Is consistency really the only key to success?!

Since this whole pandemic started I have been wondering how to find success in this new and chaotic world. I did what everyone would have done and started Google-ing side hustle ideas and opportunities, one of them was starting a YouTube channel. I always wanted to try it out and I have seen many people on the internet who has succeeded with it already, so why not try it out. As you probably assume, I went on searching for what it takes to become successful on YouTube, believe me there are many many videos on YouTube about being a YouTuber. When I mean many, I really mean it. Some of them said to have a niche, the other said not to. The only thing that they all have been agreeing on was that you have to be consistent. Basically no matter what you are talking about on your channel, if you do it consistently, than you will see success. Easy, right?! 

I decided on giving it a try and do a small experiment. I made a YouTube channel, started posting and then the experimenting. So, "Life On Tiptoe" was born. ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHIxCnE51Jbgfqj__ZgAdeA ) I decided to post a video 6 times a week for a month. That`s 26 videos, 26!!!! That`s a looot. 

It`s a big commitment, but I knew that I had to do it "for science", "research purposes". I started it by making a list of topics, ideas and then, I started filming, creating thumbnails and writing descriptions. You can imagine how long does it take to record 26, 5 to10 minutes long videos, make the thumbnails, write the detailed descriptions for all of them and cross reference them when it was needed, also include them into groups / playlists. It took a while… When finally it was done, I uploaded, scheduled the videos, promoted them on my social media and I kept a close eye on the numbers for the next month. 

The commitment was there, consistency was there, I worked hard on the videos and the thumbnails to be appealing for the eyes, so I have to see success. right?!

I wish, I could tell you that the numbers were coming in and in the end of my 30 day trial, I`ve got enough subscribers and watch hours to be able to monetize my channel and make money out of it, even pennies. But, there is a reason why we have the saying "expectations vs. reality", right?! 

My expectations weren`t high. I knew, I wouldn`t get a 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time in 30 days, but the results were underwhelming even for me. 

I`ve gained 2 new subscribers in that 30 days, I got a pretty good watch time out of it, but definitely not 4000 hours. :) 

You might think, that this experiment was a total failure, but I don`t agree with that. It helped me become more confident in front of the camera, it helped me to stay consistent and have goals and plans, it helped me to better understand that those overnight successes don`t come overnight. 

What I`m trying say is that maybe the numbers didn`t come as planned, but it improved my skills and helped me build habits that will help me in the future. 

I believe, that consistency is the key in success, but I don`t believe that it is the only key. You need patience, luck and some skill next to staying consistent to become successful. It takes time and takes efforts to get there and even though we see on TV and on the internet all those overnight successes, they are very rare. We have unrealistic expectations because of those, and that`s exactly why we are afraid to start something new and we give up on them way too early when the numbers don`t come in immediately or quick enough. I will keep trying, keep experimenting with my channel, because I know one day I will see those results. Any result. 

If there is any hobby you wanted to try out, I guess it`s a good time to give it a chance. That`s why I have the YouTube channel, I write here, … One day, maybe it will get some attention, maybe one day my time will pay off. 

I believe there will be that one day, you should too.