Five years ago, on May 18, 2020, I published my very first YouTube video.
It wasn’t called Self-Employment Sidekick yet. Pretty sure the channel was named something like David Steininger’s YouTube Channel About Business and Stuff. Not exactly a branding masterpiece.
There was no fancy setup. No strategy. Honestly, I didn’t even know if I’d make a second video. But I had an idea, a webcam, and a moment of courage. So I hit record.
Looking back now, I’m proud—not because of how far I’ve come, but because 2020-me took that step. That version of me wasn’t exactly a go-getter. I was an overthinker, a perfectionist. (Still am, in a lot of ways.) But I recorded that video, edited it, and published it—wildly uncomfortable as it was.
And I’m so glad I did.
That First Step Is Everything
Most people never take the first step.
Now, not everyone needs to start a YouTube channel. But I believe a lot of people—too many people—have great ideas that never see the light of day because they’re waiting for conditions to improve. Waiting for more clarity. Or, if we’re being honest… they’re just scared.
But here’s the thing:
- You want clarity? That comes after you take action.
- You want confidence? That’s built through experience, and experience comes from doing.
- You want perfection? Sorry, that doesn’t exist. But you can have progress.
It’s like a middle school science fair. You start with a hypothesis—a best guess. You don’t know how things will actually turn out until you run the experiment.
Same with business. Same with creativity. Same with anything worth doing.\
Incremental Improvements
In that first video, I said something like, “This whole thing is going to be an exercise in incremental improvements.”
And that’s exactly what it’s been.
One awkward video at a time.
Nothing took off overnight. In fact, it took me four full years to hit 1,000 subscribers. But slow as it’s been, the momentum is real. And so is the value.
No, I’m not raking in YouTube millions. But I have monetized the channel with some ad revenue and a few endorsements. More importantly, it’s helped me become a better writer, speaker, storyteller, and coach. It’s introduced me to amazing people and opened doors I never would’ve found otherwise.
By most metrics, I’m still small potatoes—but the benefits have far exceeded my expectations. And it all started with one uncomfortable decision to hit publish.
I Still Struggle With This
Now, just to be clear—I haven’t “arrived.” I don’t magically take bold action every time opportunity knocks. I still get stuck.
In fact, I started this YouTube channel during a global pandemic. It took the whole world flipping upside down for me to finally say, “Why not? Let’s try something new.”
And just this week, someone in my mastermind group called me out for dragging my feet on a simple (but potentially lucrative) marketing opportunity. They were right. I was overcomplicating it.
I’m grateful for those nudges. My wife, for example, is a master of simplicity. I’ll be caught up in planning something out for months, and she’ll say something like, “Why don’t you just start with __?” And I’ll get frustrated—“But eventually we’ll need an XYZ machine to handle the…” Yeah. Eventually. If we ever get that far.
She’s helped me realize something important:
You don’t need a master plan. You need momentum.
What About You?
Maybe you’re sitting on something right now—a product, a project, a creative idea, a career shift—and you’re waiting.
Sometimes waiting is necessary. You might be waiting on funding or approvals or key logistics. That’s fair.
But if you’re just waiting to feel ready?
Let me encourage you: start anyway.
That feeling of readiness? It often shows up after you get moving. And even if it doesn’t pan out the way you hope, you won’t regret giving it a shot.
You’ll learn.
You’ll grow.
You’ll build a habit of taking action that makes the next step easier.
Start scared. Keep going. See what happens.
P.S. About That Newsletter…
A few months ago, I launched a new email newsletter. And guess what?
All those old feelings came rushing back.
- Is this dumb?
- Will anyone read this?
- Am I wasting my time?
- What will people think?
I don’t have clear answers to any of those. But I’m sticking with it—because I had those same doubts five years ago with this YouTube channel. And if I’ve learned anything since then, it’s this:
You don’t need a master plan. You need momentum.
Want to Support the Channel?
To commemorate the 5-year anniversary of this channel, I’m launching some Self-Employment Sidekick merch. Check out the shop, and if you like what you see, grab a shirt and support the journey.
And if you don’t like what you see—let me know so I can make some… incremental improvements.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. And if you’ve got something worth starting—go get it.
I’m cheering you on.
