Why I Quit My $100,000+ Software Engineering Job…

Summary

The video script narrates the journey of a software engineer turned YouTuber, detailing the pivotal moment that led to his decision to quit his job and pursue content creation full-time. The story unfolds from his initial YouTube beginnings during the pandemic to the realization that he could not excel at both his job and his growing channel. With the support of his family and the inspiration from books like 'The Alchemist', he takes the leap of faith into the world of entrepreneurship, aiming to reach 100,000 subscribers by March 2025 and launch a podcast called 'Liftoff with the Mananager'.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The creator started his YouTube journey during the summer of 2020 after being inspired by Ali Abdal and other influencers, focusing initially on computer science and software engineering topics.
• 🌐 The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the creation of the channel, as it provided ample time for content creation while the creator was quarantined.
• 🔥 The channel gained traction with videos going viral, but YouTube remained a side project while the creator pursued a career in software engineering.
• 💡 In May 2023, the creator joined a software engineering company and continued to balance YouTube with his full-time job, investing his own money into the channel.
• 📈 The creator's commitment to YouTube intensified after joining Captain Sbad's YouTube coaching program, investing $5,000 and significantly increasing the time spent on content creation.
• 🚀 The turning point came when the creator felt overwhelmed by his job and the desire to focus on YouTube, leading to a digital detox and a realization that he needed to prioritize his passions.
• 📚 Reading 'The Alchemist' and listening to Ali Abdal's podcast inspired the creator to take the leap and pursue YouTube full-time, viewing it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
• 🤔 The creator faced a crossroads when his boss indicated that more effort was needed for a promotion, prompting the decision to quit his software engineering job to focus on YouTube.
• 💻 The creator resigned from his software engineering position in late February, with the support of his family who agreed to provide financial backing for a year.
• 🎯 With YouTube as his full-time endeavor, the creator aims to reach 100,000 subscribers by March 2025, setting a goal of publishing 100 videos within the next 12 months.
• 🎙️ The creator is launching a podcast called 'Liftoff with the Man' to share strategies and tools from successful individuals in the tech industry, further solidifying his commitment to the YouTube community.

Q & A

What was the turning point for the speaker to start his YouTube channel?

The speaker's turning point was in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when he discovered Ali Abdal's videos on active recall and space repetition, which inspired him to create content.

Why did the speaker decide to invest $5,000 in Captain Sbad's YouTube coaching program?

The speaker decided to invest after his brother encouraged him to apply, and upon getting accepted and realizing the potential value of professional coaching, he committed to the program despite the high cost.

How did the speaker's involvement with the YouTube coaching program change his approach to creating content?

After joining the coaching program, the speaker started treating YouTube like a part-time job, spending 10-20 hours a week on it, which significantly increased his focus and effort on creating content.

What book had a profound impact on the speaker's decision to go all-in on YouTube?

The book 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho had a profound impact on the speaker, inspiring him to pursue his passion for YouTube over his software engineering career.

Why did the speaker feel overwhelmed and consider a digital detox?

The speaker felt overwhelmed due to increased job stress and a sense of disconnection, which he associated with his phone and social media, leading him to seek a digital detox.

What was the speaker's reaction to his boss's statement about needing to put in more effort to get promoted?

The speaker felt that his boss's statement was the final straw that confirmed he needed to choose between his job and his YouTube channel, ultimately deciding to prioritize YouTube.

What was the speaker's primary goal for his YouTube channel after quitting his software engineering job?

The speaker's primary goal was to hit 100,000 subscribers by March 2025, which he believes would allow him to make a full-time income from YouTube.

How did the speaker's family react when he told them about his decision to quit his job and focus on YouTube?

The speaker's family, particularly his parents, were supportive and agreed to provide a financial safety net for a year, which gave him the confidence to pursue YouTube full-time.

What is the name of the podcast the speaker launched, and what is its focus?

The speaker launched a podcast called 'Liftoff with the man manazer', which focuses on highlighting strategies and tools from other successful people in the tech industry.

What was the speaker's realization about his skills and where they are best utilized?

The speaker realized that his skills were more aligned with packaging up advice, teaching, and creating content to help others in the tech field rather than pursuing the highest levels of technical roles himself.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Transition from Software Engineer to Full-Time YouTuber

The speaker reflects on their journey from a software engineering intern to a full-time YouTuber. They recount their initial foray into content creation during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspired by Ali Abdal and other influencers. Despite initial success with their YouTube channel and Skillshare class, the speaker continued to view YouTube as a side project during their college years. After graduation, they accepted a software engineering position in Madison, Wisconsin, but their passion for YouTube persisted. The turning point came when they joined Captain Sbad's YouTube coaching program, which significantly increased their commitment to content creation, leading to a decision to focus solely on YouTube.

05:01

💡 Life-Changing Decisions and the Impact of 'The Alchemist'

The speaker describes a pivotal moment in their life influenced by the book 'The Alchemist' and a YouTube video by Ali Abdal. They resolved to end their long-distance relationship by moving to North Carolina and considered reducing their YouTube efforts to focus more on their software engineering career. However, the realization that they could prioritize their true passion led to the decision to commit fully to YouTube. The speaker also discusses their experience with a digital detox and the clarity it provided for their future direction.

10:02

🔑 The Crossroads of Career Choice and the Catalyst for Change

The speaker narrates a critical conversation with their boss, who indicated that more effort was needed for a promotion. This served as a catalyst for the speaker to make a definitive choice between continuing as a software engineer or pursuing a career on YouTube. They realized they could not excel at both and decided to resign from their job to focus on growing their YouTube channel, despite the lack of a guaranteed income.

15:03

🤔 The Struggle with Sacrifice and Seeking Support

The speaker discusses the internal struggle of potentially sacrificing their YouTube channel to focus on a software engineering career. They sought advice from a therapist and decided to ask their parents for financial support if needed. With their parents' reassurance, they felt more confident in their decision to leave their job and commit to YouTube full-time, understanding the need to forgo certain luxuries for the pursuit of their passion.

20:03

🎯 Setting Goals for YouTube Success and Future Plans

The speaker outlines their ambitious goal to reach 100,000 subscribers on YouTube by March 2025, which they believe will provide a sustainable full-time income. They acknowledge the possibility of returning to software engineering if YouTube does not meet their financial needs. The speaker also shares their intention to launch a podcast called 'Liftoff with the Man,' aiming to share strategies and tools from successful individuals in the tech industry, thus pivoting from personal content creation to curating knowledge from experts in the field.

Keywords

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube channel is a platform where content creators post videos to share information, entertainment, or educational material. In the video, the creator discusses the evolution of his YouTube channel from a side project to a full-time commitment, highlighting its significance in his career transition and personal growth.

💡Software Engineering

Software Engineering refers to the professional practice of designing, developing, and maintaining software systems. The video's creator initially worked as a software engineer but eventually chose to leave this career path to pursue his passion for creating content on YouTube.

💡Quarantine

Quarantine is a measure taken to prevent the spread of disease by isolating individuals who may have been exposed. In the context of the video, the COVID-19 quarantine period led the creator to discover new interests and opportunities, including starting his YouTube channel.

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching, and running a new business. The video's theme involves the creator's journey into entrepreneurship through building his YouTube channel and eventually leaving his job to focus on it full-time.

💡Skillshare

Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes in design, business, tech, and more. The creator's first foray into content creation was through Skillshare, where he published a class on the C++ programming language, which he later leveraged into his YouTube content.

💡Content Creation

Content creation involves the process of making and publishing digital media content, such as videos, blogs, podcasts, etc. The video's creator discusses his transition from being a student and software engineer to a full-time content creator on YouTube.

💡Digital Nomad

A digital nomad is a person who leverages technology to earn a living and work remotely, often traveling. The video mentions Ali Abdal's decision to become a digital nomad, which inspired the creator to consider a similar lifestyle change.

💡Performance Review

A performance review is an assessment of an employee's job performance. In the video, the creator's boss conducts a performance review where he indicates that the creator needs to put in more effort to be promoted, prompting the creator to reassess his career priorities.

💡Resignation

Resignation refers to the act of formally indicating one's intention to leave a job or position. The creator drafted and submitted a resignation letter to his boss, deciding to leave his software engineering job to focus on his YouTube channel.

💡Podcast

A podcast is a digital audio program available for series consumption on the internet. The creator announces the launch of his podcast called 'Liftoff with the man manazer,' aiming to share strategies and tools from successful individuals in the tech industry.

💡Safety Net

A safety net is a financial or emotional support system that provides security or protection against potential risks or failures. The creator discusses the importance of having his parents' support as a safety net, allowing him to take the risk of quitting his job and pursuing YouTube full-time.

Highlights

Creator's realization of needing to invest more time and effort into YouTube to achieve promotion.

The journey from starting a YouTube channel in June 2020 to its growth and impact on the creator's life.

Influence of Ali Abdal and other entrepreneurs on the creator's decision to delve into entrepreneurship and self-improvement.

The role of the COVID-19 pandemic in providing the creator with the time and opportunity to start and grow the YouTube channel.

The creator's experience with viral videos on YouTube and the decision to remain in software engineering despite YouTube's success.

The creator's full-time job offer as a software engineer and the continued side hustle of YouTube content creation.

The pivotal moment of joining Captain Sbad's YouTube coaching program, a significant investment of $5,000.

The transformative effect of the coaching program on the creator's approach to YouTube, treating it as a part-time job.

The creator's struggle with balancing a full-time job with a growing passion for YouTube, leading to a decision to change careers.

Ali Abdal's influence again, this time motivating the creator to choose a life of content creation over a traditional career.

The creator's decision to move to North Carolina to end a long-distance relationship and its connection to career choices.

The creator's experience of a digital detox and the profound impact of reading 'The Alchemist' on career direction.

The creator's realization that they could not excel at both software engineering and YouTube simultaneously.

The support from family and friends in the creator's decision to pursue YouTube full-time.

The creator's resignation from the software engineering job and the immediate shift to full-time YouTube content creation.

Goals for the YouTube channel, including reaching 100,000 subscribers by March 2025 and generating a full-time income.

The launch of a new podcast 'Liftoff with the Man' as part of the creator's commitment to the tech community and content creation.

The creator's final thoughts on the importance of pursuing passion and the journey from software engineer to full-time YouTuber.

Transcripts

am on you need to put more time effort

and hours and deliver more results

otherwise you're not going to be

promoted come summer and as soon as he

said that I knew I was done hey crew

welcome back to the channel you guys

read the title of this video this is not

a normal one of my videos I'm not going

to be talking about how to get better at

lead code how to find a software

engineer internship this is a story of

why I'm no longer a software engineer

the story is structured in several

chapters so maybe make a cup of coffee

put in your airpods or hit the gym I'm

going to take you all the way back to

June of 2020 the summer would I started

this YouTube channel I had just finished

by freshman year studying computer

science and Co had just hit which meant

that I was at home doing nothing just

quarantining with my family and around

that time I discovered Ali abdal for the

first time I watched a bunch of his

videos on active recall space repetition

and that blew my mind and then I found a

video where he talked about how much

money he made and specifically how much

money he made off of skillshare and once

I saw that I was sold I sat there with

my brother and I filmed my very first

piece of content which was a skillshare

class on c c was a programing language I

was using in my very first software

engineering internship that summer I

published at skillshare class and that's

when everything started for me after

that I consumed a ton more of all these

content started watching Gary ve I found

Joe Rogan nval Ravon Tim Ferris and I

basically stepped foot in the world of

Entrepreneurship and self-improvement

that summer I published my very first

YouTube video about why I had a MacBook

Pro as a computer signed student and

from then on I was hooked I was

publishing new YouTube videos one two

times a month for months and months and

months now at that time of my life I was

still very much a college student

student I had three more years of school

left so YouTube was always a side thing

I would do my classes do my homework

apply to internships and then in my free

time I would go and film YouTube videos

which meant that in my first 2 to 3

years of making YouTube videos I only

really published maybe one video a month

on average and during that time I was

also editing all of my own videos and

the reason I had so much time was

because it was Co no one was doing

anything I was just sitting in this room

that you see around you right now I had

very few friends I was just spend all

day on my homework sit down here film

some videos just edit them all myself if

it wasn't for Co this channel would

never exist so at least that's one

positive of the pandemic now again

around that time I had a few viral

bangers for example my notion video went

viral had 200 300,000 views on it my

Amazon video also went viral got like

100,000 views on it as well but largely

YouTube was just a side thing I didn't

really see it as a career option

something that I was going to go all

into again it was a bit of a pipe dream

like in my mind I thought hey one day 5

10 years from now if this channel just

magically blows up maybe I'll leave

software engineering maybe I'll go into

it fulltime and see how it goes this

takes me all the way to when I graduated

college last year in May of 2023 around

12 months ago and again YouTube was

always the side thing up until that

point now in May of 2023 YouTube was

still the side thing I had a full-time

offer to become a software engineer I

was joining a company in Madison

Wisconsin I was super excited about that

and I was still publishing only one

video a month granted the videos were

getting better they were getting higher

quality cuz I did care about the channel

I was putting my internship money and my

full-time job money into the channel but

I still never took it super seriously so

I started working at same go the

software engineering company in Madison

and I loved it for 3 to 4 months all I

did was just work as a software engineer

I didn't really even care about YouTube

around that time if you look back at my

Channel History you'll see that last

summer of 2023 I only really published a

handful of videos some of them ended up

doing well my internship video ended up

doing well but other than that it was

just really a side thing I ended up

barely posting for the first 6 months of

work I took it seriously but it wasn't

my entire life I was enjoying the summer

I was hanging out with my friends I

joined the rowing team for the first

time I really ramped up my singing

lessons I was taking the gym more

seriously life was good I was just

enjoying the summer now let's go to

October of 2023 5 to 6 months after I

started working my job my brother calls

me and tells me that this YouTuber

Captain sbad has launched a YouTube

coaching program now I've been watching

Captain Sinbad's videos for years at

this point and I had seen that he was

posting advertisements in his YouTube

videos about having this kind of group

Mastermind YouTube coaching program

where he was helping people become

YouTubers and I always had at the back

of my mind Hey it might be interesting

to actually buy a YouTube coaching

program I never spent money on learning

how to do this better but in the back of

my mind I knew that hey it might

actually be valuable to do that but his

application was actually kind of

annoying so I spent months and months

and months not applying until my brother

just called me one more time and was

like bro you have to apply to this

program just apply and see what the

price is so then I submitted the

application I actually spent some time

and effort writing out my responses

really workshopping it so I had a really

solid application and I didn't hear

anything back for one to two months

until finally out of nowhere Captain CAD

sent me an email and in that email he

said that he loved my YouTube channel

he'd Lov to hop on the call with me chat

with me and see if I'd be a good fit for

the coaching program when I got that

email at work I was overjoyed I never

had a YouTuber a professional YouTuber a

real content creator even see my name

reach out to me or anything like that so

I excitedly set up a call with Captain

simbad and that call happened a few days

later now in that call I actually talked

to one of his guys Mano his head of

sales at the time and Manoj convinced me

that I should join this coaching program

now he told me the price on the call it

was $5,000 and that amount of money I

had never spent on anything in my entire

life before 5 grand that's months and

months of Ren in food so it was hard to

make that decision on the call so I hung

up then I talked to my brothers I talked

to my parents I talked to my girlfriend

and we all decided whether this program

was actually worth investing into and in

that moment I realized hey I love this

YouTube thing I've been earning a ton of

money from my job I have a bunch of

money saved up for my internships why

don't I just put $5,000 in this thing

and if I don't end up liking it he had a

guarantee where you could do half the

program and if you didn't like it You'

get your money back as long as you did

the work and I knew that I was going to

do the work I knew I would show up to

every single call I knew I would do all

the assignments so I decided to just

risk it and just put $5,000 into this

coaching program and at the time

honestly people thought I was crazy I

told my friends that I'd spent 5 grand

on YouTube coaching and they looked at

me dumbfounded they were like who the

spends that kind of money on

anything so I joined Captain simbads

YouTube coaching program and that

changed everything for me the thing is

that I'm the kind of person who if I

commit if I put the money in there is no

world where I don't actually do the work

and take advantage of the resources that

I've just purchased no world at all

which is why I'm such a huge fan of

spending on high ticket boot camps High

ticket coaching programs or even giving

my friend $11,000 and only having them

give it back to me if I complete a

certain challenge I knew that if there

was money on the line I would perform

now as soon as I joined that coaching

program my entire world shifted now I

had this money in the line so I ended up

spending 10 20 hours a week on YouTube

aside from work there were days where in

the morning I would wake up at 600 work

on YouTube for 1 to 2 hours go to work

during lunch come back work on YouTube

for 1 to 2 hours leave work at 5:00 and

then work on YouTube for 3 to four more

hours that day that's how insane I was

about YouTube and then literally on

every single week weekend I was spending

all day Saturday and all day Sunday

grinding on my channel there was so much

focus it was Unreal YouTube effectively

took over my entire life I would go to

work but instead of coding instead of

doing good work as a software engineer

there were days when I would spend the

entire day just dreaming about working

on my channel it effectively became a

part-time job and it was starting to eat

away my focus when it came to my

programming and software work now it's

fast forward a couple months to November

or December of 2023 this video came out

oie abdall published this video it's

kind of like an unfiltered video kind of

like this one where he talked about how

his life was changing he was going to go

become a digital Nomad and he was

choosing to make less money to follow

his dreams which were only making videos

when he wanted to he wasn't going to

make them on any kind of time pressure

he was going to avoid doing sponsorships

unnecessarily he was going to take his

life into his own hands and I actually

listened to that video in the shower as

I was getting ready one day and it

changed my entire life because as soon

as I stepped out of that shower I

decided that I was going to move to

North Carolina now North Carolina Seems

completely random you probably have no

idea why I mentioned that but let me

give you some backstory here so my

girlfriend and I have been in a

long-distance relationship for the past

3 to 4 years and that relationship

started during Co it was around March of

2021 and we've maintained it long

distance up until now we have spent a

few months here and there living with

each other but largely this relationship

was built off of us flying back and

forth for years and years and years and

I didn't really know when the long

distance was going to end like in my

mind I thought okay at some point we'll

find jobs in the same area just moving

together but but in that moment when I

heard Ali abdal tell me via my

headphones in the shower that you could

choose to make less money that there was

an option that you could make the active

decision to scale back your life to

prioritize what you actually care about

at the cost of making less money I knew

that I had to quit my job my girlfriend

is doing a masters at NC State and I

knew that she couldn't move to Madison

Wisconsin so I knew that I had to be the

one to make the decision I had to leave

my job eventually so that I can move to

North Carolina and move in with her I

had to be the one to end the long

distance now again this was December of

2023 I had spent maybe 6 or 7 months

working at my full-time job so in my

mind I was like okay I'll reach a year

it'll hit June of 2024 then I'll quit my

job then I'll move to North Carolina

hell maybe I'll even ask my boss if I

can do remote or something I was still

planning on being a software engineer I

was going to move to North Carolina

maybe try to get a job at Microsoft or

Google down there or something like that

in my mind I was still a software

engineer first YouTuber second now we

hit the next chapter of this story which

is February of 2024 now around this time

of my life it was the dead of winter it

was super cold outside and I started to

experience a level of lowlevel anxiety I

don't know if I would call it depression

but there were days where I would wake

up and I would just feel completely

overwhelmed completely overloaded with

things my job was getting more stressful

for some reason I would find it tough to

connect with my co-workers getting out

of bed in the morning started to become

a little bit of an issue and in my mind

somehow I Associated all of that with my

phone which is kind of a weird thing to

say right like I don't know why but I

thought my phone and social media and

the over stimulation was causing all

this issues so there was a moment where

I was in a random museum in London and I

saw a picture of a cabin and in that

moment when I saw that cabin I was just

hit with this feeling that I had to go

to some kind of cabin and just do a

digital detox and just get rid of

everything I actually cataloged all of

this in real time on my newsletter you

can subscribe at aman.com newsletter if

you want more real time updates but

after I saw the painting I decided okay

I'm going to a cabin it's going to

happen sometime in February I'm going to

do a full digital detox weekend so

that's what I did I bought three books

man search for meaning The Alchemist and

a random Stephen King book and I locked

my phone so I couldn't actually access

any social media apps I could only make

emergency phone calls and emergency

texts and over that weekend in this

cabin I spent the entire day of reading

on Saturday specifically I went to this

random cafe Brought The Alchemist by Pao

quo and then read that entire book from

start to finish and that changed

everything The Alchemist is a story

about this Shepherd boor named Santiago

who gets hit with this Vision that

there's this treasure underneath the

pyramids of Egypt so he decides to go in

this epic journey across the straight of

jalter across Northern Africa to try to

seek the treasure now there's so many

quotes from that book that completely

blew my mind when I first first read

them one of them is I can always go back

to being a Shepherd the boy thought I

learned how to care for sheep and I

haven't forgotten how that's done but

maybe I'll never have another chance to

get to the pyramids in Egypt and as soon

as I read that my brain just clicked I

realized that I could swap out the words

shepherd with software engineer and

pyramids in Egypt with YouTuber stick

with me in my mind I rrad the quote as I

can always go back to being a software

engineer hell my entire YouTube channel

is about getting a job in software

engineering I know how it's done I know

I can find a job in software engineering

if I actually want to but maybe I'll

never have another chance to go all into

YouTube to become a YouTuber to become a

content creator to live up to the vision

that ol abdal painted for Me 3 4 years

ago and in that moment I knew that I had

to go all into YouTube and that was

going to happen come June So the plan

originally was in June I was going to

quit move to North Carolina get another

software engineering job and just

maintain that life but after finishing

The Alchemist I just made the decision

no I'm going all into YouTube come June

there is no world where I don't take

this risk where I don't take this on

myself to see if I can make something of

this channel by the way another great

book other than the alchemist that

really informed this decision to go all

in on YouTube was Million dooll weekend

Manoa Kagan no Kagan is a Serial

entrepreneur investor and CEO and he's

worth about $36 million and one of the

key lessons of the book is to start

before you're ready so many people waste

a decade of their life thinking that

they don't have the right idea that they

have to spend just a few more years

working at a company before they come up

with the right option Noah Kagan

emphasizes the point that your first

company will will most likely fail even

if you spend a decade thinking about the

perfect idea you just don't have the

skills yet to start and run a successful

company so if you're entrepreneurial at

all if you've ever had dreams of

starting the next great software company

you must read million dooll weekend if

you buy this book on Amazon it's $18 but

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video now the next little part of the

story also happened in February and that

was when I flew to Arizona to meet

Captain simbad he invited me out to

Phoenix because he was doing like a

informal kind of Mastermind thing in

Phoenix and there I met Nathan chance

the guy who runs the break the formula

podcast and he invited me to come on

that podcast you might have seen that

podcast already that's where I catalog

my entire life story and talk about tips

for getting internships my whole life

story how computer science changed

everything for me etc etc but the bigger

aspect of that was that I got to see

these two guys I got to see Captain sad

nil ponde that's his real name and

Nathan chance who were two entrepreneurs

I got to see how they lived their life

and more specifically I got to see that

they weren't Shackled to any kind of 9

to5 career so to go on that trip I had

to take a PTO day off like I had to use

one of my precious 14 vacation days for

the entire year

just so I could make that trip but these

guys they straight up just rented cars

they could drive all around Arizona they

could do whatever they wanted they

didn't have to answer to any kind of

boss or structure like that so that put

that lifestyle in the back of my mind I

was still a software engineer but I

started to Glimpse what life would be

like if I wasn't Shackled to a 9 to5

career there were also some funny

moments in that podcast where I would

not commit to saying that I was thinking

about leaving software engineering

because I was worried that my boss was

going to see it it's an interesting

snippet in time where I knew I was going

to leave eventually but I just didn't

want to say so because I didn't want to

make it public this year next year in

five years and 10 years like kind of

what's what's your thought process I'm

not going to definitively say exactly

what my plan is cuz like I still have a

job right now and that I need to you

know I need to like make sure that I

tread carefully in terms of like my

specific plans now we get to the final

part of the Story 2 days later after I

left the captain sbad Mastermind in

Arizona I had a one-on-one performance

review with my boss performance reviews

happen every couple months in software

engineering that's where your manager or

boss sits down with you and has an open

conversation about about how you're

doing at the company and in that

one-onone performance review my boss

turned to me and said am on you need to

put more time effort and hours and

deliver more results otherwise you're

not going to be promoted come summer and

as soon as he said that I knew I was

done long story short my boss had gotten

the vibe that my heart really wasn't in

software engineering or in other words

for the last one to two months ever

since I started treating YouTube like a

part-time job I was doing it in the

morning during lunch and after work my

boss sensed that my heart wasn't in

working at that company and I think what

he said is totally fair he even said I

think you're very capable engineer I

have noticed that you have great

potential and I think when you actually

put your mind to something you can

achieve great results here but he just

felt like there was more that I should

be doing if I wanted to become a senior

engineer in one or two years now let me

remind you this happened in February

2024 I was planning on quitting in June

anyway so whether I got promoted or not

had no impact on my life whatsoever but

as soon as he said that I would have to

put in more results for the next four or

5 months to deliver more just to push

more code just to make a greater impact

I knew that I was at a Crossroads and

the major crossroads was that I had to

give something up I had to make a

sacrifice I could no longer work at that

company and be a software engineer and

also have YouTube as a part-time job I

would rather have to cut down my YouTube

time take it back to one or two years

ago where I was only publishing once a

month it was kind of more of a hobby

than a job and then put those extra

hours back into software engineering and

then I could actually make an impact and

get promoted or I could leave my

software engineering job put 40 50 60

hours a week into this YouTube channel

and see where this goes and frankly it

felt like an absolute tragedy dis

sacrifice the thing that I looked

forward to the thing that I was dreaming

about every single day just to put more

time and effort into a 9 to5 job that I

was going to quit Anyway come June now

as soon as I had that realization that I

could not kill my baby I couldn't

sacrifice my true passion I reached out

to a bunch of people first I talked to

my therapist and in that therapy session

I had the realization that I could just

go and ask my parents to support me the

biggest reason why I was scared about

quitting was that I thought I was going

to starve I was not going to have

shelter food or water I was going to run

out of money and then be homeless now

obviously that sounds a little bit

dramatic but that was my thought process

in the back of my mind that I couldn't

quit because I didn't have a financial

backing or a safety net and in that

therapy session I realized that I just

need to call up my parents and ask them

hey if I leave software engineering and

put 12 months into this YouTube channel

will you back me up if I need money will

you support me for like a base level of

rent and food and expenses and is it

okay if I move back home and as soon as

I asked my parents that they were

completely supportive they in fact knew

that YouTube was my true passion around

that time and they were completely happy

to provide a safety net at least so that

I wouldn't worry about going hungry that

I would have basic food rent and

expenses covered from them now obviously

this meant that I wouldn't have much

income at all and I would have cut down

on a lot of the other discretionary

expenses like travel and coaching and

stuff like that but I was fine with that

as long as I could pay rent it was going

to be okay I also talked to my brother

and as soon as I got on the phone with

him he immediately told me bro you have

to quit he actually was reading The

Alchemist at the time and he had the

same feeling that I did which is like my

destiny at least what it feels like

right now is to be a YouTuber to help

other people get into Tech rather than

Ascend it myself and stay of this

company and now we get to the final

chapter of the story so that day the day

that my boss told me that I wasn't going

to be promoted unless I put in more

hours and more results I drafted my

resignation letter and Microsoft Word

and I immediately scheduled a meeting

with him and the next day I hopped on a

call with him and my boss just asked me

hey what's up what did you want to talk

about and I immediately told him I have

decided to leave the job I'm quitting

effective 2 to 4 weeks from now and I

immediately sent him that resignation

letter and originally I was planning on

leaving a month from now so I wanted to

give him as much lead time as possible

but the next day he got back to me and

said hey man you can just leave next

week it's a natural breakpoint you're

already going to finish up your project

anyway so there's no need to drag this

on for too long and that did hurt a bit

because he cut down my time two or three

more weeks but I also think that made

sense because why would I stick around

for another month if my heart wasn't in

it if I was planning on leaving anyway

might as well just like tie up all the

Loose Ends and then leave on a good note

so where does that leave me now well I

quit software engineering about 6 weeks

ago today's date is April 12th and my

last day was at the end of February and

for the last 6 weeks I've been fulltime

on YouTube and I hope you can see the

difference I mean I've been putting so

much more time and effort into these

videos I've been hoping to get two a

week out for the next year my goal is

actually to hit 100 videos by March of

2025 100 videos published in the next 12

months but the more General Point here

is that the biggest realization I had is

that I could not do two things at a

maximally high level I could not

continue doing YouTube in all my free

time and also being a highle software

engineer again I do think that I had the

capability to do both I do have the

capability to go back into Tech if I

really want to ascend become a senior

software engineer really push to get a

really high-paying software engineering

job I've got a bunch of internships I

got my full-time job that possibility is

still out there but it won't happen

unless I sacrifice YouTube and go all in

and in the other direction as well

unless I go full-time on YouTube spend

60 hours a week grinding on this channel

there's no way I'm going to reach the

levels of hundreds of thousands of

subscribers and it goes the other way as

well unless I put all of my time and

effort into this YouTube channel there

is no way that it becomes successful

it's just not going to happen I've been

doing this parttime for 3 to 4 years now

I know that unless I put all of my

waking hours into growing it I will

never reach hundreds of thousands of

subscribers so what are my goals for

this channel well we're starting to

countdown to 100,000 right now so where

does this leave me now well my major

goal for YouTube is by March of 2025 to

hit 100,000 subscribers and I've run the

math 100,000 subscribers means that I

can make a full-time income from YouTube

and if I don't hit that number then

there's a good chance I'll be forced to

quit YouTube and go back to software

engineering effectively my parents have

agreed to provide that safety net for

the next 12 months so again by March

2025 I need to hit about 3 to 4K a month

of profit from my channel to be able to

survive to be able to pay rent and put

food on the table so yeah if you aren't

subscribed to this Channel and you've

already hit this point in this video

please consider subscribing every

subscription helps and we're on this

journey to 100,000 I'm so excited to see

where it goes now in terms of the future

of this channel I also saw two paths One

path is that I could Ascend the world of

tech I could keep writing as a software

engineer and make maybe one video every

one or two months cataloging my journey

maybe try to go make it at Google or

Microsoft and ascent and see what that's

like or another option is I can bring

other people on my channel I can go out

there and find those senior software

Engineers those tech leads those

principal Engineers from those Fang

companies bring them on my channel and

ask them for their own advice and

experience and I realized that I would

be much better served at the second

option while I am a decent engineer I

found that my skills are much more

aligned with packaging up advice writing

teaching other people and making YouTube

videos helping others land the job of

their dreams rather than Landing my tech

top of my dreams there are so many

talented Engineers out there that have

never been on a YouTube channel that

have never been interviewed that no one

has ever talked to and I would love to

be the person the guy who teases out

those habits strategies tools of other

successful software engineers and share

them with you guys so you guys can land

the job of your dreams now this brings

me to the major announcement which is

that I'm launching a podcast called

liftoff with the man manazer episode one

has already been published at this point

it's with my younger brother odel who's

a Quant and Incredibly successful

software engineer this podcast is going

to be focused on highlighting the

strategies and tools from other

successful people in Tech I have a bunch

of episodes planned out I've already

filmed a bunch of them so get some

subscribed if you want to see those

they're going to be released maybe every

2 weeks or so I wanted to be the best

podcast out there in the world of tech

Baron all right if you guys have gotten

to the end of this video you guys are

the real ones the true launch crew we're

in deep space right now I'm so excited

to share all of the knowledge and

learnings I've had over the last few

years working in the world of tech so

that you guys can achieve and reach your

dreams if you guys are interested in

real time updates about my life I

actually told all of my newsletter

subscribers a month ago that I left

software engineering so you'll get those

like early bits and pieces if you

subscribe you can go to am.com

newsletter put in your email I will

never spam you and you can unsubscribe

at any time thank you guys for watching

and I'll see you in the next one