My Praxis Capstone Journey

12 weeks ago, I set a series of goals for myself with the intention of reaching and achieving larger goals. Very few, if any, of those small goals were completed knowingly, and yet I still managed to bring the larger goals into clear view. Here’s what happened over the 12 weeks.

The goals I had set were as follows. For my career outcome, I wanted to be in a prime position to land a job. In terms of professional development, the goals were to grow my YouTube channel, participate in collaborations, and begin production on a project. Personal development goals were to improve cooking skills, sleep schedule, and budgeting discipline.

My motivation behind these goals were all with the purpose of being able to become self-reliant in the near future; my own place to live, making money, and working to support and provide for myself. I was driven by the want (and partial need) to move out into my own place. Trying to make the kind of content I want all in a small bedroom isn’t particularly ideal. While I have been managing well enough, I’ve come to realize I need my office, studio, and sleeping quarters separate from each other for the best efficiency.

After 12 weeks, here’s what got done.

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In terms of growing my YouTube channel, I did a pretty good job. I’m currently around 670 subscribers along with the podcast channel breaking 200 subscribers. I wanted to collaborate more which did happen, be it in videos or on stream. The last was to begin production of the instructional video remakes, which had headway in the form of scripts.

For personal development, I didn’t do so great. Things got majorly thrown off for my sleep schedule when I visited my grandfather for Easter and I struggled to get it back for weeks. While it’s in a better place than before, it could still be improved upon. I unfortunately haven’t cooked anything new, which I am most disappointed about. While I’m not the worst cook in the world, I’m not particularly acceptable in any kitchen. I had wanted to learn how to cook proper Japanese cuisine, however I feel off completely on researching ingredients and recipes entirely.

As for budgeting discipline, surprisingly that had some strides taken, whether intentional or not. I’ve started to think more about what I can save rather than what I need to spend on. There are things I do have on a priority purchase list but it’s mostly things I need to further develop my YouTube channel, such as new products and filming equipment. Apart from that, several things I had on the spending list have fallen back to the “when I have disposable income after savings” list. Not having income has helped in that regard, so I’m naturally inclined to think more about saving than spending at this point.

The big kicker is being in a prime position to land a job. That goal has been very surprisingly filled. Last week, I called a YouTuber friend of mine whose main income is editing for other creators. I asked several things such as how he got started, how he got in touch with the people he worked/works for, and how I could get into that area. He gave me advice and several tips, but most importantly a link to a page where creators can go to hire editors, thumbnail designers, script writers, audio engineers, and anyone they need to get content made and published. There are multiple areas you can sign up for, and I had my eye on video editing. It does require a small portfolio of a few videos, so the past week has been spent working on new, well edited content to show for.

I’ve learned a few things over the last 12 weeks, some more surprising than others.

Much to my surprise, I am a pen and paper person when it comes to keeping track of things I need to do. Since I spend most of my time working online, be it editing videos, researching content, writing scripts, etc, looking at a digital calendar or agenda just doesn’t work well for me. For the past several days, I’ve been taking notes and keeping track of events in a notebook. I find it easier to remember things I need to do if I physically write them down instead of typing it out.

I also learned I’m much more productive if there is natural light present. While I have a large window in my room, my desk had been set up in the darkest corner, facing the wall, squished in by my bed. I did this so I’d have maximum room for my studio space. However I discovered it was hindering my ability to focus and stay concentrated on what I need to do. I was cramped up, often in darkness, with the only lights often being from my computer monitors. So I completely reshuffled my room the other day, moving my desk to be in line with my window. I’ve found the excess of natural light refreshing. It also helps that I have much more room to move around, with only open space behind my desk so I can spread out if I need to.

Going forward, I have a much better gauge on how I can keep myself motivated and refreshed to complete my goals. With my career and professional life moving forward, my next plan of action is to start getting jobs for other creators to build my own skills as well as provide value for others. Once I’ve locked that down, I can start focusing on my personal health and development with more attention.

The past 12 weeks have been enlightening if not anything else. While I excelled in developing some areas, others stayed in similar positions. There is still a lot of work to be done but the amount of progress I’ve made in the past 9 months of being in Praxis is far greater than the two years I spent in college. I’ve learned more about myself and how I work than ever before. Now being on the cusp of beginning my career paths is much more rewarding and satisfying than marking classes off a checklist that says I’ll be ready in another three to four years.