**A New Chapter: Embracing My True Self**

As I sit down to write this article, I'm filled with a sense of excitement and gratitude. For as long as I can remember, being my authentic self has been a challenge for me. Growing up, I was always told to be more outgoing, to put on a mask and pretend to be someone I wasn't. But as I've grown older, I've come to realize that this wasn't who I truly was meant to be. YouTube, with its platform and community, has given me the freedom to break free from those constraints and finally be myself.

**From Shell Shocked to Embracing My True Self**

Watching my documentary "My Drugged Up Life" must have been a real eye-opener for me and for you guys. It's made me realize that I've always been my true self, even if it was hidden behind a facade of being someone else. But YouTube has cracked that shell wide open, and I'm loving every minute of it! The more I interact with all of you, the more comfortable I feel in social situations, like attending events and meetings.

**Freedom to Live Life on My Own Terms**

One of the things I've always dreamed of was being able to attend events without having to give my boss advanced notice. With a traditional 9-to-5 job, I never had the flexibility to do so. But now that I'm self-employed, I have the freedom to live life on my own terms. Last-minute invitations from cool places? No problem! I can respond and join in, knowing that I won't be missing out on any opportunities.

**A Heartfelt Thank You**

I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you. Your support has been the game-changer for me. Without an audience like yours, watching these videos would mean nothing more than just data stored on a server. But because you're here, watching, and engaging with my content, it gives me the freedom to continue being creative and independent. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing community behind me.

**A Year of Gratitude**

The last year has been a whirlwind of growth, change, and new experiences. As I reflect on this time, I realize that there are many things for which I'm truly thankful. One of the most significant is the creation of my home office space upstairs. It's a dedicated recording area where I can work without distractions, allowing me to focus on creating content that resonates with you guys.

**Grateful for Family and Support**

I'm also grateful for the amazing family dynamic we've built over the past year. With more time at home, I've been able to spend quality time with my kids, which has been a blessing. We've created a wonderful home life, filled with laughter, love, and adventure. And as for support, it's not just about me – it's about all of you guys who have been there for me every step of the way.

**Your Feedback Matters**

As I look back on this year, I want to hear from you! What was your favorite moment from my content? Was there a particular video that resonated with you or made you laugh? I'd love to know. Please hit me up on Twitter, comment below, or share your feedback in the comments section of this article. Your input means everything to me, and it's what drives me to keep creating content that you'll love.

**A Year-End Message from the Heart**

As I conclude this year-end message, I want to remind you all that I value your opinion above all else. Don't be afraid to speak up and share your thoughts – whether it's a shoutout in the comments or a private message, your input is invaluable. And before I sign off, I just want to say thank you – again – for being part of this journey with me. Here's to an amazing new year, filled with creativity, growth, and connection!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys js2 sense here and I just kind of want to have a chat with you here no bullet points no script no nothing just me talking so forgive me if this gets a bit fragmented and tends to kind of go all over the place which I tend to do I tend to ramble a lot and it's kind of difficult when I don't have some thing in front of me keeping me on track but that's kind of the point of today's video I want to talk about how the last year being self-employed in this YouTube space has actually been how it's treated me some of the plans moving forward and uh basically just have a chat with you guys it's been long time since we've done a video like this and I think it's time I think it's time we have to talk so some of you may know this story already some of you may not so I'll keep it really short but in August 26 2012 I started my YouTube channel on a dare because a friend of mine Josh uh AKA holiday Doc in the MLG Call of Duty um podcasting scene stumbled across one of my live streams I was doing to show Close Quarters expansion for Battlefield 3 to Coconut monkey while he was on family vacation and couldn't be home to play it I had one viewer it was coconut monkey Tech technically two I was watching so it said two but anyway Josh happened to stumble into one of my streams and thought I was hilarious and and entertaining and he said I should start a YouTube channel and I was like dude that's stupid who the hell would watch a YouTube channel about computer stuff I mean I know there's that that that lonus guy out there but I know he clearly bought at all of his Subs but after spending a couple months convincing me I finally decided to go ahead and do it basically like I said on a dare fast forward now 3 and a half years later it's my job so obviously when I started my channel on August 26th and then fast forward to April 2015 when I actually left my job in between there I was constantly asked by followers and fans of the channel if I would ever quit my job for YouTube and something I said over and over and over again was I would never quit my job for YouTube that's stupid people who do that are stupid why on Earth would you put your financial Security in the hands of someone else and uh I one other thing I did say though was I would let my wife quit her job long before I would ever quit mine and that's kind of the way it went my uh the the channel ended up far exceeding what the wife was bringing in full-time with her job and uh I I told her when you when you have our second child which she was pregnant with I said don't go back to work uh making more than enough money on the channel to make up for your income and a lot extra and taxes uh so stay home be a stay home mom and I was that was like the highlight of my channel that's still I I think the Pinnacle achievement in all of this is not being able to be home you know home working on my own channel as an income it's allowing her to be home with our kids which is something we always wanted but she was a working mom for little Jay and I told her I said I really want you home for mini Jay and that's exactly what we achieved and that is still going to be my crowning achievement in all of this is her dream of being a stay-at-home mom is actually come true and that's again because of the support of you guys on this channel but then I really started thinking is this something I could make work is this something that I could do and actually make a living at this comfortably and have enough put aside in savings so that if the floor ever dropped out in this whole platform that we're not out on the street and then I started seeing people around me get laid off Jerry got laid off you know and people who worked for companies that were that seemed very very stable were losing their jobs and I got to thinking working for someone else is not Financial Security working for someone else does not mean at the end of the day you have a guaranteed income it doesn't matter if you're working for the government it doesn't matter if you're working for Microsoft Google if you're working for a software company like I was that was a small independent you know privately owned company but still made very good income it doesn't equal Financial Security and a lot of folks told me that I was crazy at the idea of quitting my job oh my gosh what are you going to do what are you going to do about the Financial Security working for that guy over there is not security working for that guy over there is a liability if he ever needs to save money I become an expense that can easily be cut so I started thinking if I don't try this if I don't take a chance and I never know what could have been to me inside that would have ripped me apart over the years because I'm a risk taker and it's something that would have just eaten me and eaten me and eaten me and uh I couldn't live with that so finally out during the night I spent a lot of nights not able to sleep and the wife would get up at 3:00 4: in the morning uh and I would just be awake just l laying there awake my brain would not shut down I could not stop thinking about what could be so I got up in the morning and I wrote my resignation letter this was this was like February or something of last year and I showed it to a friend of mine who I trust very much and he said uh you know what he said good write he said write uh you wrote the letter and this was his his advice by the way he says write a resignation letter but then set it aside don't turn it in anytime you're feeling those feelings late at night during the day whatever and you just can't stop thinking about the idea of working for yourself take out your resignation letter and read it again on a different day different emotions and see if you still feel the same and every time I took that letter out and I read it I felt exactly the same as I did the months prior so one day I turned it in and the rest is history so I gave my two weeks notice and then became self-employed and I think one of the things I love most over the last year is the amount of Freedom that I have I can try things and I can take the risk and I can fail and recover you fail at your job too many times they're going to fire you and that I'm not going to fire myself although I probably should sometimes but I don't like complacency and I don't like repetition and that's something I don't have to deal with working for myself now my goal moving forward I definitely don't want to continue to rely on a monetized platform like YouTube um other folks have Diversified on like YouTube and vessel and some other platforms but the bottom line is even though YouTube is only one of like five revenue streams that I have I if YouTube ever disappears or goes away and I lose you know a huge chunk of my income then that's still not Financial Independence and I want to in moving forward and I don't know how I'm going to do this yet I really don't know how I'm going to do this yet I want to be completely financially independent from YouTube and where if they ever screw up over there which it seems like they're constantly trying to do then I'm set because I have my own space that's bringing me money and I'm working towards that obviously the average iing that I that I integrate into these videos and the pre-rolls and stuff has definitely been something that has allowed me a lot more Financial Freedom and to get away a little bit from worrying about the constant what if YouTube this what if YouTube that and you guys hear about these channels getting these false strikes and they lose weeks of income and they're like oh my God now we're going broke you know we're going to go bankrupt I I'm not in that situation because I have a lot of money set aside thank God because I built this business up on the side and then slid into this once I was ready it wasn't something I didn't just wake up and go boss I'm out and then have to hope it worked because I didn't have enough money to get to the end of the month yeah that's not the way it worked out at all but I really just wanted to sit down with you guys and tell you that the last year has been absolutely phenomenal and it keeps me so excited for what's coming in the future and for the first time for the first time ever I think that the concept of this channel being able to reach a million subscribers might be possible and that I didn't think a 100,000 was possible if you've been around long enough you remember me saying this channel will never hit 100,000 it is so Amateur hour it's not even funny well now we're about to hit 600,000 subscribers which is why it's like I'm over the hump of being halfway there it might be possible it and it's just blowing my mind I mean seriously but you guys give me so much support that you don't even realize I mean if you know me personally you know I don't have many friends and I think that might be truth true for a lot of YouTubers um which is why we talk to camera so well I guess is is I have like three friends that's it and I I I've always been that way I've always been a bit introverted I don't like going to parties I don't like going to like CES I don't like going to the After parties I don't like mingling and I'm an introvert it's the way I've always been my entire life if you watch my drug my life you you already know my story and I've just have never been very outgoing and YouTube has really cracked that shell that Shell's still there but it's really cracked it and it's falling off and I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable when I go to these events and things and one of the things that I really wanted to be able to do when I when I went self-employed was be able to go to events I was being invited to things that would seem so cool but I couldn't go because I had work and a lot of these events came up last minute like within the you know several weeks before the event like hey here's your invite come visit us it's like I only get so much vacation time a year and I've got to give well advanced notice for my boss so sorry can't go but that's not the case anymore and and that's really exciting in fact I'm getting ready to get on a plane next week to go to an undisclosed event that I can't tell you guys about but I'm really really looking forward to this event I can't wait to tell you guys all about it your guys' support has really changed my life more than you will ever know and being able to say it and say you guys have changed my life everyone says that all YouTubers that are that are making you know they living on YouTube are saying that you guys have changed my life you can't possibly know but the best we can do is just try and tell you that things for us at least myself here have been better than they've ever been and I have you guys to thank for that so with your continued support I'm going to do everything I can to make this channel entertaining Fair honest and everything that you guys expect from me I want to deliver because obviously as a content creator I expect certain things from you I expect you guys to be you know fair and and and cordial in your comments which is for the most part uh trolls are never going to go away but I have a commitment to you guys to bring you the best content that I possibly can that's ENT aining and without sacrificing Integrity because Integrity To Me is everything but just a couple of things I really want to say that I'm grateful for I know it sounds like Thanksgiving in April um but that the last year has allowed US is an amazing family Dynamic I'm always home with the family now instead of being gone all day coming home at 5:00 p.m. spending maybe an hour with the kids and then working until 2:3 in the morning and doing that over and over that's why my eyes were always so bloodshot and jacked up because I never got sleep but I get to spend so much more time with my kids than I ever did we've really been able to improve the home situation I now have a dedicated recording and office space upstairs and a dedicated recording and build space in one of the garages this is a split car garage here and now I have a workshop where I can get things done simultaneously I can do business upstairs and not have to work where I record and it's it's so freaking amazing it's something I've never been able to experience before and that that has just upped my morale so much for the most part I think what I'm most grateful for quite honestly is your guys' continued support because without an audience watching these videos are nothing they are just it's just data on the server that's just sitting there not being called by anybody to view but because you guys are watching it gives me the freedom to continue being creative and moving forward and being independent and for that I just want to say thanks more than you'll ever know so anyway that's it time to get out of here I want you guys to do me a favor hit me up on Twitter or comment down below or Facebook if you guys are following on Facebook um this is not one of those like you know hey come and follow me because I want to bloat my ego no I like having a lot of followers it's fun but I want to know over the last year or even just as long as my Channel's been around what's been your favorite J2 sense moment because I've got way too many to list that's why I've never done those year-end videos like you know Jay's 2015 best of I I I can't pick my favorite moments because there's so many so I kind of want you guys to tell me as long as I've been doing this YouTube channel what's your favorite moment tell me what it was and why and heck even link it so others can see it if it's a video or something like that anyway time to go guys thanks for watching and I will see you in the next videowhat's up guys js2 sense here and I just kind of want to have a chat with you here no bullet points no script no nothing just me talking so forgive me if this gets a bit fragmented and tends to kind of go all over the place which I tend to do I tend to ramble a lot and it's kind of difficult when I don't have some thing in front of me keeping me on track but that's kind of the point of today's video I want to talk about how the last year being self-employed in this YouTube space has actually been how it's treated me some of the plans moving forward and uh basically just have a chat with you guys it's been long time since we've done a video like this and I think it's time I think it's time we have to talk so some of you may know this story already some of you may not so I'll keep it really short but in August 26 2012 I started my YouTube channel on a dare because a friend of mine Josh uh AKA holiday Doc in the MLG Call of Duty um podcasting scene stumbled across one of my live streams I was doing to show Close Quarters expansion for Battlefield 3 to Coconut monkey while he was on family vacation and couldn't be home to play it I had one viewer it was coconut monkey Tech technically two I was watching so it said two but anyway Josh happened to stumble into one of my streams and thought I was hilarious and and entertaining and he said I should start a YouTube channel and I was like dude that's stupid who the hell would watch a YouTube channel about computer stuff I mean I know there's that that that lonus guy out there but I know he clearly bought at all of his Subs but after spending a couple months convincing me I finally decided to go ahead and do it basically like I said on a dare fast forward now 3 and a half years later it's my job so obviously when I started my channel on August 26th and then fast forward to April 2015 when I actually left my job in between there I was constantly asked by followers and fans of the channel if I would ever quit my job for YouTube and something I said over and over and over again was I would never quit my job for YouTube that's stupid people who do that are stupid why on Earth would you put your financial Security in the hands of someone else and uh I one other thing I did say though was I would let my wife quit her job long before I would ever quit mine and that's kind of the way it went my uh the the channel ended up far exceeding what the wife was bringing in full-time with her job and uh I I told her when you when you have our second child which she was pregnant with I said don't go back to work uh making more than enough money on the channel to make up for your income and a lot extra and taxes uh so stay home be a stay home mom and I was that was like the highlight of my channel that's still I I think the Pinnacle achievement in all of this is not being able to be home you know home working on my own channel as an income it's allowing her to be home with our kids which is something we always wanted but she was a working mom for little Jay and I told her I said I really want you home for mini Jay and that's exactly what we achieved and that is still going to be my crowning achievement in all of this is her dream of being a stay-at-home mom is actually come true and that's again because of the support of you guys on this channel but then I really started thinking is this something I could make work is this something that I could do and actually make a living at this comfortably and have enough put aside in savings so that if the floor ever dropped out in this whole platform that we're not out on the street and then I started seeing people around me get laid off Jerry got laid off you know and people who worked for companies that were that seemed very very stable were losing their jobs and I got to thinking working for someone else is not Financial Security working for someone else does not mean at the end of the day you have a guaranteed income it doesn't matter if you're working for the government it doesn't matter if you're working for Microsoft Google if you're working for a software company like I was that was a small independent you know privately owned company but still made very good income it doesn't equal Financial Security and a lot of folks told me that I was crazy at the idea of quitting my job oh my gosh what are you going to do what are you going to do about the Financial Security working for that guy over there is not security working for that guy over there is a liability if he ever needs to save money I become an expense that can easily be cut so I started thinking if I don't try this if I don't take a chance and I never know what could have been to me inside that would have ripped me apart over the years because I'm a risk taker and it's something that would have just eaten me and eaten me and eaten me and uh I couldn't live with that so finally out during the night I spent a lot of nights not able to sleep and the wife would get up at 3:00 4: in the morning uh and I would just be awake just l laying there awake my brain would not shut down I could not stop thinking about what could be so I got up in the morning and I wrote my resignation letter this was this was like February or something of last year and I showed it to a friend of mine who I trust very much and he said uh you know what he said good write he said write uh you wrote the letter and this was his his advice by the way he says write a resignation letter but then set it aside don't turn it in anytime you're feeling those feelings late at night during the day whatever and you just can't stop thinking about the idea of working for yourself take out your resignation letter and read it again on a different day different emotions and see if you still feel the same and every time I took that letter out and I read it I felt exactly the same as I did the months prior so one day I turned it in and the rest is history so I gave my two weeks notice and then became self-employed and I think one of the things I love most over the last year is the amount of Freedom that I have I can try things and I can take the risk and I can fail and recover you fail at your job too many times they're going to fire you and that I'm not going to fire myself although I probably should sometimes but I don't like complacency and I don't like repetition and that's something I don't have to deal with working for myself now my goal moving forward I definitely don't want to continue to rely on a monetized platform like YouTube um other folks have Diversified on like YouTube and vessel and some other platforms but the bottom line is even though YouTube is only one of like five revenue streams that I have I if YouTube ever disappears or goes away and I lose you know a huge chunk of my income then that's still not Financial Independence and I want to in moving forward and I don't know how I'm going to do this yet I really don't know how I'm going to do this yet I want to be completely financially independent from YouTube and where if they ever screw up over there which it seems like they're constantly trying to do then I'm set because I have my own space that's bringing me money and I'm working towards that obviously the average iing that I that I integrate into these videos and the pre-rolls and stuff has definitely been something that has allowed me a lot more Financial Freedom and to get away a little bit from worrying about the constant what if YouTube this what if YouTube that and you guys hear about these channels getting these false strikes and they lose weeks of income and they're like oh my God now we're going broke you know we're going to go bankrupt I I'm not in that situation because I have a lot of money set aside thank God because I built this business up on the side and then slid into this once I was ready it wasn't something I didn't just wake up and go boss I'm out and then have to hope it worked because I didn't have enough money to get to the end of the month yeah that's not the way it worked out at all but I really just wanted to sit down with you guys and tell you that the last year has been absolutely phenomenal and it keeps me so excited for what's coming in the future and for the first time for the first time ever I think that the concept of this channel being able to reach a million subscribers might be possible and that I didn't think a 100,000 was possible if you've been around long enough you remember me saying this channel will never hit 100,000 it is so Amateur hour it's not even funny well now we're about to hit 600,000 subscribers which is why it's like I'm over the hump of being halfway there it might be possible it and it's just blowing my mind I mean seriously but you guys give me so much support that you don't even realize I mean if you know me personally you know I don't have many friends and I think that might be truth true for a lot of YouTubers um which is why we talk to camera so well I guess is is I have like three friends that's it and I I I've always been that way I've always been a bit introverted I don't like going to parties I don't like going to like CES I don't like going to the After parties I don't like mingling and I'm an introvert it's the way I've always been my entire life if you watch my drug my life you you already know my story and I've just have never been very outgoing and YouTube has really cracked that shell that Shell's still there but it's really cracked it and it's falling off and I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable when I go to these events and things and one of the things that I really wanted to be able to do when I when I went self-employed was be able to go to events I was being invited to things that would seem so cool but I couldn't go because I had work and a lot of these events came up last minute like within the you know several weeks before the event like hey here's your invite come visit us it's like I only get so much vacation time a year and I've got to give well advanced notice for my boss so sorry can't go but that's not the case anymore and and that's really exciting in fact I'm getting ready to get on a plane next week to go to an undisclosed event that I can't tell you guys about but I'm really really looking forward to this event I can't wait to tell you guys all about it your guys' support has really changed my life more than you will ever know and being able to say it and say you guys have changed my life everyone says that all YouTubers that are that are making you know they living on YouTube are saying that you guys have changed my life you can't possibly know but the best we can do is just try and tell you that things for us at least myself here have been better than they've ever been and I have you guys to thank for that so with your continued support I'm going to do everything I can to make this channel entertaining Fair honest and everything that you guys expect from me I want to deliver because obviously as a content creator I expect certain things from you I expect you guys to be you know fair and and and cordial in your comments which is for the most part uh trolls are never going to go away but I have a commitment to you guys to bring you the best content that I possibly can that's ENT aining and without sacrificing Integrity because Integrity To Me is everything but just a couple of things I really want to say that I'm grateful for I know it sounds like Thanksgiving in April um but that the last year has allowed US is an amazing family Dynamic I'm always home with the family now instead of being gone all day coming home at 5:00 p.m. spending maybe an hour with the kids and then working until 2:3 in the morning and doing that over and over that's why my eyes were always so bloodshot and jacked up because I never got sleep but I get to spend so much more time with my kids than I ever did we've really been able to improve the home situation I now have a dedicated recording and office space upstairs and a dedicated recording and build space in one of the garages this is a split car garage here and now I have a workshop where I can get things done simultaneously I can do business upstairs and not have to work where I record and it's it's so freaking amazing it's something I've never been able to experience before and that that has just upped my morale so much for the most part I think what I'm most grateful for quite honestly is your guys' continued support because without an audience watching these videos are nothing they are just it's just data on the server that's just sitting there not being called by anybody to view but because you guys are watching it gives me the freedom to continue being creative and moving forward and being independent and for that I just want to say thanks more than you'll ever know so anyway that's it time to get out of here I want you guys to do me a favor hit me up on Twitter or comment down below or Facebook if you guys are following on Facebook um this is not one of those like you know hey come and follow me because I want to bloat my ego no I like having a lot of followers it's fun but I want to know over the last year or even just as long as my Channel's been around what's been your favorite J2 sense moment because I've got way too many to list that's why I've never done those year-end videos like you know Jay's 2015 best of I I I can't pick my favorite moments because there's so many so I kind of want you guys to tell me as long as I've been doing this YouTube channel what's your favorite moment tell me what it was and why and heck even link it so others can see it if it's a video or something like that anyway time to go guys thanks for watching and I will see you in the next video\n"