I posted my first YouTube video

It's likely perfectionism that is preventing you from publishing your first YouTube video.

It's likely because the quality of YouTube videos have gotten better and better, growing exponentially the last few years. Originally YouTube videos were just 480p, taken on someone's shaky iPhone 5 with terrible sound quality. Now, some are 8k, better than Hollywood. It's something difficult to compete with and compare to. It puts the expectation too high and make you uneasy to start.

Just Start, Stop Thinking About How To Do It

So, I have a new strategy. Rather than trying to plan everything out meticulously for the future, I will instead dive blindly forward and trust that the dots will connect.

Jacob PugmireJacob Pugmire

Of course you want quality, I understand that. And that should be your goal. But quality won't come about from waiting - you have to publish your first video.

Here's my first video. It's not amazing. But it's finished. It's published. It's the first step walking towards the right direction! And boy, does it feel amazing to have started.

I already know what I can do better.

I am not a skilled editor, and I was only working with one piece of footage with no changing of angles or perspectives. It wasn't scripted or planned beforehand either, it was spontaneously shot with no intentions of becoming a YouTube video, and yet it has nevertheless become so, and that is because I made it so.

Do something basic and just get your first YouTube video published

Film a video of yourself doing something or speaking. Use CapCut to trim out the boring parts. Zoom in occasionally to add some dynamics. Add a small caption here or there. Maybe even go crazy and add a transition!

You won't do well on your first video. In comparison to the normal, professional quality YouTube videos we are used to watching nowadays, it will look like a potato. But hey! It's yours and IT'S COMPLETE. That is what is most important. It's finished. No going back to edit. It's out there and published. On to the next project!

This is how you need to think and behave. Keep moving forward. Build momentum. Learn from the past and make incremental improvements, over and over again. It's the kaizen way.

Your mission today is to shoot, edit, and publish your first video

CapCut is all you need right now. You don't know how to color correct or color grade. You don't know how to add effects, sounds, animations, transitions, or anything like that. But meh, it doesn't matter. Trimming is all you need at this point.

Trim trim trim.

Keep it short. Just aim for a few minutes. See how it goes?

Okay! I am wishing you the best in your task today. May your shooting go smoothly. May the edit gods help you.

If you have any questions, I am always here to help.

Warm Regards,

Jacob Pugmire

Here's the journal entry from the time I shot my first YouTube video.

Yilan surfing & sumo wrestling in the sand

Jacob Pugmire and his friends went to Yilan, Taiwan to surf. They ended up sumo wrestling in the sand.

Jacob PugmireJacob Pugmire