Why Casey Neistat Is One of The Most Inspiring YouTubers

Casey Neistat is one of the most popular YouTubers today. He started film-making before YouTube was even a thing. As of this writing, Casey has got over 12 Million subscribers. I started watching his videos about four years ago. I am not a filmmaker, but Casey has inspired me a lot in life.

Neistat’s life is a fascinating story. When he was 15 years old, he left his house, dropped out of high school, had a baby when he was only 17, and moved to New York at 20. His passion was film-making, but he had to go through a lot before pursuing his dream.

He worked as a dishwasher to support his film-making career. His life took a turn when he sold a TV series about his life called The Neistat Brothers to HBO for a little under $2 Million. Since then, he has been making videos for brands, and he owns several companies.

When I first heard about Casey, I thought he was just a typical YouTuber. I figured he was just like other vloggers. I did not follow him for a very long time. Then I saw his video called, Make It Count. It was a video he made for Nike. He had spent all the money the company had given him to make their video by traveling worldwide. I thought it was fantastic. I started watching more of his videos. Do What You Can’t is one of my favorites.

How Casey Inspires People?

I am neither a filmmaker nor a YouTuber like Casey. But still, I watch his videos and get inspired. That’s because his videos are more than just about movie-making or vlogging. Casey’s life and his working style are motivational. So, he does not have to make videos for this.

Casey vlogs insanely. He carries a camera in one hand and rides a boosted board in New York City traffic, all while talking to the camera. His filming shots are crazy. He sets up his camera everywhere he can think of while vlogging. Most viewers don’t even realize that Casey sets up his camera somewhere first and then goes back to re-appear as if the camera was there all along.

Casey’s insane work routine is also an inspiration. He works like no other. In one of his videos, he said that he hates sleeping because he could have used that time to finish some of his work. That is a little extreme, but that’s how he is. He runs every day, and it’s not I-need-to-sweat-and-get-my-heart-pumping-a-little kind of run. Instead, he runs for miles and miles.

Casey’s videos have something different, which you usually don’t see in other YouTubers’ videos—whether it is his unique filming techniques or his way of conveying a message to his viewers. Casey doesn’t miss out on a chance to inspire people. He finds different ways to send inspirational messages through drawings, writings, or props in his videos.

Casey Neistat motivation
Credit: Casey Neistat’s Youtube

Casey Neistat Motivation

Casey’s video, Do What You Can’t, is a must-watch motivational video. There are many other videos where he talks about motivational stuff. I personally like Fat and Lazy, Intensityand Losers and Closers.

When people ask him, “How to find passion in life?” he says to find the worst job possible. When you are doing something you hate, you will be thinking of things you would rather be doing. You will find something you love when you are doing something you hate. That is Casey’s response.

Casey has motivational stuff tattooed in his body parts—“Do More,” “Work Harder,” and “Always be Closing.” I’m not suggesting that you need to get stuff tattooed to be motivated. But that is just his way of reminding himself of the important things.

Casey used to do daily-vlog series, where he would upload a video every day. Yes, you heard it right—a video every day. That is not easy to do. Think of all the processes involved. You have to find unique things to film every day and then edit it. And, with the standards of Casey, there is plenty of work involved.

Casey talks a lot about “taking action” and “focus.” He says that action leads to success. To all the wanna-be-YouTubers, he says,

“You can’t succeed if you are uploading only once a month. You need to show up to work every day.”

He also says to focus on what you want to do and do it with persistence.

Besides all the videos and the work, Casey is also a good human being. Recently, he accidentally scratched a person’s car while parking his truck. He was kind enough to leave a note with his number to agree to pay for the damage. But, the car owner replied to Casey by asking him not to worry about it, instead to donate to a local food bank. So, Casey donated  $250 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in the name of “Mr. Scratched Car.”