Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, is one of the most popular and influential YouTubers in the world. He’s uploaded over 1,200 videos and has 11.5 million subscribers.
Yesterday I was researching his Q&A videos and came across one titled How to be a YouTuber . In the video Marques said his first big YouTube milestone was creating 100 videos… and at the time he had ~ 75 subscribers. There are so many things about this that blew my mind and I wanted to deconstruct them for you…
☝️ His 100th video was produced in 2009! Marques has been at this a long time, averaging 100 videos/year for 12 years.
📹 His first milestone was defined by a number he controlled – making videos… not number of subscribers (more on that below).
👨🏾💻 His early videos appear to be a webcam and screencasts. Very simple. Contrast that with the $50K studio he unveiled at the start of 2020.
One of the most popular T4T essays was Momentum Needs 100 Reps from last summer. I’ve seen this play out again and again in creative and personal work.
It was around the 100 video milestone that I really felt I hit on the topic of bullet journaling and was building the community we have now. Cook 100 recipes and you’ll become a better cook. Paint 100 pictures and see your art improve. Finish 100 CrossFit (or any) workouts and see your body change. It’s not the end of the journey but it’s enough to build momentum and confidence.
One more lesson to point out. Everything about this magic 100 number is something you can control. It’s an effort score. Realize that Marques made a point of saying his first milestone was making 100 videos, not reaching 100 subscribers.
Effort and output are things you control. Subscriber counts, sales, weight loss, and people’s reactions are all mostly or entirely out of your control. When you take ownership of what you can control life changes for the better.
Anything worth doing will take 100 actions to build momentum.
Several speakers, creators, and leaders I talked to referenced this as a benchmark for action. Here are some examples:
100 Pieces of Content
Molly Burke is a YouTuber with 5 million subscribers. She challenged new YouTubers to create 2 videos a week for the first year. This gives you enough momentum and clarity about your audience and topic – it’s also roughly 100 videos.
100 Days of Writing
Jeff Goins is a best selling author who gave new writers the advice of writing 500 words for 100 days in a row (or close to it). Doing so builds a really strong habit of writing “even when you don’t feel like it” that is so essential to being a full-time writer.
100 Journal Entries
When I feel best about journaling it’s when I’ve been consistent with the practice for a few months. I start to see patterns in behavior better, both good and bad. It gives me a personal record of how I’m doing so that I can do more of the good things and try to reduce or eliminate the bad.
Molly’s advice resonated with me because it was around the 100 video milestone that I really felt I had hit on the topic of bullet journaling and was building the community we have now. If I had made it to 100 podcast episodes back in 2013, what would that have been like?
I think you could use the 100 action milestone for almost anything. Cook 100 recipes and you’ll become a better cook. Paint 100 paintings or throw 100 pieces of pottery. It’s not the end of the journey but it’s enough to see momentum and continue to build your skills.
I hope you read this and feel encouraged in the projects, habits, and learning you’re pursuing in life. If you’re pretty new at it, count your number of “repetitions” for that action – I bet the closer you get to 100 the better you’ll feel about it, or will enough to look back on to safely move on.
This week, take a moment and journal or meditate on the skills, habits, or actions you’re taking to create something new. What’s your count or the number of reps? Can you speed it up by doing more, or simply need to realize it’s going to take time? I’m definitely in the “be more patient” crowd!
Have a great week and keep stacking those reps!