Welcome to my first newsletter, ever. In today’s experimental entry, I’ll be sharing:
- Ideas that I’m pondering
- Resources that are raising the quality of my life, inspiring me, growing me, educating me or entertaining me
- The recent highlights of what I’ve posted
Let’s get started.
Ideas
What if it’s never not going as planned? What if what we think is going “wrong” is actually exactly how it’s supposed to go? Why do we value what our egos think “should” happen so much, when clearly, we know nothing in the grand scheme of things? What if everything, at all times, regardless of our perception, is going according to the plan instead of our plan?
Lead with love. With everything so deeply divisive and political right now, the ultimate win is to lead with love in all who you come across. For at the end of the day, at the highest of levels — they are you and you are them. The separation is an illusion. We are all one.
Become a part of the community, authentically. When you’re just starting out and you don’t have a budget, the greatest growth hack and way to build a great audience is to authentically become a part of the community. I learned this from Gary Vaynerchuk many years back and I’ve been micro testing thesis for many moons now. In the past week or so I’ve found myself posting multiple top comments on spirituality, politics and creativity channels (with videos that have millions of views) because I’m a real, genuine member of the community. I’m authentically voicing my opinion, I understand the nuances and I aim to bring value to the other people who are browsing the comment section, like me. By bringing value without any expectation in return (critical) it gives me more opportunity for people to see my channel. I only have 26 subscribers on this new channel, and these top comments have brought in 39 views over the past 8 days, which is 50% of my views in this period (and makes all the difference early on). If you’re going to do this though, you have to be authentic and not transactional, which is a big mistake I see people making when they do this.
It’s cool to be patriotic and to love where you came from. There’s a lot of propaganda right now trying to paint people who love their country as terrible people. I think the narrative is going to flip soon. Your country, like every other, has its problems, but that doesn’t mean you should burn it to the ground because it’s an A- instead of an A+. Be proud of where you come from, if it’s a place worthy of being proud of. If you’re not proud, move. If you can’t move yet, work towards creating a life where you can move.
Don’t chase “working more” for the sake of. Chase your ideal output, because after a certain point you’re just wasting your time. Very few can truly hustle at the levels they’re telling you they do. The non-superhuman among us (like me) can benefit from auditing what their ideal balance is and building their life and work around that, not what the business or productivity gurus tell you that you should do.
A question to ask yourself today for a greater tomorrow: What systems, processes or machines can you build today that will help you make tomorrow easier?
Resources
Real AF: “Made in America” ft. Christian Walker. A great podcast about communism, the mindset of winning, what it’s like for Christian to actively oppose BLM and LGTBQ+ as a black and gay man, and more. Pure fire. Incredibly refreshing conservative perspectives, with hilarious jokes the entire time. Young men like Christian give me hope for North America.
A Message to All Creators. A short film by Toronto local Chris Hau on muting the noise and expressing yourself creatively.
Why Life Jackets Should be Mandatory by JP Sears. This comedic sketch is the last video you ever need to watch to understand how radical the vaccine mandate really is, and how ridiculous some people sound right now. (Yet, we’re still the crazy ones)
Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special, The Closer. So good, so on point. Dave delivers big once again. The sensitive 5% among us disagree, but that’s okay. The rest of us who are willing to laugh at ourselves? We love Dave.
2 in 1: Dune (2021, the movie) and the Dune Soundtrack (2021). I loved the film so much that after I was done watching, I made a rare movie reaction video on my second channel where you can see my passion on full display. I’m super excited for Part Two, which just got greenlit. As for the soundtrack, what a powerful score by the legendary Hans Zimmer. I included a lot of them in my spotify playlist, The Hero’s Journey. My favourites so far are Herald of Change, Leaving Caladan and The One — all similar songs that revolve around Paul Atreides’ tremendous theme.
I Grew Up in a Communist System. Here’s What Americans Don’t Understand About Freedom. This is a fascinating article on what it’s actually like to like to live in a communist regime, not what Gen-Z kids have been taught to believe (by design). Communism isn’t cool, and will never be. And if we don’t course correct real soon, this is where I believe we’re headed. A super select few feast while everyone starves. It’s equal losing for all except for the handful of people who thrive.
A great Twitter thread by Tom Elliott on Twitter’s political bias and the censorship of opposing views. A question to ask yourself: why does only one side of the aisle feel the need to censor and “fact-check” the other?
The recent
I launched a new main channel! And this time, I’m taking YouTube seriously. Consider subscribing if you haven’t, as I have exciting things coming for this channel. I also posted 2 new videos:
The first video on the new channel, I finally got a camera! (Sony ZV-1)
The second video, My new small bedroom studio lighting setup for YouTube (2021)
Though my second channel isn’t new, consider subscribing because I’m very active here at the moment with deleted scenes/bloopers, documenting, entertainment, and really whatever else I feel like. It’s tremendously fun for me because this channel isn’t built for growth, it’s built for having fun and experimenting.
A vlog on my second channel about Trying CBD with my sister, Taylor Moxey. Certified hilariousness.
A behind-the-scenes post on how I made the thumbnail for the CBD vlog, on my creative Instagram.
Thanks for taking the time to read the first entry in this experimental newsletter. I hope this brought you tons of value. If you have any suggestions for the format or how I can improve, feel free to let me know.
See you again next week!
Josh
