This Is What HARD Feels Like
The Amplified Impact Podcast
June 28th, 2023
Lately, I’ve been struggling with finding satisfaction in my content creation.
I’ve been too fixated on shallow metrics like likes and views, neglecting the importance of the process and inputs.
It’s easier said than done to prioritize those aspects, right?
I want to be genuine and emphasize that understanding these concepts intellectually isn’t enough.
We must genuinely feel and consistently practice them. It’s normal to have moments when focusing on the work itself is easier.
However, there are also challenging times when it’s hard to detach from the results, and that’s okay.
We shouldn’t blame ourselves for dealing with these emotions.
So, if you find yourself in a challenging phase of your creative or entrepreneurial journey, remember that you’re not alone.
TWEETABLE QUOTE:
“This is what hard feels like and it’s why most people are going to give up.”- Anthony Vicino
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Episode Transcript:
Anthony Vicino [00:00:00]:
What’s up everybody? Welcome back to the podcast. Today I’m going to share something with you that has had a massively beneficial effect in my own life. So a little context. Over the last two months, for whatever reason, I’ve been really struggling to feel good about the content that I’ve been putting out. And the reason that I haven’t been feeling good about it is completely could, completely shallow, vanity, metrics driven. And I know we should never focus on likes and engagements and views and all that stuff and that’s the wrong thing to focus on. And instead we should focus on the process, on the inputs, not the outputs. Yes, yes, all the things that we talk about constantly on these podcasts.
Anthony Vicino [00:00:42]:
But here’s the reality that a lot of the gurus out there don’t talk about nearly enough, is that it’s one thing to say a thing, it’s another thing to feel it and to do it consistently, right? And there are going to be these ebbs and flows and moments in your life when it is easier to focus just on the inputs than the outputs. It is easier to do the work for the sake of the work and not get tied to the results. However, there are going to be other times when it’s going to be very difficult and that’s natural, that’s okay. Don’t feel bad, don’t feel less than because you’re struggling with these emotions. If there is one thing that I want to really get across in this podcast and the reason that I make it one of the pieces of feedback I get so often from you guys, and I’m really, really appreciative for this that you guys notice this is that I try to be as vulnerable and open about the struggles that I go through as a creator, as an entrepreneur, as much as possible. Because I want to set as realistic an expectation for what this game is like so that people don’t get into it thinking it’s going to be one thing or thinking that they’re doing it wrong because it doesn’t feel right, it feels bad, it feels hard all the time. And it’s like for me at least, I believe a lot of our discontent in life occurs in the gap between our expectations and reality, right? When reality doesn’t sync up with our expectations, we feel whatever, frustration, discontent, anger, things didn’t go how we thought they would and therefore we’re disappointed. So to remove that discontent, or at least to shrink it as much as possible, we need to close the gap between our expectations and reality.
Anthony Vicino [00:02:17]:
We have to have our expectations and reality as closely aligned as possible. And in that then when there is very, very little room for there to be a gap, then we’re going to spend most of our time not feeling those negative emotions because our expectations in reality are congruent. So that’s why I do this podcast to share with you to help maybe give a perspective that shortens or tightens up that gap. And the reality is that for me, right over the last couple of months, like I said, I’ve been struggling. And the main reason was because we got, in a lot of ways, so damn lucky with the YouTube channel and how it blew up. I’ve been putting out content for years, and we made some shifts and tweaks to how we started telling stories on YouTube back in October. And very shortly thereafter, we were rewarded with tons of growth and tons of views, like four and a half million views in the span of like, seven months. And it was freaking amazing.
Anthony Vicino [00:03:17]:
It was absolutely remarkable. And it was very cool because it was suddenly this culmination of all the hard work that the team had put in for many, many years to start to see traction. And it just is amazing. And when times are good, it’s really easy to continue putting out content and feeling good about it. But for whatever reason, two months ago, the channel just started to slow down. And for whatever reason, every video that we put out pre May was they were going viral. Every single one was getting well over 100,000 views and just doing fantastic. And then for whatever reason, in May, we put out a video, and it got today, after about a month and a half, it’s at about 60,000 views.
Anthony Vicino [00:04:02]:
The next video that came out a couple of weeks after that one only has like, 55,000 views. So those two, not great, far below the average, but still okay, still better than not. And then the last two videos that we’ve released over the last month, both I think, one has like, 15,000 views and the other one has less than ten. And they’re both new still only for a couple of weeks. But I’m sharing this with you guys because I want you to know that even as a creator who has a lot of success in terms of having gone viral and having a big following and all this stuff that you would look at and say, like, oh, that’s awesome, you should feel good about that. Well, you still go through these ebbs and flows where the algorithm just doesn’t love you for whatever reason. The content is just not hitting, the algorithm is just not pushing out to people. Maybe you’re missing and you’re just not putting out the best work that you could be for whatever reason.
Anthony Vicino [00:04:55]:
And in that, you can start to get very frustrated and disenchanted and jaded and like, what’s the point of all this? And the reason I’m sharing this with you is because I recently heard Alex RamosI on another podcast share something that really snapped me out of this funk that I had been in for the last month and a half. Feeling kind of bad, feeling like I was letting down my audience and, like, oh, they clearly don’t like this content for whatever reason. It’s not hitting. It’s not resonating. And I felt like I was letting you guys down. And he shared something that was just very, very profoundly helpful. And so I’m going to share it with you guys here so that you can maybe take some value out of it as well. He said, this is what hard feels like and it’s why most people are going to give up.
Anthony Vicino [00:05:42]:
And I was like, that’s exactly right. That’s exactly right. The reason that we were in a position for the content to even go viral in the first place was because we had been doing it for years and we had gotten used to it feeling hard and putting out content and nobody caring about it, right? Like, I had gotten used to that type of hard, but I hadn’t gotten used to the type of hard of we’ve had success, we’ve had the virality, we’ve had the views. And now what happens when that goes away? I hadn’t experienced that yet. This is the first time where I’m like, oh, the channel is not just growing like gangbusters. And so as we progress through these layers of entrepreneurship or through content creation, we have to relearn lessons. We have to relearn sometimes what hard actually feels like. And this was such a great reset for me to go, that’s exactly right.
Anthony Vicino [00:06:32]:
There’s probably so many creators out there who were in a similar position, who went viral. They got lucky, they blew up, let’s say. And then when things started to slow down or not go how they thought it was going to go, they got frustrated and they gave up. And so this is my opportunity then to look at that and to say, well, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to learn from this. I’m going to grow, I’m going to try and figure out what I can do, better ways to improve. But again, I’m going to go back to the beginning and just focus on the inputs because this is what hard feels like, this feeling of disappointing the audience and not putting out great content or somehow we’re not living up to the expectations. This is what hard feels like.
Anthony Vicino [00:07:10]:
It’s just a different type of hard now that I’ve never had to struggle with. And so it feels weird, it feels foreign. And I share this with you because regardless of where you are, if you’re starting your business, starting your content creation career, you’re probably wrestling with a type of hard right now that feels foreign and it feels wrong and uncomfortable. And it’s very tempting to just feel like it’s all for not like there is no point in continuing. And that maybe giving up is the better answer. And I encourage you to question that belief. Question and look it hard in the eyes. And sometimes you have to come to the assessment that maybe it is wrong.
Anthony Vicino [00:07:46]:
Maybe you do need to give up. But in a lot of cases, I think we give up far, far too soon. We get frustrated far too easily because we come into it with expectations that are not in alignment with reality. And I know for myself, my expectations, in reality, I had allowed to grow very far apart. And in that delta then, is where I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels, thinking, what am I doing wrong? What do I need to do better? So I’m sharing this with you because the game is hard. If you want to go out there and create something amazing, if you want to build a business, it’s going to be hard and it’s easier to suffer or struggle with that hard when you go into it knowing that’s how it’s going to be. When you go into it with eyes wide open and reset the bar, so to speak. So I hope this brings you some value.
Anthony Vicino [00:08:39]:
If you’re going through the hard times right now, if you’re struggling with the hard, just know you’re not alone and this is normal and this is why most people quit and in that is your opportunity to pursue, to persist and ultimately succeed. So I hope this brings you a little bit of value. Thank you so much for being here, guys. Thank you so much for checking out the content. As always, I appreciate it. Guys, I understand again, I’m coming from a very fortuitous or blessed position here. And it’s not lost on me that whether we have hundreds of thousands of subscribers or just ten, like anybody who takes a little bit of their time and energy to sit with me and consume the content and to be part of this community, it truly means the world to me. So thank you.
Anthony Vicino [00:09:28]:
Thank you. Thank you for that. I’m looking forward to seeing you back around these parts tomorrow, but until then, staff or focus, my friend.
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