Same same but very different 😮‍💨

​

Greetings, friends -

We had an interesting chat with a friend in the US during our recent trip. Our friend, also a content creator, asked us if we had experienced any "creator burnout" yet - but then quickly backpedaled and exclaimed "oh, but you guys used to be lawyers, so this probably isn't a big deal."

We actually thought this raised an interesting point. While there are certainly some general skills we picked up working as lawyers which have translated to everything else we've done since, there are similarly many new challenges we've faced as content creators which we've needed to learn to navigate as well - including creator burnout.

​

"Creator burnout" is, as the name suggests, the state of exhaustion and burnout which comes as a result of creating content on a regular schedule. This can be as a result of ever-present pressure to come up with interesting and/or new content ideas, to try to satisfy the YouTube algorithm to allow for our content to reach a wider audience, and to work on creation in a manner which can occasionally be quite isolating when compared to a standard office job or other collaborative environment (thankfully, we have each other - solo creators have this much harder).

While it's true that we experienced burnout while working as lawyers, it's also true that we've come close at times over the last year and a half to being creatively burnt out.

​

With that said, the benefit of us having come from a high-stress profession like one in legal private practice is that we're quite aware of the signs of burnout, and are generally deliberate about staving it off before it's too late.

This trip we took over the summer, for instance, was our first major break from putting out videos regularly on YouTube after over a year and a half on the platform - but we felt like we needed it for a creative reset and, truthfully, to avoid burning out. It was difficult for us to make that decision (once again, owing to the pressure of wanting to upload regularly), but we ultimately decided it was the right thing to do in the long run.

​

Now, just to be clear, by no means are we complaining about being creators - we love making content, and have thoroughly enjoyed the process of making content for you guys! Our mission is, and has always been, to create high quality content that has a net positive effect on the lives of our viewers and community - and we don't have any plans to stop doing this anytime soon.

The takeaway of this reflection is simply that challenges faced in one job or hobby don't necessarily translate 1:1 to a different one. Working on content over the last year and a half has certainly shown us that everything in life has its challenges - and indeed, it's sometimes the novelty of facing new challenges and learning new skills which keeps life super interesting.

Language barriers 💬

​

In our latest video, I spoke Cantonese to some stall owners at the local market! Some of you noticed this and left some super kind comments about my Cantonese ability.

​

I spoke very little Cantonese growing up. This was for a couple of different reasons: firstly, in middle school and high school, I actually wasn't allowed to. I went to an international school in Hong Kong, and since some parents send their kids to international school specifically to learn English, speaking any language other than English was usually prohibited.

The second reason wasn't as pleasant - having gone to university in Hong Kong, I had a lot of classmates comment on my Cantonese language ability (or lack thereof), and I was frequently made fun of for my accent. This led to me not really wanting to speak Cantonese unless I absolutely had to, which also meant that I didn't get much practice before I started work.

​

All of that changed when I began working as a lawyer. My first ever supervisor, who had spent her entire life in Hong Kong, said this to me on my very first day of work:

Supervisor: "How is your Cantonese ability?"

Me: "Not so good"

Supervisor: "Cool. You'll learn quick."

After that, every single instruction I received from her was entirely in Cantonese, and I was expected to keep up.

​

It was rough at times - I spoke to her in Cantonese and occasionally spoke to clients or other lawyers in Mandarin, all while doing the vast majority of my work in English. While taxing, it was also one of the most valuable experiences of my life. There's no substitute for learning a language by using it in real conversation, and I'm glad that I had that experience.

Also, I definitely appreciated all the kind comments on the video - it's nice to know that internet friends can be more generous than some of my university classmates 😂

​

If you haven't checked out the video yet, you can watch it here.

​
Thanks for reading!

If you've enjoyed this issue of Food For Thought, please consider sharing it with your friends!

If you found this email in your "Promotions" tab, drag it into your Primary inbox to get it directly in there.

Finally, remember that you can always reply directly to these emails to get in touch with us :)