How YouTube Changed My Life With Less Than 500 Subscribers
Youtube is special in that doing it will open the doors to so many amazing opportunities including friendships, success and connections. Unfortunately, the hardest part is just starting.
You don't need 500 subscribers, a ring light, or even a perfect plan to begin. All you need is a reason to start.
In this blog post, I want to share how YouTube has changed my life even with a “small” channel. Here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned from creating videos, growing in faith, and choosing vulnerability.
My hope is that these encourage you to start a youtube channel of your own so that youtube can change your life as well.
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1. YouTube Helped Heal My Anxiety and Depression
As adults, we often lose touch with our creative sides. The constant demands of work, school, and responsibilities leave little room for self-expression. But creativity is necessary. Without it, emotions like anxiety and depression sneak in and begin to cloud a life that’s actually full of beauty.
YouTube gave me a safe space to explore and express myself. It brought my creativity back to life and gave me something to look forward to. The process of writing, filming, editing, and sharing became a form of therapy, a healing routine that reminded me I still had something valuable to say.
This is not to say that if you start a youtube channel, you will never struggle with anxiety and depression again. In fact, sometimes I do get pretty frustrated with the growth of my channel. But what it does is that it connects you with others and it helps you to find an outlet for your emotions.
Before I was making a youtube channel, I would create journals. It was healing, but I often felt like something was missing. The fact that youtube is social as well as an outlet makes it stand out for me personally from other platforms.
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2. YouTube Taught Me Real Confidence
Before I started my youtube channel, I thought that confidence was born through perfection. When I got things the right way, that was when I could have confidence. But until then, I had to be shy because I as never good enough. But YouTube showed me that true confidence isn’t about perfection, it is about owning who you are even with your quirks.
Youtube requires me to spend hours listening to my own voice. This is not a glamorous process , in fact, I often cringe at how many things I have to edit out in my YouTube videos. But, the end process is always something that I am proud of and it is worth it. And as I edit my videos more and more, I become more confident in the person that I am.
That same confidence now carries over into real-life conversations too. No longer do I sweat buckets when I have to make a phone call. Or hesitate when I need to have a conversation with a friend. I know that as long as I can feign confidence, it will come out to whoever I am speaking to.
I remember I once heard a quote that said “ You are what you think.” Who do your thoughts say that you are?
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3. YouTube Redefined Consistency
I used to think consistency was a perfect straight line. But YouTube has shown me it's actually a rollercoaster.
Sometimes I film while I’m tired, discouraged, or completely unmotivated. I’ve learned that motivation doesn’t show up first, action does. Even something as small as setting up a camera light can get you moving. YouTube taught me that progress comes from showing up when you don’t feel like it, not just when you’re inspired.
On this blog, I talk a lot about ADHD and the role it plays in energy management. Sometimes, on a bad ADHD day it is difficult to do anything at all. Those are the days when I dig into the consistency I have garnered from doing Youtube. I show up as myself, even if I don’t film and applaud myself for what I get done.
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4. Vanity Metrics Don’t Matter
It’s easy to get obsessed with subscriber count, likes, click-through rates. But these numbers don’t really matter as much as you think. What really matters is how engaged the viewers are that watch your YouTube channel.
A video with 200 engaged views can be more powerful than one with 1,000 disengaged ones. Views matter more than subscribers, and even metrics like click-through rate can fluctuate depending on your audience. Don’t get caught up in numbers. Focus on serving your viewers.
When it comes to building a business, the same thing holds true on whatever platform you do. Rarely will you see results automatically. When I sold my book Since When did Single Mean Sad, the views and buys were only automatic because I spent months promoting the book before it even hit the shelves. But, my similar downloadable content still receives only a few downloads every few months.
This means that if you want to see the success you crave, you have to be patient and resilient. Otherwise, you will quit before you start. One way to do this is by celebrating the small wins. I have created an excel document, and whenever something big happens on my youtube channel like I reach a certain amount of comments on a video, I will write it down. Now, on those days when I want to quit youtube I go back to that document and it reminds me that the journey to success isn’t linear and that it takes time.
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5. YouTube Deepened My Relationship With God
God often uses our hobbies and passions to glorify Him. As I began creating faith-based content, especially my “moments of inspiration” at the end of my videos, I found myself digging deeper into Scripture.
I got to know God more intimately through the very process of preparing to speak about Him. My quiet time with Him has become richer, and I feel Him guiding the direction of this channel.
This has trickled over to my real life as well. In the quiet times like when I am driving or when I am in the shower, I will often talk to God about the things that are on my heart and on my mind. These end up being some of the prayers that I remember later on and it has helped me to feel less alone, especially in a season where I am single.
Whatever it is, whether it is painting or doing drywall, ask God how he can use it for the kingdom. Oftentimes, you may be surprised at what God is calling you to do with something that seems insignificant. It reminds me of the bible story of the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17. God had called on this widow to feed his disciples. Upon coming up the disciple asked her for water and bread. The widow stated that “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
Despite this dire circumstance, the woman was obedient to Elijah and she went home and made bread for Elijah. Sometimes, we feel that what we have is too little for God to use.
Miraculously, there was enough bread and water for not only Elijah but for the woman and her son until the drought in the land ended! God used her obedience to bless her and her family. But first, she had to surrender what she had.
Similarly, God will use the things we consider to be small and significant for the kingdom. What talent do you have that you feel God is calling you to use?
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6. YouTube Forced Me To Be Vulnerable
You can’t grow on YouTube without being vulnerable, and vulnerability has always been hard for me.
That’s why I wrote Since When Did Single Mean Sad, to finally be honest about my singleness and my journey. People can spot fakeness a mile away. YouTube teaches you to show up as your authentic self, not a polished version. Vulnerability takes practice, but it also builds deep trust with your audience.
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7. YouTube Taught Me To Hope, Even When It Hurts
Not every week is good. Sometimes money is tight, creativity dries up, and the channel stops growing. In those moments, I’ve felt hopeless. But I’ve also learned that YouTube is like planting seeds, you don’t always see the fruit right away.
One of my favorite plants is the Chinese bamboo plant. This plant takes 5 years growing strong roots under the ground before you see any visible growth up top. But once it does grow, the growth is rapid and the plants grow up to 90 feet tall in a matter of weeks! Maybe you are growing something right now and it seems like nothing is happening. Keep going. Like bamboo, God may be using this time to establish a strong root system so that when your project does grow it can grow rapidly.
“The only way to fail is to quit”- Dalai Lama XIV
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8. YouTube Helped Me Find Purpose
If you're in your 20s and wondering what’s the point of all this?—you’re not alone.
But I want to remind you of something powerful from Scripture:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." — John 3:16
God has a purpose for your life. He gives each of us unique gifts, whether it’s singing, video editing, teaching, or storytelling, and He invites us to use those gifts for His glory.
YouTube became part of my purpose. It aligned perfectly with what I love to do and helped me see how much grace and mercy God truly offers.
To find your purpose you have to try and you have to pray. It took me about three years from the start of my journey to today to find out what my purpose what. But the bible promises that if we knock with an earnest heart and continue to seek the Lord, he will not only give us the answers that we are looking for but also the desires of our heart.
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A Moment of Faith
If you’ve never accepted Jesus into your life, I’d like to invite you to do that today. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about accepting the perfect love of a Savior.
Pray this with me:
Dear Lord, thank You for this day. I repent of all my sins and ask You to come into my heart and change me from the inside out. I believe that You sent Your Son to die for my sins so that I may have life. Help me live for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Final Thoughts
Before you dive into YouTube, make sure your foundation is strong: emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. This journey will stretch you, but it will also grow you. And if you let Him, God will walk with you every step of the way.
Thank you for reading. I hope this encouraged you to finally start your YouTube channel, and to trust that transformation doesn’t require 1,000 subscribers. It just requires one “yes.”
🎥 For more inspiration purchase a copy of my book Since When did Single Mean Sad through this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WQDW3CY/
Tags: How YouTube Changed My Life, Christian YouTuber, Small Creator Advice, YouTube Mental Health, Faith and Content Creation