Alright, back with another tips guide here. This time we are going to be doing less step by step, and going more introspective. The topic is the YouTube "Hero's Journey." Using the hero's journey framework, we can analyze your channel and its growth, so that you can gracefully move through your time on YouTube, grow more quickly, and prevent frustration by being content with where you are. This model assumes that YouTube is not a permanent job or hobby for the rest of your life (which I think is fairly safe to assume).
NOTE: This may seem very hyperbolic. Understand that we are using the terms from epic stories (rebirth, journey, hero, etc). This is merely a tool to understand; the "YouTube journey" is not as dire as it is for the hero's in our favorite stories.
The video guide can be found at the bottom of this post, but read on for the text version.
The hero's journey is a literary concept that is used as a roadmap or recipe for most of the worlds greatest adventure literature (Harry Potter and Star Wars are pretty good examples). This framework has been adapted by the self-help community to help people understand and comprehend the average "journeys" we will encounter in life (personal relationships, career, health, fitness, marriage, etc). So I figured, why not apply this to our journey on YouTube? This is intended to help with your internal understanding of yourself and your channel. It can pay big dividends to understand where we are and where we are going (for example, understanding we are "refusing the call" can help us understand what we are doing, and what we need to do to proceed to the next stage, progressing our channels more quickly).
Here is an image of the hero's journey cycle. The process is cyclical even as we might think we want to stay in one stage forever.
That probably looks like mumbo-jumbo to most of us, so let's break it down into what each stage means in YouTube.
So that was a lot of reading. I'm proud of you. A lot of theoretical framework. What does this actually mean for you as a person?
Here is the takeaway. Understand where you are. By understanding that you are in the grind, you can begin to keep your eyes open for the central ordeal. By understanding you will have tests, you can be prepared and revitalized, knowing that these are a temporary part of your journey. By understanding you are in the resurrection stage, you can wind down with grace rather than burn up in negativity like many YouTubers do. This sounds like common sense, but when we are in the cycle, it is often hard to see it. Think about where you are. Think about where you are going. Be comfortable with it. Keep your chin up, and think about how best to move to the next stage so you can become a better you, and reap the rewards of your hard work.
This was all a bunch of hippy-talk. I know. Once you have looked at this framework, and understand where you are, you can go check out my other guides which give practical real world advice and use them to better effect. Just search around the YTT tutorials section, I have many guides there.
NOTE: This may seem very hyperbolic. Understand that we are using the terms from epic stories (rebirth, journey, hero, etc). This is merely a tool to understand; the "YouTube journey" is not as dire as it is for the hero's in our favorite stories.
The video guide can be found at the bottom of this post, but read on for the text version.
The hero's journey is a literary concept that is used as a roadmap or recipe for most of the worlds greatest adventure literature (Harry Potter and Star Wars are pretty good examples). This framework has been adapted by the self-help community to help people understand and comprehend the average "journeys" we will encounter in life (personal relationships, career, health, fitness, marriage, etc). So I figured, why not apply this to our journey on YouTube? This is intended to help with your internal understanding of yourself and your channel. It can pay big dividends to understand where we are and where we are going (for example, understanding we are "refusing the call" can help us understand what we are doing, and what we need to do to proceed to the next stage, progressing our channels more quickly).
Here is an image of the hero's journey cycle. The process is cyclical even as we might think we want to stay in one stage forever.
- Ordinary world: Life Before YouTube
- This is the stage where you are possibly watching YouTube, but didn't have any knowledge or interest in creating content yourself. Your everyday life before you began thinking about YouTube as a hobby or job.
- Call to Adventure: The YouTube Bug
- This is where you found an interest in YouTube, and began thinking of making a channel yourself. You become interested in the process, and perhaps internally obsessed over creating a channel and the thought of "making it big" on YouTube.
- Refusal of the Call: Making Excuses
- In this stage, our itch to create content has driven us to try to actually start a channel and make content. But wait, this is HARD.... Cameras and microphones are expensive. You just don't have enough time. You don't know how to use photoshop. People probably wouldn't like you anyways. We make excuses for ourselves, and decided we probably aren't going to do YouTube after all.
- Meeting the Mentor: Finding a Role-Model
- In this stage, we "meet" our mentor. This may mean you actually meet someone you know who has overcome the challenges above, and been successful. On Youtube, it more likely means you are watching a larger channel and getting tips and advice from this one sided relationship, possibly interacting in the comments or via twitter. You may have several "mentors." The important thing is that they guide you through your excuses.
- Crossing the Threshold: Starting Your Channel, and Your First Uploads
- Using your mentor's channel as a guide, and their advice as your new manual for success you decide you CAN make a channel and give this a go. You get the equipment, and edit and upload your first few videos. You have crossed the threshold from being a viewer and your "old" life to being in the public eye. Now you are a YouTuber. You now will begin to recognize the differences between your old world and new world.
- Free time used to mean that you sat around watching TV, now it means meeting the expectations that your viewers have come to expect. Gaming used to be something you did for fun when you are bored, now it will be associated in your head with work as well. Many fundamentals of your free time will change. You now understand and appreciate the work put in by others, and the work and finesse needed to build a successful channel.
- Tests, Allies, and Enemies
- Tests: You will have to fight against your environment. This means struggling to learn to use tags. This means learning how to edit videos and thumbnails. You need to learn to pass these many "tests" that are thrown at you.
- Allies: Along the way going through the tests, you will find allies. These may be in real life, or online. These are people that are sharing a similar struggle or just want to help you out and encourage you. Maybe this is your new YouTube friend. Maybe this is a friend in real life who says "thats really cool, let me know how I can help!"
- Enemies: Again, these may be in real life or online. These are people that don't like you doing YouTube for one reason or another. Perhaps your parents think you shouldn't be wasting time online. Perhaps another channel is starting drama with you. Perhaps your girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't like that you are spending more time away from them, talking to "strangers". These enemies will try to hold you back from doing Youtube. Many times these are people close to you. This does not mean you need to fight with them or cut them from your life, only that you must understand their role in your "YouTube Journey."
- Approach: The Grind
- This is where most of us will spend most of our time. This is the daily grind of writing, filming, editing, uploading, etc. This is where our channel will see growth. We need to just keep at it, doing our best to overcome tests and enemies, to get closer to our reward. This may last 3 months, this may last 6 years.
- Central Ordeal: Stress or Fighting
- This will be the climax of your journey. This is the "boss fight." It may include major drama with another YouTuber. May include major fights with people you care about in real life. This may simply be an overwhelming stress that you need to overcome internally from being overworked or upset by negative comments. You will need to overcome this to change your frame of mind. When you overcome the central ordeal, you will have a new outlook. I notice many who have passed this point seem to stop responding to comments, or simply have a new outlook on what YouTube means to them.
- Reward: Personal and Financial
- Once you have overcome your central ordeal, you will be able to actually enjoy the rewards from your effort. This may be personal satisfaction from hard work on a good video. This may be financial, enjoying the ad revenue your channel has created for you. Even if some of these benefits were present before the central ordeal, this is where you can truly enjoy them.
- Resurrection: The New You
- This is where you combine all of your lessons and new skills to become the new you. This Is the transition from Youtube life to post-Youtube life. This means understanding the lessons and skills you have earned. Public speaking. Video editing. Customer service. Web design. Brand management. Self esteem and confidence. These are now not things you do, but they are who you are. In some extreme cases this may include quitting your old job to take on YouTube full time.
- The Road Back: Winding Down or Transitioning
- Its time to come back to YouTube land and get back to real life, shedding YouTube. This means abandoning the grind, and going back to the life you knew before YouTube. Often this is harder for people than growing ever was. Your daily habits involved in YouTube are no longer needed. You need to learn to come back to the life you left before YouTube.
- In some cases where Youtube has become a primary occupation, this may include a shift, where Youtube becomes part of your old world, rather than shedding it completely. Perhaps you leverage your Youtube fame to transition into a related career. This is not the norm.
- Return: The Master of Two Worlds
- You are home. Back to the life and habits you left behind. But you aren't the same you. You have grown, and learned, and understand both the public "youtube" sphere as well as average life. You can use the lessons you learned from YouTube to benefit your old life. Maybe your new confidence helps you get a girlfriend. Maybe your speaking skills and professionalism help you ace an interview and land a job. Maybe your new organization skills and work ethic just help you be better at other aspects of your life. In any case, you are home, but you aren't the same person you were when you left.
So that was a lot of reading. I'm proud of you. A lot of theoretical framework. What does this actually mean for you as a person?
Here is the takeaway. Understand where you are. By understanding that you are in the grind, you can begin to keep your eyes open for the central ordeal. By understanding you will have tests, you can be prepared and revitalized, knowing that these are a temporary part of your journey. By understanding you are in the resurrection stage, you can wind down with grace rather than burn up in negativity like many YouTubers do. This sounds like common sense, but when we are in the cycle, it is often hard to see it. Think about where you are. Think about where you are going. Be comfortable with it. Keep your chin up, and think about how best to move to the next stage so you can become a better you, and reap the rewards of your hard work.
This was all a bunch of hippy-talk. I know. Once you have looked at this framework, and understand where you are, you can go check out my other guides which give practical real world advice and use them to better effect. Just search around the YTT tutorials section, I have many guides there.
It has given me a lot to think about
