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Do What You Can't
Casey Neistat is pretty damn amazing. If you know him, it is probably from YouTube. Part of what makes him amazing is he is thought-provoking. He lets you see things, and think of things you may never have before with his use of video, music, and words.
Full disclaimer: I want to be Casey’s ghost writer. I don’t have the connections to ask him directly so I use the mediums I have available to me. I run a small media/marketing company called MediaMedia in The SF Bay Area and part of what we/I do is ghost write.
If you enjoy this, please let him know @CaseyNeistat. Tell him @JustOneJoey1 sent you.
One of my business philosophies is: when you do something amazing, put it EVERYWHERE. Casey does amazing videos, but it is also his insights that are priceless. I want him to expand what he does in to the written word, to tap in to a new audience, and give his old audience a chance to dig even deeper in to this genius creative’s mind (and I want to be the one who does it).
Once again, if you enjoy this, please let him know @CaseyNeistat. Tell him @JustOneJoey1 sent you.
Here is, verbatim, today’s video posted by @CaseyNeistat & @MaxJoseph. The video is absolutely amazing. I watched it, then I had my daughter watch it, then we had my wife watch it. It is that good. I want you to read the words because I think the power of these words is just as intense as the visual.
I think his ideas, his thoughts, along with his new CNN partnership, would make an amazing addition to everything he already does well. Think of it in the same manner as Anthony Bourdain. He posts a beautifully scripted article before his next episode airs, and it makes it that much more spectacular.
Enjoy.
Do What You Can’t
To the haters, the doubters, my 7th grade vice principal, to everyone who’s ever told anyone with a dream they can’t, this video (article) is for you.
Keep your head down.
Follow the rules.
Do as you’re told.
Play it safe.
Wait your turn.
Ask permission.
Learn to compromise.
This is TERRIBLE advice!
If I were to write an autobiography, a book about my life, one title that would work would be, Do What You Can’t, because that idea encapsulates everything I have ever done.
Like, when I wanted to move to New York City, and my dad was like, “you can’t, you don’t have any money.”
Or when I first said I wanted to make movies, and it was, “you can’t, you didn’t go to film school.”
I want to have a TV show, “you can’t Casey, you’re not pretty enough.”
And to go even further, if I were to characterize what this new generation of content creators and film makers, what we all do on YouTube and everywhere else is: we do what we can’t.
YOU CAN’T be an action movie filmmaker.
But, you get your parkour friends to dress up like video game characters, jump off some buildings, and YOU CAN.
YOU CAN’T have a talk show, but, you have a webcam and YOU CAN. The next thing you know you are interviewing the president.
YOU CAN’T fly around New York City on a magic carpet, but you get your electric skateboard, some PVC pipe, a great outfit, give Jesse a call, and YOU CAN.
You don’t need gear.
You don’t need trucks, or a crane.
You don’t need some big expensive camera rig that never works.
When you are a creator, you don’t need someone in your ear telling you what you can and can’t do, what you can and can’t say.
They call us gamers, influencers, internet famous, but we know something they don’t.
You can start a vlog, a make-up channel, or travel around the world with a gigantic piano playing at beautiful places for interested people.
When you’re a creator, all you need is your phone, an internet connection, and a good idea.
A story you want to share.
Something you need to say.
And then the rest is history.
If you do it right, you get to quit the day job, make friends from places you’ve never been. Meetups, collaborations, a life moving so fast, and so full, you won’t even have time to process it.
So to my fellow creators, I say, keep creating, keep doing the work, and never forget, you don’t have to listen to anyone, because in this new world, no one knows anything.
The haters, the doubters, are all drinking champagne in the top deck of the Titanic and we’re the fucking iceberg.
Do what you can’t.
by
Casey Neistat (@CaseyNeistat)
