I'm deleting over 500 videos off of my two crypto channels today, and you will love hearing why. You've probably seen a good number of my videos that were critical of other cryptocurrencies, even critical of other YouTubers, and critical of myself. I'm wiping all of those off of YouTube today.
What inspired this
I've been listening to a Neville Goddard series of books, which basically talks about how you are God, you are creating your own universe, and what you put out there is what comes back to you. I'm also sober 10 years in Alcoholics Anonymous, and a big part of that practice is taking inventory of what I'm doing, being accountable and responsible for my behavior, and remembering to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
So I was recently reminded of the law: if I'm willing to use my words to criticize and tear other people down, it is logical that they're going to do the same back to me. And that's exactly what's been happening. I thought I was being useful, and I told myself I was being useful by criticizing all these other coins. I'm saving people from destruction. And sure, the data would validate it. If you look back, most cryptos end up going to zero and not being a good investment. But it's also not my responsibility to save people.
I was shocked at the sheer quantity of negativity
I looked at my crypto videos and I was shocked to see the sheer quantity of negativity. Titles saying things suck, bad investment, one-star reviews, crypto, YouTube — so many negative titles. If you were a person like I think I am, if I think I'm this positive hero, savior, complex identity, but then you were to actually go look at my channels, it looks like half the time I'm an angel and half the time I'm a devil. And I am not interested in being like that anymore. I'm letting that go.
If I wouldn't criticize other wives, why criticize other coins
I'm thinking about my relationship with my wife. We have a very happy relationship because I focus my energy on how much I love her and how grateful I am for our relationship. I realize it would be insane if I spent half my time loving my wife and the other half of my time going around criticizing other wives. That would be a total waste of my time. It would be obvious.
So then I look at my crypto channel and I'm like, wow, I've easily just poured out all these negative videos. I've put off some people who actually liked my ICP content. And I've also invited huge amounts of criticism and attacks on me. In most cases, I started it. I'm not the first creator I've had to make peace with, either — I already wrote an open thank-you to a fellow crypto YouTuber I'd been at odds with. So this is a big day of letting go of that which I do not want to continue experiencing.
What I'm focusing on instead: ICP and OpenChat
I'm proceeding in a new way, where I focus on what I love in crypto, which is the Internet Computer Protocol, and OpenChat, which is an application on the Internet Computer Protocol. I want to focus on reviewing cryptos that I think are exciting and promising, talking about what's great, what's exciting, and what I want to see for the world in crypto. If you want to see where my conviction comes from, I've made the case that crypto market caps are a distraction and only ICP is real, and I keep all of that positive ICP coverage going in my ICP Crypto playlist.
Negativity gets clicks, but it carries bad karma
It's attractive to get all these clicks off of negativity, but it has a bad karma with it. When you attract clicks off of fiery red dumps and telling people their crypto portfolio is going to be destroyed, you end up getting that negativity turned back on you at some point. That's how it works for almost everybody who does it. So I'm really glad today to be able to make this change in an environment of peace. No amount of war brings peace. Peace comes from a focus and a desire on peace, and an absence of focus on war. You don't have happiness from being sad. Happiness is a choice to be happy.
Becoming the YouTuber I know I am
I recently shared how, on YouTube, I'm defining myself. I'm stopping looking at my analytics, and I'm becoming the big YouTuber I know that I am. And it's interesting — right after that, I talked on my creator channel about how I've got about a billion impressions on my YouTube videos since 2011. I'm imagining that instead of that taking 13 years, it can start happening every month.
And right after that, it's like, you know what? The first thing you need to do, if you want to be the YouTuber you know you're capable of being, is take inventory of what you've been doing on YouTube and clean out your closet. That's the same spirit behind my plan when I'm starting over on YouTube. Ironically, in a lot of one-on-one conversations and calls, I've encouraged people to clean out their crypto portfolios to figure out what they love and are wildly passionate about — instead of having 12 cryptos you don't even know that well, to pick one that you really love and give your whole heart and soul to that one. If you want more of how I think about building a channel this way, it's all in my YouTube Coaching playlist.
One crypto I love, and ignoring the rest
The King of Jordan said having 12 wives is worse than politics, and I imagine the King of Jordan thinks politics are pretty bad. I know that having one wife that I love is so simple and so wonderful. And so I have one crypto I love, and OpenChat is part of the Internet Computer Protocol. All the other stuff, I just ignore. If I see an altcoin project launching, or you all ask me about something and my first reaction is not love and joy and excitement, I move on and I ignore it.
The only real teaching I can do is by example
The only real teaching I can do is by example, so this is my example. I'm cleaning up hundreds of videos. I've deleted most of them now off of my channels. In the short term, this will strip views that I was getting — my views may go down, because people were still watching lots of those negative videos. But I don't want people to watch those videos anymore. So I'm very proud to take these videos down today. And if you loved those videos, that's okay. You remember them. You have the memory. If they helped you, that's great. Let's move forward together and focus on creating a world that we want to live in.
I want to be in an environment in crypto where, instead of taking shots at each other — all this stuff I've participated in in the past — we simply love and enjoy the coins we have, and we share the projects we love. If there's something else, ignore it. Stay out of it. That's not my business. What's going on in another crypto that I'm not holding is not my business. What's going on with ICP that I don't like is something not even worth paying attention to.
How I lost this channel once, and why it starts with me
I got this main crypto channel taken down when I started trash-talking other cryptos. I think someone had a network of bots, and they felt betrayed by me trashing the cryptos they were pumping, so they used the bots to attack my channel. I was lucky I got this channel back — I mean, I manifested it, I did what it took. But if you want to stop people from attacking you and hurting you in life, then it starts with me.
And I'm shocked at how different my idea of myself was from the reality. I was this positive, inspiring guy — and if you looked at my crypto channels, it didn't look like that. But now it does. Now you can go look at my channels.
Help me keep my channels positive
If you find a video that you think I should delete, please let me know. This is exactly the kind of thing I talk about every day with my community, and you can join me inside the Jerry Banfield Family if you want to be part of those conversations. I want it so that anyone who discovers my crypto channels can go through and find videos that are inspiring, that are focusing on what I love and what I enjoy. And if you find something other than that, that you think I should remove, please let me know.