STIMY #37

We Don't Need to be Woke?!

👋🏻 STIMIES!

This week has been a little exciting.

Part 2 of the STIMY interview with Woon Tai Ho (founder of Channel News Asia) was released, and it's been doing really well!

Especially on YouTube.

31.2k views and 2,900 hours of watch time over the last 3 days.

Now, I've had the privilege of having some things go 'viral', both on a big scale (1.27 million people saw my LinkedIn post when I announced that I was quitting law) and on a much smaller scale (as with this episode).

Which begs the question, what constitutes 'going viral'? And how does it actually feel?

Personally, I would hesitate to put an exact definition / number to it.

Instead, I measure it in this way: When people around me start talking about it.

I remember when my LinkedIn post first started spreading.

That evening, I went for dinner with a group of people that I had never met. The girl seated across from me found out that I'd written that post and immediately said:

"Oh, I read that post today! My colleagues were sharing it around the office!"

When this week's episode was released, I got many messages from people telling me that they'd watched it.

I've also had other guests contact me (after their episode was released) saying:

"My son's friend was asking if I was the one being interviewed."

"I woke up to so many messages on my phone about this interview!"

This kind of feedback is always exciting.

People rarely ever respond when we put out content - even if it's with a like, share or comment - so when we do get a response, it's big.

Really big.

[This is a not-so-subtle hint inviting you to give feedback on STIMY episodes / how you find this newsletter! 😉]

But what's the impact of 'going viral'?

In truth, not that much apart from increased awareness around the STIMY podcast + subscribers.

For context:

It took 2 years to hit my first 1k subscribers on YouTube.

9 months to hit 2k.

But thanks to the latest YouTube episode, the STIMY YouTube channel gained 400+ subscribers in 3 days.

Which is why creators keep creating.

Even when 99% of their content 💣.

Because if you show up every day for 100 days, assuming a failure rate of 99%, you will still end up with 1 hit.

And that 1 hit could be transformative.

But more often than not, it's not.

YouTube is one of the best monetisation platforms for creators but we aren't talking about $100,000s or even millions of dollars.

That's reserved for the few elite YouTubers that everyone knows.

For most (like STIMY!), it's a humble sum like this - and that's for a YouTube video that's hit 31k views! And also before the 30% US tax, transfer fees for payment into your bank account etc. (which happens only after you hit the minimum threshold of $100).

It's not easy. 😞

Which is why some creators try to use other platforms like Patreon to help keep these projects going.

But hey, at least it's better than Spotify, Apple podcast etc.

Those platforms pay podcasters $0.00. 🤷🏻‍♀️

That said...

Should you listen to this week's episode?

Part 1 dealt with Tai Ho's childhood, his early successes, the founding of Channel News Asia and the challenges that came with it. In short, the things that Tai Ho is most known for.

Part 2 is far more poignant and an episode that really resonated with me.

Because it's deeply personal.

And made me think about life. Things like:

Is it a blessing or a curse to live to a really, old age?
What are my true priorities in life?
Should we not be woke?
Is it really better to prioritise a career over a family?
Is the price of success too high sometimes?

Others left the following thoughts re. this week's episode:

I wonder how you found this week's episode?

If you have yet to listen to Tai Ho's STIMY Ep 146 Part 2, check out the links below:

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/146
🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/U0_pVl_RsGM
🎙️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bRCn0auTRstLG2AfZSIZV?si=lBOeLYQDRYWUDL-We70g-g
🎙️Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442?i=1000658550377

Interesting Discoveries

I spend hours on LinkedIn & love finding interesting posts that inspire thought. Often times, the true value of such posts lie not just in the original post, but in the comments.

Here are some of my favourite discoveries:

Let's talk about your Hero Journey

And why you should start

Here's how

Self-promotion is important but often feels icky

So how do you get around it?

Here's how

P/S: This Sunday features our last (but not least) Singaporean on the So This Is My Why podcast.

He's had a wild, wild, wild journey through hospitality and has been called a 'genius' for some of his moves - although the truth was that it was just pure luck! 🤣

Ling Yah

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