(jazz music)
- I can explain.
All right, guys, I'm not gonna beat around the bush.
Obviously, there has been a pretty big change in my life.
Let's just get it out there in the open.
I got a new T-shirt.
I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.
(calm music)
You know it's getting real intimate
when I sit down on the floor for one of these videos.
Where to start,
I could start with combing my mustache
that's much better.
So yes, it's true, I have thought about quitting YouTube
and just taking a step away completely
from everything I'm doing here,
throwing in the towel.
I've been joking with Natalie that I'm just gonna retire
and be a stay at home house husband,
I think deep down, I knew that it was just a joke
and that I would eventually get back to it,
but I definitely faced a moment of crisis where,
I was really questioning my path
and whether I was doing the right thing
for the right reason.
This video it's gonna be personal,
it's gonna be about my story
and about what I'm working through
but I think that there are a lot of lessons for you,
if you feel like you're in a wreck right now,
if you feel like your long-term goals aren't aligned
with your daily actions.
I think that there are a lot of things that I learned
over the past couple of months
that I think you might be able to apply to your own life.
And so why did I want to quit?
That's a good question.
You know, I think for me, it came down to one question
and it's a question that
you need to constantly ask yourself,
am I doing this because I want to
or because I feel like I have to,
especially if you're looking for a career that is fulfilling
and that brings you joy and excitement,
you need to ask that question over and over again.
Am I doing this because I want to or I feel like I have to?
And I know that that's a privilege question
to be able to ask,
but if you want fulfilling work,
if you wanna spend your days,
your eight hours a day, 40 hours a week
doing something that you love,
you have to ask that question
because the answer is going to change.
For me, at some point I started to go from,
I get to make videos to, I have to make videos.
There was a 2018, 2019, where my channel was growing,
I was making new videos.
It was so exciting and fulfilling and challenging
and challenging in a really good way,
in a way that got me to, I think, push myself as a creator,
but then coincidentally or not,
definitely not coincidentally,
in 2020 last year, I really faced a slump creatively
where more and more it felt like I had to do it.
You know, I think that this is a common struggle
that all creators deal with.
It's, how do you stay relevant?
How do you continue to make interesting videos?
And then you get on this treadmill
and it feels like you can't get off.
And most people get off because they burn out
and they fall off the treadmill.
And so for me, it was more of just that constant knowing
the pressure
and really trying to find the excitement again.
And I did,
I did manage to work myself out of the rut
to the point where genuinely right now,
I can say that I am excited.
I'm excited about the work that I'm getting into.
I'm excited about the future and the projects
that I have planned
but it wasn't a straight line to get to this point.
And I'm sure there's gonna be many ups and downs,
I think that's the nature of doing creative work.
That's the nature of life.
There's always gonna be problems you need to overcome.
But I did find that there were three main things
that really helped me to get to this place
where I am right now,
where I am excited about my work.
And so I wanted to share those things with you because,
if you find yourself in the same place,
I think they might help.
So the first thing that I did was,
I started to take a step away from my work.
I think my highest rate of consistency,
I would make a video every single week.
And so at the beginning of this year,
I slowed down to every other week.
Now, if you happen to be your own boss
or you have the ability to work on your flexibility
with your schedule
or work in more time off,
or actually take your vacation time for once,
I think giving yourself a little bit of time here and there,
and especially extending those deadlines
where you feel that that pressure is unrealistic,
I think that is really gonna help to recharge
your batteries.
There's something scary about taking a step away
because we feel like we're gonna lose all the momentum
that we've built,
whether we've been in a career for two years,
five years or 10,
we feel like if we take a step away,
if we take a couple of weeks off or a month off,
take a little sabbatical between jobs
that we're gonna lose all that momentum
that the opportunities are gonna disappear.
There's a real fear of missing out in a sense
that we're gonna lose the progress that we've created.
But in my experience, even though I did take that time away
and I did slow down dramatically on the amount of content
I make for this channel,
I didn't see that I lost out on any momentum,
I can pick right back up where I left off.
And I come back after this break,
after slowing down, feeling so much more excited
about the work that I'm creating.
So create space and distance from the things that you love,
or the things that you once loved to find that spark again.
(slow upbeat music)
So when you're so entrenched in the day-to-day work,
the tasks, the to-do lists, the emails,
all the stuff that you have to do every single day,
when you get so swept up in your own deadlines
and your own work,
you're not finding room to get inspired by others.
And if you are feeling uninspired and unmotivated,
one of the best things that you can do
is consume art media and culture
that really gets you to think about life in a different way.
So for me, at the beginning of this year,
I started to re-pick up my habit of reading.
And this was a habit that I decided to build
at the start of the year,
it was my new year's resolution to read more.
And I certainly have read more.
I haven't quite been keeping up with my exact commitment
to read two books a month,
but I've been reading enough to feel inspired
and to get new ideas about business and entrepreneurship.
And I've been reading novels that have helped me to escape
from my own work and give me a little bit of space
and to be inspired by different stories
that I hadn't yet heard of.
One movie that I recently watched
that really inspired the hell out of me is,
Bo Burnham's, "Inside",
I'm sure you've heard of it.
So many creators have been talking about it.
So many YouTubers told me to go watch it,
that eventually I had to be like, all right,
I'll check it out.
I've been a big fan of Bo Burnham since his early days
on YouTube,
in fact, Bo Burnham is what inspired me to get into YouTube
in 2006 and make a parody rap video
that eventually got me sued for $7 million.
It's a long story.
I'm not gonna go into it here.
Eventually I'm gonna dive into that story.
I don't blame Bo for that,
but he's a brilliant creative
and what he did with that movie,
basically creating an entire film
over the course of the year in one room,
I could relate so much to that
because since the beginning of 2020,
I've been making videos mostly in my room,
not getting out of the house for so long.
To see what he was able to create,
the depth of creativity and humor
and emotion he was able to put into this film
was really remarkable.
And it inspired me.
I got halfway into that film even like within the first song
of that movie,
I was like, oh shit, like this is inspiring me.
Like, I'm like, I thought that I had tapped out
my creativity when I hadn't even begun.
And so if you're feeling uninspired,
go get inspired.
There's an unlimited number of books and articles and blogs
and podcasts and movies
that can help uplift you, inspire you
on the path that you're currently on.
So I don't know about you
but I have found that every two or three years,
I need a new challenge.
I need to really shake up my career
and the path that I'm on.
When I first got started out,
being a freelance filmmaker full-time was a huge deal.
And I was able to accomplish that by doing weddings.
And then after a couple of years of doing weddings,
I was like, ah, I don't think I wanna do weddings anymore,
I wanna do something different.
So then I started working with startup and tech companies.
I got good at that.
And so I was like, okay, I need a new challenge.
And so then I decided to make my first feature film.
I was able to prove that I could do that.
And so that's when I said, okay, I'm gonna start
a YouTube channel.
And so every two or three years,
I've had these turning points where I really transition
and push myself and challenge myself
in a new and unique way.
And I think so many of us see that in our own careers
where we work a job for a couple of years,
and then the challenge becomes dull
and we get so good at it,
so then we have to find a new path,
a new company to work for or a new business to start.
And so I think that you can't get too comfortable.
Eleanor Roosevelt has a quote
something along the lines of,
"Do one thing every day that scares you."
I think that's insane.
Eleanor Roosevelt, you're out of your goddamn mind.
That's too much scariness.
I'm not gonna do a scary thing every day
but I'm not Yes Theory.
They're amazing.
But I just can't do that much discomfort in my life.
But for me personally, it's,
I look at these big, scary, terrifying things
that we can do every couple of years
that can really shape the direction of our future.
And we can't be afraid to step out of our comfort zone
to do those things.
For me, what I've realized is, you know,
I've been doing this since 2017 or 18, three or four years,
and I'm probably past the point where,
I haven't challenged myself in the right way.
And so after really giving it some thought
since the beginning of the year,
this has been something I've probably wanted to do
for a year now,
but I've been quite frankly too afraid to do it,
is to hire out a legit team.
I've hired editors and I've worked with people
here and there,
but largely for the past three or four years
has been myself.
I shoot my videos. I edit my videos. I write my videos.
I do everything myself.
When it comes to Slow Growth,
I do everything myself.
You know, we hire freelancers to design
and to help do some copywriting
but for the most part,
I've taken the full weight of all that work on my shoulders,
a little pat on the back, like good job, Matt
but still, I'm kind of done with it.
I'm done with doing everything myself
because there's only so much you can do as one person.
And for me, I think this new challenge is gonna be,
to hire and put together an amazing creative team
that can do amazing work.
And so I'm looking to hire writers and designers
and editors.
And I don't know if all those are gonna be plural,
maybe just one designer,
but I really want to start investing in a team.
And that's where you might come in.
I've put out a couple shout outs on Instagram.
If you don't follow me on Instagram,
I wanna give you guys the opportunity
to apply for these roles that are open right now,
I have five roles that I've opened up
and I've given myself a deadline of hiring
for all of these roles by the end of August.
That's it, like no more scary scaredy pants Matt,
scary scaredy pants Matt.
No more being afraid of taking decisive action
and doing something bold.
And so this is truly one of those things
that I am scared about, but also really excited.
I just cannot wait to build a team to help me
with the videos that I make here on YouTube,
but also to help build my company Slow Growth.
And so if you wanna help me with all of those things
and make really interesting, great quality, content
and videos and courses that really help to affect change
and help people in their lives,
then check out the description below
because I'm hiring and I'm hiring soon.
So yeah, that's where I'm at right now.
And hopefully you can tell just how excited I am
about all of this.
I did go from a place of not having a vision or a direction
for my future, not knowing where I wanted to take things
and being kind of bored about what I was doing
to now being at a place where I wake up every morning,
excited, like nervous, not nervous,
I don't wake up nervous
but I wake up excited,
like genuinely fired up for the future.
And so I think that if you're in that similar place
that I was at earlier this year,
then, you know, follow those three steps,
give yourself some space,
get inspired by others
and challenge yourself,
do something that scares the absolute shit out of you.
But not every day.
We're not all Eleanor Roosevelt, you know?
I hope that you guys enjoyed it.
And if I could leave you with anything,
it would be, combing my mustache.
See you next time.
(groans) I can't do this anymore.
My back is killing me.
Oh, my knees to the knees are killing me.
My knees are hurting.