I deleted all my social media a couple months ago, and as a result I have a ton of free time. I've felt a sense of individualism return to my personality and I've rediscovered things that I actually like. I like to read, I like to cook, and I like to spend time with people I enjoy. Getting back into these activities has been interesting, because I'm pretty shit at all of them. I struggle to pick up the books I want to read, I don't cook with any proper technique (my food isn't terrible, to be clear), and I still struggle to prioritize quality time with those that I love. So naturally, a decent amount of my newly gained free time has been spent on researching how to get better at all of these things.
In all of my research, whether it's about cooking better or reading better, one thing is always common. You have to just do shit. This sounds super obvious, but subconciously for me it really isn't. My instict when I'm struggling with something is to reach out to the internet and seek answers. I'd love for the internet to provide me a solution that magically makes me better at the thing I'm struggling at. Frankly, this doesn't exist. All the growth I've experienced in my life has been a direct result of me living life. My parents have told me many things over the years and frankly a lot of it has been great advice. But ultimately it's the ups and downs that I've personally lived through that have taught me.
To be clear, I'm not saying that these articles and videos that teach you how to cook / read better have no value. I'm just saying that sometimes, fight the urge to look stuff like that up. Instead, just do it. Cook the dish. Read the book. Struggle with it. Be intentional about improving. Soon enough you may have learned enough to make your own youtube video.