I'm grateful I'm one of the few people in crypto who has the courage to be disliked, and I'm going to double down on that today, because this is what we really need in crypto. I'm reading a book called The Courage to Be Disliked, which has been extremely helpful for me, because many of us are hooked on what's called approval seeking. In content creation, especially in crypto, this is very toxic, because it results in a whole bunch of crypto videos where almost all of us as creators are just trying to make videos you'll click on, watch, like, and subscribe to. And that often means we're not saying what you really need to hear.
Often the things we need to hear in life to truly change, to learn, and to grow are disagreeable, and they'll even leave the person saying them in a position to be disliked. Like 10 years ago, when my wife told me she was going to leave me if I didn't get sober. That was a very important thing for me to hear, and it took a lot of courage for her to say it and to face my dislike. In crypto, we need as many people as possible who are willing to put up videos that people don't click on, and willing to say things that people don't like.
Why approval seeking is so toxic in crypto
Right now, what most of crypto is — and I've been very much a complete part of it, so I'm not pointing fingers — comes from how we're raised. We're raised in school to do what we're told and get an A on a test, and then go to a job and do what we're told and we'll get a pay raise and a promotion. We're always raised to do what we're told. Well, this is a problem when you need debate. And in crypto, we need healthy debate. We need people to debate coins, to really get in and research. But on YouTube, that's not rewarded, and on Crypto X that's often not rewarded either. What's rewarded is the same thing we were trained for in school: doing what we're told and getting an A on the test.
People want to know, okay, you bought 50 of these coins — what do you really believe in? And I realized that what I was doing as a creator was working well for me personally. I'd make a video saying I bought this many of this different altcoin, and then I'd get all these likes and views on it. But as an actual investor, in my experience, if you followed what I was saying, it was working very poorly. I'm grateful I had the courage to be disliked about a year ago and to stop doing that — something I went deeper on when I fired myself and quit crypto hype for real education. And today, I'm doubling down by being even more willing to put out videos where it's okay if they don't get clicked on.
The desperation to get the views up
I've found as a creator that every time I publish these crypto videos, there's just this desperation in me to get the views up. I've been doing that for a long time. And when YouTube tells me a video isn't getting as many views as usual, I just feel hurt. Then this desperation comes up to want to say anything — to put anything in the title, anything in the content of the video — to get you to click on it, to like it, to subscribe, and to keep coming back. And to me, as a creator, that's repulsive. As a viewer, I don't want to watch other people who do that. I want to watch people who are creating for the joy of creating, because it needs to be done.
I've often felt disgusted with myself as a creator. I recently looked back over the videos I made for the last couple of years, and the main problem I identified is that in nearly every video I put up, I was constantly seeking approval. I was constantly looking for views on it — even the videos I put up that were critical of other altcoins. I was still seeking approval, the instant gratification of putting up a video and having it get views. Even if people dislike it, at least it gets watched. When you're a creator, there are really only two states: people watching you or people not watching you. And not watching you is its own kind of dislike.
What I see is that the one thing I can do is really lean into sharing what I need to share as a creator, versus sharing anything just to get you to click on a video. That is such a huge difference. It's a really important difference. It's all the difference in the world, because I can't stand giving out the same crap. It's ridiculous how anytime I put out a video talking about the price, I get so many views, so much approval. And yet I look back, and all those videos I did were a waste of time.
Only making evergreen videos from now on
After 13 years and thousands and thousands of videos on YouTube — most of which I've deleted, because they're no longer watchable today — I don't want to look back 10 years from now and find I just went down the path of constantly seeking approval, over and over, with every one of my videos, and then have almost nothing I'm proud of to show for it. I went into this more in why I deleted 500 crypto videos from YouTube. So starting today, as I'm filming this, I'm only filming videos that are evergreen — that will still be worth watching 10-plus years from now. I won't film a video unless I'm 90% confident that, 10-plus years from now, that video will still be just as relevant to you as the viewer as it is today.
I've noticed as a consumer of content that a lot of what I watch was created 3, 5, 10-plus years ago. I'm listening to Deadmau5 songs he made 12-plus years ago, and listening to audiobooks that were written sometimes 100 years ago. And as a creator, I'm disgusted with all the videos I've made that there's just no point in watching today. Who cares about watching some crypto video from 2017 that was talking about current events? Yes, there's a very, very limited historical interest in old crypto content. But I've put up the videos and I've seen the data: almost none of my crypto videos get watched after the first 24 to 48 hours. So going forward, I'm only making videos where it doesn't really matter how many people watch them when they come out, because you can keep watching them indefinitely.
I know some of you aren't going to like that. Some of you want me to talk about things that are extremely relevant right now. You want me to cover new apps, new coins, and new things happening on ICP. And I'm not going to do that anymore, because that's not what's needed from me.
Why I'm not chasing what's happening right now on ICP
I look around at the collective — blockchain pill, Bobby O, Cityscape — and they're doing a great job putting out Internet Computer videos that are relevant, talking about exactly what's happening right now. I don't feel my contribution is needed there, because there are other people doing essentially the same thing, and I don't want to compete anymore. If you want to see what happened this week on Internet Computer Protocol, blockchain pill does a video every week covering the major things that happened. I only want to give information that's good indefinitely. You can find the ICP videos I've made in that spirit in my ICP Crypto playlist.
I've been trying to do this over and over, back and forth. Every time I've tried to give out more quality crypto investing information, and the YouTube analytics immediately after release didn't look good, I've consistently gone right back to instant gratification. It's important, both as an investor and as a creator, to stop focusing on instant gratification. In my experience, this is one of the main things that sabotaged my crypto investing in the past: by consuming all these short-term, what-is-happening-right-now videos, you get impatient. Whereas I've done enough research on Internet Computer Protocol that, in my opinion, all I need to do now is just wait. The research is done, everything's in position, and I think it's unlikely anything is going to come up that really changes my picture of it. Yes, I'm still reading and listening to what's new. But I want a crypto channel where, 10 years from now, the people who come to it are still interested in what I said now. That means filming completely different kinds of videos. And it means being okay that if all you want is instant gratification — this-is-what's-happening-now price talk — I'm not having that anymore. What's important is to make sure you're giving what you really need to give.
Why approval seeking never satisfies
If you're thinking, well, why is approval seeking such a problem — what does it matter? We've been programmed so hard to just do what we're told, submit to authority, and please people in positions of power. Even with God — to live your life for God so that God approves of you. But to me, the real God is love, and it doesn't matter what you do, you're loved equally. The challenge with approval seeking is that you'll often find that no matter how much approval you get, you'll be unsatisfied. That's been a huge issue for me. And it's clearly an issue for other crypto YouTubers too, where no matter how many views they get, no matter how many coins they have, no matter how many sponsorships they get, it's never enough. There's always another coin. There's the infinite grind of putting videos out, the same things over and over again, and there's just dissatisfaction underneath everything. I wrote more about that pattern in the huge lies crypto YouTubers are telling you.
So I want to create videos from a place of knowing I'm doing valuable work. When you know you're doing something valuable, you don't need praise for it. What happens for me is that when I don't get the views or the money I want from my crypto channels, I don't want to do them anymore — and that's the sign you're doing it for approval. I don't want to do crypto videos for approval. Many of the people you follow in crypto, if you stopped watching their videos and their metrics went down, would stop making videos. You can see how, in bear markets, lots of creators quit right before — because their views went down, their money went down, so they stopped making videos. What I'm paying attention to is making videos that feel good for me to make, because they need to be said and because they're relevant.
Doing the dishes: doing what needs to be done
If you want to put this in a very practical context, think of it this way. I do 30 minutes to an hour of dishes almost every day in my house. And I don't need anybody to say thank you for doing the dishes. They were there, they needed to be done. I don't want my wife to do them, because she has enough other stuff to do, and the kids aren't ready to do them yet. I do the dishes because they need to be done. I don't do them for anybody to thank me, or to appreciate or approve of me. I do them because I don't want a house full of messy dishes. So I don't need someone else's approval, congratulations, a pat on the back, or an award, because I'm doing what needs to be done. And when you're doing what needs to be done, you don't need other people to applaud you for it.
With the videos I'm creating each day, I'm seeing the absolute clearest thing I need to do is give what I see needs to be given — to give because it's the equivalent of doing the dishes. This is what needs to be talked about today in crypto: how almost all of crypto is an approval-seeking feedback loop, where almost everybody who's talking is just trying to get your approval and your attention. Almost everything being said is from that point of view. So if you're not consuming with that in mind, you're being misled very consistently.
What needs to be said in crypto today
I'm really proud today, because this is what I really wanted to talk about. And if people don't like it, that's okay. There are other people who will be desperate for you to like their videos, listen to what they say, and put the watch time in, and they'll do anything to say what you want to hear. But I don't care about saying what you want to hear. I care about saying what I need to say and share. I'm listening to all of you — I read everything in the Jerry Banfield Family, and based on what I'm seeing there, this is what needs to be said.
We need more creators who are willing to show up. Bobby O is a great example of this — show up, say whatever he has to say today, regardless of whether people like it or not. And I'm grateful that I'm leaning into that too. I'm very excited to take this approach across all eight of my YouTube channels now and see where it goes. If you enjoyed this, you can watch my newest crypto videos in my Money playlist.