Creating When No One Is Watching

If you are going through a hard phase with work, you would want to read this till the end to see some of the healthy practices that have been keeping me sane in my career.

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As a child, I never imagined a world where I’d be called a content creator in the sense it is being used now. I never imagined that in the long line of my career journey, I’d place a camera in front of myself or something to create. Neither did I even see myself as a videographer/ editor.

Video content creation I’d like to say, was a career I stumbled on. I initially started by using my knowledge of operating a mobile phone camera, to capture hangouts and birthdays for my friends and family. Not because anyone told me to, but because I wanted to. Childlike curiosity for fun maybe.

After filming, I’ll send the complied clips to my friends or host and also share them on my social media pages. I would film myself cooking or doing any activity, just for the fun of it to share. The creative and editing process was the kick for me. It was a great source of dopamine. I didn’t think that was content creation. I was simply sharing my experiences with whoever cared to watch.

Everyone liked them and started saying “You would make a good content creator o. You’re good at this thing, share more”. I knew they weren’t just saying that for the sake of familiarity because random people and colleagues at work would compliment me too. Because I also liked what I created, I continued.

Fast forward to 2022, I had already started doing and sharing a lot of creative pieces on Instagram- vlogs, recipes, videos of events I had attended, etc. Content creation was finally becoming a mainstay for a lot of people too. The algorithm was still kind to small creators so everyone was loving it.

Later that same year, I decided to do it afraid and resign from the toxic workplace I was in. I had no professional job to resign to, just content creation and mobile videography. It was scary but I didn’t want to stay another week in that toxic place and I also didn’t want to lose my mind. I decided to treat it as a career full-time and try to excel in it.

From that time to the present day, I have worked for different exciting brands and individuals and have been paid well for most of them. I have tried my hands on different kinds of content and my editing skills are on a high, if I do say so myself.

But let me not lie to you, it’s been one of the hardest shit I have ever committed my hands to do. One of the hardest paths, yet somewhat the easiest I have ever attempted. Not physically hard but mentally hard.

Even though I am absolutely in love with everything creative content and I am deep-necked in it now, it has stretched and pushed me far beyond what I ever imagined. It has brought joy as well as tears on some days when nothing seems to be working for me. I think the industry is nearly over-saturated now that metrics have become the defining base for nearly everyone’s work.

Brands no longer want to work with small creators except they have numbers to show for it in terms of engagements. They no longer want to work with creators just because they are good.

Good is not good enough until the algorithm says so.

Creativity is not celebrated until the algorithm says so. Brilliant content no longer wows brands until the algorithm says so and that can be very frustrating. Because sometimes, I wonder if the algorithm even knows what good content is.

This has made a lot of creators go out of character and sometimes even create shabby and lame work just so the numbers can come trickling in enough to attract brands. If you think shabby and lame work cannot bring the numbers, check TikTok.

Over time you don’t even know when the metrics start directly influencing your mind and your life. You won’t even know when you start feeling like shit and thinking “Just maybe I am not good enough and my life is not worthy enough” just because the video that you assumed would “blow” still has less than 500 views.

You wouldn’t know when you start considering giving up your creative career to go find something else to do because the algorithm is making you feel like a dumbass.

I know it’s hard because if you’re like me, engaging in creative work is the fuel you need every day to keep sane. But every day you try, the numbers just fight back to test your mental strength.

To stay sane amidst all this, and to keep creating even when it looks like no one is watching, I have begun some healthy practices like:

1. Not letting the algorithm define my life. I make sure to think deeply about any creative idea I have in my head and ask myself questions like “What impact would it make and in what creative way can I best bring it to life?, would I enjoy this piece of content if I wasn’t the one creating it?”. If I find the answers, I create what I like first, what my community/audience can easily understand based on previous analysis, and what I would be proud of anywhere. This way, if the metrics flop, I don’t think I am shit, or my creative mind is shit. I like what I have created and I just move on to try again.
2. My content is not just for entertainment- with every piece of content we create, we are building a portfolio. We are showing the world our ideas are limitless and there’s more where that came from. If anyone asks to see what we have been creating in past years, we can easily pull out those creative pieces to show them, whether it has 1 million views or just 200.
3. Every creative piece refines my skill- I can tell you with all confidence that my videos today are nothing like the first piece I created in 2021/2022 and I am not just talking about the gadgets I use now that are better. The ideas, the storytelling rhythm, the edits, the quality, and everything else, stand out from the first creative piece I made. I make sure I carry this mindset like a badge around me. Whether there are engagements or not, I make sure to do better than the last piece I created. E.g. I just started incorporating more sound fx in my videos, something I never really paid attention to in previous videos. If I stopped creating because of the algorithm, I wouldn't have expanded my skills and mind to do more.
4. People see my work- As much as the algorithm wants to convince me otherwise, I strongly believe people see my work. I don’t just believe it, I know because some random people have stopped me to mention a video I made that they watched and loved. Brands and individuals have reached out just because of a video I made that they liked. They might not be engaging every day, but they will remember that I exist because I make sure my foot is on their neck with my consistent content.
5. I stick with the part I can control- I am learning to stick with only the things I can control in this life while I leave the rest to God. The part of this whole process I can control is TO CREATE. It is within my power to create and share valuable work and how people choose to engage or react is beyond my control. I can’t go to their homes to force them to like my videos or drop a comment. I can add a CTA with questions for them to answer or share my stories with a prompt for them to engage, but whether they choose to or not, is up to them.
6. The bigger picture matters too- sometimes I sit and imagine a room with 500–800 people sticking their heads through the door to look at me on a big stage and then 80 of them actually walking in to shake my hands because they like what I just presented, how the f**k would I feel? I know my head would want to explode. This is how I shift my mindset sometimes. Whether it is just 1 comment or 50 likes, I try to imagine all of them in that fantasy room and it puts a smile on my face.

Lastly and most importantly, I try not to forget why I do this shit. If there is one thing I do to catch myself when my mind starts slipping, is to remember why I started content creation in the first place — and it’s the hunger for creativity. I am obsessed with creating creative pieces. Everything I do involves some form of creativity- cooking, discovering new music or singing, writing, dancing, video editing, video creation, fashion, sex, etc. Creativity is home to me.

I was born for this and I’m never going to let any algorithm steal that from me. I hope you never let it too!

If you got this far, I hope you clap as many times as you like and share this with someone.