of

the process of doing YouTube that I'm

learning to fall in love with the final

way that this channel has changed my

life is that it has taught me to own my

dreams I'm finally starting to accept

what my dream is and what I actually

want which is this I want to create

content that is going to change people's

lives for the better I want to get my

mission and my why to as many people as

possible it's so scary saying that and

speaking that into existence because I'm

so scared of it not coming true but

here's the thing if we keep our dreams

to ourselves and we don't tell anyone or

even allow ourselves to think seriously

about them then how can we ever expect

them to happen I realized that the more

that I talk about this account and the

more that I talk about what I want out

of content creation and social media the

more that I start to believe that I can

actually make it happen and the more and

more those dreams start to become a

reality in my life even if I continue

putting effort into this Channel and

putting videos out there my dream of

focusing only on making content may

still never happen but it is definitely

not going to happen if I just give up

and stop doing it because it seems too

hard or I'm embarrassed about what other

people think of

me so where do we go from here like I

said this video is coming out at a time

when my life is about to start changing

really rapidly in the next month and a

half I am graduating college I'm going

to Europe for a couple weeks I'm going

back home to visit my family and in

Nashville and then I am moving to a

completely new city and starting a

completely new 9 to5 job all of that

said I'm going to have a lot less time

on my hands than I've had the past

couple of months to be able to put

effort into making YouTube videos I

truly did not even know how much I was

going to like doing YouTube when I first

started so I didn't even think about

what was going to happen after I did

graduate and after my job did start I

wasn't sure if I was going to continue

but I've honestly fallen so much in love

with making videos that I know that I

want to keep doing it like I said my

dream is to do this it is to make

content so I'm going to keep pursuing it

even if I do have other obligations in

my life I know that if I put in the work

I can find the time to do it at the end

of the day it's all about prioritization

and making sure that I'm making time in

my life for the things that are most

important to me and I'm not under any

kind of delusion that it's going to be

easy I know it's going to be really

difficult but it is something that I

want to continue to do because this

channel has brought me so much joy and I

truly find passion in it and when I'm

doing it so with all that said my answer

to the question of what's next is I

don't totally know where it's going to

go from here but I know that I am still

committed to making a video every week

and so when things get hard I'm just

going to focus on next week's video and

there's so many videos that I do want to

make I'm even thinking of expanding this

channel outside of just nutrition and

fitness I would love to talk about

reading I would love to talk about

productivity an organization so if any

of those sound interesting to you please

let me know down in the comments or you

can also shoot me a DM over on my

Instagram I would love to get your input

on what you would want to see from me

while I did say that these first 50

videos are for me at the same time I

want to be making content that is

Meaningful and matters to my audience so

yeah just let me know so that brings me

to the end of this video if you did like

it hit that like button down below and

go ahead and subscribe to my channel so

you can see all those incredible future

videos that I have coming for you guys

thank you so much for watching and if

you do choose to subscribe thank you it

means so much to me the fact that you

are taking the time to show me that you

value what I'm saying and what I'm doing

means the absolute most to me and if you

are thinking of starting a YouTube

channel but are scared of failing take

it from me just take the leap of faith

do it I promise you won't regret it you

will learn so much about yourself I

already have and I'm only 4 and 1/2

months in so I will go ahead and leave

you with that and I will see you in the

next video

[Music]