First ever attempt to record myself
I picked the ideal time frame with sun shining over my head. The spot was perfect as well, where mountains were sitting nicely in my background on two thirds of the frame. I bought the best tools for recording that eliminated all potential friction with recording the first ever video for YouTube. But it didn’t go well. Let’s talk about this.
The perfect setup that didn’t work
My goal was to take one Wednesday morning to record video of me talking to the camera about my personal story behind Free With Tech philosophy. I wrote the outline and it turned out it was more than that. Once I tried to talk about points on my paper, it couldn’t find fit. It seemed like I tried to be someone else. It had fluent transitions but I couldn’t put out the words one after the other when I looked at it.
After 2 hours of trying to speak out the hook (introductory part of the video that is supposed to hook you onto the video content that is about to come), I gave up. I was drained as hell, wanting to quit. I was saying to myself that I was not born to do this. What the hell was I thinking? Random introvert software guy trying to share something with the world via a camera.
AI as an unexpected support system
Usually, I don’t have a lot of people around me who would be interested in my struggles so I immediately turned to AI. Models trained on content from the whole internet turn out to be great coping mechanisms and reframing assistants. The first response after describing my situation to the model was that it is natural to fail at first attempt. Perfectionist part of myself was tamed instantly after hearing it. Thanks, model.
A second attempt, a new mindset
Tomorrow, I am planning the second attempt but with a different mindset. I thought I had great mindset for today but by acting on my imagination, I’ve realized the exact opposite. World responded to my action with decline this time and I will be hoping for a better outcome tomorrow. My plan is to release the video during lunch this Friday so I will be hoping to record the final version by the end of tomorrow to keep up with the ideal content schedule I have planned.
By the way, if you would be interested, I strongly recommend to read my new Substack blog related to the Free With Tech philosophy. It is relevant to you if you wish to improve your relationship with technology used on a daily basis usually via smartphone and apps. If topics like self-awareness, digital minimalism and tech independence mean anything to you, it could be an interesting read.