How to make YouTube videos you LOVE in 2025

"What is the best YouTube niche?"

If you've asked this question, your channel will fail.

But don't panic, you're not the only one who's made this mistake.

Most creators think picking the "perfect niche" is the key to success.

They analyse trends, study competitors, and search for that one topic guaranteed to blow up.

But then… nothing happens.

Here's why:

The problem isn't the niche. The problem is you've built a channel around something you don't actually care about.

You don't love making the videos.

And your audience can tell.

But today, we're going to fix that.

I'm going to show you how to create videos you're obsessed with making.

Ones that energise you and attract the right audience.

This will be the single most important decision you make for your channel.

"A reason for living"

Recently, I've been learning about an ancient Japanese philosophy called: "Ikigai" which loosely translates to: "a reason for living."

The most important question you will have to answer in life is:

"What is my purpose?"

That's the meaning of everything, right?

The problem is, it's probably the most difficult question you will ever have to confront.

That's why the Japanese invented a philosophy to simplify the search for this answer.

The way it works is by asking yourself 4 questions:

• What do you love?

• What are you good at?

• What does the world need?

• What can you be paid for?

The intersect between those 4 questions is your Ikigai.

Your "reason for living."

(It always amazes me how a concept invented over a thousand years ago can be so relevant to today's society).

The Ikigai Approach to YouTube

It made me realise, the same ancient philosophy can be applied to your YouTube channel.

Let me show you:

1) What do you love?

You have the ability to create videos about anything you want. That's the beauty of YouTube.

So why wouldn't you want to create videos about something you're passionate about?

You have to realise that when you become a YouTuber, you're committing to becoming a student of your craft every single day.

So, it's vital that what you talk about excites you.

It should fuel a burning fire inside you to want to keep learning and improving with every upload.

How do we find what we love?

By consciously analysing what we do on a daily basis.

Think about the recent YouTube videos you watched.

The last book you read.

The topics you can't stop thinking about.

That is what you love.

Why not build a YouTube channel around it?

2) What are you good at?

Discovering what you're good at starts with reflection.

Look at what people naturally seek your help with and what skills come easily to you.

Think about what you have accomplished in life.

Or even ask other people what your strengths are. Naturally, we don't recognise our own accomplishments in life.

We all have something.

But don't get dragged down by the common misconception that you have to be an expert.

You don't.

I’m not the best YouTube strategist in the world.

But I am ahead of where I was five years ago. That’s all that matters.

My job isn’t to be the best, it’s to help others get to where I am now.

In another five years time, I'll be able to teach people how to get from where I am now, to where I'll be then.

You have that too. There’s something you know that others don’t. Start there.

3) What does the world need?

There's a big mistake a lot of YouTubers are making:

You're creating whatever YOU want.

A lot of people seem to get upset when I say this.

The reality is, the viewer doesn't care about what videos you want to create.

They care about what videos they want to watch.

You need to find that intersect between what you love to create and what the viewer loves to watch.

Start by observing problems that frustrate you with the topic you love.

Because, if they frustrate you, most likely they frustrate your audience too.

This is also where you start researching your topic on YouTube. Look at what other YouTubers have created videos about.

• Are there questions they haven't answered?

• Can you answer questions better than they have?

• Can you package the videos better than them?

Your only goal should be to create value with every video.

4) What can you be paid for?

The final question. And probably the most important if you want this to be sustainable.

Most creators rely on AdSense and sponsors to make money. But here’s the problem:

• AdSense is unpredictable. If you depend on it, you’ll always be chasing trends, trying to go viral just to keep the money flowing. Eventually, you’ll burn out or end up making videos you don’t even enjoy.

• Sponsors control your content. You have to get approvals, follow their guidelines, and sometimes even compromise on what you really want to say. Personally, I'm not a fan.

The best way to make YouTube sustainable is by building something you own.

You can be paid for anything that provides value because people will always pay for solutions to their problems.

So ask yourself:

1) Who can you help the most?

2) What can you help them achieve?

3) Why should they care?

Your answers could lead to freelancing, launching a product, or creating a service around your content.

I’ll dive deeper into this in an upcoming newsletter.

The Chef Who Loves Anime

I want to introduce you to a creator who perfectly embodies the idea of building a YouTube channel around their "Ikigai."

His name is CHEFPK.

What does he love?

He loves anime and cooking.

What is he good at?

He's a fantastic chef.

What does the world need?

The world wants to see real-life adaptations of the food they see in their favourite TV shows, and how to make them. They are bored of the same old cooking shows.

What can he be paid for?

Selling high-quality cookbooks featuring recipes to recreate the meals from the viewer's favourite TV shows.

Now, it's your turn.

Once you’ve found your Ikigai, it’s time to start coming up with video ideas.

This is where most creators get stuck, wasting hours brainstorming without any direction.

That’s where I come in.

I’ll help you craft the perfect video ideas, titles, and thumbnail concepts, all centered around your Ikigai.

That means you can skip the stress of figuring out what to make next and focus on what you really love:

Producing amazing, high-quality videos.

If you're interested, you can check out 90-Day YouTube Accelerator here.

Thank you for reading.

Now, get creating.

See you next Sunday,

Rory.