Love your work or it will eat you alive, with Youtube Star Caddicarus
The Overexamined Life
23,815 views
If you're a writer, musician, entrepreneur - someone building something in the margins of your real life, this one is for you.
My guest today is Caddicarus: over a million subscribers, nearly 400 million views, and a very honest bloke.
Here's the thing so many of us carry without even realising it, the belief that the moment we hit the number, whatever your number is, life clicks into place. Caddickarus has the number and he still found himself burnt out, hollow, losing the will to make the very thing that made him who he is.
The data doesn't keep you going. The passion keeps you going. The why keeps you going.
Sick of being ruled by your emotions?
Join our Patreon for AD-FREE listening, bonus episodes, and mindfulness exercises that are actually fun: patreon.com/TOLclub
This podcast has additional free audio episodes that are not shared on Youtube:
Listen to this podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast...
Listen to this podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0HPuZ8w...
Want to learn how to meditate? Get 30 days of the Waking Up App FREE: wakingup.com/primo
Follow Jonah Primo on Instagram or visit his Website
Email Jonah Primo at overexamined@jonahprimo.com
~~~~~~~~~
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction — The Trap of Chasing “The Number”
02:18 Meeting Caddicarus & Early Internet Fame
05:04 Awful Early Videos & Learning the Algorithm
09:42 Working Retail While Dreaming Bigger
13:27 The Ego, Validation & Wanting to Escape Normal Life
17:46 When YouTube Became Unhealthy
20:31 Should Creative Work Stay a Hobby?
24:18 Feeling Owned by the Audience
28:07 Becoming a Slave to the Algorithm
32:11 Sacrificing Creativity for Views
35:04 “If It Failed, I Would’ve Kept Going Anyway”
39:22 Rediscovering the Need to Create
43:50 Would You Turn Off the Creative Obsession?
46:03 Identity, Shame & Cringing at Your Old Self
50:14 Looking Back on the Person You Used to Be
54:33 Growth, Regret & Seeing Your Life Through Videos
58:07 Therapy, Self-Forgiveness & Mental Health
1:02:44 Why Internet Culture Distorts Reality
1:06:19 Final Reflections on Creativity & Meaning
20 Comments
It had to happen this way, he had to fight for it to find his unique style. The only way he got lucky is that he didn't get lucky, that he didn't kick off with low-effort content or something like that.
As someone who has been in a soulless job for 10 years this week, this hit me like a train.
Great interview, thank you.
Caddicarus: Viewers try to convince him that he’s genuine.
...Damn. That is the fundamental problem with YouTube as a platform. It promotes itself as an outlet for creativity, but an algorithm inherently binds you to make what other people want instead of allowing that creativity to flourish. How did I not piece that together?
I myself get freaked the fuck out over it. Show me footage/images of an underwater grate, a shipwreck, ship rudders etc etc and it instantly kicks in some kind of primal fear.
It's a weird-ass phobia.
I think the only thing thats been saving me however is that i have extremely patient patrons and fans that are understanding animation and video creation in general takes a long time.
And much like that one fan at the convention, i can only hope that the things ive put out into the world have impacted people positively.
I myself have been struggling as of late, and like many people have made decisions in my early years that I loathed so much that I grew to despise the person I once was.
I have learned to accept that I was teen, learning and growing, and that growth doesn't have an age requirement.
Caddy has mentioned before that he wasn't in a good place, and that he didn't like those videos.
I'm a long time viewer of his, I've been watching his content for over to 9 years.
This is the first time I've heard him really dig into that, and it's not something I ever expected to hear either, as it's his decision on what to do with the content he made. He doesn't need to justify his choices, because he's his own person and we don't know him.
It's jarring to me exactly how many parts of his story I related to. I never viewed his content in that way, even in 2019. It's extremely eye opening.
I've heard so many people say that it's never too late to find out who you are, what you want to do, and start a new project.
But Caddy is an actual person I can fully attach that idea to.
This interview was a joy to listen to.
And if Caddy reads this, I'm happy to hear you're in a better place, and doing what you love. Your content has helped me through a lot, just like thousands of other people.
Love your work or it will eat you alive, with Youtube Star Caddicarus
The Overexamined Life
23,815 views
If you're a writer, musician, entrepreneur - someone building something in the margins of your real life, this one is for you.
My guest today is Caddicarus: over a million subscribers, nearly 400 million views, and a very honest bloke.
Here's the thing so many of us carry without even realising it, the belief that the moment we hit the number, whatever your number is, life clicks into place. Caddickarus has the number and he still found himself burnt out, hollow, losing the will to make the very thing that made him who he is.
The data doesn't keep you going. The passion keeps you going. The why keeps you going.
Sick of being ruled by your emotions?
Join our Patreon for AD-FREE listening, bonus episodes, and mindfulness exercises that are actually fun: patreon.com/TOLclub
This podcast has additional free audio episodes that are not shared on Youtube:
Listen to this podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast...
Listen to this podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0HPuZ8w...
Want to learn how to meditate? Get 30 days of the Waking Up App FREE: wakingup.com/primo
Follow Jonah Primo on Instagram or visit his Website
Email Jonah Primo at overexamined@jonahprimo.com
~~~~~~~~~
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction — The Trap of Chasing “The Number”
02:18 Meeting Caddicarus & Early Internet Fame
05:04 Awful Early Videos & Learning the Algorithm
09:42 Working Retail While Dreaming Bigger
13:27 The Ego, Validation & Wanting to Escape Normal Life
17:46 When YouTube Became Unhealthy
20:31 Should Creative Work Stay a Hobby?
24:18 Feeling Owned by the Audience
28:07 Becoming a Slave to the Algorithm
32:11 Sacrificing Creativity for Views
35:04 “If It Failed, I Would’ve Kept Going Anyway”
39:22 Rediscovering the Need to Create
43:50 Would You Turn Off the Creative Obsession?
46:03 Identity, Shame & Cringing at Your Old Self
50:14 Looking Back on the Person You Used to Be
54:33 Growth, Regret & Seeing Your Life Through Videos
58:07 Therapy, Self-Forgiveness & Mental Health
1:02:44 Why Internet Culture Distorts Reality
1:06:19 Final Reflections on Creativity & Meaning