Why I did the Video Per Day Experiment

Every once in a while you scroll through social media and see something that peaks your curiosity. In this case, I’m talking about seeing multiple posts about this thing called the Video Per Day Experiment (#VPDExperiment) and I immediately want to learn more. It sounded very interesting, challenging and worthwhile.

I guess it would help if you see the initial posts that I saw on August 26, 2019.

The first one from Christine Galli

You know when it’s the right time to say yes to the one thing you avoid the most? Making videos. But I accepted the 30 day challenge. So here goes #vpdexperiment #comfortablyuncomfortable pic.twitter.com/9SbxDZON1C

— ChristineGalli (@ChristineGalli) August 26, 2019

and then this one from Megan Tarnow

Day one of the #vpdexperiment. Deep breath. pic.twitter.com/iqo5k5CD8G

— Megan Genest Tarnow (@MeganTarnow) August 26, 2019

and then another, this one from Tiffany Stewart

Day One #vpdexperiment It will get easier & better (I hope) pic.twitter.com/AbZeev8gZb

— Tiffany Stewart, CPA (@TiffanyCPA) August 26, 2019

I hadn’t seen anything about this before, but hearing them talk about getting comfortable being uncomfortable was really intriguing. I’m always up for a challenge and this didn’t seem too hard since it’s just a minute a day for 30 days. What I didn’t think about was that in the middle of that 30 days would be one of the big tax deadlines for the year.

I have to be honest, this experiment actually made the fall tax season more exciting and fun. I find it’s easy to get tax return tunnel syndrome during the lead-up to the big tax deadlines and this experiment forced me to keep connected with other people who aren’t family, coworkers or clients. It also gave me a sort of creative outlet for when I needed a break.

Being able to post videos to social media was something I had wanted to do for a while but I really didn’t know how to do it or, to be honest, have the confidence to just throw something out there. Recording and posting videos like this was easier because there was a purpose to posting the videos and having a group that was also doing it made it feel safer to try this out.

Some of the reasons why I thought I needed and wanted to do an experiment like this are:

1. video content is some of the most viewed content on social media.
2. I see video as becoming important for general client communications so I wanted to get more comfortable creating videos before it becomes a requirement.
3. I think video content can be used in multiple business settings.
4. I’ve never been comfortable recording myself so this would help me gain confidence in this area.

I’m saving my results and what I got out of the experiment for a separate post, however, I’ll tell you it was a great experience and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try something new and stretch their comfort levels. After all, the whole point of the experiment is to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Here is my first posting. As you can see, it’s very simple and no special effects are needed.

Day one of the #VPDExperiment.
For the next 30 days I’ll be participating in @helm_twyla‘s experiment to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Thanks also to @MeganTarnow @ChristineGalli & @TiffanyCPA for the inspiring posts that motivated me to participate! pic.twitter.com/rDS6aJJrBa

— Brian Streig, CPA (@cbriancpa) August 26, 2019

For more information about the Video Per Day Experiment, check out the some more information on this link.