Midyear Reflection: Wins, Follies & Lessons from the First Half of 2025

By Art with Errol | Monday Check-In – June 30th, 2025

All right, all right, all right everybody—welcome to the Art with Errol Podcast!Today’s a special one: it’s June 30th, 2025, and we’re doing a midyear reflection. It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through the year, and I wanted to take this moment to pause, check in, and talk about where we’ve been, what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next.

Whether you’re creating content, growing a channel, or just trying to stay consistent in life—this one’s for you.

🏆 Wins from the First Half of 2025

Let’s start with the good stuff. We’ve had some real wins this year:

• New job, new location – Even though the move happened last year, adjusting and pushing forward in a new environment is still a major success.

• Consistency – This is the biggest win of all. I’ve finally stuck to a schedule!

  • Daily shorts on the gaming channel

  • 1–2 game streams per week

  • Weekly art videos on Fridays

  • Weekly podcast episodes

Staying consistent has always been my struggle, but this year, I’m actually doing it. For that alone, I call this a victory.

📉 Areas to Improve: Let’s Talk Numbers

🎙️ The Podcast

• Views: 390

• Watch time: 16.9 hours

• Subscribers: 2

Okay, it’s slow growth—but we’re just getting started. The podcast is still fresh. The challenge here? The podcast space is crowded. And I haven’t been promoting it enough. Sharing earlier and more often might help bring in more listeners.

I’ve considered merging the podcast with the gaming channel, but for now, I want to give it more time to grow on its own.

🎨 The Art Channel

• Subscribers: +23

• Watch Time: 65.5 hours

• Views: 10.6K

Not bad for just one speed-drawing video per week! Still, I think there’s more I can do:

• Post full-length real-time drawing videos

• Pair speed drawings with shorts and regular versions

• Explore full canvas painting content later this year or next

🎮 The Gaming Channel

• Subscribers: +71

• Watch Time: 641 hours

• Views: 63K

This is where I’ve seen the most growth—more than double the watch time and triple the views compared to last year. The shorts are doing wonders, but now it’s time to level up with:

• More gameplay videos

• Highlight edits from streams

• Strategic content around trending games

⏳ Real Talk: Obstacles

The biggest hurdle? Time.

Working a full-time job and being a full-time dad means I only get 2–3 hours after work to create. That includes planning, recording, editing, and posting—all in one tight window. Some people can game for 8 hours. I’ve got 2–3 to make it count.

Add in summer vacation, family appointments, and, oh yeah—a recent car accident—and it’s easy to see why things get tough.

But I’m still here. Still pushing.

🔧 Adjustment Goals for the Second Half of 2025

Here’s how I plan to adjust moving forward:

🎯 For the Gaming Channel

• Add gameplay videos to accompany daily shorts

• Use stream clips to create standalone content

• Play through more games (starting with finishing Doom)

🎯 For the Art Channel

• Upload real-time drawing alongside speed drawings

• Consider a 3-part video format (real-time, speed, short)

• Explore doing full-painting videos later in the year

🎯 For the Podcast

• Look into guests and collabs

• Tighten up topics and flow

• Cross-promote more between channels

🧠 Lessons & Reflections

Here are the big takeaways from my journey so far:

1. Consistency matters most.Sticking to a schedule is a huge part of growing anything.

2. Review your own work.Don’t just post and ghost. Watch your own streams—at 2x speed if needed—to find areas for improvement and potential clips.

3. Don’t fear change.I pivoted a lot (Facebook Gaming, multi-streaming, etc.)—not all decisions were great, but each one taught me something.

4. Time management is everything.If you’re working a full-time job and trying to create content, you have to make the most of small windows of time.

5. Don’t compare.Some people blow up fast. That’s not me—and that’s okay. I’m building slow, with purpose.

💡 Final Encouragement

To anyone out there trying to make it—stay encouraged. Whether it’s art, gaming, podcasting, or life, the path isn’t easy. But it’s doable.

Put in the reps. Practice. Reflect. Adjust. Repeat.

✅ Your Turn:

Have you done your own midyear reflection yet?Let me know in the comments—or DM me. I’d love to hear:

• Your biggest win so far in 2025

• What content worked best for you

• What you're changing for the second half of the year

🎧 You can catch the podcast on YouTube (my main hub), X (aka Twitter), Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music—pretty much wherever you listen.

Until next Monday,Stay focused. Stay encouraged. Keep climbing.—Errol, Art with Errol Podcast