Dreams
We all have them. For many of us, what makes them a dream is their unattainability.
"Wouldn't it be nice?"
"Can you imagine if?"
We need to stop seeing our dreams this way. If our whole life is spent not chasing our dreams because "they're never going to happen", then the only person we have to blame is ourselves. Easier said than done though, right? Totally. It's a very difficult change in thinking to make. A change I will be working on a long time to come.
My Dream Chasing Story
I want to tell you a little bit about what this process has looked like for me. Hopefully, it will inspire you to take that leap and try for the life you deserve.
As far back as I can remember, video games have been THE SHIT. I probably spent more time as a teenager exploring ancient tombs, winning street races, and assassinating targets than anything else. Like most others though, as I left my teenage years behind, my video game binging days went with them.
Jump forward 10 years; I'm now 29 and although I've worked many jobs from retail to hospitality, nothing has ever quenched a deep-seated and life-long desire to created digital content - another passion that I gave up for "more adult things". On top of that, my hankering for wasting countless hours with an Xbox controller in my hands is ever-present. The icing on the cake is that I've spend a year and a half in a college program for an industry that I'm still not super sure of.
At a moment when frustration with my situation was reaching critical mass, inspiration and opportunity struck. Like most things in life, once the ball started rolling, it didn't slow down. First, another student in my program was streaming on Twitch as a hobby. Streaming was a world that I was largely unfamiliar with and I wasn't sure how appealing it was to me, but I couldn't deny the jealousy I had that she was gaming and creating content simultaneously. I didn't have the internet connection to stream, but I had a second YouTube channel without a title, content, or any kind of promising future. I hopped on Amazon and found myself a USB capture card that would allow me to use OBS Studios to record footage off my Xbox. I already had a good microphone setup because I had been podcasting and was enrolled in a Radio program. A few trial and error recordings later, I was up and going with daily Let's Play videos on my channel.
Second, in my final year of schooling, I had a class that was a game-changer. My professor, although having had a lengthy and successful Radio career, was now making sponsorship-based income with online content. If I were going to slack off in a class (I never do that), this was not the class. Actual tangible proof that people can make this type of career work. All of a sudden the wheels were turning. Maybe there was a way to take the knowledge gold mine from this class/professor and use it to turn my YouTube gaming into a job.
Time To Get Serious
Although my content was fun and engaging, it didn't measure up to my standards when it came to image and audio quality. For a while, this was a reality I was just going to put up with because I didn't want to sink too much cash into a hobby. The script had been flipped though with my new career goals and it was time to get serious.
The first thing to go was my microphone. The one I had worked just fine, but it was on the cheaper end and could use an upgrade. Another thing to factor in was it's appearance. This seems like a weird requirement for a microphone, but as soon as my internet deficiency improves (SOON!!!) I do plan on streaming. All the best streams have a camera feed of the streamer, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be sporting something that doesn't look "broadcastery". Now rocking a Zoom ZDM-1, I'm good to go.
Next, was my video resolution. Obviously, 4K is the mark to aim for, but 1080p is the minimum. The problem was, I wasn't even hitting that, well... not really. I was using and OLD gaming laptop to do my recording and the best it was capable of recording was 720p. I was spending a lot of time upscaling the resolution of each video to 1080 with a converter, but this was waaay too time consuming, and didn't yield true 1080. After months of sourcing PC parts, stressing over what building one would cost, and watching videos to learn how, my office was filled with computer components waiting to be assembled. It's safe to say that building PCs is not my forte. Hours of assembling and a few weeks if troubleshooting unknown hardware failure later, the 1080 content was flowing.
With the new computer build and the microphone mounted, I threw a new desk and some acoustical paneling into the mix for good measure and I was ready to rock.
Have I Found Success?
The answer to this depends entirely on how you define success. Am I rolling in dough from an overwhelming amount of ad revenue? Haven't seen a dime. Am I having trouble keeping up with the amount of new subscribers I have? Not even at 100 yet.
So I failed, right? Are you kidding me? I'm chasing my dream. Some days are easier
than others. When the average video gets less than 20 views, I sometimes feel like I'm busting my ass for nothing. Those days pass though and my love for what I am doing endures. That my friends, is success.
What's My Point?
My point is it's not easy. Some days you will want to quit. Lot's of friends and family may not believe in you. Some days, you might not believe in yourself. You're kidding yourself though if you think any of that matters. What matters is having a dream, knowing what it is, and chasing it in a way that makes others jealous.
So do it! Go for it! Chase your dream. If you never achieve it, it shouldn't be from lack of trying. If you'd like to support my journey and check out my gaming content, drop a sub and enjoy!!