The Art of Content Creation: Finding Purpose in Your Passion
Let your charm shine through. We need that…
Over the years, I’ve watched people lose themselves in the journey of becoming their boss. It’s kinda strange. Because like anyone, the journey starts thrilling. But after some time, you see people shutting off and taking a sabbatical for a long time. It makes me wonder.
When do you begin to lose the spark?
When does your passion begin to feel like a chore? It’s like creating a job for yourself that’s hard to get out of.
I need to do more
One of the traps I’ve gotten myself into over the years is adopting other people’s strategies and I begin to lose sight of the big picture. Expressing yourself in ways you wouldn’t and sounding like someone else just to fit in with the norm or because it’s what sells.
I see this trend in content creators the most. Creating content online is one of my dream careers. But one thing that’s stopping me from going on that path is how put together the industry is. It’s hard for me to be authentic. Becoming authentic means showing my imperfections and vulnerability.
Showing what I care about. The norm means pleasing the masses. Because that’s what sells. I need to talk and dress a certain way. And over time, my little content creation project becomes a monster machine I need to constantly feed to stay afloat.
It might start cute and vulnerable. But over time that guilt starts to get to you. You have to keep uploading to get the numbers up and the money coming in. That’s the price we have to pay for the dream life we’ve built for ourselves. It’s kind of a trend now to see YouTubers quitting or taking a break due to burnout and stress. This was supposed to be a dream. But it’s not and I feel guilty about that.
This thing I’ve created isn’t serving me anymore but my audience. And that’s something I can’t keep afloat. I might manage to convince myself it’s just for fun right now but I can’t help but feel like there’s gonna come a time when that changes. That’s what social media represents. Highlights and perfection. Creating videos with similar styles and templates. There’s no room for experimentation or no editing at all. That world is behind us. Or is it? How can we get it back?
Self discovery/aspirations
I think the healthiest way to go about it is to do some inner work to figure out who you are and who you want to be. Do you ever notice the same structure the main characters go through in movies? They
- Start from the beginning (the character wants something)
- Go on the journey throughout the movie to achieve it and
- By the end, they learnt something
I think the best form of content creation where your authentic self gets to shine the most is through documenting your journey and sharing your story. Think of it as a writing board or blank page. What picture are you trying to paint?
Everything begins with a goal in mind. What do you hope to achieve with this? Like a little project. Recently I’ve been thinking about starting a podcast/newsletter sharing what I learn in the marketing industry. I’m putting myself in the shoes of people trying to navigate the industry, people unsure of which career path they’d like to go on in marketing.
My goal for it is to build and refine my content creation skills and network with some people in the industry. I might give up after a few episodes in. But that doesn’t matter. Because I achieved what I wanted.
With the rise of AI, we need a little bit of charm and innocence in our videos. Just like having a casual conversation with a friend. That’s what I hope to achieve with this podcast anyway.
Content creation/social media usage
Metrics can get to your head. You see others performing way better than you. This might trigger you to adopt their strategy. While there’s nothing wrong in experimenting with the style of other content creators. Don’t lose sight of your story. That’s what matters the most. Try to limit the time you spend on social media and always focus on the end goal.
Some days will come when you just don’t feel like creating and that’s okay. Don’t push yourself. Treat content creation as a retreat or something to feed your curiosity. Not as an obligation. If it starts feeling like an obligation. It might be time to take a break and explore something new. Who knows, it might be worth sharing with the masses.
