← The Think Media Podcast
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, if you want to start or grow a YouTube channel in 2026, we've got a brand new resource you need to know about. Starting YouTube can feel overwhelming. What camera to use, what niche to pick, what to post first, and most people quit before they even get started. That's why we created the YouTube Creator Toolkit. It's your quick start system to go from confused to confident, fast. And for a limited time, you can save big during our holiday sale or@thinkmedia sale.com you'll start with Niche Finder to get total clarity on what kind of channel you should build. Then you'll use the AI powered video topic generator so you never run out of video ideas. Plug those into Think Media's AI title system tool to craft titles that get clicks and finish with thumbnail templates and trainings so your content actually stands out. And we've even included a ticket to to our Think Media strategy briefing that's happening right at the start of January to help you lock in your entire growth plan for 2026. It's incredible. And the crazy part is, during our limited holiday sale, you can get the YouTube Creator Toolkit for less than the price of a trip to Chipotle. Just go to thinkmediasale.com to take advantage of this special offer before it expires. Okay, let's jump into the podcast.
- [01:23]
B
Many people think they can't do YouTube because they have a 9 to 5. But both of us built profitable channels while working full time. And we're going to share six solid tips that'll help you do YouTube in spare time this new year.
- [01:35]
A
You don't find time, you make time in two weeks. I found the time to watch four fricking seasons of Breaking Bad before you decided to do YouTube. You could work really hard, but then just go home and watch Netflix. Now you gotta go to work again. Consistency in uploading is kind of overrated. Never missing is not the key to YouTube success. Uploading good YouTube videos is the key to YouTube success whenever you can. That was the path. Doing that, intentionally doing that, strategically following the system, ranking videos one by one, helped me build momentum on my channel that eventually allowed me to go full time.
- [02:14]
B
Sean, I'm excited to talk about this conversation. A lot of people find themselves right here and I gotta just kick it off real quick by saying, like, nothing's really gonna change unless something changes. Like in order to do this whole YouTube thing in spare time, it's a different strategy, right? Like, you don't have the luxury of a whole lot of Time at your disposal. So what you do with your time really matters. You wanna kick it off with this first tip?
- [02:34]
A
Yeah, we got six tips and the first one is the long game mindset. YouTube is a marathon and not a sprint. I mean that's been said a lot, but especially when you're juggling a full time job and family responsibilities and kids while also trying to build your channel. I think for context, when we get into these tactics and tips, this isn't coming from like, you know, a privileged place of, well, now I'm full time now, even got a team and I have editing help. And I think media is much further along. And so you and I both have different timelines, but I was doing YouTube as a side hustle for years. From 2010 to the end of 2015, I was working full time at a church and I had free freelance clients. How about you? What was your time of building your YouTube channel and what were you doing?
- [03:20]
B
Yeah, 100%. So it's kind of funny like, you know, I went through think media stuff and so I have, we have the exact date. Logan on our team looked it up. So it was like literally like April of 2021 is when I decided to go after this YouTube thing. And so over that timeframe had built it up over the course of a couple years into a pretty good side hustle and then ultimately decided not to keep going with it, which we'll get into.
- [03:39]
A
But what were you doing? What was your job?
- [03:41]
B
Job was, dude, crazy time period. So both my wife and I were working at a martial arts dojo, which for those who don'.
- [03:48]
A
Know.
- [03:48]
B
I mean if you know, you know, but if you don't know, that's like a six, seven day a week industry. So that's like. And that's the kind of thing too where it's very, it's kind of, you know what's kind of cool? Cause it's like Karate Kid style where it's like very heavy on the apprenticeship approach. Wax on, wax off. You know, you're not really paid a lot, you're doing a whole lot of work and you're promised a lot of things to come if you stick it out. So our days, man, were filled, you know, with if we weren't teaching a class, we're cleaning something. If we're not cleaning something, we're calling somebody, you know, if we're not calling somebody, we're working on curriculum for. So it's just like a whole day, a whole week of a lot of intense effort and the kind of Tricky thing about that, which I bet you can relate to, like with your Red Robin days is like you're active. Like doing a martial arts job is like, you know, you're teaching four classes.
- [04:29]
A
Back to back to back fatigue, then.
- [04:31]
B
The fatigue is real. So I had to get really strategic about how I was going to film.
- [04:34]
A
Yeah. So when we say number one, long term mindset, I think it's about realizing that you're going to be even growing slower on YouTube than you maybe could if you could focus full time.
- [04:44]
B
100%.
- [04:45]
A
You can't focus full time. So it's like giving yourself grace, you know, leaning into the discipline it's going to take. And you know, I think that I want to empathize with people that every season is hard. But the squeezed middle season I think is kind of the hardest because it's the season where before you decided to do YouTube, you could work really hard, but then just go home and watch Netflix.
- [05:08]
B
Yeah.
- [05:09]
A
And you should rest and relax. But you're going to have to, instead of only just chilling out after work, now you got to go to work again and you have to deal with that fatigue. Like today, you know, I've got a team and resources and it's all also hard. But it is different because you're not actually super squeezed. So I want to give listeners like the long game mindset is just knowing that you're juggling.
- [05:32]
B
Yes.
- [05:33]
A
Knowing that it's extra pressure. You're embracing extra stress.
- [05:36]
B
Yes.
- [05:36]
A
You're, you know, if you kind of feel like this is freaking hard. It really is.
- [05:40]
B
Yes.
- [05:41]
A
And so it's, it's first just kind of having realistic expectations. Definitely not comparing. You might see a competitor that is, you know, getting an edge over you, but they might be able to focus on that full time.
- [05:53]
B
Ye.
- [05:54]
A
You know, one of the big creators I interviewed back in the day on video influencers as a couple, she went full time on YouTube because her husband was able to say, I'm working full time and I'm covering the bills. So when she started YouTube day one, she worked 50 hours a week just on YouTube. But that's a season of life discernment thing. So for me, it wasn't work 50 hours a week on YouTube, it was work 40 plus hours at a church. It was freelance for another five to 10, leaving me with just minimal hours to maybe work another five to ten on YouTube, which we're talking 60 hour work week.
- [06:26]
B
Yes. Easily. Yeah. I have a hot take to throw in there. I wonder what you think of this. The romantic Idea of someone who wants to start YouTube and wishes they could start full time.
- [06:36]
A
Yeah.
- [06:36]
B
I actually don't think most people are ready for what that would mean.
- [06:40]
A
It might be a disadvantage.
- [06:41]
B
I mean, like to actually have all the time in your week devoted to something new.
- [06:44]
A
Yep.
- [06:45]
B
You know what I mean? Like, I actually think it could work against you.
- [06:47]
A
It's a disadvantage because you don't know how to steward that time.
- [06:50]
B
Well, exactly.
- [06:50]
A
You're going to just procrastinate a lot or take because they also, you know, like deadlines force tasks to get done in 30 minutes that could have inflated to three hours. So how it changes you to be in that painful season is an identity shift, a character shift. It forces you to level up. It gives you a level of gratitude of knowing how to steward once you actually end up with more time, 100%.
- [07:12]
B
And I actually think it's like, so the flip, I hope for someone listening right now that I wish I would have flipped sooner in my story is like, oh, actually my job is a gift. You know what I'm saying? And just like at a foundational gratitude kind of cheesy hallmark level. But it's actually true. Like, oh, wow. I'm so thankful that a job is actually covering the bills because this YouTube thing can't right now.
- [07:30]
A
Yeah.
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B
And I'm so thankful that I have a job because you know what's going to do, it's going to help me be more focused. The limited time I have, I have no choice but to get ruthless about what I'm going to do in that free time. If I just jumped into a full time thing, I don't think I would have been. I don't think my channel would have been successful on the timeline that it was because to your point, man, you're figuring out a whole thing. You can just burn weeks at a time on stuff that actually are going to move the needle.
- [07:52]
A
Yeah. And I think before we go to number two, I think in seeing this season as a privilege, I think another mindset shift is seeing this as fun. Meaning, I mean, honestly, if you're not having fun doing YouTube, you just might not want to do it. Because when I was working at Red Robin before working at the church and doing YouTube on the side, so I'm waiting tables. One of the nice things, and this sounds like the martial arts studio as well, was it was actually two different activities. Meaning I'm waiting tables, talking to people. But when I'm doing YouTube, I'm sitting down at a computer, you know, get my favorite drink get into the zone, get into my office. And then just realizing I could go home and I could play video games or I could go home and I could just watch movies or I could go do whatever other activity. But it was kind of making a decision like this is what I want to do for fun and as a hobby. And can I make money from my hobby eventually on the long game, well, how cool that I can invest in something. Not that you enjoy every minute or every time and maybe you're sitting down to edit and it's kind of a grind, but like embracing sort of the fun in that. Get home, shower, reset your energy and then be like, yo, I'm sitting down while other people are playing pickleball. More power to them. You know, I'm choosing to view my YouTube channel, even if I have a very serious business mindset is like, I'm going to keep a fun mindset, a positive mindset about this.
- [09:09]
B
I love that. So there's two big things right? There is your current season is a gift. If you're listening, you can choose to think like that. I know, right? But then the second thing is find the fun.
- [09:16]
A
Right?
- [09:16]
B
Like, yeah, I actually do remember that. I love that you said that. And for me, you know, we'll get into this, I'm sure in a little bit. My strategy was like morning time. I would try to hack the morning, get up early, work on some content. And it's kind of funny, like the joy that comes from creating would help me then go into my day job. My day job I wasn't too pumped about. You know, it's kind of like a fuel going into that eight hour block of like, all right, here we go again. You know, or for some people it could be a night owl and it's like, like, it's something to look forward to after your day. Is like, okay, I get to like create. I get to do this new thing.
- [09:46]
A
It's good. So number two is smart family rhythms. And so the big idea here is I think you gotta communicate with your family about this. If we're talking about how to build a YouTube channel while you have a full time job, well, if you're single, then you don't gotta communicate with anybody. It's self management, time management, game on. But for me at that time I communicated with my spouse and there was buy in about this season of life. Yeah, that it's like we know there's the main hustle, there's the day job, but hey, this side hustle is something that very well could provide for us in the future. It's also, I think having realistic conversations where if you're like, I want to do a YouTube channel, but I also still want my time for golf and I also still want my time to just take a bunch of naps and I also am, I'm going to help with the kids. I don't know how that conversation is going to go in your family, but that's not going to go. So. So it's like having these conversations about sacrifice rhythms, about how you could be partnered on it. I think it could be very difficult if you don't have buy in from your spouse. If you have, if you're single, that's a season. If you're married, that's a season. If you have kids, there's a whole nother level of complexity for you. Did you guys have kids yet?
- [10:52]
B
Not yet. Yeah, not yet. It's just us.
- [10:54]
A
Yeah. So then that's, that's even crazier once you have kids. Still possible. We have subscribe to this podcast because we have so many conversations with people that will dispel every excuse.
- [11:04]
B
Every excuse.
- [11:05]
A
Yeah, yeah. 75. Lower energy but still crushing it and building channels in retirement years, you know, multiple kids running around, everything is figureoutable but you gotta sit down and say, okay, talk to any dependents or partners or spouse, you know, and really define your YouTube goals. Define your calendar for the week and seek to get family buy in, which can help prevent burnout or resentment. AI can't fix a bad strategy. If you're not clear on your channel topic or have a systematic growth plan in place, then AI will just help you create faster in the wrong direction. That's why we built the YouTube Creator Toolkit to give you the strategy first and the fast tracked AI tools second. You'll unlock your profitable niche, uncover video ideas that actually get views and use AI powered tools to move way faster. With this toolkit, you'll get the confidence that every video is intentionally crafted with views and monetization in mind. And right now, for a limited time during our holiday sale, you could get the YouTube Creator Toolkit for less than a trip to Chipotle. Chipotle. This is the formula AI plus strategy. That's how creators win in 2026. And the YouTube Creator Toolkit is going to help you lock it all in. Just go to think media sale.com to grab this offer. You know, I think one of the things that is interesting is if you also look at YouTube as an investment in fund that could very well pay you in A significant way. You also might refund the. Reframe the money that you invest in it. Because what can be shocking is sometimes like, hey honey, I want to start a YouTube channel. Yeah, well, what's that going to cost? Well, you know, I want to buy a camera. I'm thinking about building a studio. I want to join, think media stuff, maybe invest a couple hundred, couple thousand dollars and coaching and stuff. And that could sound like a lot, but what's a lot sounds. It's like relative. You're playing golf and dudes are buying a thousand dollar drivers. Yeah, 100 a second set of shoes, the tea fees. And not everyone's doing that, but like, you know, Kyle Anderson on our team is a pickleball guy. Dude, he has a flipping racket, he has a paddle. That was 300. You know how crazy people are going for pickleball right now? That's nuts. Yeah, dude. Like where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You know what I mean?
- [13:23]
B
Right here, right now.
- [13:24]
A
And so I mean like ultimately. But it is funny because like again, no, it's really like if you frame it like, okay, this is, this is fun, this is art, this is creativity. This is an outlet. And I could, I could invest my time and energy anywhere, but I also want to create it. I do want to recommend an episode for people. I'll link it in the show notes. That's like why you should start a YouTube channel even if you don't get views. And some of the themes I talk about in there is like for that very reason, I just actually want to contribute to the world for the seven views I am getting. I just want to express my creativity. I want to make something, fully build it and fully publish it so it can be on the Internet and I could have a level of self satisfaction in a healthy way that like I built something for me. Those uploads were the win themselves. So it's kind of like sitting down. So anyways, whether that was the resources being invested that to be a level of trust there in my family to say, okay, Sean bought another lens, like that's real. Shawn bought, you know, another camera. But that also meant I was showing up in other areas. I mean I was still working and still do working on my main thing and so what are your other thoughts on smart family rhythms?
- [14:31]
B
No, I think it's interesting. I wonder, you know, what your take would be. And I'm happy to share like how the talk went for me and my wife of like, you know, there's like the talk in Parenting, Right. Like, okay, they're teenagers this time or whatever. But there's like, the YouTube talk.
- [14:44]
A
Yeah.
- [14:44]
B
You know, where it's that moment where you are sharing your dream. You're sharing something. And it's. To be honest, it's something that the. You know, bless our spouses and our partners and friends and family. But, like, most of them don't even know they, like, watch YouTube. But, like, the idea of doing YouTube is just, like, mythology to them. It's like, oh, how does it even. Right. So there's already a. It's kind of an uphill battle, so to speak, of a lot of things to try to explain. And I found that was helpful. What was helpful for me, because I actually was talking to Heidi, my wife, about this and was like, hey, like, looking back that time period, like, you said, yes. You know what I mean? Like, you signed off on our budget, like, to purchase programs and to, like, you know, get on Facebook marketplace and find gear, you know, and she told me. Well, she was like, I just believed you would do it. And that. I mean, that's not even like a. That's a testament to her. And, like, I guess what I am learning from that is the wisdom I would impart to somebody is, as you have this talk, I think first look at yourself and think about is the way that I even show up in my normal life right now. Like, trustworthy. And, like, we're already getting real deep right here. But, like, this conversation will go south so fast, unless I think you start with self awareness, humility. And even if you're someone that has showed up, you know, Heidi told me, he was like, well, you've just. Anything you said you were, you would do, you've done. And so it's like this whole other thing. Even though I don't understand it, I trust you because I've seen you execute in different things. So it's kind of like, yeah, he's gonna do it. He's gonna go at it. But if you're someone who hasn't really shown up that way, and it's kind of like a trigger point, here's another dream for Johnny or whatever it is. Right? Like, that's its own thing. And I think the best thing you could possibly do to open up or start that conversation is like, hey, I just. I know I haven't. I've said I want to do a lot of things, and a lot of them have gone nowhere. And thank you for supporting me through all of that. There's this YouTube thing, and I know it's probably going to sound like a whole other venture that I have. But here's what I see about it. Here's what I'm interested in. I want to do this together. Like, I think I'm curious your thoughts like about, like the best way to enter that conversation. Because anything else we're going to talk about I think requires the buy in of the people you're closest to.
- [16:37]
A
I think there's, there's two big categories here and if. Let's just talk about marriage. So you have, you have just two partners in the marriage. First let's actually talk about them. I think it does start with you, but let's talk about them. Yeah, there's three levels of a spouse. One is you have a spouse that's neutral. Like, yeah, I mean do what you want. Like, they're neutral. The most challenging part is a spouse that's against you. That's a real thing. They're not supportive. And the most powerful thing is a spouse that actually is supportive. And regardless of your actual character, consistency, the type of personality that person has, you have to be. Everyone listening might be like, yeah, they kind of fall into one of those categories. Can you still grind through if they're kind of working against you, not really encouraging you? You do have consistent character, but they're kind of pulling you down. This is going to make it more difficult, but you're aware, neutral, man, I wish you were a little bit more encouraging. But hey, at least they're neutral. Yeah, you do your thing. You kind of, you have your budget, you want to spend money on that stuff. Cool. Yeah, I spend the money on stuff I want. Yeah, you know, yeah, I'm not super supportive, I'm not unsupportive. It's like, yeah, okay, I want to spend my, A couple, you know, a thousand dollars to get started on something. On my hobby. Yeah, you do it on your hobby.
- [17:46]
B
Yeah.
- [17:46]
A
And then supportive is obviously the best. So you're thinking about what you're dealing with. But yes, I agree. I do think it starts with you. And if either one you're self aware that, hey, I know the problem is if you did golf and you spent $3,500 and she's like, you never play. Yes. So even that, it's like, even though that's still a hobby and finding an outlet, it's like you bought that exercise equipment, you never did it. What is your track record of follow through regardless of the outcome? Just the simple fact that like, well, if you're going to use it, if you're going to do it. If you're actually going to. Are you just buying, you're just collecting camera gear or are you following through? So of course, starting with yourself and maybe then the third answer could also be some, some therapy or actually getting some, like, how well are you guys communicating? Or maybe it starts with like reading a marriage book or something. And so that's kind of, that's kind of my thoughts. And I do think, yes, either being self aware. I know I've tried stuff in the past, but I believe this is gonna work. And then lastly, plan on paper. So I actually put it on paper. Cause you're like, what are we really risking here? You're like, okay, here's what I need. I'm looking for five hours a week.
- [18:48]
B
Yeah.
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A
You're negotiating. Where could we get those five hours? Well, actually, if you would help with the kids on Tuesday and you know, Wednesday nights, then absolutely. I think Saturday mornings you could have side hustle Saturday is your term.
- [19:01]
B
Yes, that's right.
- [19:02]
A
And so can we protect side hustle Saturdays? Can we? I think we can. Okay, how about finances? Because you also, if you're like, well, I just want to keep ordering Uber eats all the time when I could cook. And I'm going to keep spending all that money on those Instagram ads that are hitting me on frivolous stuff that like the algorithm just got me buying stuff with Apple Pay.
- [19:20]
B
Yes.
- [19:20]
A
You're like, listen, I'm gonna reduce my spending in these other areas. Cause I want to invest these dollars into this YouTube dream. And then it's like, okay, that's reasonable. And I want to have empathy. Because even if you are very reasonable, you're very disciplined, you do have a good track record. There's some individuals that might be listening to. It's like, it's still hard to find support. But I do think in a lot of relationships. Yeah. Starting with yourself, maybe getting an extra voice in your, your life, you know, Like, I think it's very powerful to be plugged into a local church and would encourage individuals like, you know, whatever your background with church or family or whatever to get be in a local church where you have like a pastor or somebody.
- [20:01]
B
Yeah.
- [20:01]
A
They might be able to do counseling with you for free. Hey, can we just talk about our life rhythms?
- [20:05]
B
Yeah.
- [20:05]
A
Because maybe you need to be called out, bro. You're not even helping with the kids, dog. Like, and there's no buy in. Yeah. Like you're, you're like, you're not actually carrying the weight as a man that you should be. And so why should she, you know, support you in this arena? Or that's why it's the third voice.
- [20:19]
B
That's right.
- [20:20]
A
Like, dude, he's like bringing in like the solid money. He's not missing work like he wants to have. He doesn't even play golf like you may be. And hopefully there's some receptivity there. There's a very. Relationships are messy.
- [20:31]
B
Yeah.
- [20:32]
A
But I think that this is a big one. So have those conversations. That could be the game changer to change everything this year to have more peace, more organization, and get some momentum on YouTube.
- [20:40]
B
Absolutely. And that naturally exists to, you know, tip number three here is talking about scheduling, boundaries, making sacrif. This is like the whole your YouTube dreams happen within your week that's available to you. So I. I'm excited to get pretty tactical here as we talk about, like, our different approaches. The core message when it comes to scheduling and boundaries is you. You don't find time. Right. You make time. And I don't know if, like, you know, anyone's fellow self development nerds like we are, but maybe you've heard that a lot. And it's like, you have no choice but to make it so it's within your control. And it might feel like it's not because there's a job, there's kids, there's daycare. I don't even know. There should be a lot going on in someone's life. But after getting the buy in, after having the communication and starting to set up what your week looks like, I really think there's a lot more opportunities for YouTube than people might think.
- [21:23]
A
There's way more opportunities than people think. And before we get into the tactics, let's just set up the frame. First of all, I think people should check their phone and they should go to the screen time, you know, stats and actually see how much screen time is on there. And when you're looking, if you're watching the YouTube version, tell us in the comments, what's your screen time score?
- [21:41]
B
Put it out there. Come on.
- [21:42]
A
I don't know if anyone in the comments could be under seven hours. You know, usually it might be eight. I'm seeing twelves when we do live streams. That's a revelation. But here's the other thing. If you get into something new, you get excited, you find a way. I remember a season. I'm married, I'm working at a church, and my wife actually went to was on a trip visiting family. So I think I had two weeks bachelor mode by Myself, and I'm working at a church. I actually did have a YouTube channel, but this was not a good two weeks for the YouTube channel. Because I heard about a television show called Breaking Bad.
- [22:17]
B
Oh, man.
- [22:18]
A
And I had never seen it.
- [22:19]
B
Yes.
- [22:19]
A
And I think whatever streaming service Netflix had already collected four seasons. Okay. And so she's gone for two weeks. And I, Nathan, I was able in those two weeks to watch all four seasons. Like, I in two weeks go, not missing work. I found the time.
- [22:42]
B
Yes.
- [22:43]
A
To watch four freaking seasons of Breaking Bad.
- [22:46]
B
Heisenberg, man.
- [22:48]
A
And there is again. So people are like, dude, I don't got time. It's like, well, you. You found time when you discovered squid games for a second, where all of a sudden you just clocked eight hours in two nights because you stayed up, you started at eight, you didn't go to bed till one. So what if instead of sitting down and doing. And I get that because that's also more lazy, passive. But you got to summon your energy, decide what your priorities are. So I think what. You don't find time, you make time. And when you get into something, you get obsessed with something, you get excited about something, you find the time, you look, I said I don't got time to watch four seasons of a TV show in two weeks. Somehow I did.
- [23:28]
B
You found it.
- [23:29]
A
Somehow I did. And I. And I also, I punted a lot of other relationships. My mom's probably like, where's Sean? He didn't call me, didn't check in with any of my friends. Clearly sacrificed, like, health in a lot of ways. Like with people.
- [23:43]
B
Yeah.
- [23:44]
A
But I got one thing done, and that was all four seasons of Breaking Bad. And so, I mean, we gotta, like, crush the excuses. And so I'll kick it back to you. I think there's some practicals here, but the big frame is you don't find time, you make time 100%.
- [23:58]
B
And I think for me and my story, a real practical thing someone could do is if you have the time, which again, think you can make it is dedicate a day or a half a day. So for me, in our home, Saturdays became side hustle Saturdays. And that just meant for the first half of the day. My wife knew it was just her and I at the time, but she knew it was like, okay, that is dedicated YouTube time for me. So it's like, you know, I would get up early and sometimes. Okay to keep it real. Sometimes, like, I would sleep in because I'm tired. You know what I mean? But then sometimes I would get up and get up early and get after it. But that first half the day, I always knew every single week was dedicated time to work on the YouTube stuff. And it's kind of crazy, like, when you set aside time like that, and she was wonderful. There's no, like, disturbances unless it was, like, necessary or something. It's like. That's kind of like a deep work zone is what it became. It's dedicated. It's set aside, if I may even use the word, like, it's consecrated. It's like this thing on the calendar that we're all aware of, and in that kind of a batching process where you can have hours to yourself, which you don't need to do YouTube, but if you can set aside a day like this or a half a day, man, you can get in the zone and you can get. I mean, I would. That's when I would do a video, you know, I'm saying, yes. Like, all parts of the process for the video would, like, be done in that day.
- [25:09]
A
Yeah. I think that's super powerful. And that speaks to. You know, there's a lot of data that shows if you can. If you want to have effective creative time, if you have a dedicated place, a dedicated space, if it's also clean and free from clutter, if it's scheduled and consecrated and sacred, you walk into an environment, if you can maybe clean up part of your house, maybe it's a corner of your bedroom. There's people that we know, they set up those wardrobe protectors. Like it's their bedroom. That is their YouTube studio.
- [25:40]
B
Yes.
- [25:41]
A
So it's like. It's a corner. It's just this little. But you're creating a place that when you walk in, you also then make a decision. Phone is going on airplane mode. You know what? The other day, I've done. I've done this multiple times. I don't know why I do this, but I throw my phone into the hallway and I close the door. In Seattle, in my home office, I'm like, I actually. It can't be in the room with me. Airplane mode or not. Like, I need to throw this thing out.
- [26:07]
B
Physically out.
- [26:08]
A
Physically throw it out. You know, I heard Alex Shamozi is kind of famous for his productivity routine because he works in an office with no windows. Oh, that's right. He puts on headphones with no music. He sits down with no distractions, no phone.
- [26:24]
B
Yes.
- [26:24]
A
And then for him, he, like, sits down with coffee and nicotine, and he, like, hits both locks in and just works.
- [26:33]
B
Yeah.
- [26:33]
A
And I Think a lot of people are, you know, underestimating how much they could accomplish by not just if they have that time set aside, they still lose a lot of productivity during it. Cause they don't really focus and have routine. And for you it might be a green tea thing. It might be kind of like so data backs that these creative rituals get your brain into the right spot, get more done. Because for some of us, it takes us 45 minutes to even get locked in. And you only have a couple hours. So I think that's scheduling it on the calendar, setting boundaries, communicating with your family. If you can, you could ask, you know, my mom these days is incredibly helpful. She lives close to me. And if it's like, hey, Mom, I did it the other day. I said, hey mom, can you come watch the boys from 8:30 to noon at my house? I've got a live stream. And it was an extra live stream that I hope to do. She said, absolutely. So got set up. Hey, here's the food they're gonna eat. And then went. And that was a conversation with a loved one to make something happen on a Saturday and give me three hours of focused work. And so I get it. Don't think about the excuses. You might not live near family. You might feel very alone. Okay. And that then that's not an option for you. But sometimes it's actually maybe asking for help, being more thoughtful and not expecting an individual like that to just show up. It's like not morning of like 15 minutes before, but like actually seeing further ahead. Like asking that question seven days earlier. I think I asked her two weeks ahead. I was like, hey, on this particular day, this is something I want to have on my calendar. That's the power of scheduling. Even the individual you're enlisting. Sometimes I think we're so reactive. Like, hey, tomorrow morning I really. I'm kind of behind on my YouTube channel. And your spouse might be like, you've been gone. We haven't connected, we haven't talked. And so you just didn't look far enough down the road. But like, she could be very much more bought in if you were communicating far ahead of time and doing your best to lock in the power of scheduling 100%.
- [28:38]
B
I think last thing here before we move on to step or tip number four here, which we'll talk about workflow and stuff, which will be fun. I think it's also important to know your season. So I love how you've talked about this a lot, Sean, but it was even helpful for me. You Know, as I was doing this, it's like again, it comes with the territory of you have a full time job, you have other responsibilities and you're doing YouTube part time is like you have got to adjust your expectations. And so here at Think Media we say, hey, best practice. Yeah, shoot for one high quality, well thought out research. You know, we got our whole system right. Like you go through all of those steps as best you can. One high quality long form video a week is a wonderful thing to shoot for. Right. But that doesn't always mean that you have to hit every single week. And so I don't know if you want to talk about that, like what act, what consistency might actually look like for a part time YouTuber.
- [29:24]
A
Yeah. You know, so speaking about 2010 to 2015, where I'm working a full time job and doing YouTube on the side, I did have a conviction that I wanted to upload a video every week. I didn't even come close to that. I think that probably on an annual basis I was uploading 33 videos or something like that.
- [29:44]
B
Okay.
- [29:45]
A
So while that's a good target, I think people should give themselves grace because seasons and when I was working at a church, you know, talk around Easter, the ramp up to Easter, like it was crazy amounts of hours. Yeah, yeah. Super bowl time. So your job might have rhythms, but then summer, you know, most churches call it the summer slump. Pastor like goes on vacation, expectations are lower and there's like less stuff happening now. It depends, you know, but that was like for me. So I realized, okay, sacrifice during summer, when people are like, ah, it's vacation time, it's doing this, I'm like, I have extra margin to maybe do two a week or to get ahead with batch producing and to actually then upload one video, two videos. And I think that in a way like consistency in uploading is kind of overrated. Meaning like uploading every Tuesday, never missing is not the key to YouTube success. Uploading good YouTube videos is the key to YouTube success whenever you can.
- [30:47]
B
That's right.
- [30:48]
A
And you know, of course we teach ranked videos. One ranked video can keep working for you even when you're not working. And so if I could rank videos all summer and upload eight times and really craft these videos, those videos kept working for me for months later, even years later. If you actually are listening to this, you want to go deeper on our seven step system of doing that. I've got a free class, just updated it. Think masterclass.com I go through our seven R's really talk about what ranked videos are. And basically, I believe that is the path to freedom on when you have a full time job is creating videos that don't just get views for a week or two, but keep getting views. But that was the point. It was like those great videos helped me build up the portfolio on my channel. But then if I didn't upload for a month, give yourself, no big deal. And then, you know, when people are going on break during the holidays and everyone's just chilling out, watching elf sipping eggnog, you know, still schedule that Christmas movie night. But also like put in some extra hustle there, maybe you can get ahead on your videos for January. And so I would do upload sprints, not necessarily weekly posts. And that was the path. Doing that, intentionally doing that. Strategically following the system and ranking videos one by one, year after year helped me build momentum on my channel that eventually allowed me to go full time.
- [32:12]
B
I think about someone who you just hung out with on our, on our podcast, Ali and Kevin Reynolds of Ali's Organics and Homestead. And you were talking with them about their posting frequency. And I don't know if you remember, but I love their response. It was just like, when that's done, when it's done, you know, it was kind of like. And they were talking about the rigor that they put into their videos and how they'd love to do one a week, but it's kind of like with the nature of their content, with the quality they're trying to put into it. And they also kind of congrats them too. They just got their, you know, silver play button across 100K subscribers. But that's been their, that's been their flow, you know, and they're older and they got like older parents. They're taking care of the goodness. They, of all people, they're running like a brick and mortar thing too. They are busy, you know, they have kids and grandkids. But for them, their process of like, okay, what defines consistency is one good video followed by one good video. Not necessarily. That was a Friday and then another Friday and then another Friday, you know, and so I think that's a powerful thing to keep, you know, keep with you as you're creating content.
- [33:09]
A
And I know we have another tip, but I will say, I think why uploading every Tuesday or whatever day is good is the discipline of repetitions.
- [33:19]
B
Yeah.
- [33:19]
A
It's not that it's a key that unlocks the algorithm. It's a key that unlocks you. Yeah, yeah. It helps you just kind of because if you don't give yourself deadlines, if you don't give yourself targets, if you give yourself too much grace. So these things are held in tension where some people are hesitating. If it's overthinking or perfectionism that is causing you not to upload, that's not a good thing. But if it's just crafting it and not feeling like I have to upload on Tuesday because if I don't, the world will end. Yes, dude, you could take a week off. Like, it's going to be fine. And because YouTube is a content library much more than a content feed, YouTube's YouTube videos are like a fine wine. They get better with age old YouTube videos that are ranked that could be years old can keep getting views. So putting a little extra time in that I would rather upload 33 videos in a year that are getting me passive views, subscribers and income, then be forced to be like, I got to do three a week and upload 150. That stall out, I'm tired and I'm not to going getting any traction 100%.
- [34:20]
B
And when it comes to, I think about, this is a good time to talk about, you know, tip number four here is all about workflow. Like, what can you do to speed up your workflow? Like, and you're kind of already talking about it, but it's worth thinking about as you're doing this YouTube stuff part time, what is your upload strategy? Like, not just the day and time you're going to post and film, but like what kinds of videos you're actually going to choose to create and the systems and processes you have in place to help you do that. Right. So at the beginning it can be pretty overwhelming because you're like, okay, I got this camera, I'm trying to figure it out. You're like, you don't even know what an SD card is. You know what I mean? You're just like figuring stuff out. But what, what really helped you lock down a consistent routine when it came to a system that you follow for your workflow.
- [35:01]
A
Yeah. So when I think about one of the biggest distinguishers between those who struggle in YouTube and those who succeed, I think you can sum it up in one word, speed. Like, not just what is it you're doing, but how fast can you do it? I'm not talking about Rush, I'm just talking about speed. So I have a unique advantage. And a lot of listeners, maybe they already know about our other channel called Think Media. That's where I started talking about cameras. Talking about video editing. Now we have a team that's over on that channel. If you've never checked it out, just search it on YouTube. It's called think Media. All kinds of free resources about your workflow. But get your camera, get your lighting, how do you use it? What are the settings? But here's one advantage that I had because I'm teaching video itself. I'm an incredibly fast video editor. I had clocked years in video editing itself, so I was already fast. But then I always am working on getting faster. My encouragement for new listeners is when you're learning new skills, be okay with your growth curve. Like the first time you sit down to edit a video. My gosh, stress overwhelmed. What are all these buttons? What is this Timeline? What is this even? What are these settings like? So the first time you sit down to edit a super simple video, if you're doing editing, it could take you eight hours. This might sound crazy, but it could take you eight hours to do what takes me probably 20 minutes.
- [36:32]
B
Mm.
- [36:33]
A
So that that juxtaposition just simply says this. Your first six months on YouTube, give yourself grace to just be learning.
- [36:41]
B
Yeah.
- [36:42]
A
Even your first year or two. But also be asking yourself, how are you always getting faster? Your first time getting through and filming, and you're like, maybe you have an outline, you're kind of going through the script. You feeling. You feel frustrated, that's okay. That's your first time doing it by video50. You should be faster. And not just because of repetition, but because you're investing in your learning. You're asking yourself questions. You know, you could summarize it like this. Like, before I knew what the hotkeys were and shortcuts.
- [37:12]
B
Oh, man.
- [37:13]
A
It's a niche thing. But in video editing, if you're just doing everything with the mouse cursor and you don't learn what the shortcuts and the hotkeys are, then you are doing something in such an inefficient way. So getting trained or investing in training on the different pieces of your workflow, how can you go faster? You know, it's kind of a niche gaming reference, but I used to play this game called Starcraft 2, and it's still very popular. There's global competitions about it. And what they do at the highest level is they track APM actions per minute. And it's how. So these guys have gaming mouses when they're at a competitive level and they've got little side buttons on their mouse and they've got the top Buttons, they. And the wheels. And so the highest level I ever got in Starcraft 2 was like clicking and then like dragging across the thing and like build a barracks and then like build a supply depot. And these individuals have keyboard hotkeys that are all programmed. They've got group, they've got mouse buttons that are all clicked. And maybe on a good day, I had a hundred actions per minute. That's like click the mouse, move across 100 actions per minute. The pros, 180, 245. Oh, my goodness. 322. Yeah. That's crazy. So that's like every single second they're doing three things.
- [38:30]
B
Wow.
- [38:30]
A
And there's like hotkey on the keyboard, move across the thing, you know, barracks, boom. Groups, you know, like, they're fighting on this place, this place, this group. This is like a, you know, it's a strategy game, kind of an overview with all these little characters. If anyone's super niche on the YouTube video and you played Red Alert, Starcraft or, or Age of Empires or anything like that, like, let me know in the comments. And so what it just shows, though, is like, there's levels to the game playa. Like, there's some different. And it, you know, we all have different relationships with tech. I want to encourage individuals. Like, I just sound stressed at this point. Like, I don't know if I'll. I just want to encourage you. You can go faster. And then this idea of workflow is because of my video skills. It was also thinking about, all right, I'm going to sit down. What's my workflow for putting the SD card into my camera? Filming or. And then taking that SD card out, putting it into a reader. How do I organize my files on my computer? How do I then drag that into a timeline? How do I. Also, you could save in most editing softwares, like a template that pulls in your favorite songs already. And maybe you do have like a little logo and maybe you do have a captions file or, you know, whatever it is. These are little workflow upgrades. I think that some people, two things. They don't improve this. And secondly, they also don't just give themselves grace to just say, listen, embrace the slowness. Right now, you're gonna be faster in a year, and you're gonna be faster a year after that. And so if you stick with it and over time, editing gets faster, filming gets smoother, confidence gets higher. And invest in learning tools that speed you up, get around people. Because I will admit too, I hit a lid in my Learning. And I started to get around some of the Think Media team members like Craig and Nathan and Kyle. And I would then watch them doing stuff. I was like, dude, I never. I was doing stuff in premiere that was taking me 22 minutes. Yeah, yeah, you have a plug in for that? Why was I doing that? Yeah, you know Omar El Takori, who was at Thick Media. He's launched out doing some awesome stuff. Good friend. And for years, he was one of the fastest workflow guys and his photography workflow. We would talk about how. Cause we were doing a lot of church stuff. Some guys would, like, shoot photos at an event and then they'd be like, I'm gonna have to go home. I'm gonna have to edit the photos for hours. And so I'm gonna shoot the photos. I'll get them to you by Tuesday. And Omar would have workflows where he's like, I'll get them to you by 2, not Tuesday. I'm shooting at 10am it's gonna be done at 2. And the best photos are gonna be picked out. They're all going to be crispy. They're all going to be graded in Lightroom. They're all going to be. Because he would, as he shoot, he would, you know, delete them while standing there, star the best photos. Auto, pull those into Lightroom, apply some things, go back and make some quick adjustments in Lightroom Expert. Those things Dropbox it. Send the Dropbox link to the different people that post on social media. They're like, now that's like, already to Instagram stories. Yes. There's different levels to the game.
- [41:24]
B
So good. I actually just think about Kyle. What? You know, we're like here batching like seven, eight podcast episodes right now. And Kyle just came out like a little before we started filming this and was like, yep. So I got everything already uploaded. Everything's already labeled. Everything's called to action. It's just like everything is already dialed in. I'm like, well, that's a guy that has a workflow.
- [41:39]
A
You know, it's a workflow.
- [41:40]
B
That's a workflow. I couple thoughts here. You know, before we go forward, I'm thinking about someone who could be listening. Here's a. Here's a thought. I don't know. A lot of people have talked about this when you are starting YouTube. Like, you have permission to practice it.
- [41:52]
A
Yes.
- [41:53]
B
I just don't even think people talk about this enough. Like, we think that. Okay, I'm just like, I'm gonna start YouTube. I'm gonna go Live. And I'm gonna publish my video and I'm gon public and we're all about punching fear in the face and pressing record and like, just publish the video. Like, my goodness, get over it. You have to do it. But also, there is like a timeline. You could practice, you know, saying, like, you could set aside your YouTube time, your side hustle Saturday or whatever, probably just for the first couple Saturdays, might be just actually like learning your equipment. Like, you know, I'm like, figure out my camera today, pull up some tutorials, go to Think Media. And you're like, you just, okay, I got my camera dialed in. And then next time, and then next Saturday, I'm just going to shoot myself, I'm just going to film myself, and maybe I don't even have a video. I'm just gonna, like, get used to talking to the camera or whatever. I think a lot of people, if they started by practicing first and actually building a solid foundation, then that's. That actually allows you to get faster and faster as you go, as you go on. So.
- [42:39]
A
I agree. And one other big thing before we go to number five is this. When you started and you were going full time and you built, you know, tens of thousands of dollars that you earned from your YouTube channel. Again, I didn't go full time until after doing YouTube for six years. I mean, to be fair, I went was doing YouTube for my church in 2007. So the three years I was practicing.
- [42:57]
B
Yeah, I was practicing for three years.
- [42:59]
A
Yeah. Then I started Think Media around 2010. And there's another almost six years before I go full time. And I think that's, you know, I hope that that's a reframe for some individuals because people feel like, oh, it's not working. I've been doing YouTube for six months or even three years, and it's not working. Like, study history. It's not just the algorithm right now. That's just. It's kind of the name of the game. And yes, people are getting results faster. And yes, business owners listening to this super small channels, we're going to help. We'll help you get leads in the first couple weeks, and you might be able to convert some of your offers and whatnot. And there's a different roi, but we're talking about the creator who's like, figuring this thing out. They maybe don't know what they're going to do. They're still figuring out their niche. You might pivot a couple times along the way. You might experiment on other channels, give yourself margin to practice. But when I started and you started, AI didn't even exist. No, not even AI tools didn't exist. This is a different freaking era. AI has changed everything. You still need skills, you still need to have grit and work ethic. But AI helps you go faster. I was shocked at a recent Think Media mastermind with, you know, a lot of individuals that are taking YouTube very seriously. And I was like, we, we have some proprietary tools and people were using it and they go, oh, I hit a limit. Like many people in the room, they're free chatgpt limit. And I was like, wait a minute, you don't pay for ChatGPT. What are you talking about? And the limiting belief in the room was like, what do you mean why would I pay for ChatGPT? I was like, do you even care about your life? Are you even valuable as a human? Leave right now. And I kicked out half the people from. And that was it early. Our relationship is over. It's like a weird thing because it's like, dude, you were just in the shopping checkout at a grocery store and you impulse bought $20 worth of stuff and you're not going to pay $20 for ChatGPT, so you don't hit a limit. This tool is so powerful. And so I think that's a shift to invest in tools that can speed up your workflow because AI can help you go faster in planning and scripting and coming up with titles. You know, we also have, we have a bunch of proprietary tools and we also have some specific AI tools that are just available for some of our higher level clients and whatnot. But actually during our holiday sale, we just launched what's called the YouTube Creator Toolkit. And inside of that we have, we've programmed it so These aren't generic ChatGPT prompts. We've programmed a video topic generator, our Think Media title generator. There's psychology in this, there's click triggers, there's all that different kind of stuff. And the cool thing is during the holidays we are for less than a trip to Chipotle. You can actually get the entire Think Media Creator toolkit@thinkmediasale.com It also includes a ticket to a planning event for making a game plan for 2026 on YouTube. So anyways, speed up your workflow. There's thumbnail templates in there. That's kind of. My point is like this toolkit are resources that can help you go faster with training so that you can also accelerate things. So at least you know, invest in your favorite LLM and, and so you're not hitting limits. That's just slowing you down. Like why are you. And, and consider that that's a resource we created. Some of those tools are just in our higher level programs. But we actually have never launched a holiday offer like this. You know, as people are doing Cyber Monday, Black Friday. So if you want to check that out, think mediasale.com and bottom line, what, what you think is going to have to take two hours. There are people that are doing in some cases two minutes. That sounds crazy, but it's true in some. When it comes to video editing stuff we used to do, there's plugins for different software. I'm not kidding. Stuff that used to take three hours takes three minutes now. Wow. When we would capture multi angle, try to sync the audio and do all this different stuff, there's tools right now where you go boop. And it's like. And it just cuts all the angles and whatnot. A lot of listeners aren't maybe doing something that complex. But that, that shows if you're not getting educated, if you're not aware of what tools are out there, if you're not aware of what's available, you have a lot of limiting beliefs on what's possible for you while you're working a full time job.
- [47:15]
B
Man, 100%. I love that we put all those tools together. Yeah, I wish that was around huh when I was like starting out. Because man, titles, everything's, it's hard enough to figure out and so you might as well upgrade your workflow from the very beginning. Especially if you're starting from scratch and you're going part time. I think think media sale.com which is a cool place to check out, you know, but so you know, tip number five here, this is more of a, more of a skill when it comes to okay the actual filming and really all the parts that you know, go along with making a YouTube video, researching, editing. Is batching everything?
- [47:47]
A
Yes.
- [47:48]
B
Like, okay, how, how would you just break down the term batching in case someone's not familiar with that?
- [47:53]
A
Yeah. So there's actually a really good book by Darren Hardy called the Compound Effect. We'll link to that in the show notes. It's a great book. And one of the big ideas though is they would say group similar tasks. That's what batching is. Group similar tasks. Whenever you're doing a particular task, it accesses a certain part of your brain. And you know what's fascinating is when you're sitting down to plan an outline or script. A video is a different part of your brain than when you're turning on the camera and delivering the content for your video. So if possible, when you're in the mode of research, outlining, planning your content, don't just do it for one video, do it for three, four, five, six, seven, eight. You're in research mode, you're in title mode, you're in planning mode. You got your AI tools up from Think Media, you've got your Google Doc up or your notion and you're really sitting down. You're also what's powerful about that is when you also are thinking about, let's say your next four to eight uploads, you start seeing how maybe there could be ties together in them. You start actually getting even better content because you're not rushing it out. Like, let me plan and then shoot, Let me plan and then shoot. Let me plan, shoot and then edit. But batching similar tasks is like you're batching, planning and research and outlining. You're batching a film day, you're then batching, editing. And so my Premiere, Adobe Premiere Timeline would have a lot of times four videos that I shot all at once, then all brought into the timeline, then all like kind of copied in one linear thing and then exported separately. Like so I would edit kind of all four videos at once. And if I kept editing, simple, then on Saturday side Hustle day, I'm, I'm sitting down and I edited four videos. And the point is not that I edited, if you will. Yes, I edited four videos, but the reason it went so fast was the whole process. Yeah, I kind of even knew what I was doing days ahead. I had my film day and then I had my edit day exported all of them. It gave me a chance to schedule upload into the future. And so batching similar tasks I think increases quality. It also is essential when you have a full time job. It's essential when you are doing YouTube full time. Yeah, like, I mean, so you should learn those habits and those routines. And this isn't just a YouTube thing, batching similar tasks, period. It's like if you have emails and follow up, which is part of the creator economy job, maybe you want to email some people for some collabs, dm, some people you want to jump on Twitter, you want to reach out, you want to see if some brands could collab and do some UGC content or you reach out to brands or look at your email inbox if you're like filming and then you check your email and then you're scattered. And it's actually task switching, which causes fatigue in your brain, which reduces your willpower, and your energy is real stuff.
- [50:48]
B
Yeah.
- [50:49]
A
And so it's like, no, today is admin day, or admin block and batch, similar, similar tasks. So when we say batch everything, I mean everything.
- [50:57]
B
We like everything. Single thing.
- [50:58]
A
Yeah.
- [50:58]
B
This makes me think, oh, I'm sure you've totally heard this term, but it took me a little bit to figure this out. Like that task switching, context switching. What's so tough about that is there's this attention residue, right, that like, this thing you were doing before is kind of still with you and you actually need time to thaw out from that headspace that you were in, especially if you're doing such, such different things. So a prime real example that like, gutted me multiple times way back then is I would look at the comments as I'm about to go record. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's like the worst thing you could do. You know what I mean? It's like there's a time to go for comments, look at it, reply to them. You know, all that good stuff. But I would look at the comments before I'm about to press record. And all it took, Sean, was one bad comment, one negative content or negative comment, and I'm like, so disheartened. I'm like, ah, I'm not going to film today. I'm going to go eat Cheetos and collapse. You know what I mean? I'm just like, it totally took me off. And so I think the sequencing of what you do and when you do it absolutely matters. It's a real thing. All right, so let's hit number six, skilling up and staying consistent. The key here, right, is every upload is practice. What does that mean to you?
- [52:04]
A
Yeah, you mentioned this earlier. People should give themselves more margin for practice. But let's give a few nuances on this. I think that the idea is commit to the journey and keep skilling up. Learn one new thing each upload. You know, we say get 1% better with every upload. So every time you upload a video, maybe tweak your lighting a little bit, try to get, you know, better titles, learn editing shortcuts. And then I also think, though, there's something about celebrating small wins, like, too often we only want to celebrate views. I think you should celebrate uploads themselves.
- [52:38]
B
Oh, that's great.
- [52:39]
A
And your next 10 videos will be better than your last 10 videos. They might not even perform better, but you need to even think about for yourself. Like, I improved. Like I did watch a couple of Think Media videos on lighting and I like my lighting a lot better. Will that ultimately affect actually retention and stuff? Maybe not to a big degree, but you're mastering your craft more. So you're committed to continuing to skill up and then you're committed to staying consistent. I mean that is absolutely just part of the process. Consistency compounds over years. Consistency is achieved. Code and don't quit in the valley of average. I think it's okay, like it's okay to suck at the start. Everybody does. You know, I heard from my friend Ben Azadi who's also been a part of our video ranking academy for years and he gave me the four step formula for success and he was like, Sean, this is what it is. Suck, suck, suck, cess. And I was like, Ben, you're right, you nailed it. Yeah, I was like, step one, your video is terrible. Step two, it got worse. Step three, it's a little bit better. And step four, oh, I kind of had a video break out a little bit. Don't quit in the valley of average. And so yeah, commit to the journey. Every upload is practice and again, I do want to encourage people. If you're going to really take YouTube serious this year, check out our holiday offer. Again, this is one of those things where I understand it costs a few bucks but it's not really a money maker for us us it's a resource. We want to get in people's hands@thinkmediasale.com because we're on a mission to help 1 million purpose driven individuals create a full time living doing what they love while making a difference in the world with YouTube. And so by having resources that can help you skill up in our holiday bundle, our YouTube Creator toolkit and by also having AI tools that can help you go faster. Just go to thinkmetasale.com, click the link in the show notes and take advantage of that special offer because we are locked in for 2026. I think media helping people adapt to the changes, helping people with resources. Subscribe to this podcast as a free resource and you know one of the things that is interesting, I know this is true for you, you joined Video ranking academy and you also didn't just create content, you found time to study. Like that's right. While I was 2010 to 2016 to today, there has never been a season in my life where I wasn't reading books, consuming online courses, getting on a plane when I could to fly to an event, studying YouTube videos, listening to podcasts like this. And I would also say, like, be careful with diluting your focus too much on what you study. You know, one of my mentors actually told me this. They said, you shouldn't just be randomly listening to podcasts and randomly consuming information. You should ask yourself this question. What is the next skill that is most important for me to learn that would move the needle in my YouTube business and my online business? And so by answering that question, then stop listening to every other podcast and stop reading every single book and identify the resource that will help you get the result that you need next. Our friend Pat Flynn wrote a book called Lean Learning. Because at this point, there's so much great information out there, and we still need to be consuming it and always be committed to the pursuit of mastery and skilling up. But our focus is too diluted when we're like, man. And I get it. Especially people who love learning. There's so many things I want to read and study. You know, even maybe during the holidays, someone's listening to this and they're like, there was a couple different offers from a few different people. I usually buy, like, a lot of people's Black Friday sales that are kind of in the marketing space. You know, I'll buy stuff on paid ads, I'll buy stuff on, like, funnels, and I buy stuff on sales, and I buy stuff on content or like, vertical. Like. And so what's interesting, though, is great, you know, maybe you're grabbing those things for your library. But here's the question, though. What actually is priority for you right now? You're listening to the Think Media podcast. What skill? And if you isolate it down, maybe you're like, I'm not really sure. I'd say stuff like master packaging if you want to win on YouTube. Master Packaging? What is that title? Thumbnail topic hooks like, think it about. That's your first 30 seconds of trust. And even getting the clicking, cracking through the algorithm. So, like, okay, what I'm going to focus on is mastering packaging. Now, another thing could be I want to really focus on growing as a communicator. So now you're like, well, those are the TED talks I'm going to listen to. Those are the things I'm going to listen to. Let me call out some of our community because I know our VRA fam listens to this. There's a resource that comes along with VRA called Camera Confidence. Yeah, you're like, I want to grow as a communicator. And have more confidence on camera. You've never watched it. You don't need to buy something new. You're already a part of our program. Go watch the thing you've invested in and schedule. I know we're tempted to open up YouTube or worse, open up TikTok or Instagram Reels. Fun. But, like, where's that going to lead you?
- [57:38]
B
Slippery slope. Yeah.
- [57:39]
A
It's not going to lead you to death. Yeah. Like, reallocate your energy to be like, yo, I'm going to become a better communicator. Yeah. I'm going to study camera confidence period. And let me challenge you. This isn't help. Like, some of you, don't go to ThinkMedia sale.com. open your VRA member. Like, go to camera confidence. Right. Don't buy something new.
- [57:58]
B
Yes.
- [57:59]
A
And don't buy other people's offers right now. Like, actually go consume the thing you've already invested in. Block some time on your calendar. I can't overestimate this enough. You tell me when you're so busy. Martial arts studio side Hustle Saturdays. When are you watching? Video Ranking Academy. You went through it like three times.
- [58:15]
B
Yeah, 100%. Here's the cheat code, which I have heard you long talk about. The car classroom.
- [58:21]
A
The car classroom.
- [58:22]
B
The car classroom. That just means, hey, when I'm in the car, I could listen to music and maybe sometimes I need to because I need to chill out. Work was tough. That's cool. But just most of the time I had my VRA module queued up. You know what I'm saying? And like, yeah, I'm not like watching while I'm driving, but I'm listening to the audio and then I'm thinking about it. So I just kind of set up rules for myself. That was like, hey, if it's. Especially if it's just me in the car. Could you imagine, like, he's next to me. All right, babe, VRA module seven, let's do. You know? But no, it's just like, okay, when I'm in the car by myself, I'm going to choose proactively to have things queued up and make that car my classroom.
- [58:56]
A
Yeah, I think that's huge. And what. As we land the plane, I would encourage listeners. This is possible. This is possible. We're sharing how we went full time on YouTube while having full time jobs. This is the path. There are millions of people in the creator economy that figured it out. And as discouraging as your circumstances may seem, I don't want to invalidate the challenges you're dealing with. You're dealing with challenges, challenges with work. You've got challenges with co parenting, you've got challenges with raising kids. You've got health challenges, You've got, you know, energy challenges. Not everyone's energy is the same. That's a whole nother side quest about. Also maybe, you know, eat a little bit healthier and stop, stop crashing your system with processed foods. And, you know, I don't want to get preachy here, but, but, but legitimately, people's energies are the same. It's your race, your pace. You don't have to compare yourself to anybody else. Listen, let me encourage you. There's already somebody on YouTube doing this full time that has more adverse circumstances than you. They actually, they figured it out. You thought your schedule was impossible. Somebody else had a harder schedule, and they figured it out. It kind of comes back to a mindset. Shift, making a decision. I can lock into discipline, I can lock into doing this. I can have a conversation with my spouse, with my partner. I can relook at my calendar. I can give myself great, and I can give myself grace. Because in the next 30 days, I actually can't. That might be true. You're like, actually, in the next 30 days, there's way too many fires and there's way too much going on. But what you can do is identify, okay, this is a season. You work during the holidays. And, you know, in the past, I had a lot of friends that would work retail. They work at J. Crew pacsun, and they were picking up extra shifts. So maybe the next three weeks or the next six weeks. Weeks is not it. But you can reverse engineer back from the fact that, okay, I actually know things are about to shift in February, you know, things in March or summer, and you can start making a plan, do a car studio to learn a little bit and make a plan to when you're going to start. You don't have to overload yourself, but there's a way, there is a way to do this. Everything is figureoutable, man.
- [61:08]
B
I just want to challenge. Hey, if you're listening and watching, it's your race, it's your pace. Where are you on your race right now? What's that next thing that you need to do, the next decision you need to make? Who's the next person you need to talk to? What is that next piece of information you need to consume that's congruent with the next step you're supposed to take? Hey, this is the Think Media podcast, and we're going to be here all year long to help you through. We'd sure it'd be an honor to be a part of your car classroom and so I'd encourage you to stay close. This is the Think Media podcast. I'm Nathan Eswine and I can't wait to connect with you throughout this year.