I Deleted My 4 Year Old YouTube Channel and Podcast 🙈

Time for a change

Okay, I have started to hate the world content.

Maybe hate is a strong word. But, every time someone says content, I want to run away. It’s a strange feeling because I have been creating and publishing stuff on the internet since I was 16.

Writing my first poem at 13 looks uber cool today than it did a decade ago. Then as things started expanding and new media took over the world, my creative pursuit got new directions. So I dived deeper into content creation and allowed my creativity to explore.

I tried audio, video, written content, poetry, words, art even TikTok. But creativity has always been my driving factor, which is why I am here.

Struggling to manage these endeavors and jobs, I successfully created and published. On this journey, I learned time management, speaking to people from different countries, not getting scared of the camera, and most importantly, failing.

I failed so many times that my head hurts doing the number.

I never had a video getting more than 4k views; I never reached the top podcast chart list even when I started podcasting when there were only a few hundred podcasts in my country.

I failed everywhere. It pained me in the beginning, but it made my rejection and failure muscle strong. I think that’s what you need to become a successful entrepreneur. And that brings me to the realization and the self-awareness of what I want to do with my life because, unfortunately, I can’t do it all 🙄

There’s No Perfection Without Prioritisation

Such a powerful lesson that took me a decade to learn.

I did everything under the sun and became a content machine. As a result, I got millions of views, thousands of followers, and a couple of times, people recognized me on the streets of Bhopal and Bangalore.

But it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t an expert in anything, and I had no domain expertise or a single platform that was my priority for a more extended period.

Due to a lack of prioritization, perfection was missing. This made me widely spread on multiple platforms doing multiple things instead of focusing on one thing.

I did improve a hundredfold, but a lot of improvement was needed. So now, I am focusing on optimizing what is required instead of branching out.

I wasn’t uploading videos every week; I wasn’t perfect. I want to do it right if I do it again; I’ll focus on what I can do right now.

Self-Awareness Made Me ReThink

I wanted to be a female Beer Biceps of an Indian Youtube game, but trust me, after learning the ground realities of the online world and doing the inner work, I knew it was not for me.

Being an introvert, coming every week talking to the camera. Revealing my identity to the entire world felt taxing. It was asking for too much from me. Self-awareness also reminded me that I wanted my private life to be private rather than a career based on my personality or personal life.

When you’re a creator, you want to use your relationships as content, your tragedies as click bates, or people in your life as your decorations. And I don’t want to do any of that. I only want to share my ideas.

It was a spooky realization. And I had to decide if I wanted to continue with that. Self-awareness is the key. When you learn what you want, you bid bye to everything that’s not your purpose.

Thinkers Aren’t Known For Their Face

It is good to know that my content is being appreciated by a global audience here and have dedicated readers who’ve been consuming my work since my Quora days.

I was proud of my work because I talked about issues like toxic parenting and people’s struggles in small towns in metro cities that nobody talks about. I wanted to be the person I needed when I was 17.

But was I happy with my progress? I wasn’t.

Even with crazy ideas and meaningful discussions, I was still way behind people doing makeup videos or fashion hauls.

I know there’s no comparison, but there’s hardly any value for thinkers in the industry where face value sells. Well, not unless you’re Naval or your dad is Richard Branson.

When this realization hit me, I stopped using my pictures on social and created a design language that resonated with my philosophies and revelations. It gives me the clarity that people are in for my ideas, not my face.

Business >>>> Content

People like Ali Abdal and Mr. Beast may have become giants and millionaires posting videos, but it’s not the case with everyone. The amount of time it requires to post a video is similar to starting a business.

I made money from a few of these endeavors, but I think about how much I’d have achieved if I had invested that much time in building a sustainable business.

A steady cash flow is an integral part of being creative because if you’re constantly thinking about paying your bills and making the end meet, you won’t be able to create your best work.

Letting go of my channel, which I knew would have made me $20K-$40K in a couple of years, gives me the mental energy to get those results in a much shorter period.

The content will be part of the business model and not vice versa.

There Are Better Opportunities in Web 3

I have gushed enough about transitioning into Web 3, and trust me, nothing excites me more than that.

Content creation is never-ending, especially in web 2, when the tech giants make billions on your content, and their business model only works when you hustle.

Once you understand that, you’ll realize that you’re not benefiting from them—the opposite.

With blockchain technology finding more use cases for a broader range of people, there are tons of new opportunities for people with weird sets of skills like mine.

When you combine tech and art, you get NFTs. There’s DeFi, and there’s metaverse and the Ownership Economy.

What does that mean?

It means I will continue to explore my creativity, and hone my skills as a human first, then as a creator. And now, instead of creating videos and podcasts for the algorithm, I want to do it for people who are genuinely interested in them and enjoy my ideas.

And I want you to be a part of this massive change that’s coming and not a platform or the stupid algorithm.

The ownership economy is the idea that in the future, all platforms will be built, operated, and owned by their users.

It’s going to be community-driven, it’s going to be personal, and it’s going to be about each of us. We’re going to step into the ownership economy together — you and me because I want you to be a part of my success.

I won’t spill all the beans now, but you’ll learn about it soon. I will continue to write because I think in writing :)

You can still choose to support me by reading my blog on Medium. Use this link to read all my posts on Medium and a gazillion others.

Lastly

What makes my life a fun ride is the randomness and the experiments I take in my personal and professional life.

Am I sad for riding multiple boats at once? Hell No! Am I sad about deleting 87 videos? No!

I am stunned by how I managed to do more stuff in these 5–6 years than people do in their entire life. And I am sure what I do next will be better and more thoughtful than before.

With this note, I thank you for being on this journey with me and witnessing me grow as a creator but, more importantly, as a human being.

Thank you.

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