“I thought the cars, mansions, jets, and millions in the bank would make me happy. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed that my life would be fulfilling and I’d have a sense of ‘I made it’ when I achieved these milestones. But it wasn’t quite true,” said Caleb Caleb Boxx, the seven-figure-making Founder of YouTube Automation.
He learned the hard lesson that lots of entrepreneurs and millionaires learn — money, on its own, really doesn’t buy happiness.
After crafting his first website at 11 years old, taking paying web design clients as a preteen, and becoming a YouTube phenomenon as a teen, money and success came fairly easily to the gifted high school dropout.
“The life I’m living today I didn’t think would be possible until I was at least 30. Now I’m doing it at 22. But what I’ve learned is that once I got the money and material things, I felt empty. My purpose was missing,” said the entrepreneur, who teaches content creators how to automate their videos, create more content, and generate more revenue in less time.
Saying that his business is a success is an understatement. He has a staff of over 200, and his content-creating clients have a combined subscribership of over one billion on YouTube.
Here, he offers thoughts on focusing on the journey to achieving your dreams, not just the goals.
Fighting Depression and Complacency
One of the side effects that Boxx never imagined would come from reaching his dreams at an early age was a deep and profound sadness, even a sense of loss.
He didn’t feel happy, and having reached his goals, he was left with nothing to strive for.
“You see, what was happening when I was happy was that I worked all the time on projects I loved. I spent my non-working time dreaming about my goals: making a boatload of cash, meeting my dream girl, buying the cars I loved, etc. That’s what motivated me for my entire come-up,” he explained.
But once he got it, it wasn’t enough. He fell into a situational depression without a goal or purpose. It took him some time to recognize what was happening and a bit more time to realize how to fix it. He saw that he was always going to need to have a new purpose and goal and that the beauty of the success experience is truly in the journey.
“I learned over the last year that life is actually about the people you meet, the experiences with them, the challenges and businesses you build and overcome, and the lives you inspire and impact through it all,” he said. “That’s something that will never end.”
Staying Motivated
Along Boxx’s journey, he began questioning lots of things. He noticed people working for decades, with the motivation being the time to retire and relax. He’s not sure that model is one that leads to happiness. At least, not for him and entrepreneurs like him.
“People want to retire, but do they really? Or is that just your motivation, and once you achieve that status, you’ll realize the entire enjoyment was chasing, not actually achieving?” he asked.
While many people do find happiness in retirement — enjoying endless rounds of golf, world travel, or afternoons with the grandkids — just as many find themselves at a loss. Without a purpose or goal, they may become depressed like Boxx.
To him, it’s a question of motivation. If nothing is motivating you, you won’t be happy. This might mean setting post-retirement goals such as setting up a new small business, competing in a new sport, or finally winning a prize for that family recipe peach pie.
For Boxx, he realized that he needed a new goal, and that goal is to get as many people as possible financially free through YouTube Automation, and so far, he’s doing a great job.
Driven to Help
His company, which is the top YouTube automation agency worldwide, offers three levels of automation training, a Mastermind group, and more.
Though he works less than one full day per week, he knows he is truly helping some of the world’s most creative people reach the peak of their fields.
As a creator himself, he knew how badly his peers struggled from burnout. They may be brimming with new ideas for videos that their audiences will love, but instead, each clip kept them behind the screen, editing and tweaking for hours.
By automating their videos, they have more time to produce more content. This makes for happier creators and followers.
“YouTube Automation is taking a business approach to the platform,” Boxx said, “Yes, people get into creating videos because they love it. But, when a channel relies on your face for years and years, it gets tiring. Even Logan Paul had to finally shift away from being the face of his own channel. It’s challenging to show up daily and film your life and your face. I’ve found a way to solve that pain point for YouTube creators,” he explained.
Hopefully, with this advice from Boxx, more entrepreneurs can avoid the depression that may come with reaching goals and remain dream-chasers for life.
About Caleb Boxx
Caleb Boxx is a founder of YouTube Automation, a business model that allows people to automate their YouTube channels creating passive income. Boxx has helped hundreds of content creators. To learn more about Caleb Boxx, please visit automatechannels.com
