Demonstrating the Importance of Practice: Popular YouTube Channels

August 10, 2017

Look at the videos below of famous YouTube channels.  On the top, you'll see their first video ever uploaded (or in some cases, the earliest that I can find), and on the right you'll see their latest one.

Why have I done this?

I want you to pay close attention to how bad their first video was relative to their latest one.  

Just look at how far all of these people have come over the past few years.

They've all taken something that they weren't very good at, focused on it, practiced and improved over a long period of time to become the successes that they are today.

This is important:-

If you believe that you aren't talented enough to achieve something then you have a false limiting belief that is holding you back.

You can become good at anything through hard work and deliberate practice.  

Let these guys below serve as your inspiration.  

Decide what you want to master, and practice it.  Not for a few weeks, not for a month, but for an extended period of time.

As time goes by, you'll start to notice that you're improving.  Soon people will start making rash judgments about how talented you are without realizing the full story.  

Most important of all, though, you'll start to realize that becoming great at things is just a matter of deliberate practice and persistence.

Infinite Waters

Now, with over 1 million subscribers on YouTube, look how Ralph Smart started out.

Here is his first video published January, 2008:

And here he is today, in August 2017:

Real Social Dynamics

Check out the improvement that Owen from RSD has made in his video presentations.  Bear in mind that in the "before" video, this was nowhere near his first video created.

Here is his first video published March, 2010:

And here he is today, in August 2017:

Check out the comments on the first video from people that are shocked to see how much he's improved over the years:-

Shane Melaugh

Shane is my friend and business partner for the last 6 years or so.  Notice the crazy improvement that he's managed to make with his own video skills:

This is from January, 2010:-

And here he is today, in August 2017:

I've personally witnessed this growth over the years.  He's also created a great post about this called The Grind.

Ramit Sethi

Ramit is a best-selling author and I've actually purchased not only his book but a number of his courses (Success Triggers, and Finisher's Formula).  

This is from January, 2010:-

And here he is today, in June 2016:

Elliott Hulse

The strongman and self development coach, Elliott Hulse, who currently has 1.7 million subscribers in 2017.

This is from November, 2008:-

And here he is today, in August 2017:

Leo Gura

Look how far Leo Gura, from actualized.org, has come in the past four years.

This is from April, 2013:-

And here he is today, in August 2017:

Omar Isuf

Omar has one of the most popular fitness channels on YouTube today, but his first videos were a far cry from his most recent!

This is from 2010:-

And here he is today, in August 2017:

Final Thoughts

So here are just a few examples of people that didn't have raw talent, and started off pretty unskilled at creating videos, but ultimately practiced and got really good at it.

If you take the time to look for it, you'll find millions of pieces of evidence, just like these, to back up this notion that you have a lot more control over our ability than you think.

There are countless stories of sports stars, famous authors, inventors and even US presidents, who didn't believe in their ability to achieve.

One of my missions is to try and equip as many people who doubt themselves as possible with the growth mindset.  The best way of doing this, as far as I can tell, is to stack pieces of evidence in a pile in front of you so that, as the pile grows, shades of doubt are cast on your limiting beliefs.

At some point this stack will reach a tipping point, and you'll be convinced that with deliberate practice, deep work and good old-fashioned dogged determination, you'll be able to do things that you never previously thought possible.

And then you'll look back and won't even begin to fathom how you came to those old limiting conclusions that were weighing you down like a ball and chain.

So, to the tipping point we go.

More evidence coming shortly.

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