Do I Regret Becoming a Freelance Video Editor?

Summary

The speaker reflects on their journey from office jobs to becoming a freelance video editor, highlighting the challenges of self-discipline and mental strain in freelancing. Despite the difficulties, they advocate for the value of pursuing one's passion and the importance of finding personal fulfillment in work, rather than merely working for someone else's dream. The video emphasizes the liberating yet demanding nature of self-employment and the need for resilience and discipline in the face of life's uncertainties.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker is a freelance video editor who finds satisfaction in their work and has built a life around it.
• 😤 They have a history of quitting office jobs due to feeling treated unfairly or being made to feel inferior by superiors.
• 🤔 The speaker contemplated different career paths before settling on freelancing, influenced by their interest in video content and YouTube.
• 🎬 They found success in freelancing by delivering high-quality work and building long-term client relationships.
• 🏢 The speaker contrasts the sense of safety in office jobs with the reality of low effort and limited growth opportunities.
• 💡 The transition to freelancing required a significant adjustment in mindset, particularly in terms of discipline and self-motivation.
• 🧘‍♂️ The importance of self-discipline is highlighted, as it's no longer externally imposed but must be cultivated internally.
• 🔄 The challenges of balancing work and life in a freelance setting, such as managing one's own schedule and maintaining focus.
• 🤯 The mental strain of freelancing is underscored, with the need to overdeliver on projects and the pressure of self-employment.
• 🌪 The unpredictability of life and the impact it can have on one's motivation and routine, especially during challenging times.
• 🚀 The speaker advocates for taking control of one's life and career, emphasizing the value of personal fulfillment over job security.
• 🛑 They argue against the 9-to-5 lifestyle if it means working solely for the sake of a paycheck without finding meaning or value in the work.
• 💪 The video concludes with a call to embrace the struggle of self-employment as a worthwhile endeavor for personal growth and autonomy.

Q & A

What career change did the speaker make after working in different office jobs?

The speaker transitioned from various office jobs to becoming a freelance video editor.

Why did the speaker quit their office jobs after a few months?

The speaker quit their office jobs due to feeling treated unfairly and being subjected to power dynamics where superiors tried to make them feel inferior.

What was the speaker's initial reaction after quitting an unfair job?

The speaker felt amazing and a sense of relief after quitting jobs where they were treated unfairly.

What motivated the speaker to become a freelancer?

The speaker was influenced by YouTube creators and was passionate about video content, which led them to create a YouTube channel and eventually become a freelance video editor.

How did the speaker's first clients as a freelancer impact their career?

The speaker's first clients became long-term clients, providing a stable source of income and helping to sustain their life as a freelancer.

What is the main challenge the speaker faces as a freelance video editor?

The main challenge is the mental drain of overdelivering on every project and managing their own schedule and discipline without external sources.

Why does the speaker feel that working in an office can lead to a 'low effort, low quality life'?

The speaker believes that office jobs can become routine and monotonous, where one does the bare minimum and doesn't experience much personal or professional growth.

What does the speaker suggest is necessary for a freelancer to succeed?

The speaker suggests that a freelancer needs to build self-discipline, resilience, and the ability to manage their own schedule and tasks effectively.

How does the speaker view the idea of working for someone else's dream versus their own?

The speaker believes that working for someone else's dream without caring about the work is sad and unfulfilling, and encourages taking control of one's life and pursuing personal goals.

What is the speaker's perspective on the safety of office jobs compared to freelancing?

The speaker argues that office jobs are not necessarily safer, as companies can fail at any time, and encourages embracing the challenges and risks of freelancing.

What is the main message the speaker wants to convey in their video?

The main message is that while freelancing and being in control of one's life is challenging and not easy, it is a struggle that is worth it for the freedom and fulfillment it can bring.

Outlines

00:00

😀 The Journey to Freelance Video Editing

The speaker shares their personal journey from office jobs to becoming a freelance video editor. They express dissatisfaction with traditional employment due to feeling inferior and treated unfairly, leading to a series of job changes. The transition to freelancing was influenced by a passion for video content, which they pursued by creating a YouTube channel. As a freelancer, they found satisfaction in creating high-quality work for clients, but also discovered the mental challenges of project-based work and the importance of self-discipline in managing their own schedule and life.

05:04

🤔 The Struggle and Freedom of Freelancing

This paragraph delves into the complexities of freelance life, contrasting the perceived safety of office jobs with the liberating yet challenging reality of self-employment. The speaker discusses the difficulty of maintaining discipline and productivity without external structure, and the psychological impact of being responsible for one's own success and failures. They also touch on the resilience required to handle unexpected life events and the existential questions that arise when the future seems uncertain. Despite the struggles, the speaker finds value in the freedom to pursue personal goals and the opportunity to create something meaningful, rather than just working for someone else's dream.

10:04

🙌 Embracing the Freelance Lifestyle

In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes by emphasizing the worthiness of the freelance struggle. They argue that the challenges of self-discipline, resilience, and personal responsibility are preferable to a life spent working for someone else's aspirations. The speaker encourages viewers to consider the risks and rewards of taking control of their own lives, suggesting that the potential for personal growth and fulfillment outweighs the security of a traditional job. The video serves as a reflection on the importance of autonomy and the value of pursuing one's own path, despite the inherent difficulties.

Keywords

💡freelance video editor

A freelance video editor is a professional who works independently, typically on a contract basis, editing video content for various clients. This role is central to the video's theme, as the speaker discusses their journey and experiences in this profession, highlighting the freedom and challenges it presents. The term is used when the speaker describes their current job and how it sustains their life.

💡satisfaction

Satisfaction in this context refers to the speaker's contentment with their career choice and life decisions. It is a key concept as the speaker reflects on their past jobs and current freelance work, questioning whether they would change anything and ultimately concluding that their struggle as a freelancer is worth it.

💡office jobs

Office jobs are traditional employment positions where one works in an office environment, often with a hierarchical structure. The speaker contrasts their negative experiences in office jobs, where they felt inferior and treated unfairly, with the autonomy and control they have as a freelancer.

💡inequality

Inequality is the unfair treatment or perceived lower status in comparison to others, particularly those in higher positions. The speaker mentions feeling inferior due to the power dynamics in office jobs, which contributed to their decision to quit and pursue a different career path.

💡freedom

Freedom in this video script signifies the independence and autonomy the speaker experiences as a freelancer. It is a core theme, as the speaker discusses the liberation from traditional employment and the ability to control one's work and life, despite the challenges it brings.

💡discipline

Discipline is the self-control and orderliness needed to perform tasks and achieve goals without external supervision. The speaker emphasizes the importance of self-discipline in maintaining productivity and consistency as a freelancer, especially when working from home.

💡YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing platform that influenced the speaker's career choice. The speaker mentions being 'addicted' to YouTube and influenced by video content creators, which led to the creation of their own YouTube channel and eventually becoming a freelance video editor.

💡overdeliver

To overdeliver means to exceed expectations, often in the context of providing a service or product. The speaker mentions the importance of overdelivering in freelance work to stand out and maintain client satisfaction, which can be mentally draining.

💡resilience

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties or adapt to change. The speaker discusses the need for resilience in freelance work, as one must be prepared to face uncertainties and maintain motivation despite external challenges.

💡9 to 5

The term '9 to 5' refers to the traditional full-time work schedule, typically from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The speaker contrasts the perceived safety of a 9 to 5 job with the liberating yet challenging experience of being a freelancer, suggesting that neither offers true security.

💡value

Value in this context refers to the worth or importance that the speaker finds in their work. The speaker expresses dissatisfaction with office jobs where they did not find value, and instead seeks meaningful work that aligns with their interests and passions.

Highlights

The speaker has become a freelance video editor and found their niche after a few years.

They are skilled at their job and it sustains their life, but they question their satisfaction and past career choices.

The speaker had quit three office jobs due to feeling inferior and treated unfairly by superiors.

After quitting, they felt a sense of freedom and happiness, which was very rewarding.

The desire to become a freelancer was sparked without a clear idea of the job they wanted to do.

Influenced by YouTube, they created a channel and began learning video editing, which eventually led to freelance work.

The speaker's first freelance clients became long-term, allowing them to sustain their life through their work.

Working in an office provides a false sense of security and often leads to a low-effort, low-quality life.

Freelancing requires putting one's best into each project and can be mentally draining.

The freelance lifestyle involves self-discipline and figuring out one's own schedule.

Discipline often comes from external sources, making self-discipline a challenging aspect of freelancing.

Living in isolation requires a high level of discipline and willpower to maintain a consistent routine.

The speaker can create as many days off as they want, but this freedom comes with the challenge of maintaining motivation.

The grind and hustle mentality may not work when faced with real-world challenges and setbacks.

Working for someone else's dream can be unfulfilling if it doesn't align with one's own goals and values.

The speaker believes that the struggle of freelancing is worth it for the opportunity to take control of one's life.

Freelancing offers the chance to discover personal drivers, motivations, and resilience.

The speaker argues that having problems to solve as a freelancer is better than working a 9-to-5 job without passion.

Freelancing is liberating but not easy, and the video aims to convey that it's a worthwhile challenge.

Transcripts

so I became a freelance video editor and

right now after a couple of years of

doing this I can say that yeah this is

me this is my job this is what I do this

is what I'm kind of good at and this

sustains my life but am I satisfied with

it or I would want to rewind back the

time of my life and do something

differently uh I worked at different

office jobs three total at different

points of my life and I was quitting

after four to five months on each job I

was quitting at a point where person who

was higher than me in terms of the

position tried to use their power over

me and they wanted to make me feel like

I'm inferior to them that thing bothered

me right away I could cook it for one

week in my head and then eventually I

will definitely leave the place where I

was working at and I was really happy

when I did that at each company when I

felt that I was treated unfairly I quit

and then I continue to live my life and

found another way to find another job or

to earn more money or to not be

Dependable on those people who treated

me like [ __ ] every time when I

eventually succeeded in that I felt

amazing that was one of the most amazing

feelings that I had and then at some

point I decided that I eventually want

to become a freelancer and I didn't know

the the the actual job job what I want

to do I I was looking at copywriting I

was looking at I don't know website

design like front end development

anything what stuck on me is that I was

kind of addicted to YouTube and to some

creators and I was really influenced by

the video content that I was consuming

created my YouTube channel and I started

working on videos and they actually

turned out all right and I learned more

and more and more I guess when I was

ready I became a freelancer I got my

first clients they all became my

long-term clients and yeah now I'm

working with them and I can sustain my

life out of it so that's all good but

when you're working in the office you

kind of feel safer because first of

all when you attend to the office you

don't have to do [ __ ] out there let's be

honest most of the time most of the time

I I'm not sure about anyone else but a

lot of times you just you just you're

just in the office doing something the

the bare minimum that you have to do and

just leave after you left your work you

don't think about it anymore you're just

free you do whatever you want but then

the next morning you have to wake up no

matter what go to your work and do the

same [ __ ] again and again and it's

basically low effort low quality life

that you will get from working on those

kind of companies cuz you are not really

struggling it's not really hard but at

the same time you will not get a lot of

growth from it when I transition to

freelance video editing I work project

by project I'm not working on the uh I'm

not working on the retainer I have to

put my best in each project that I do

and I'm trying to really put my best but

I never realized how mentally draining

it is to treat every task every project

that some random client sends to you and

you have to basically overd deliver on

every project that you're doing you know

the main the main rule for every

beginner freelance video editor or

anyone else under promise overd deliver

so when I did that I realized how

mentally draining it is plus we are

adding the fact that you have to figure

out your own schedule you're basically

you're free now you are in control of

your life you do what you want to do

you can wake up whenever you want you

can exercise whenever you want you can

work whenever you want and like you can

decide for how long you want to work or

how much you want to get done in a day

personally in my life discipline always

came from outside sources like when I

played basketball for 10 years it came

from my coach when I was working on some

jobs it came from some higher people the

discipline that you have to build by

yourself for yourself it's it's a

completely different beast when you live

at home kind of isolated because of the

war situation for example that I have

now or we had covid or you're living in

a small one room apartment and you have

to sleep here eat here work here and

also I don't know get some rest here and

you have to squeeze all those things

into this one place and that's your life

that's your whole life this takes a lot

of discipline a lot of willpower to make

yourself do all those separate things

without uh messing up with each other in

a consistent way for a long time to

achieve your long-term goals this is not

an easy life I would say I can create as

many days off as I want if I woke up and

I don't really want to work today I can

just not I can just get some rest play

video games go outside and each today

you have this question in your head am I

working today do I have am I in the mood

to work today yeah of course we can all

talk about grind set hustle and do stuff

like that but doesn't work that way to

be honest you know there is a certain

amount of bad things that can happen to

you in the outside world so that whole

the whole grind set of yours will be

will go to [ __ ] it's like yeah you are

cool while everything is great and you

are on the straight line but then one

[ __ ] happens the other [ __ ] happens and

you're not that resilient anymore you

understand that damn everything can

become even worse at any moment in time

and you start to question that whole

grind set and that whole routine that

you figured out for yourself because you

don't see any future or a real reason

you don't believe that you will have a

future and it's hard to find a reason to

do all those things that you planned to

do so yeah that's a completely different

topic but I'm just saying this so you

could understand that working for

yourself and working as a freelancer and

being free is not fully a Liberation but

I'm not a proponent of 9 to5 because

when you are working for someone for

someone else's dream and you don't care

about the thing that you do you only

care about the money it's like your

whole point of existence is to get that

salary at the end of the month and if

it's your only goal in your life that's

all you have to present to this world

from yourself that's a pretty sad thing

in my opinion yeah of course we all have

to do our jobs and stuff like that and

this and that but we have to at least

like it just a little bit or see value

in it and if I didn't see value in the

stuff that I was doing just staying

there and doing the [ __ ] that I don't

like that I don't care about I don't

know if you will be be happy when you

will be dying I don't know near death

experience just think if you will regret

your decision to stay at their at that

job and just doing that [ __ ] I don't

want to even think about that but I do

and that's why I'm actually recording

this video it's 1:00 a.m. but the main

point of this video is that I think that

this is the struggle that is worth it

because if you will never take your life

in your hands and try to figure out how

to stay disciplined by yourself how to

live life by yourself how to choose the

people to talk to choose the projects to

work on choose what do you want to do

with your life choose when to wake up

what is the best diet for you you have

all these opportunities you cannot

decide and yes there is much better

struggle than just blindly going through

your life working on in some place 9 to

5 and not giving a [ __ ] about what you

do I guess that that's much worse we

will always find problems to solve in my

opinion it is much better to have these

kind of problems where you have to dig

deeper here figure out yourself figure

out how to be resilient figure out how

to stay disciplined what are the

triggers that motivate you figure out

your main leverages in life your drivers

what drives you that's so much better

than basically give away 9 hours of your

life every day to fulfill some other

person's dreams and we all think that

yeah when we are work working at the job

we are safer no we are not every job has

a some person or a couple of persons who

created this company they are always

still afraid that the company will go to

[ __ ] at any moment so if you will not

take your chances and will not decide to

create something of your own because you

think that oh it's so much safer to work

for someone than to try to make

something of myself it is not safer it

can all also go to [ __ ] at any moment

it's the same way that you would create

a company and you would be afraid it's

just you don't want to be that person

who is afraid that's I guess about the

taking risks and responsibility and you

can decide what are the risks that

you're willing to take what are the

struggles that you are willing to take

on yourself being free from working for

someone that is very liberating and I

guess that's very great but it's not

easy and this video I guess is made to

tell you that it's all not easy but it's

totally worth

it thank you for watching