Introducing “Morning Musings”

For years now, I’ve wanted to start a Get Rich Slowly channel on YouTube.

Well, I guess that’s only partially correct. I have a GRS channel on YouTube; it’s just not very active. So, I guess what I mean to say is that I want to have an active GRS channel on YouTube.

There are lots of barriers, though, all of which are purely mental. I worry about how I look. I worry about how I sound. I worry about production quality. I worry about the amount of time this will all take. Basically, I’m paralyzed by the need to be perfect.

Last Tuesday, though, on my weekly call with Jonathan from Choose FI, he issued a challenge. “Every morning after you exercise,” he said, “I want you to record a two- or three-minute video. Post it right away.”

“But I’ll be all sweaty,” I said.

“Exactly,” he said. “That’s perfect. The point is to record these videos and put them out there despite the imperfections. In fact, you’re deliberately making them im perfect.”

“Okay,” I said. I was skeptical.

“Just do it, dude,” Jonathan said. “Call them Bicycle Thoughts or something like that. Finish your ride and then do a brain dump of whatever it is you’re thinking about. If you’re thinking about money, talk about money. If you’re thinking about exercise, talk about exercise. But I want you to record these videos and publish every morning.”

Well, I followed his advice.

It’s been very difficult — I cannot squash the urge to make things perfect! — but for the past week I’ve diligently been recording a short video every morning and posting it to YouTube. Here’s a look at the first seven of these Morning Musings.

I’ll admit: As tough as it’s been for me to produce these, I’m glad I’m doing it. It feels good to fight against my innate perfectionism, to embrace “good enough”. And this project is a great low-pressure way to learn video production and editing.

After a week of this, I know that I can record a video in less than ten minutes. (In theory, it can be done in three minutes provided I don’t need re-takes.) And I know that I can have the video edited and published in about fifteen minutes more…as long as I don’t tinker with anything. (When I start getting fancy with “Hamilton” clips and/or lots of in-video notes, then editing can take some time. Video #004 took about two hours to edit because I had to learn all sorts of new stuff.)

These videos aren’t meant to replace this blog, by the way. I’m a writer. I write for my readers. But I’d be foolish to ignore the fact that there are a lot of people out there right now who prefer to get their info by video. So, I’m exploring YouTube to see if it’s a good fit.

Want to help? Let me know if there are any bite-sized topics you’d like me to cover! I’m happy to chat about personal finance, fitness, or just about anything else.

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