In Awe of The Neistat

Boy do I love the sun. After not seeing it for about a week it really gives you a boost getting a fresh hit of vitamin D in the morning. It’s something you really take for granted on the sunny streets of Cairo. Anyway, another day, another blog. I’m going to take a bit of a detour today and talk about Vlogs. Thats right, Vlogs, not blogs. Vlogs are one of the most popular types of video on YouTube, and they were something I was considering doing, and might do in the future. But this week is an important week in the history of Vloging, as arguably the greatest Vlog of all time just got shut down by its truly inspirational creator, Casey Neistat. If you have never heard of Casey Nesitat, you’re in luck, because you have over 2 years worth of Casey Vlogs and videos of the highest quality to enjoy. I myself only discovered Casey 2 months ago. My only other experience with Vlogs was ShayCarl about 3-4 years ago and I had not really followed a Vlogger since. Discovering Casey’s Vlog though, was a formative experience for me.

Casey Neistat’s Vlog was an example of a human being at the height of his productivity, at a level I could not understand. Every single vlog was, to me at least, immaculate. Why? Because it was the perfect representation of what a Human being (in this case a YouTuber) can achieve when they put everything they had into something, every single day. You may think I am exaggerating here, but let me break down to you the amount of work Casey has to put in, to shoot just ONE Vlog:

1. Grab a breathtaking Timelapse of New York City
2. Grab breathtaking drone footage of New York City
3. Shoot literally EVERYTHING throughout the day (while on your electric skateboard no less)
4. Set up shots that cover your entrances and exits. Then go back and get the camera/perform the action. (This means that you literally have to do everything twice.)
5. Seamlessly maintain your train of thought (and crucially, vocal inflections) between the numerous shot changes you make even while in your own studio.

And if you thought that was alot of work, this man also spends 4-7 hours in the evening just to EDIT this monster together. And it’s no surprise that it takes that long. He has to sift through ALL the footage he captured that day, find out how to piece everything together to give the Vlog the pacing and tone he wants, and manage the soundtrack. The soundtrack, which by the way, is always different and by a different artist. He manages to do all of this while simultaneously running an App startup called BEME. And having a wife and kids.

I became addicted to this Vlog, not just because Casey himself has possibly the most infectious energy I have ever seen, or because his shots are often mesmerizing. But because I was in awe at the amount of WORK that was put in to create this 10 minute video that so perfectly captured the previous day’s adventure. I think the reason I became addicted to watching Casey and his unbelievable grind, was because (as discussed before) productivity has been an issue for me in the last few years. Now admittedly this was due to circumstances out of my control, and I am much better now, but the difference between my energy levels at my worst and Casey’s at his best were at the same time startling and thrilling. Through his Vlog, Casey had shown me the extreme opposite end of the energy spectrum, and it gave my hope that I can one day reach his level of vitality, productivity and enthusiasm.

It came as no surprise to me that Casey Neistat decided to end his Vlog on November 20th 2016. It was, in Casey’s own words, becoming too easy for him to produce. It was not stimulating or challenging for him anymore, having mastered the art over the past 2 years, and he wanted to focus on making videos that took more time for him to produce and were more rewarding and challenging for him. And in a way, Casey was right, it was becoming too easy. He had developed an unbelievable rhythm, which while being very effective, made the blog take a more predictable structure. But this does not take away from his brilliance. In fact, him choosing to drop the mic at this time is another sign that his is a story of a true master of his craft, and it is only just beginning to unfold.

In a 2015 video entitled Fat and Lazy, a title that presumably put people (with thin skin) off because it has a very low 1.5 million views, Casey bares his productive soul, breaking down his daily routine and his 24 hour day, as well as his personal philosophy. You also get a great glimpse of his awesome studio and the neon sign at the entrance to his office that says ‘work harder’. A phrase also tattooed on his left wrist, just in case he forgets (and a pretty nice-tat that I will probably copy). You can start with this video, or go straight to anyone of his other Vlogs, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks Casey for doing what you do (and for stopping).

More tomorrow.

Oversleeping

Morning! Or should I say afternoon. I want to expand on the reason I said I was doing this blog yesterday, which was to get my life in order. The method by which I am hoping this blog will do that is based on an article I read 2 days ago, which I believe is both very true and deeply troubling:

Goals vs Systems

The article discusses the difference between setting goals and developing and establishing systems. It argues that goals are ultimately not as useful to your long term plans as systems can be. I found myself agreeing whole heartedly and naturally began to resent the writer of the article, who had basically made me acknowledge that life cannot be a day to day chaotic roller-coaster that we ‘artists’ like it to be. There is a temptation among us (young) artsy-fartsy types to believe that any art or inspiration is mana from heaven. It strikes when you least expect it but when it does it is pure, honest, and divine. The reality could not be farther from the truth, what some of my artistic brethren fail to comprehend is that you require a great deal of preparation in order to achieve inspiration. In any case I decided once and for all to establish a system for myself, something that can help me achieve the things I want, but by first committing to a way of life.

Enter this blog. The first thing I will do, every morning, from now until I have nothing left to say, is to write and post this blog. Not because the world needs more bloggers, but because I need to start my day with a quick 1000 words every day to get the juices flowing. If I want to be a successful writer and couldn’t bang out a quick 1000 when I wake up then I would have a serious problem on my hands. I’ve actually just realized that I’ve dug myself into a rather troublesome hole. 1000 words is alot…I didn’t have to mention that at all, and could have just posted whatever number of words I wanted every day and no one would notice or care as to the length. It’s alright I’ll just remember to delete this section at the end.

Anyway back to our topic and that is systems! MY new system involves writing this blog first thing, then working on another writing project (more on that later), then going to the gym, then coming back and making lunch for my wife, then doing more work until around 9 pm, at which point I will play video games for 5 hours until 2 am. Now I know that some of you will be thinking that this blog just got way less interesting. This (self-aware) fool is going to waste 5 hours a night gaming? WHY?! It’s simple really, and another integral part of my system. I have had the goal for quite some time now, of starting a YouTube channel revolving around my gaming adventures. That goal however was not any closer to being achieved, until I realized that to make gaming videos, you have to be really, really good at the games you are playing. That means putting in alot of work into it, just like any other craft. In this day and age, being a gamer can actually be a valuable skill. The amount of money in the industry has exploded in the last few years. Professional gamers make millions, YouTube gamers make millions, the companies, billions. In any case, it seemed like a no-brainer for me to start producing high quality gaming content (don’t you just hate that word). Add to that the fact that in 2013 I spent alot of time developing gaming content for a startup (which I left after a year) and this became something of an old enemy I just needed to finally vanquish. So that is the daily system I have planned for myself. Now on to the irony.

This system was planned for a 10am wake up time. With the blog being posted at the 11/12 range. Today however, I did not wake up until around 12:30, which has the devastating effect of pushing all my other tasks too throughout the day. If I persist at the pre-determined schedule I would go to bed at 4 am! To the very observant reader, you must be wondering, why did you even wake up at 12:30? You must have gone to bed pretty late yesterday. To you I say: very well done but keep it down so the rest of the class can figure it out on their own. Yes fine I admit I went to bed at 4am yesterday, chiefly because I just don’t know where the time goes but also because systems do not account for staying up watching Gilmore Girls with your wife. I don’t have sleep apnea anymore, but you can see why it took me a while to realize that I did. I will now have to figure out a way to wake up at 10 am tomorrow, story of my life, but thankfully now it is through no fault other than my own.

Which brings us back to sleep apnea. After finally deciding that I really really had a real illness that was very REAL. I needed to go to a good nose doctor. A little history is required here. When I was 7 I broke my nose rather severely at the Gouna clubhouse (queue my upper class guilt/shame). At 12 I had corrective surgery for the deviated septum, although the surgeon said that he couldn’t fix the shape of the nose from the outside because that would require plastic surgery, which he couldn’t perform until I was 18. Now 24, I went to this very same surgeon again, who took a quick look at my nose and assured me that my septum was not the problem, and asked me to x-ray my sinuses instead. I did what the good doctor asked and went back to him. I then watched in amazement as he picked up an xray sheet, discarded the other two, and gleefully pointed at a region of my nose and said ‘There! You see how this part is too big? You need surgery!’. In that moment I was amazed not because I needed surgery, but because this (very high profile) doctor had lost all touch with humanity. He seemed a very different animal to the one I knew at 12, I remember him being kind and humble. Now a big shot, all he cared about was the next check, and that meant the next surgery. He didn’t care how the patients felt, he didn’t tell them the need for surgery in a calming or even medical way. He almost boasted about it. AT ME. THE GUY WHO NEEDS THE DAMN SURGERY. What an idiot. I knew instantly, that I had to find someone else, and fast.

 

More on that tomorrow.