Why I Quit YouTube (and Overcoming Fear)

Sneak Peek:

Kristin:    00:00:00    Because that's what it feels like when you're leaving your comfort zone, and you don't have to leave the country to get out of your comfort zone. 

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests. 

Kristin Wilson, Host:   00:00:33    Hey there, Kristin, from Traveling with Kristin here, and welcome to episode 153 of Badass Digital Nomads. Hope you're having a great morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you are in the world. And today's episode is out a little bit later than usual because I changed it. <laugh>, I changed my mind about, uh, what I wanted to talk with you about today. We have a few different topics to cover but first I'd like to say thank you to Organifi for sponsoring today's podcast.

Organifi:

 You can get 20% off all Organifi products by using the code travel on Organifishop.com. They have plenty of superfood powders and products to support your immunity, health, and wellness. I especially like their daily and immune support travel packets. It has 500% of your vitamin C for the day, and you can get $10 off a box of their immunity support travel packets at Organifishop.com/travel. That's O R G A N I F I shop.com/travel.  

Kristin:    00:01:54    So lots of good news this week as I have officially finished the manuscript for Digital Nomads for Dummies. I've been writing every day for months, and it felt really good to be able to send in the final chapter this week. Of course, there's still a lot of work to be done in the editing process and also to record the audiobook, but I'm really happy to announce that the book is officially done on schedule. And again, you can pre-order it on Amazon or on Barnes and Noble. Just search Digital Nomads for Dummies or use the link in the show notes before I chat with you about my decision to quit YouTube and when I'll be back. I wanted to talk about Ukraine for a few minutes because of course the situation in Ukraine has been escalating. Um, I haven't spoken about it on the podcast since the initial invasion back in February, but I've obviously been horrified at what has been going on over there.  

Kristin:    00:03:05    But I've also been very inspired by President Zelensky, he's leadership and also, uh, by so many of the volunteers and the, the people, the citizens of Ukraine, the people from around the world who have come together to support, uh, Zelensky has even made a point of saying how many leaders of smaller countries who are ignored by the bigger countries. I kind of think of it like the global leadership community. It's almost like high school in a way, um, where, you know, the bigger and stronger countries kind of belittle the smaller ones. But anyway, Zelensky has made a point to mention how much support he's gotten from smaller countries, island regions, and that's just been so great to see. But I saw an interview with him on 60-Minutes last week that just really, it just brought me to tears, just even thinking about it now.  

Kristin:    00:04:02    I get a little bit choked up. I will also link to it in the show notes. I think it got 4 million views on YouTube and the first week it, it just really gave me additional perspective on his role and his very admirable leadership and a person of such high moral character that I don't believe that I have witnessed on the planet today. I think he's, he's certainly a standup human, one of a kind, but I also like how he sees himself as just a normal person. And it kind of goes along with what we've talked about in the podcast before with the Butterfly Effect and how much impact one person can have. And that's certainly the case with him. I mean, yes, he was a lawyer, he was also a comedian and an actor. But I just think that whether it's intentional or not as a human race, we have either been led to believe that we are less powerful than we are, or we've never been told that we are as powerful as we can be.  

Kristin:    00:05:22    I don't know if it's a misinformation campaign or if it's just a lack of information, but seeing Zelensky lead Ukraine in this fight. And also seeing the flip side of it, how - how powerful and the positive way that Zelensky has been and how powerful in a negative way that Putin has been, is just a reminder of how much one person can impact the world, be it for better or worse. And it's also frustrating to see his frustration with other world leaders, especially of the Western world. Despite all of the support that the United States and Europe and NATO and everyone has given, there's still much more that can be done. I've been particularly moved by the 20,000 plus international volunteers from 52 countries who have joined the Foreign Legion in Ukraine. So these are military members and troops primarily from the US, Canada, UK, Poland, Georgia, and the Baltic countries, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, who were of course formerly held hostage as part of the Soviet Union.  

Kristin:    00:06:50    And I just find it so compelling that 20,000 people from different countries have volunteered to put their lives on the line to protect Ukraine, to protect their values of freedom and democracy. And actually a bit offended. I - I heard one news contributor asking one of the soldiers if he felt it was more dangerous for him being in Ukraine as an American versus Ukrainian citizen because he wasn't Ukrainian. And he just basically laughed at her. He is like, you know, we're, there's people here from all different cultures. I know we talk a lot about, uh, adapting to different cultures and culture shock on the podcast. And he was like, you know, we've put any of our cultural, you know, perceived differences aside because we are just people like we're humans defending other humans. And I, I read an article on Politico where one of the soldiers said the common feeling for everyone who's come and signed up in the Legion is that we all had an urge to do something about it.  

Kristin:    00:08:11    We can't just passively watch as bombs are falling on civilian targets. Another soldier who is a Norwegian who has lived in Kyiv for several years, he said that he and his comrades were there on the front lines to defend the entire region and not just Ukraine. And Zelensky said the same in one of his speeches. He said, this war is about peace and principles of justice, of international law. It is about the right to self-determination that every person might determine his or her own future. It is for the right of every society and of every person to security and to a life without threats. He's right. And Ukraine is fighting for principles that all of us value. A US volunteer named Malcolm Nance said that he's fighting what he calls a existential war. So I'll play a short clip of him for you now,  

Malcolm    00:09:25    You know, as the more I saw of the war going on, the more I thought, I'm done talking. All right, it's time to take action here. So, uh, about a month ago I joined the international, uh, Legion here in Ukraine. And I am here to help this country fight. You know what essentially is a war, uh, of, of its of ex extermination. This is an existential war and Russia has bought it to these people, and they are mass murdering civilians. And there are people here like me who are here to do something about it.  

Kristin:    00:09:58    Another thing that stuck out to me when reading the accounts of these volunteer soldiers is how one of them said that he couldn't live with him himself. If he didn't come. He said, I had to, I couldn't sleep. And some of these, these are men and women, some of them have normal civilian lives in the United States and in other countries, and they've abandoned those lives and their family life, and they have flown across the ocean to help people that they've never met in Ukraine because they felt this call, they felt this conviction. And what I recognize in that is the same inner voice, the same call that all of us have to do different things. Maybe you're not called to go fight on the front lines for freedom, but there is something that you're called to do in life. And some of us have more difficult and more dangerous callings than others.  

Kristin:    00:11:03  But the one thing we all have in common is that we have to get over the fear of pursuing our path in life. The fear of being yourself, the fear of the fear of quitting your job, of moving to another country. Whatever that thing is that you feel called to do at some time or another, there was or is a fear that was holding you back, that was blocking you between where you are or where you were and where you wanted to be. This space, this gap, this is part of the human condition, and it's up to each and every one of us to face that fear and do it anyway. And so I have so much respect and reverence for these 20,000 plus people who pushed past that fear and doubt and flew to Ukraine to help. But for all of those 20,000 people, I think that there must be many, many more who didn't heed the call and who are struggling to grapple with that decision.  

Kristin:    00:12:27    And so even if none of us can join the foreign Legion, we can do something. And after watching Zelensky interview on 60 Minutes, I thought, can I do more? Certainly just watching the news or just following the war on Twitter or in Telegram or throughout the media makes us feel that we're doing something because we feel emotion, because we feel anger, because we feel sadness, but it's not actually doing anything unless we do something with that. That's the reason that we have emotions. Emotions are supposed to propel us to act. And so I have two special assignments for you today. One can take you just one or two minutes to contact your elected officials and express your opinion about what you want them to do in Ukraine. Do you want further sanctions? Do you want them to supply more weapons? Do you want them to give more aid?  

Kristin:    00:13:39    Do you want them to enforce a no-fly zone? What do you think they should do? Send that message. You can go, if you are a US citizen, you can go to democracy.io, enter your address and your representative's names will come up. You send one message and it will go to your local and state representatives, and it literally takes five minutes. It's just a couple points about what you want your elected officials to do to help defend and support and protect Ukraine. And really the ideal of freedom and democracy. And that's why you're listening to this podcast right now is because you value personal freedom. Now, if you are not from the US, I know that there's people from 170 countries listening right now. I haven't looked up how to contact your representatives in every country, but I'm sure a quick Google could get you to a similar type of website like democracy.io.  

Kristin:    00:14:54    And then I will also leave the links to contact NATO, the European Commission, and President Ursula Derland, as well as to contact the White House. So I actually sent a message to the EU and NATO because you know, even though I'm not a European citizen, I don't think it matters. I think you can just send messages to any organization or any government that you feel like you want to share your opinion, even if you're not a constituent. So if you're a US citizen, another easy way to contact your elected officials that you can do in two seconds while listening to this is just to text the word resist to 50409. And you can use SMS, iMessage, Telegram, even Twitter and Messenger. Just text resist to 50409 and it will message your representatives for you. So you have a few options here. Write to your representatives at Democracy.io.  

Kristin:    00:16:10    Google your representatives. If you are from a non-US country, contact the Whitehouse at whitehouse.gov/contact, use resist bot and why not copy and paste your message to the EU President, Derland, and NATO. And the second thing is, what is one thing you can do to dismantle a fear that has been holding you back from doing something? It's what is something that you've been procrastinating or avoiding or delaying? What is one small step that you can do to step into that fear? Because that's what it feels like when you're leaving your comfort zone. And you don't have to leave the country to get out of your comfort zone. You can do it ironically from the comfort of your own home. So pause the podcast for a moment. Click on one of the links in the show notes to make your voice heard. Send a text Resist to 50409.  

Kristin:    00:17:26    If you are a US citizen, this also works for US citizens abroad. And then let's talk a minute about YouTube. So on Sunday, April 17th, exactly six months to the day since my last video, I published a video on YouTube, and it's hard to believe that it's been six months, but it is what it is. And so in this video, I explain a bit about why I quit YouTube, and you can go to the link in the show notes or just search Traveling with Kristin on YouTube to watch the video where I explain why I left. And the third reason was related to a burnout. And so if burnout has been a problem for you and your life or a pattern that you have experienced, then I have also left a link in the show notes to go to my episode on preventing and healing from burnout.  

Kristin:    00:18:37    It's from two years ago, and I know a lot of you in the comments, there's over a thousand comments on the video since I published it. Many people have been sharing their own experiences with burnout. And then ironically, yesterday when I was eating lunch, I overheard two guys talking at the table next to me, and they were both talking about burnout and stress. And so I know that this is an issue that's really permeating global society, whether you work in an office or a physical workplace or from your computer. And so I will link to my podcast on burnout in this show notes and also an article I wrote on Medium about the warning signs of burnout and how to prevent it. So I wanted to let you know today that I am back on YouTube officially, I have a lot of ideas and hundreds of recommendations from you on videos that you want me to publish. So I'm looking forward to making those and of course, finishing the Digital Nomad documentary. And yeah, happy to be back, happy to have finished my book, happy to be back on YouTube and and also very grateful to be in a safe place right now, but also feeling just so much empathy and anger and sadness over the situation in Ukraine. So please take a minute today to text or write to your elected officials and see you again next week.  

Kristin:    00:20:32    My first book, Digital Nomads for Dummies, is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold. You can find it by searching on your favorite retailers like Amazon or Barnes and Noble by using the link in the show notes or by going to travelingwithkristin.com/for-dummies. That's F O R dash D U M M I E S.