Quitting My 9-5 Job Was A Huge Mistake 

I thought you were going to say your pay as a RU-vidr wasn't good enough, but 6k a month, that's great money for traveling. Even if you're the one paying for all the expenses it's still enough. You've already won, because this is basically just the beginning and you're already making a living out of it. There's only one way from here, and that's ⬆️. Besides, the thing you're forgetting is that no one can take away the data analytics skills you've acquired, and you can literally go back to that any time you want to, especially with your experience. My advice would be to get on with it, because later in life, when you're older and you have kids, you literally won't have time and probably guts to try something risky like this. Greetings from Serbia 🍻

Love the transparency here man! Really inspiring! I am currently freelancing 3 days /week (data science) and use the leftover hours to build my channel and products. Feels like a nice balance for me right now.

Thank you. I really needed to hear this. Embarking on same journey you are 🤗 it gives me hope and love your authenticity.

Another amazing video, Stefanovic! Thanks for sharing with us! Cheers from Brazil!

Wow! You are a beautiful soul. Im relieved that people like you still exist. Soo much honesty and transparency in your words. I love it!

I needed to hear this. Thank you. 🙏🏾

Love it, Stefan! Thanks for sharing

Bro, your message is sinking smoothly through your fun and being real. Love your content ❤

Awesome video mate. I still have my regular job in addition to putting out two RU-vid videos a week which can be tough at times and as you said sometimes you question what you are doing it all for but other times, seeing the small but still compounding growth and impact on other people’s life is super rewarding and fulfilling. You did the right thing. Well done mate and keep on inspiring so many as you do👏Cheers, Kai

As someone who is going to the same path as you, by graduating Industrial Engineering and chasing a career as a Data Analyst, I’d like to thank you for being such a great help for me! Have you ever thought about being a movie director and screenwriter? I think those two fit the lifestyle you’re trying to achieve pretty good.

It must be fun to see yourself in 3rd person watching the final result of the video editing. On the other hand, I see how you put storytelling into practice, making roller coasters of emotions over and over again, and I love to see it in the editing itself, so I congratulate you, you are really increasing your creative skills. Leaving a well paid job for this adventure, must not be easy, that's exactly why the reward will be incredible, I wish you all the success in the world brother. P.D. It would be great to see a video where you explain your process of writing the scripts, I'm also curious about the electronica concert in the desert you went to, it would be great to see a video blog of it.

Thanks man for this video

Thanks for sharing. Very useful for someone just starting out.

Thanks Stefan for your quality yt channel. Life is a mystery. We have to catch it, develop, optimise but first and formost have fun during it. Imo Uve done great move as we live once, huge inspiration. Have a nice day to U & all subs!

Thanks Stefanovic for being so brutally honest and relatable. I am transitioning to being a Data Analyst, and I'm also working on being financially free. Listening to you, my! what a journey I still have ahead. But like they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. You sharing your journey and how vulnerable you are is such a considerate and generous gesture. Thank you, and I just followed you after just discovering you today!

Stefan, I truly appreciate your transparency and valuable experiences you share! I was in graduate school for an unrelated degree, completely lost, when I realized that it would take 2-3 years to even begin my career. On top of that, I have to work full-time and study to afford it, which I did for 4 years during my undergraduate. Because of you and Alex the Analyst I decided to push myself and start a Data Analyst Bootcamp instead. Cheaper and quicker. Despite not being a STEM or computer major, you gave me a dream to aim at. And I agree 100%; I know in 5-10 years, I will move on to something different, and the goal is to start my own business. I hope to apply for entry-level analyst jobs this fall. Thank you for the inspiration!

Thank you stefan. This is really inspiring.. Ive learnt alot from your videos.

I keep coming back to this video day by day. So many valuable gems to take out❤

Thank you Stefan for adding some more existential questions to my head. Haha... Never mind, I'm also convinced that this is a part of the journey.

Big thanks bro..this is eye opener! I suggest you keep going..people love your videos..

Thank you for your perspective ❤

Great video Man! Loved your honesty.

Wow. I am absolutely stunned by your honesty. The last one on existential anxiety…Thanks for sharing this! Amazing.

Man I really enjoy watching your videos! They're valuable, objective and humorous sometimes😂 I'm stuck in a similar situation where my core values don't allign with what I'm doing and I really got valuable information out of your video. Thank you!

Great work. Thank You for being honest.

Hi Stefan just salute to u the hardwork u do to train future minds!!!!❤

Totally awesome video Keep up the good work

Always love your videos brother. Personality and storytelling is always on point! I enjoyed this video

Great video! As someone working in tech also wanting to move into RU-vid (musician) as a side thing, I think it’s great of you to share these insights. It feels like you’ve really leveled up man, awesome stuff!

You were the first video I saw on data analysis, I am now working on my SQL and tableau portfolio after learning it, you’re videos really motivated me.

You are a great inspiration, Stefan! I'm planning to start a "hybrid" life between youtube and Data analysis so I can have both incomes until the day I decide what to do with my life I have the freedom to choose. Keep it up, man!

Man you put a lot of effort in filming and montage. And it definitely looks like a passion, not a necessity. Keep going, and btw it's interesting to think about a possibilities how to scale these skills on the next lvl (projects, income)

I like the description you came up with about a video being a digital asset

Honestly seeing a documentary of some sort produced by you would be great. You have an excellent sense for production, direction, editing, and storytelling. I don't know what topic you might cover but we can be sure that the output will be well structured and produced. Perhaps you can create short docs covering some of the recent financial crises (banking & crypto) or a doc going over the history/nightlife of various parts of Europe. Heck I'd love to see a doc from you covering the more recent UAP phenomena but from a European perspective (or other interesting parts of the world). Really the sky is the limit on the subjects you can cover.

Appreciate this insight. For now I'm doing both, hoping I don't get burned out! I've just started youtube recently. My goal is to have synergy between my brand and my job.

I almost Cried when you mentioned Family. Thank you for uploading this video buddy! 👌 greetings from Nicaragua 🇳🇮

Thank you for sharing these insights with us. Honestly, super helpful. I was pretty disappointed when I saw the title, but then, hey ho - it all works out when you pursue your heart! Super inspirational story and the sky is the limit for you. The value you provide is clearly there so keep doing what you're doing.

thanks stefanovic for your sharing, man! it really helps me a lot deciding on my career (bcs i am at a crossroad rn) and unlike any other overrated & exaggerating content creator talking about data analyst, you pursue a perspective as transparent as you could be. appreciate that!

Don't get mad. I'm already subscribed ;) This was the video I needed these days to readdress my path. Thank you.

Hey Stefan, this was a great and thought-provoking video! Keep doing what you're doing. Your channel is great! Your thoughts are normal since every decision we make today has a significant impact on our future. Cheers and best regards from Serbia!

Je bent goed bezig bro je leeft de droom!

Considering that probably most of the people following your journey are: - data analyst - wishing to be a data analyst - wishing to be a data analyst freelance - wishing to travel the world or live in a paradise island and still have an income to sustain the travelling It would be nice and interesting to see you pick a place in the world, go there to live for a while, having fun and make us see how to search, as freelance, for a project as data analyst from scratch. This would be amazing to see, and maybe you would find a balance between being a data analyst and be free

Bro I can really relate to your thinking 💭 I was actually inspired by your videos and started considering Data Analyst career to switch to from my current career. As I travelled the whole world and had my part of adventure I would love to do something routine that involves thinking and with good income and security. As to expressing my creativity I think it’s also possible to combine your job and RU-vid together as a life vlog. In this way you can have security/job and grow your channel and express yourself till you become really big to quit the job. Man possibilities are endless but I agree with you, we all are on our specific path that lead from one thing to another. Anyways, pleasure to watch. And yes you definitely gave me some intangible value!

I think diversification is super important, especially these days. From what I've seen, market wide there has been a bit of a slowdown with ad revenue and sponsorships. Hopefully this trend reverses!

You're an inspiration man. I'm an almost data analyst and am looking into starting my personal brand, inspired by you. Watch out for competition ;)

Great video and you have talked your heart out in this. ❤

Great video Stefanovic! Every video is super detailed and fun to watch! From The United States!

Congrats Stefanovic!

Thanks Stefan for this clip. Nicely done, full pro! Some ideas: - Life KPI Dashboard - you can create a Notion template - Tshirts or hoodies with "Monk Mode" slogan and motivational illustration - MAKE MORE CLIPS - you're doing brilliantly! Enjoy!

Awesome video man! You can not even imagine how much and how many people you are helping through your content. I am transitioning into Data Analysis and you are a true source of inspiration. Keep sharing your stories. Just an idea: find a way to combine your data analysis skillset in your traveling video. Traveling based on your analysis of the data. I hope you won't mind this. Thanks.

A nice content can be your tips like a data analyst for grow a youtube channel! (and as always, great content, great edition! Thank you!)

Great video man. Instantly clicked when I saw the thumbnail, which I don't usually do. I asked myself why, and it's because I see myself exactly in your shoes. I think your existential crisis about not knowing which niche you're in between data analysis and entrepreneurship is somehow a niche in it of itself, because that's exactly what I'm confused on right now. I'm only 19, and have tried the entrepreneurship route thinking it was my way out of college and freedom, but haven't succeeded. So I'm diving back into data analysis because I got the Google cert a while back but didn't learn the skills. Hopefully I can succeed with it this time and use it as a stepping stone into my entrepreneurial aspirations like you explained. Also, your point about feeling like you're 'working' for the youtube algorithm is very real. I saw a similar video expressing these concerns by Biaheza called the youtube hamster wheel (discussing retention tactics and soulless regurgitated videos) and its so factual. But I think staying true to yourself and making the videos that express the creativity you envisioned when you started youtube will pay off, because I can attest for the viewers, although they might be less in numbers right now, enjoy the video a lot more when it's raw and real like this without fluff to boost watch time. And I think that authenticity will pay off in the long run. Good stuff man, and looking forward to future videos. And I think this is my longest comment on any youtube video ever😂

Really like u bro. Long time didnt see ur stuff. Really nice to see how u chase ur dreams. Stay healthy and enjoy life bro! This is why u have done it! No matter what, u need water and breed to survive. Dont stress and judge yourself! Take care!

The Area51 part was amazing man 😂🤣 Love your energy. And you are actually the one who initially got me interested in Data as a professional path! I've gone to many others as reference, obv that's not your goal with this channel, but the first video of yours I ran into was Data Analytics based and it planted the seed. It's been years since I mainly make my living in stocks and crypto markets, so it made so much sense that it slapped me in the face and went ahead and went through the IBM's Introduction to DA in a couple days. Thanks amigo!

Good stuff👍🏽

Love you :) thanks for your videos

Fun fact: Seconds before you mentioned that 80% non subscribers I had realised that I wasn't a subscriber but I had been watching your videos for quite sometime now. Subscribed! 👍

Dude, what a great video! Every once in a while I think about leaving my job to pursue something like you... Awesome video indeed.

Stefanovich, I`m watching your video from Uzbekistan and it`s gave me so much value, this video is masterpiece, thank you for your videos!

I feel like the trend of new work is just complementing the way we want to work nowadays: the type of environment and work-life-balance we would enjoy. The question is just how fast companies will adapt to fulfill those aspirations. I guess there‘s just a few companies today that combine freedom, wealth etc. Great video, keep up the work!

great stuff. if you need content ideas i would like you to talk more about the countries you have visited

Mooi verhaal! Gaaf gedaan.

I'm just in the same situation as you been in the past, currently a freelance data analyst. Working on new ways to generate income including social media and video creation. Keep it up really like your videos, high quality and you are great at story telling.

This video is amazing, thanks for the history and for the content. BRAZIL IS HERE

Zelim samo da ti kazem da pratim sve tvoje objave vise od godinu dana, nemoj da odustajes, razbijas, i verujem da ce biti sve bolje i bolje. Mnogo mi je drago sto sve cesce imas neka sponzorstva, bravo. Vidim da ti je ozbiljno mucenje, a znam to i po sebi, imao sam super placen posao i upustio sam se u nesto potpuno novo i rizicno, bas kao i ti, zato se potpuno poistovecujem sa tobom. Hvala za motivaciju i samo nemoj da odustajes💪💪

This video just showed up in my feed randomly. I like your personality though, subbed!

Bro, I just want to tell you that i follow your channel because i want to follow your steps, I see you as a guide and i thank you for sharing your experiences and your thoughts with us.

So good to see you were hanging out in Cape Town

Wowwww this right here, Stefan!

Great video and content Stef. Insecurity is a thing, but just follow your dream son, and be happy with what ever you do.

Hello Stefan, So great to see you again! You can take your future in any direction you desire as you possess a certain “edge”🔥I would love to see you delve into some AI content from your unique perspective in DA. If all else fails, you could try modeling😁

This was an incredible video and I really hope a lot of people see it, not only as data analysts but also people who want to get into youtube

Nice video in Stefanovic style, about what is really possible out there to earn some money, and what is totally scam. Stay always honest, like you are.

Took a similar path here in Tokyo by quitting during the great resignation. I found myself realizing how valuable my office job was for my drive, and aligning with my value system. Values are so important! The perspective was critical and now I’m back in a great office job, but inspired to work a consulting side hustle- thank you for the SQL suggestion!

Fantastic video man! To be honest, as soon as I saw the title and then the sponsor in the description, I was immediately shaking my head thinking this is gonna be some sponsored nonsense where you read off a script and go against everything you preach all for a few $$$. But actually I can see this was very authentic and well thought out. Even with the sponsorship involved, I didn't feel like you were selling out and that you actually gave your real opinion - and that's becoming increasingly rare on yt. Keep it up man!

Love what you sharing. Maybe you are well-rounded capable to start your own startup which combine your professions and also meet your core value of life. 👍🏾

Congratulations on your success with youtube! I don't possess your charisma or good looks and storytelling capabilities, so my channel is only slowly growing, but some day when I grow up I want to be like you! CHEERS!

I thoroughly enjoyed this video stefan

Hi Stefan, which editing program do you use? I'm waiting for your new video with notifications open every time. You are loved Bro

🔥 bruh…you summed it for the rest of us

Well done on this video man. It's great to see the logistics behind being a RU-vidr. This video was great as well, editing and audio, script. Was awesome to watch, looking forward to the next one

Love it!

Everything is part of the journey. Maybe tomorrow you find another thing that is alligned with your values and your whole life changes through that and it will be fine. I really like how you question everything about if you are following the right steps or not in function of what you thing it's the best for you. Although I don't know you, I think I have a mind very similar to yours because I have the same thoughts and core values, and I would have the same thoughts that you have if I were in your place. I'm about to finish my economics degree and preparing to be a Data Analyst, but knowing that it will be something temporary, as an intermediate step to earn money to be able to invest in freedom. Since I have consciousness I'm a very analytical person but I also think you can use the mindset that comes with to whatever you want to do in life. In my case, I think it's relationated with financial markets. You said in a video that you're also an investor. I would really like to see/hear some content from you about that topic. But not in the way "EARN 1M IN 5 MINUTES BUYING SHIBA INU" but using the analytical mind and creativity to make some juice! PS: I like that I understand your Dutch-English better than native English people.

The end hit hard. Snaps fingers * outro *

I realised it doesn’t matter who you work for, you are dependent on someone else. In a corporate job the company owns you and your time and if you are a RU-vidr, entrepreneur etc you depend on your viewers, customers on how much you make . So in the end we will always depend on others. The only difference is of course the life quality and work life balance you have.

Superb content

Second comment, consider building a newsletter to conserve your audience... getting all our e-mails. You'd be able to continue communication, push affiliate links, get sponsors, ect!!

I'll tell you for whom you are making these videos: ppl like myself who have been hit by lifes situations and need help improving our lives or even building any sort of a viable life in the first place. It's really important to the likes of us that the likes of you are out there putting in the effort to communicate with and guide us. You're very good at what you do and I can listen to you whereas I just cannot connect with 90% of the other Digital Nomad youtubers. I really appreciate what you are doing and thank you sincerely.

Great vid🔥

Stefan, hello! Thank you for new video. I am going to buy a course of Matt, which you recommended me earlier. Soon I hope to make my videos better and better. About the instability, I totally agree, it's very hard. Especially when you were hoping for a bunch of hits and there aren't any.

Thanks for being real bro

never stop Stefanovic

Thank you for this inspiring and honest video! I work in a Data Analytics/ Big Data Environment and was asking myself the same questions you did. But I didn't have the balls to pursue a different career yet.

For what it’s worth it, we love you videos and I personally like every one of them (clicking the like button too!). I’m not even a data analyst but watch all your videos anyway 😂 Cheers!

Like looking in a mirror. I became a data analyst with no experience or related degree. Had a great salary, Then I quit to pursue Entrepreneurship. You've inspired me to start documenting my journey.

comeup with a path to become a data analyst in less than a year is a content that I want to see from this channel

hey stefan! id love to take the step forward to start creating content instead of consuming them. Would love to see how you compose your videos & edit them and tools you use ❤️

To the Dutch Bradley Cooper: Living a life is living many lives. You are who you are, but you also grow and change as you go. You mature as you grow older, and you evolve and shred off the old skin like a snake. It is expected to question yourself constantly. It is, after all, the only way to evolve and move out of the comfort zone. I am 33, left my country 10 years ago in the pursuit of a better life, but not for me, instead I did it for people that I had not met yet... My progeny. After 10 years of hard work, traveling and living all over the world, I finally settled down during the pandemic. I went from a degree in business and economics, working a 9 to 5 office job in a huge IT company, to working as a licensed carpenter with my own business in a foreign country, and now starting afresh to become a data analyst with online courses hunting for that 9 to 5 job again to gain experience and some steady income temporarily until I upskill. Once you become a father, your world will turn upside down. It is not about yourself anymore... The biggest lesson I have learnt. Whatever you opt doing, do it with focus and drive; do it for the love you have for yourself and eventually your family. After all, we are here for a limited time, and trust me, once you have a kid, you will understand every step you have taken so far to become who you are, and it will make you see that the only thing that really matters after all is very primitive. Pass on what has been given to you, and this will fulfill your soul forever. Thank you for your videos, very entertaining bro.

almost at 200k subs....no going back now bro ❤👌💪

On my journey to become a data analyst! I thank the algorithm of youtube for showing me one of your videos back in the beginning of 2022 😂❤