In today’s ever-shifting world, only one thing is certain: Change. The same holds true for the live stream platforms such as Twitch and Mixer. Originally born as an offshoot of Justin.TV, Twitch.TV grew from a desire for rabid video game fans to watch other people play video games. This growing popularity lead to a mass onslaught of people attempting to “Make It” on Twitch. As has been discussed in a million other places, “Making It” on Twitch was a goal set forth by so many people that failed to fit into real-world obtainable expectations for nearly 95% of the platform. There was the big mistake.

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With that being said, should you completely shy away from the idea of generating revenue from your stream via the platform of your choice?  Absolutely not, but never should a single individual set out as a primary goal of “Making It” as a content creator.  The most successful of content creators did not start out in this manner and neither should you.

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If you do not love what you are doing, you will always view it as a “job.”  According to a January 2018 published report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average person changes jobs ten to fifteen times during his or her career.  Many people spend less than 5 years in a single job. [1]

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Why is this?  Why do people change jobs quite frequently?  Well, I cannot prove it myself, but I believe part of it is not loving what they are doing.  If you cannot love what you do, it wears you down and takes you to a place where it just becomes work.  I have been there myself.

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If you have ever read my description here on the Spection.co site, you see that is says semi-retired streamer.  Why do I describe myself as a semi-retired streamer? Pretty easily, I lost the love for it when I bought into the mentality of trying to “Make It” on Twitch.  Simple as that.  I had started streaming because of my love for video games and helping others in the games that I enjoyed.  I spent the first real year of me streaming on Twitch focused on providing raid assistance with my buddy Bryan during the year one of Destiny.  I loved helping the community.  I was focused on building a community.  

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Then came Call of Duty: Black Ops III (referred to BLOPS3 from this point forward).  I had been a major Call of Duty (COD) fan in the years leading up to Call of Duty: Ghosts.  Here is a little (this is me so this will get long) back story: I had a core group of guys I played with and we were pretty good.  We did not often lose, and it was fun being pubstompers, but with the release of the next generation consoles (at the time) and furthering job and life responsibilities, we all started to drift apart.  I stayed focused on Call of Duty quite heavily until March 11, 2014.  Why do I remember that date so vividly, you may ask? Well, that day ended my COD addiction. With the release of Respawn Entertainments Titanfall, I was hooked.  I could not get enough.  I knew I would never play COD again.  However, I was wrong. Fast forward a few years later.

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The release weekend, unbeknownst to me, for BLOPS3 brought a change to that mental state.  I decided that I wanted to pick up an XBOX One Elite Controller but found them sold out everywhere I looked, except if I was to purchase an XBOX One Elite Console.  So, me being me, I wiped off my XBOX Console, packaged it up, ran to my favorite GameStop store, traded it in on the Elite version, and was happy as a clam. As I am standing there I find out that during this weekend, GameStop was including a free game of the purchaser’s choice with all new PlayStation 4 or XBOX One consoles.  Nice, a free game.  If it sucked, I could turn around and sell it for profit.  No loss to me.  It was a win-win scenario. So, I just happened to notice BLOPS3 on the shelf behind the counter.  In my mind I told myself not to go down that slippery slope and let the addiction back in… I knew it was a mistake.  I knew it was the wrong choice, but it was as if I could not control the words leaving my mouth as I told the cashier (who happens to be a friend of mine now who runs an awesome LAN center/gaming lounge here locally), “Give me Black Ops 3.”  

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So began my downward spiral into hating streaming.  I played over eight and a half days of online multiplayer in BLOPS3.  I was sucked in.  I was not bad at the game either.  I ran nearly a 2.5 kill/death ratio on my main account.  I had a second account I created to record a “Road to Commander” series for YouTube that held a 2.71 k/d ratio.  I was dedicated to the cause.  So how was this a downward spiral?  Well, streaming this game sent me into a very negative direction personally.  Sure, I was gaining a ton of followers and was steadily pushing 25 to 40 viewers each stream, but I was not loving it anymore. I was playing a game because that is where the views were.  I could slowly sense myself being taken over by this guy who was focused on all the negative aspects of the COD community.  I was growing more and more toxic as the days moved forward.  I was experiencing growth and could have possibly hit the new lower partnership requirements Twitch has in place now within a few months, but I was not enjoying my time doing so.  It was not longer on my terms.  It was not longer about having fun and sharing the love.  It was entirely about keeping up the momentum.  It was about pushing forward along the grind to reach a goal that was slowly killing me on the inside.

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So, what did I do?  I walked away.  I posted a message in my discord server and told everyone there that BLOPS3 was destroying my soul and I would not be coming back to that game.  I understood if they did not come around the stream anymore and that I would miss them.  I told them I was going to take some time away to rediscover what I loved about gaming and would be back.  For there, I just walked away and did not stream again for nearly three months.

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What happened during those six months? Was it productive? Did I make the wrong choice?  All valid questions that will be answered to make my point for this article. During those three months, I began to find games I loved again. I started playing Destiny more with friends.  I discovered Tom Clancy’s The Division,which I loved, but truly loved when they released the “Survival” Expansion.  I was enjoying playing video games again.  I was shedding the negativity that COD has implanted within me.  It was great.  

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Was it productive? Well, yes and no.  Did I find myself and my love of video games again? Yes. That was, to me, the most important part of it all.  Did my stream growth suffer tremendously?  Absolutely.  I single-handedly killed any growth I was experiencing in one failed swoop.  Was it the wrong choice?  I tend to think it was not.  I had to find myself again and refocus who I was, or I would have been unhappy, no matter how much success I had.  Personally, it was one of the most productive things I could have done at the time.  Professionally (if you want to call it that), it was probably the absolute worst.  

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So, where does all this lead?  How does this tale of personal reflection fit into the question I posed at the top of this article?  What should be the focus of your stream The best success will come when you choose to stop focusing on “Making It” and start focusing on fostering a community of enjoyment.  Love what you play on stream. Love what you do.  Do not worry about the numbers and worry about who you are doing it for… If you focus on building a community, you focus on building relationships that are truly life changing.  If it were not for me shifting gears in what I did, I would not have met or retained many of the people who I know call friends.  Be it MaddiesEpic, SealioTheSeal, IamHov_, or any other of the multiple people I can name, they are my friends.  All people who I met via my stream.  All people who genuinely care about me as a human being. They were not just trying to latch on to someone to try and help their standing. They latched on to me because they enjoyed my company and decided they wanted to be a friend.  

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Ultimately, I guess it comes down to deciding to focus on the positive and eliminating the negative. Worry about loving what you are doing and fostering a community that supports that love.  Numbers do not matter.  Follower counts and goals do not matter.  Subscriber counts and goals do not matter.  Tips, bits, and donations (we will have another discussion on that terminology later) do not matter.  All that should matter is that you are entertaining the people who choose to come and watch your stream, befriend them because everyone needs a friend sometimes, and love what you are doing.  That should be your sole focus.  That should be the decision maker in all the choices that you make.  If you do not love it, find something else to play.  If you cannot find something you that love playing on stream, then maybe reevaluate streaming.  It just may not be for you.