Around 5:15am on Wednesday January 1, 2025, I published my first real YouTube video. Here it is, in all its glory… all 102 minutes of it. Haha!
I’ve posted other videos on my channel since 2010, but nothing that I really cared about, and there was no specific connection between any of those uploads.
My channel was officially created on June 15, 2006, which wasn’t that long after YouTube itself was created.
“In February 2005, the company activated www.youtube.com. The first video was uploaded on April 23, 2005. Titled “Me at the zoo”, it shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo and can still be viewed on the site. The same day, the company launched a public beta and by November, a Nike ad featuring Ronaldinho became the first video to reach one million total views. The site launched officially on December 15, 2005, by which time the site was receiving 8 million views a day.” (From the YouTube Wikipedia page.)
As of today, here are some stats regarding my channel:
- 157 subscribers
- 17 public videos (3 were automatically classified as Shorts) and 7 unlisted videos (videos of things I was selling and didn’t think they needed to be public)
- 157,283 views
I’m not totally new to YouTube, or video creation (I also have 6 public videos on my Vimeo account: https://vimeo.com/ranplan), or cameras, or audio, or lighting, or graphic design, or writing, or marketing, or SEO, or social media, or all of the other skills related to growing a channel.
But with this video upload, I’m finally taking things more seriously.
My plan on Tuesday night was to record a quick 3-5 minute video with my phone in my studio, do no edits, and quickly post it to YouTube for the world to see, all before midnight. You know, I’ve only been talking about making YouTube videos for at least 4-5 years, but probably more like 10-15 years.
But I never did.
I was serious about starting in 2021, and even more serious in 2022. I was definitely going to do in 2023, and for sure 2024 was my year to do with no excuses or anything getting in my way. So in true procrastinator fashion, I waited until the last possible minute on the last day of 2024. Yup, right after 11pm on December 31, 2024. How typical.
Also typical was the fact that I couldn’t just say a few things, and all of a sudden, the clock struck midnight while I was still recording, and thus I celebrated the New Year alone in my studio in the middle of this video. And since I didn’t get it done in time, I just kept the camera rolling and I ended up with almost two hours of footage.
My phone, my iCloud account, my Google Drive account, and countless physical hard drives… they are all filled with videos just like this. Long drawn out talking head videos rambling on for 20-30 minutes, or some over an hour. Videos with the clear intention to only shoot for a few minutes, maybe ten minutes max. But once I start talking, I can’t stop.
Which is exactly how this one went, but instead of storing it or trashing it, something was different this time. I immediately performed a super basic edit and uploaded it. I made a plan and for the most part stuck to it. I started something and saw it through all the way to the finish line. Wow. This is huge for me. Even writing this blogpost/article is huge for me. I’ve been totally capable of doing all of these things for decades, yet I just never do, or at least I don’t stay consistent. Look at the last post on this site, it was from last January. Another year with only one single lonely post.
I’m committed to not doing that again. So I’m planning on making one post per week on this site. For real this time, just like my YouTube channel. A new video every Wednesday at 8am EST, and a new blogpost every Friday at 8am.
I’m currently writing this on Wednesday night, and I’m gonna schedule it for Friday morning. I really want to publish it right now, but I’m sticking to a schedule and trying to follow my own rules once and for all. But not too many rules, because that prevents me from doing anything.
I’m done not taking my art/work/hobbies/passions/creations seriously. What’s the point of knowing how to do something and never doing anything with those skills or talents? And if you do something with them here and there, what’s the point of keeping them all private and never releasing them out to the world? I’m done with that. When I make things going forward, I want people to be able to find them, use them, get value from them, share them, relate to them, laugh at them, learn something from them, and maybe be inspired to do something afterwards.
Ok, that’s all I really wanted to say. I made a thing (a video) and shared it with the world. And I just made another thing (this article) and it will be live on the site on Friday (or right now since you’re reading it).
All of the posts on this site won’t be me just sharing my YouTube videos and talking about them in text form. This website will be about anything I feel like writing about. That’s the only way that I can guarantee a new post every week. If I put too many hurdles in front of me, I won’t do it. A few constraints are good, but not too many. So my YouTube channel will have videos about whatever I want to make videos about, and a new one every week. And this blog will be whatever I want to write about every week.
Next up is me getting back to my weekly podcast that was only a legit weekly show for a short run, it too suffered from my lack of consistency and procrastination. One thing at a time makes the most sense, but I know I can put out a new video, blogpost, and podcast every week for at least one year. If I keep everything simple and work ahead of schedule (like how I’m not writing this at 7:42am Friday morning), I know I can do it.
I’m definitely doing this all for me, but I know you or someone out there will get something out of these creations too. So… enjoy.