I’m a pussy compared to Mr Beast.
Why? He’s the youngest philanthropist going around. It’s not fake either. The guy is the real deal.
Every year he spends $48 million to make Youtube videos. In the last 28 days his videos have gained more than 700M views. That is larger than the population of the US, Brazil, Russia, and Japan. The audience retention rate on his videos is 70%. Literally, people are statistically addicted to his content.
Here’s what counts: Mr Beast is the highest-paid content creator on Youtube. You’d think that would make him a 23-year-old douchebag with a Lambo and a mansion. Nope. The guy is a real-life beast you can learn badass lessons from.
“I’d rather be poor than do anything besides YouTube”
Mr Beast’s critics say he got lucky. He started on Youtube when you could build an audience. His first video went live as a teenager.
Success isn’t an accident.
He loved making videos more than anything. For the first five years he uploaded videos to Youtube and got hardly any views. His breakout success happened in 2017 when he made a weird video of him counting to 100,000.
See, the average person wants success too fast. A writer messaged me the other day. They had published their third article. “It’s only got three views. Why is this happening to me?” *Cries like a baby*
Mr Beast had no problems reaching hardly anyone in his first few years. I was the same with my writing seven years ago. Most articles got no traction. I’d check Twitter and see zero likes on my content. Every. Day.
The difference is your money mindset. Mr Beast was happy to be poor and make Youtube videos the same way I was prepared to write online for free and stay at my crappy call center job. The goal of making money is the worst reason to be creative. You’ll give up when you create solely for money. If you can wait five years for traction then you’ll be a future Beast.
He has put everything he has on the line and continues to do so today.
Hard work isn’t a unicorn fantasy
People hate when you mention success and hard work. They get real-l-l angry. They aim their cannon at you and blast you in the comments. Sorry. Nothing worth achieving comes quickly.
I woke up, I studied Youtube, I studied videos, I studied filmmaking, I went to bed and that was my life — Mr Beast
Mr Beast’s financial mindset was if he worked at his craft for long enough, eventually, something would stick. Who knew a video of counting to 100,000 would be the video that changed Mr Beast’s life.
Mr Beast was fully immersed in making videos. He didn’t dabble. He didn’t go and get a job. Youtube became an obsession.
When you’re possessed by your goal you’ll do anything.
That’s what true passion does. Passion makes you do dumb sh*t. I felt dumb when I quit my job earlier this year during a pandemic. People called me dumb too. “You’ll never work in corporate again, I tell ya.”
But I don’t give a f*ck about working in corporate. Writing is my dream the same way making Youtube videos is Mr Beast’s dream.
Find a dream that fits you then work your ass off at it. That belief about work transcends any silly little fantasy about Lambo money. As you work at this dream you’ll look possessed in the eyes of others. You won’t feel possessed, though.
Obsession is healthy when you’re oblivious to it. It becomes an unconscious, daily, flow state habit.
“I only want money so I can make better videos. I just want to make the best videos on the planet.”
This wild claim is backed up by fellow Youtuber Anthony Pompliano.
The word purpose is thrown around a lot like a rag doll. Anthony says after talking to Mr Beast it’s clear that making Youtube videos is his purpose. If we delve a little deeper we can find out why.
Mr Beast wants to make the best damn videos on the internet because he’s a secret philanthropist in the making. He thinks the best videos he can make will help a lot of people. That’s why he plays the Youtube game and makes every company in America look stupid at content generation and marketing.
When you focus on how your work helps people, it’s powerful inspiration that makes money motivation seem ridiculous.
From giving houses away for $1, to paying medical bills of the needy, to bankrolling homeless shelters — Mr Beast makes the best videos so he can collect the most money from Youtube ads and brand sponsors to fund his real passion: giving.
Make money to fund a purpose that helps humanity. You’ll be distracted by that instead of money when you do.
Quality over quantity
This Sean Kernan quality tagline applies to Mr Beast too. He only releases 1–2 videos a month. He believes quality will make his mission stronger, rather than bulk uploading videos to Youtube to collect a paycheck from mindless ads about Oreos.
Mr Beast can’t predict whether a video will make money and create a profit after production expenses, either. He doesn’t care because profit isn’t his goal. Many of his videos lose money. A small few make money which covers the losses of the unpopular videos.
The videos aren’t random either. Everything is pre-planned. The whole narrative is thought out. The videos are highly edited and keep a viewer’s attention right up until the last few seconds.
Like all good Storytellers, Mr Beast quietly uses the hero’s journey in his storyline.
The video starts with a perfectly normal world. Then a problem occurs. Then some weird events you wouldn’t expect, happen. Then the philanthropy message is subtly hinted at. Then a surprise ending is suggested. Then a big build-up at the end, where someone gets the help they need and an act of humanity takes place, plays out. You’re left better than when you found the video.
Be the Picasso of your own creative work by focusing on quality.
Reinvest in your art
Mr Beast spends $48 million a year on the creation of his Youtube videos. He could make huge profits from Youtube and then ride off into the sunset on a horsey. He doesn’t do that.
Like a good stock or crypto investor, Mr Beast lets his earnings compound by reinvesting them. It’s easy to make a tonne of money and then withdraw it to buy a Lambo. Don’t.
I just finished a project. It made a nice profit. I’ve invested most of the money back into building a new website, paying for high-quality illustrations, hiring an editor, and upgrading my writing software.
Treat your work like an investor. That’s how you make unlikely returns that look impossible to your critics.
What sucks about Mr Beast
Wait, what? Yep, the people you look up to are never perfect. Sorry.
One thing that sucks about Mr Beast is that he puts consumerism on a pedal stool. You feel in some of his videos like all you need is a home full of new furniture and all your problems in life will be solved.
I don’t dig it. Consumables and electronics won’t make us happy. The money from his videos could be put to better use — like buying those in need shelter, or paying for counseling, or funding a trip for a person to see their long-lost relatives in another country.
I don’t care about a new Dyson vacuum cleaner or a Nintendo with all the games you need to handcuff yourself to the tv.
I want to see money be used to promote messages of kindness, empathy, and hope. Maybe I’m a 35-year-old grandpa. (Entirely possible once I get my hearing aids in two weeks.)
It Boils Down To This
If your goal is to blow up on Youtube or social media to make a sh*t-ton of money, then you’re going to be bitterly disappointed. 1) Videos that are selfish perform poorly 2) Real success is doing work you’d happily be poor to do for the rest of your life because you freaking love it.
Mr Beast’s videos get more views than the Olympics or a Hollywood movie because the meaning behind his work acts like an invisible magnet. People love his videos yet, like me, they don’t quite know why. That’s what happens when your money beliefs are selfless.
