 Okay, so before I start, even telling you about what today's video is about, let me apologize in advance for all the noise that you may be hearing because there's a lot of construction work going on in the neighborhood and Other noises that you may hear. Sometimes airplanes fly over the house. So if you hear something in the background like that Please pardon me. It happens. That's what I have to deal with in my neighborhood So yeah, let's get into today's video So today, I'm gonna be sharing with you what I've done two years prior to posting my first YouTube vlog If you've already posted your first video or maybe a couple more videos I think you should still stick around for some new perspective to change your outlook on your YouTube journey and My name is Kwame. I'm a documentary filmmaker Photographer and voiceover artist based in Accra, Ghana, and you're welcome to my YouTube channel It's okay. This channel is my attempt to make sense of life and a human experience in general And I am happy that you are here. This is going to be more of a story time and lesson kind of message here today and I would love for you to stick around. I promise it's going to be worth your while Now I know we cannot agree that YouTube as a platform and the kind of status that it has given a lot of the big Names here makes it very attractive for you to want to be a YouTuber And that's why you may be here considering starting your own channel and I got to say that I mean YouTubers are celebrities in your own rights YouTube stars are living their dream lives and we see it here every day And believe it or not. This is how some people actually make a living Creating content here is someone's full-time job They take care of themselves and their families and lives that live the lives They want to live all by creating. So this is a pretty big deal And like everything that gives you a better social standing people want to be like you And that's why there are a lot of people like me And maybe you who might be starting your YouTube journey here for the opportunities that my come or you might come across while creating content So for the commentary filmmaker that I am My first ever blog post got me a client job So it's pretty impressive what your presence online and advertising what you can do can do for you And the bottom line is if you have a channel or you internal starting a channel You aspire to benefit from putting in the work as much as doing what you love and that is the truth You can't run away from that But there's a reason for this video and like other aspects of our lives We often find ourselves comparing our own journey to the kind of lives We see others live and we seldom ask how much work goes into becoming like the people we admire so much and Another thing is that we often see the beauty of what is now and we don't take a lot of things into consideration Like how many years they have been doing what we see as the perfect lives they may be living now or How much work went into it before they cut their first big break or their big break or even worse How much work goes into it to keep up with their newfound responsibility of staying at the top, which is the most difficult part So it's not just all glitz and glam So let me take you back to two years ago before I even posted my first Vlog if you haven't watching my youtube videos, you would have probably heard me say time and time again that I am Unoverthinker, so it's no secret now granted, you know, there are times when I act on impulse So that makes me a little unpredictable But big decisions like quitting your job as a full-time radio broadcast that with a very reputable Organization while making a decent living can't be an impulsive one. No way So before I started my youtube channel, I had been binge-watching a lot of youtube videos Or should I call it research and inspiration? Yeah, for two years, you know, I sit and watch people like Peter McKinnon, Matt Diavella, Nathaniel Drew, YC Caleb Pike Potato Jets and others religiously. Every day I'd learn something new new cameras, new lights, new microphones, budget-friendly ones, not-so-budget-friendly ones, tips and tricks, hacks, all of them And in the summer of 2018 when I took my annual leave I decided to use that time to do a short film course in the Netherlands And I attended summer school at HKU in Utrecht and look It was one of the best experiences of my life coming into contact with the art of film making All the things that I learned was just such an eye-opening experience for me I got to say and part of the reason why I also decided to go into Documentary filmmaking was because of our course lecturer and how he liked up when he spoke about filmmaking and storytelling so after that I continued my binge-watching of YouTube and I've been making purchases for the gear based on recommendations from these people that I admire so much on YouTube I acquired my gear in bits over the period of time Not all at once and I bought all the things I needed to start a decent YouTube channel in the space of two years While still learning so that's how I did it and then it got to a point where I knew that this was it I wanted to grow to become someone else in my storytelling journey I wanted to become a filmmaker a full-time filmmaker so I quit my job in December 2019 and started 2020 afresh At this point in my life all I needed to do was to start practicing all that I had learned in the past couple of years with lighting sound shooting flat and whatnot and Putting all together to tell my stories as a self-development youtuber by sharing what I'm learning on my new journey and Also sharing videos like this with you So I was prepared to start this YouTube channel or YouTube journey And I knew it wasn't no way going to be rosy for me because even though all these vlogs I watched from the big-time youtubers looked so good I had a fair idea of the amount of work that went into just making one just one of them Not having any knowledge like this will have you like starting and quitting your YouTube channel in a few weeks because you will Be overwhelmed you struggle with consistency and ultimately you stop creating because you didn't psych yourself up for The long haul and that's what will happen So I admire these big names even more and I also lowered my expectations of having it all in a short space of time I keep saying this in a lot of videos remember that nobody owes you anything do your bit Most of these big names have been practicing their filmmaking since they were teenagers they have videos dating back to 10 15 years ago and They have the experience and they've earned that thought that top spots that they are So if you are thinking of starting your YouTube channel, whatever genre you want to make content on Just don't look at the finished product of other creators and jump in head first You know, it's good to be inspired, but it's better to be prepared. I don't know if that's an existing quote If it's not, you know where to attribute it. Yeah. Yeah, thank you So all I'm saying is it takes a ton of work and you too can do it But remember the work part and you might as well also want to check out one of my videos about the one hack that I live by And if you like this video, yes, please, please, please give it a thumbs up It really helps YouTube to suggest it to other viewers and don't forget to subscribe and Hit the bell button to get notified when I post a new video and I hope to catch you again in the next video Stay safe. Thanks for watching and peace