The dream at what cost.
From the moment you first saw a Twitch stream you knew it’s what you wanted to do. Playing games and for a living sounds like a perfect job. Fast forward five years and you’ve seen mild success, but you’re nowhere near full time. What went wrong? Why after five years are you making less than minimum wage? You work hard to improve production value continually, you interact with chat, and at times you interact with an empty chat. Why isn’t the hard work paying off? The voice in your head is on repeat letting you know you’ll never make it. You’re getting good at masking your depression with a smile, but your mods can see the cracks in the mask. Is it time for a break? Not a chance cause you know that is channel suicide. You can’t afford to lose the few regulars you have so you continue to grind. Your mind never takes a break continually thinking about that next idea hoping that maybe it will be the catalyst to make your dream a reality.
Nothing changes you recycle regulars never seeing that average view count grow and the only growth is the doubt you have in yourself. Why is the motto of “hard work pays off” only true for others? You have followed every YouTube video to the T and yet still no success. Here’s the thing, there is no step by step guides making it as a streamer. I wrote one I’ve been following it and I’m still not full time. You stay in the game with the hope that opportunity will come your way. Maybe a larger channel will raid you, and that hope keeps you streaming. You’re giving up sleep hoping for a winning lotto ticket, and lack of sleep is killing you. I know because I sleep about four hours a night during the week for this dream. I see the symptoms in this article, and it worries me. Listen to your body; you need to be here to succeed.
Find balance and find your happiness.
What started with so much hope and so much fun is now taking a toll on your health, mental and physical. Checking social media reminds you that you’re still not as successful as the people you follow. Twitter and Instagram used to bring inspiration now they bring resentment. You believe your content is just as good as others yet they have success and you have frustration. Without realizing it, you’re comparing yourself to others and beating yourself up for it. Happiness is now tied to the goal instead of the process. The lack of joy with the process feeds the depression and burnout. You’re a success because you try, your goal is just a goal it doesn’t define you. You need to enjoy getting to that goal. It takes patience, persistence, and creativity. Move your eyes from what you don’t have to what you do.
Celebrate the small wins.
Look at what you have created the community that you have built. You have no clue the impact that you may have had on someone who is struggling with depression, or they needed their day brightened up. Celebrate the fact that you have regulars even if it’s only a couple of people. Your competition is fierce you are up against Youtube, Netflix, and other streamers yet you have people watching you instead of the million other things. They watch because they see the value that you bring and others will see it too, but it takes time and marketing.
The best way to market your stream
Adding value is the best way to market your stream. If you add value people are more likely to share the content. It is on you to make sure to share clips from your stream that can easily be shared by others. If you are not sharing clips on social and putting together highlights for YouTube how do you expect anyone to find you? Create clips that add value to those that consume them.
Clips that add value
- Share funny clips. People love to share content that makes them laugh.
- Share clips that give game tips or advice that can help others improve their game.
- Share your best plays. If you can pull off some high-level play, it needs to be on your Twitter and Instagram.
Conclusion
This post is me; these are the feelings I have and that I have to fight. I know that I am not alone in feeling this way and I wanted to share them with the hope that it can help other streamers. I am reevaluating my work-life balance cause sleeping four hours a night is killing me. My drive to succeed has taken precedence over my health, and I have to change that. I have to be more diligent with my time. I may have to stream less and market more. Putting a greater focus on content that can easily be shareable and grow my brand. It is about finding balance; this isn’t worth killing my self over no matter how badly I want it. If you are in similar circumstances what are you doing to remedy it? Let me know in the comments below.
Don’t give up on your goal but don’t kill yourself for it either. Work hard, work smart, and stay/get healthy.
Great post, Josh. The last few weeks I had actually started realizing you were streaming more, and also late night and was starting to worry a little. I have the same problem except I dont stream (well not always), I game. I game late, and often.
On top of that I have sleep apnea, which means that when i fall asleep without my CPAP on the couch after gaming late, it litteraly is killing me softly.
I think we can all do better.
We have to realize that:
1- Studies actualy show that “less” but more “concentrated” content is what the “new clients” are looking for. Nobody got time to watch a 12h stream. People want to come in and out at “accustomed to times” to get their content and continue with their day.
2- You health should be your ultimate goal. I should know, I used to run marathons, and do triathlons. Now I marathons games and switch between games during the same night. My health has declined, and energy levels have followed. We must be better.
So I have a challenge for you. Lets check this post in 2 months, and let’s discuss what we’ve changed for the better. Either as a community, or you and I alone. We can be better. We must be better.
Have a good one Josh, and thanks for sharing, as always.