Happy New Year! Start your year off right with AWESOME COFFEE: awesomecoffeeclub.com Also, while I am taking it down a notch in the new year, I have taken on a new role as the unpaid social media intern for the Awesome Coffee Club. So far that is limited to tumblr, but I may start a tiktok soon. www.tumblr.com/sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog/ -John
Who’s ready for Hank’s response video on Friday where he announces his 7 new projects/ideas for the year and declares 2023 as the year of “going up all the notches”
I don't think that John is is exactly suffering from being high strung. Hank could afford to mellow out a bit and John could stand to take it up a notch
John's gentle smile at the end is so funny to me, as if he subtly acknowledges that his beloved brother is physically incapable of "taking it down a notch"
Good-oh Mr Rambo! Really brings it to perspective So many of these videos have brought perspective, and more, lightened my heart That good stuff builds up 😊
Thanks for that addendum at the end!As someone who regularly does work in hospitals, I was like “OH SHOOT. Guess I can’t afford to lower any notches!” 😂But also, I’d argue that YOUR work IS critically important and even HAS been life-saving for lots of folks. But a notch check is indeed a very good and healthy thing, and I completely support you in it! Thank goodness we don’t labor alone.
It's the hospital administrators who need to take it down a notch - reduce workloads, spread the work out over more staff, increase pay, increase paid time off, stop trying to run a hospital like a business, etc. Until they chill out, you're forced to run full tilt.
A good work motto for your sort of essential job may be "don't light yourself on fire to warm someone else". While the work is incredibly important, giving yourself burnout is definitely counterproductive by all metrics!
"things I choose to do routinely are still choices" -- things I WISH everyone knew about ADHD. Have I brushed my teeth every day (ish) since I was a child? Yes. Is it a habit? Absolutely not.
That is so true. I don't really have a night time routine, but rather things I know I have to do, and usually I end up doing them late, but I make the choice to do things anyway. I've had a hard time with doing dishes and remembering my physio exercises, but it's all a mental list.
I was absolutely thinking this. I wish I could take for granted that there are things I do every day. Also thank you for reminding me to brush my teeth.
@@joylox don't let it be a mental list, checkout the app Habitica, I struggled with all those "have to dos" until I put habitica's widget on my device home screen, right where I can see it. I only use the dailies tab (I ignore the rest of the app), and put stuff that I have to do in the rough order I do them in, and stuff like washing my clothes as 1 per week task. It highlights stuff I missed too many times in orange and red, that's how I know I missed exercise for example one too many times, so I try to stick to it more often in the future. I don't even have to think about it anymore, the list is the first thing I see when I wake up and the last I see before sleep, and when something shows up on today's list I just do it, if I don't do it (which happens somewhat often, I don't mind) I just move it to the next day until I do it. I never carry a mental list anymore, it's just makes me anxious and I almost always forget anyway and then remember at the worst times over and over.
Thanks to you I regularly say "Hey guys dont worry too much this isn't a hospital" at my student food service job and it has been a helpful reminder to us all to try our best but not get consumed by stress! Thanks John
That is my favorite thing to tell music students! No matter how bad you screw up in front of an audience, none of them will die, so in the end the stakes are pretty low.
I worked in fast food from the age of 16 to 23. I'm 42 and I still have stress dreams about it. Definitely keep reminding yourself it's not a hospital. Service times don't actually matter.
16 years - I still remember in my last year of high school when seeing people at a party with a Pizza John shirt was fairly normal. I'm only a semi-regular viewer these days (thanks algorithms and adulthood responsibilities) but it's really awesome to see how this community is still not just going, but surviving, especially when more grandiose and popular endeavours of a similar age are now resigned to history. DFTBA!
When he said that, I just imagined Hank's response video being a collage of him doing the 100+ things he does all week in a sped up version so it comes in under 4 minutes and he's a slight blur in every shot. Lol
This reminds me of when I used to work in theater, which can be a very high stress, fast paced environment. But I frequently worked with this one director who use to have to sayings that, when things got stressful, had two sayings, "We're not saving any lives here." and "If we're not having fun, we could be making a lot more money doing something else." Really took it down a notch when we needed it. Not something one usually associates with directors, but much appreciated.
I was 12 when you started Vlogbrothers, 13 when I read LFA for the first time, 15 when I was introduced to Vlogbrothers, 17 when I met you both at a TFiOS event, and now I’m 28 with an infant daughter. Basically, you’ve been around for the most significant chunk of my life. Happy 16th bday Vlogbrothers! 🎉
I’m definitely bringing this “take it down a notch” energy into this year. I’m in academia doing my PhD, so I very, very rarely deal with actual emergencies: having this mindset makes it much easier to deal with the pressure and culture of the academy.
I just love this 2023 “resolution.” I think I’ll adopt it too. As a person who suffers with both crippling anxiety *and* chronic, treatment-resistant clinical depression, I’ve spent most of 2016 to the present filled with shame, regret, anger, and worry about the future, my physical, mental, emotional, and my financial well-being, and the whole ordeal has me locked in a sort of paralyzed state of overwhelm. This “taking it down a notch” sounds like an opportunity to shed a handful of worries and opt out of pressuring myself to do it all! Thanks, brother!
I work in a hospital but actually agree with your principles: listening to one's own needs, knowing when to dial it back and having bucketes of self compassion is especially essential when working in a "critical" environment. It is also extremely difficult so having reminders like this video is very helpful - thank you.
"Am I worrying that the way people see me is more important than the way I am? Take it down a notch." Wow I needed to hear this. Thank you for the reminder!
That’s crazy, I’m 16 years old and it’s weird to think that you’ve been doing videos since I was two months old… I’ve only been watching you for around a year now.
It would've been super weird if you'd been watching them since you were two months old. I think this way of recently starting to watch them is better. Welcome to Nerdfighteria! 😊
Welcome! So pleased to have a fresh perspective ☺️ At 16, I highly recommend taking some notches up and some down. I'm 35 and I've learned life is all about choosing what you notch wisely, or with reckless abandon, throwing yourself into the hands of the fates and gravity
Time is weird! As someone who’s Hank’s age, I’ve started hearing about historical events that happened during my childhood and going “Did my parents even mention that to me? Would I have cared when I was 8 that this composer I would later adore was actually alive when I was alive?” or “that this hugely important moment for this country I didn’t know much about until recently was happening”? 😅 Enjoy all the weird wonderful stuff that keeps turning up, be it TH-cam channels as old as you, or a new best friend who is 30 when you’re 46 and you realize they were being born when you were 16.
The bit about stressing out hospital workers really got me 😂 I'm a paediatrician and have been dealing with a lot of stress at work and at home, and would love to take it down a notch, and have been trying to think of ways to do that and go back to the much calmer, more happy doctor I used to be. Not your fault at all John, I was just thinking it as you said it 😂
That is a lot of stress, I hope you can find an area where you can turn it down a notch. Even if it's something small like getting take away a little more often or using paper products so you don't have to cook and clean up as often. The (very short and digestible) book, How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis has been really helpful for me in finding ways to take it down a notch and be more compassionate with myself with things around the house. I also don't want to invalidate the very real stress and pressure you are under and the system of how healthcare workers are treated is so broken and difficult to survive in. Your work matters, and you matter. Your well-being matters and you deserve a break. Wishing you every available lower notch.
@littlelunanova May I please sneak into this conversation to thank you for the book recommendation? I need something like this. I can't work anywhere close to full time because of disability, so I'm at home while I find someone anyone please to accept a disabled part-time worker. That means I take on most of the keeping home, because I don't want to put that on my fiancé after he's worked 8 hours at a physically demanding job. It also means I burn myself out faster, because while I have more time at home, I have considerably less energy and physical ability, and basic chores are incredibly draining for me. Internalized ableism is fun. I'm working on it. I'll go hunt down a copy of How to Keep House while Drowning ASAP. Thanks.
The death of my father in the latter half of 2021 and getting diagnosed with cancer in 2022 forced me to take things down several notches and I can definitely attest to its benefits. For me though, I want to take 2023 up a couple of notches. Looking forward to where we both end up at the end.
ironically I'm watching this while taking a break from writing an essay which I'm already four days late on. I do agree with you though, in my teenage years I've been a slacker (read: depression made me procrastinate and have way less motivation and energy), so all through college I've been overcompensating by working as hard and as perfectly as I could, leading to a few burnouts and baby's first panic attack recently. I would take John Green telling me to be kinder to myself over my body shutting down any day.
I'm sorry things are so hard right now... As someone who went through a very similar breakdown in college a decade or so ago, please don't feel like you need to deal with this alone - you deserve love and support. You will get through this - I promise - but having some help will make getting back to okay a lot easier. Sending you all the love & hope for this year to be a bit better
I bombed out of the medical field at an even earlier stage (read: no school would have me) and the "you know what, no one's gonna die if the tone of this email is off" has been a small balm to me as well. That said, I started watching vlogbrothers around the same time I set my heart on medicine (mid-elementary school) and ended up doing two degrees in decidedly non-medical fields so we've all come full circle on this first Tuesday of 2023.
I learned this lesson working retail. People will never change their opinions or behaviors if you take an adversarial role. Give them a fact or two and move on. Getting mad accomplishes nothing and just adds stress. Once they are gone have a chuckle or two about it and go on to the next thing.
pleased to say that i went into this new year with the same mindset, take it down a notch, take in less responsabilities and commitments, and use my energy on things that should be more important like for example, taking care of my mental health. The world isnt gonna end, and no one is gonna knock on my door and arrest/kill me for taking on less stuff and "doing less", or taking some time to rest. We live in a society that always demands more and puts us in an unhealthy mode of operation. Its okay to do less.
happy birthday! I am soon to be 27 and started watching vlogbrothers when I was a young impressionable teen and I am so happy this is the corner of the internet that influenced my formative years
I can relate! I remember in 2009/2010 thinking I was "late" to join Nerdfighteria. And now here I am in my 30s, married to another Nerdfighter and loving every year of this community so so much. There's no way to know who I'd be without Hank and John's influence because they've been in the backdrop of so many formative years.
One thing that's helped me a lot in the goal of taking it down a notch is remembering that most people are self-absorbed enough that they don't really care about your success/appearance/that one embarrassing thing you said that one time. Remembering this has removed a lot of pressure that I used to feel to live up to people's perceived expectations. I'm happy to say that over the last few years I've gotten a lot better at taking it down a notch!
For a time my dad was an editor of newspaper that had been published daily for a similarly long time, and the knowledge of this unbroken streak had the opposite effect on him. The thought of ever being the person that caused it to break after all those years gave him a lot of stress. I’m definitely more on John’s side of that philosophy. Although it was a point of pride for my dad the world wouldn’t have ended if one day they hadn’t succeeded
Ahh, it makes me so happy to hear you reference my favorite poem!! For those unfamiliar, the line "I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled" is from The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, by TS Eliot. It is a long meandering poem about growing older, letting yourself make mistakes, and what happens when you do not, in fact, take it down a notch.
This is the video I needed today. Panic sobbing about wildly unreasonable deadlines. No one dies as a result of my missed deadlines. Take it down a notch. Great advice. Thanks, John. Here’s to 2023!
I've entered 2023 with similar feelings. 2021 I graduated college and got my first job, in 2022 I pushed myself and got promoted twice at said job on top of reading more books. MAN, I AM TIRED. Resolution this year is try to develop some chill.
My son turns 16 on Saturday and he has never known a time without vlogbrothers in it. While he has gone through many phases of viewership on TH-cam you and Hank have been a constant. He and I always look forward to your weekly videos when you choose to upload them. You guys are awesome.
I'm trying a New Year's intention this year instead of a resolution. Feels like less pressure. (Also my intention is to have better sleep hygiene which seems like a goal that takes life down a notch for sure.)
One of your best Vlogbrothers videos. This one immediately went into the 'John Green' playlist folder. Can't wait until your next vlog, no, wait a minute, yes I can! Take it down a notch, John, you deserve it!!
As someone who dropped out of medical school because I could not handle it, I would like to extend the sentiment of 'Thank you for that difficult work that I bombed out of so dramatically'.
I love this idea. As always, John you have the empathy with the world and had the courage to share something personal to improve not only your life, but others too. I hope you succeed in balance this year! I have gone from “11” to about “2” in the last decade due to being severely disabled, sick and exhausted. And honestly? Realising that quality time with my kids is more valuable than travelling the world, or spending dates with my husband instead of trying to fix everyone’s lives, has been SO healing mentally. I can enjoy living on volume 2, for a few decades I hope, and it will be magical.
I have come to terms that my doing things at 11 is not helping my ADHD or my chronic pain as well. Now that I finished my degree, I feel like I'm able to relax a bit, and it's been a huge help. I'm glad I'm in a financial position to do so, because it's so true. The pressure to be productive and successful is so damaging to what really matters.
I am a doctor who works in hospital as a rural family physician( delivered babies, works an office and does hospice) Thanks for the vote of encouragement, because I too need to take it down a notch. I’ve been working way more hours this last year and feel as though I needed a notch down and to channel the exact energy you are referring too. Thanks for this video.
It seems like the way CGP Grey uses "New Years Resolutions", by calling it "New Year Theme" instead. Like year of creativity, or year of health. Using broad terms that can be applied to many situations. And i think you're New Years Theme is great and maybe something i will consider in the future. This year my theme will be Structure, and i don't realy now what i mean by that yet. But i feel it's something I lack. Hope you and Hank have a great year, and thanks for all the thought-provoking and emotion-provoking videos and other stuff you two put out into the world! 🙂
Something along those lines was my only goal since around June 2021 and let me say it has been a HEALING 1.5yrs. I took a break from college, slowly reduced my social media use, and just focused on doing less for a bit bc I was so burnt out and exhausted. I've been finally back to challenging myself to start slowly taking it up a notch again and the stuff I'm doing feels SO much more fulfilling now. I'm very excited to hear this is your goal for 2023; it's been a really a transformative experience for me and I hope it is for you as well!
Happy new year! I haven’t been on this journey since the very beginning, I arrived somewhere in 2010, in an Era between Paper Towns and The Fault in our Stars…an interesting time when Hank was a musician and John was mostly an Author, and was distinctly not a coffee company. I am more than twice the age of Vlogbrothers (the channel, not the brothers), and my 9 year old recently showed me a tik-tok which featured a Hank Green sound, though no actual Hanks, and let me tell you, it was a *moment* for me. The next generation Nerdfighters are amount us! I am so happy I found you all when I did, and so glad I’ve gotten to grow up with you.
Guys, you all were there through my entire teenagehood, helped me grow with your advice and I am insanely grateful to be a part of nerdfighteria... So yeah, I kind of ignored that you all existed way longer than I am here. Like, I was 2 years old when this all started, now I have finished school and start adulting. Thank you all! You are a constant to hold on to while I am lost, which is honestly quite often :)
Congratulations on the continued success of this channel, and FYI my library could absolutely use BOTH another John AND another Hank Green book. You know, when you guys have time!! We love y'all, do what you can, and make sure you enjoy it 💯💖 You both put so much value into our world, thank you!!
I lost my job at the very beginning of this year, and I have a STRONG track record of holding myself to an impossibly high standard that just makes me feel like garbage, because where I think I ought to be is almost impossible. I definitely get to the point where I am preoccupied almost exclusively with the way people see me vs. how I see myself, or how I'd like to be. The sentiment "take it down a notch" was exactly what I needed to hear today. Thanks so much for posting it.
Now I who saw the title and immediately thought of “kick it up a notch” premiere villain song from starkid’s starship and was thrilled at the possibility that it would reach main stream fame! However this video is far more important to me and many others than that and I sincerely thank you for this message that helps us a lot.
Me and my friends were obsessed with Starkid about 5 years ago, and I've been reliving it recently by showing them to my bf 😄 so I thought of the song too!!
I'm an ER nurse and it's all about perspective. Whenever someone is complaining because it took too long to get to their needs (because you're helping someone more urgent), I always say in my head "... but, did you die???" in the voice of Chow from Hangover. It helps me keep a smile on my face and "take it down a notch".
Wow, I’ve been watching vlogbrothers for 14 years. I don’t even know where the time went, but vlogbrothers has been one of the most consistent threads throughout those 14 years, which I deeply appreciate. How weird it is to have known and followed people for so long, yet my identity remains just one of millions. Happy 16th birthday! 🎉
I appreciate this. Over the past ten years, I have had a chronic illness that has led me on a journey from 1. repeated cycles of trying to be “normal” but crashing and burning, through 2. a period where I was almost completely bedridden and searching for diagnosis and treatment, to finally 3. having some kind of stability again, through the magic of turning it down a notch. It has been possibly the hardest and most important life lesson I have ever learned (the other possibility being the lesson that people almost never act out of pure malice and almost always think they have a good reason for even the worst behavior), and yet people want to argue with me about it all the time.
Man, I feel this. When my nephew was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs last February, taking it down a notch became my thing for the latter half of 2022. In order to free up time to drop everything and fly to my sister's side at a moment's notice (we live way too far apart right now), I quit all the things I had volunteered to do because I was too polite to say no. And let me tell you, this taking it down a notch has relieved me of a lot of stress and I have so much more time for my family now, instead of having to, say, run a cub scout troop.
Thanks John, I was trying to ignore the fact there were people watching who were born after Brotherhood 2.0 started. Happy 2023. (For real though, here's to year 17! It's a comfort knowing it's still going after so long
My first professional job out of college was at a hospital but on the admin/research side. My boss was fond of saying "there's no such thing as a research emergency". That has provided quite helpful perspective in the jobs I've had since.
I began a practice in 2015… I only post what I’m for… because I noticed that I would furiously type stuff up and make myself angry. Sometimes it takes me days to sort through my anger to figure out what I am for… What moves us forward. I fail sometimes and, Sharon Salzburg says a lot, I start again.
It was great to hear this and I wish you the best of luck. I am actually doing that as well this year as years prior constantly working overtime 110 to 150 hours every two weeks. This year I am taking it down a notch with 83 hours every two weeks. I am so excited to have the extra hours and I'm practicing a lot of self-care.
I've appreciated watching you guys since waaaaay back. You're always both calm and motivating. Two traits I try to embody around everyone else as a result.
I'm so fucking glad you quoted the trowsers rolled line. "Take it down a notch" is my life motto, and that line is such a good example of how to do that. Yes, some stuff is important, but generally nothing is anywhere near as important as you think it is. Just settle down a minute first and ease into life.
“This library is almost complete it just needs one more John Green book” is a thought I have had, usually when a library did not carry all of your books. However, I understand it is not fair to demand more books of a person who has written several when I can’t even come up with an idea for one. Take it down a notch.
Man, I am definitely on that same trajectory. I'm learning now that sometimes the notch really needs to go down. I spent my 20s dialing up a lot of notches that did not need it, and I'm dedicating my 30s to figuring out when to dial it up and when to dial it back and then actually dialing in the correct direction.
Thank you John! I’m going to adopt this perspective for my year. I had a similar 2023 goal - to practice contentment. To sit and be grateful of what I have and proud of what I’m accomplishing and have faith that I can continue to grow without PUSHING MYSELF TO THE POINT OF BURNOUT, BEATING MYSELF UP, ALWAYS YEARNING FOR SOMETHING AND FEELING LIKE IT’S NEVER ENOUGH. It’s chilllll man. Take it down a notch. We’re doing great. 😌
You're Right John. I worked myself way too hard, trying to return to the physical shape i had, in 2014. In 2014, I crashed my car, intentionally into a tree, suicide attempt obviously. Thankfully, I did not succeed, tldr story. I beat the odds, all of them. Lasting injuries, Titanium stabilizer rod in left leg, had to learn to walk on left leg again, done that. Buuut... I was in Marathon running shape, I'm not exactly close to that now, i've made it far though. Take it down a notch, good choice.
I know exactly what you mean. I’m a nurse, and I am addicted to feeling stressed out and necessary, but I had a part time job for a while at a big box art supply store and every shift I was like “This is great, I mean sure the pay is laughable and customers occasionally yell at me but I get to sit on a step ladder and sort paint brushes for an hour and ultimately, nobody ever dies here!”
I've just started to work at the hospital as a junior doctor and I was so relieved when he started talking about taking things down a notch because I'm so stressed out I might hurt someone out of inexperience until he ended up putting even more pressure on healthcare workers 😂 😂 thanks John, you shouldn't have 🙈
It's good to know that one of the nicest people on the internet sometimes falls into the same traps I do. Let's raise a glass now to taking it down a notch in 2023!
In 2022 I fell in love with the band Rush. Your remark about choices reminds me of a beloved lyric- “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
Happy New Year! Start your year off right with AWESOME COFFEE: awesomecoffeeclub.com
Also, while I am taking it down a notch in the new year, I have taken on a new role as the unpaid social media intern for the Awesome Coffee Club. So far that is limited to tumblr, but I may start a tiktok soon. www.tumblr.com/sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog/
-John
twosday
It this a Happy Channel Birthday or is this a Happy Anniversary? Either way, CONGRATULATIONS! 🤗💕💕💕💕
Thoroughly Adequate New Year! (I'm takin' it down a notch too.)
You know what's great with coffee? Sitting by yourself in the woods at sunrise.
@@ThirdLawPair I've only, bearly just met you & you're _already_ spending my time this year? WoW, you're _really_ good! 😂😂😂😂
Who’s ready for Hank’s response video on Friday where he announces his 7 new projects/ideas for the year and declares 2023 as the year of “going up all the notches”
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I don't think that John is is exactly suffering from being high strung. Hank could afford to mellow out a bit and John could stand to take it up a notch
Bold of you to assume it won't be 24 Million Dollar Ideas by 2024 😂
It's notches all the way up.
@@themasstermwahahahah You seem to be ignoring the testament of John himself in favor your own very narrow view of his life.
John's gentle smile at the end is so funny to me, as if he subtly acknowledges that his beloved brother is physically incapable of "taking it down a notch"
16 years...that’s a lot of videos. As a new viewer I’m enjoying benefiting from your teenage years of experience
We're glad you're here!
Good-oh Mr Rambo! Really brings it to perspective
So many of these videos have brought perspective, and more, lightened my heart
That good stuff builds up 😊
And if you go by how some companies like to do it, they have a combined 32 years of experience making videos.
Kind of like when you meet a new friend as an adult. "Hooboy, glad I can benefit from your teenage experience, because adult you is cool."
Same!
That knowing smile at the end was SO FUCKING SWEET
Agree!
Immediately made me tear up? Am I okay, lmao. 2023 my year of aggressively unabashed sincerity
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Thanks for that addendum at the end!As someone who regularly does work in hospitals, I was like “OH SHOOT. Guess I can’t afford to lower any notches!” 😂But also, I’d argue that YOUR work IS critically important and even HAS been life-saving for lots of folks. But a notch check is indeed a very good and healthy thing, and I completely support you in it! Thank goodness we don’t labor alone.
It's the hospital administrators who need to take it down a notch - reduce workloads, spread the work out over more staff, increase pay, increase paid time off, stop trying to run a hospital like a business, etc. Until they chill out, you're forced to run full tilt.
"a notch check is indeed a very good and healthy thing" … Oh, I love the way you phrased that!
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A good work motto for your sort of essential job may be "don't light yourself on fire to warm someone else". While the work is incredibly important, giving yourself burnout is definitely counterproductive by all metrics!
"thank goodness we don't labor alone" is such a beautiful sentiment, thank you
"things I choose to do routinely are still choices" -- things I WISH everyone knew about ADHD. Have I brushed my teeth every day (ish) since I was a child? Yes. Is it a habit? Absolutely not.
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That is so true. I don't really have a night time routine, but rather things I know I have to do, and usually I end up doing them late, but I make the choice to do things anyway. I've had a hard time with doing dishes and remembering my physio exercises, but it's all a mental list.
big mood
I was absolutely thinking this. I wish I could take for granted that there are things I do every day. Also thank you for reminding me to brush my teeth.
@@joylox don't let it be a mental list, checkout the app Habitica, I struggled with all those "have to dos" until I put habitica's widget on my device home screen, right where I can see it. I only use the dailies tab (I ignore the rest of the app), and put stuff that I have to do in the rough order I do them in, and stuff like washing my clothes as 1 per week task. It highlights stuff I missed too many times in orange and red, that's how I know I missed exercise for example one too many times, so I try to stick to it more often in the future.
I don't even have to think about it anymore, the list is the first thing I see when I wake up and the last I see before sleep, and when something shows up on today's list I just do it, if I don't do it (which happens somewhat often, I don't mind) I just move it to the next day until I do it. I never carry a mental list anymore, it's just makes me anxious and I almost always forget anyway and then remember at the worst times over and over.
Thanks to you I regularly say "Hey guys dont worry too much this isn't a hospital" at my student food service job and it has been a helpful reminder to us all to try our best but not get consumed by stress! Thanks John
That is my favorite thing to tell music students! No matter how bad you screw up in front of an audience, none of them will die, so in the end the stakes are pretty low.
As a student working at a hospital, the stress is all consuming.
@InvalidBugBoy im sure it is. I hope that despite the importance of your work, you find ways to decompress. Your work is appreciated!
I worked in fast food from the age of 16 to 23. I'm 42 and I still have stress dreams about it. Definitely keep reminding yourself it's not a hospital. Service times don't actually matter.
I got food poisoning by student workers at the cafeteria 😂💀
Oh, if John only knew that he'd be "taking it down a notch" by becoming CEO of Hank's empire!
16 years - I still remember in my last year of high school when seeing people at a party with a Pizza John shirt was fairly normal. I'm only a semi-regular viewer these days (thanks algorithms and adulthood responsibilities) but it's really awesome to see how this community is still not just going, but surviving, especially when more grandiose and popular endeavours of a similar age are now resigned to history. DFTBA!
It just goes to show; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
DFTBA ... and if you want less algorithm and more of this, subscribing might help?
'unless you are busy'. Even keeping the option open that Hank is not ridiculously busy seems extreme
When he said that, I just imagined Hank's response video being a collage of him doing the 100+ things he does all week in a sped up version so it comes in under 4 minutes and he's a slight blur in every shot. Lol
Right?
This reminds me of when I used to work in theater, which can be a very high stress, fast paced environment. But I frequently worked with this one director who use to have to sayings that, when things got stressful, had two sayings, "We're not saving any lives here." and "If we're not having fun, we could be making a lot more money doing something else." Really took it down a notch when we needed it. Not something one usually associates with directors, but much appreciated.
Wild to think that the younger members of nerd fighteria have literal birthdays on days that vlogbrothers videos were uploaded.
For some reason, after all these years, watching John turn off the camera at the end of the video is so nostalgic and comforting
I was 12 when you started Vlogbrothers, 13 when I read LFA for the first time, 15 when I was introduced to Vlogbrothers, 17 when I met you both at a TFiOS event, and now I’m 28 with an infant daughter. Basically, you’ve been around for the most significant chunk of my life. Happy 16th bday Vlogbrothers! 🎉
I greatly GREATLY aspire to be so intense that I must one day set a goal of taking it down a notch
I’m definitely bringing this “take it down a notch” energy into this year. I’m in academia doing my PhD, so I very, very rarely deal with actual emergencies: having this mindset makes it much easier to deal with the pressure and culture of the academy.
I just love this 2023 “resolution.” I think I’ll adopt it too. As a person who suffers with both crippling anxiety *and* chronic, treatment-resistant clinical depression, I’ve spent most of 2016 to the present filled with shame, regret, anger, and worry about the future, my physical, mental, emotional, and my financial well-being, and the whole ordeal has me locked in a sort of paralyzed state of overwhelm. This “taking it down a notch” sounds like an opportunity to shed a handful of worries and opt out of pressuring myself to do it all! Thanks, brother!
I work in a hospital but actually agree with your principles: listening to one's own needs, knowing when to dial it back and having bucketes of self compassion is especially essential when working in a "critical" environment. It is also extremely difficult so having reminders like this video is very helpful - thank you.
"Am I worrying that the way people see me is more important than the way I am? Take it down a notch."
Wow I needed to hear this. Thank you for the reminder!
That’s crazy, I’m 16 years old and it’s weird to think that you’ve been doing videos since I was two months old… I’ve only been watching you for around a year now.
It would've been super weird if you'd been watching them since you were two months old. I think this way of recently starting to watch them is better. Welcome to Nerdfighteria! 😊
Welcome! So pleased to have a fresh perspective ☺️ At 16, I highly recommend taking some notches up and some down. I'm 35 and I've learned life is all about choosing what you notch wisely, or with reckless abandon, throwing yourself into the hands of the fates and gravity
Welcome! 🙂
Welcome and DFTBA!
Time is weird! As someone who’s Hank’s age, I’ve started hearing about historical events that happened during my childhood and going “Did my parents even mention that to me? Would I have cared when I was 8 that this composer I would later adore was actually alive when I was alive?” or “that this hugely important moment for this country I didn’t know much about until recently was happening”? 😅 Enjoy all the weird wonderful stuff that keeps turning up, be it TH-cam channels as old as you, or a new best friend who is 30 when you’re 46 and you realize they were being born when you were 16.
2:47 That's EXACTLY what I think when I walk into a library though... you're my favourite author
The bit about stressing out hospital workers really got me 😂 I'm a paediatrician and have been dealing with a lot of stress at work and at home, and would love to take it down a notch, and have been trying to think of ways to do that and go back to the much calmer, more happy doctor I used to be. Not your fault at all John, I was just thinking it as you said it 😂
That is a lot of stress, I hope you can find an area where you can turn it down a notch. Even if it's something small like getting take away a little more often or using paper products so you don't have to cook and clean up as often. The (very short and digestible) book, How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis has been really helpful for me in finding ways to take it down a notch and be more compassionate with myself with things around the house.
I also don't want to invalidate the very real stress and pressure you are under and the system of how healthcare workers are treated is so broken and difficult to survive in. Your work matters, and you matter. Your well-being matters and you deserve a break. Wishing you every available lower notch.
@littlelunanova
May I please sneak into this conversation to thank you for the book recommendation? I need something like this.
I can't work anywhere close to full time because of disability, so I'm at home while I find someone anyone please to accept a disabled part-time worker. That means I take on most of the keeping home, because I don't want to put that on my fiancé after he's worked 8 hours at a physically demanding job. It also means I burn myself out faster, because while I have more time at home, I have considerably less energy and physical ability, and basic chores are incredibly draining for me.
Internalized ableism is fun. I'm working on it.
I'll go hunt down a copy of How to Keep House while Drowning ASAP. Thanks.
The death of my father in the latter half of 2021 and getting diagnosed with cancer in 2022 forced me to take things down several notches and I can definitely attest to its benefits. For me though, I want to take 2023 up a couple of notches. Looking forward to where we both end up at the end.
ironically I'm watching this while taking a break from writing an essay which I'm already four days late on. I do agree with you though, in my teenage years I've been a slacker (read: depression made me procrastinate and have way less motivation and energy), so all through college I've been overcompensating by working as hard and as perfectly as I could, leading to a few burnouts and baby's first panic attack recently. I would take John Green telling me to be kinder to myself over my body shutting down any day.
I'm sorry things are so hard right now... As someone who went through a very similar breakdown in college a decade or so ago, please don't feel like you need to deal with this alone - you deserve love and support. You will get through this - I promise - but having some help will make getting back to okay a lot easier. Sending you all the love & hope for this year to be a bit better
I bombed out of the medical field at an even earlier stage (read: no school would have me) and the "you know what, no one's gonna die if the tone of this email is off" has been a small balm to me as well. That said, I started watching vlogbrothers around the same time I set my heart on medicine (mid-elementary school) and ended up doing two degrees in decidedly non-medical fields so we've all come full circle on this first Tuesday of 2023.
I’m in the same boat, John. I’ve been climbing so hard the past couple decades and now I just want to enjoy the view.
I learned this lesson working retail. People will never change their opinions or behaviors if you take an adversarial role. Give them a fact or two and move on. Getting mad accomplishes nothing and just adds stress. Once they are gone have a chuckle or two about it and go on to the next thing.
I just realized I am as old right now as John was when he first started vlogbrothers. That kind of blows my mind but also inspires me at the same time
pleased to say that i went into this new year with the same mindset, take it down a notch, take in less responsabilities and commitments, and use my energy on things that should be more important like for example, taking care of my mental health. The world isnt gonna end, and no one is gonna knock on my door and arrest/kill me for taking on less stuff and "doing less", or taking some time to rest. We live in a society that always demands more and puts us in an unhealthy mode of operation. Its okay to do less.
happy birthday! I am soon to be 27 and started watching vlogbrothers when I was a young impressionable teen and I am so happy this is the corner of the internet that influenced my formative years
++
I can relate! I remember in 2009/2010 thinking I was "late" to join Nerdfighteria. And now here I am in my 30s, married to another Nerdfighter and loving every year of this community so so much. There's no way to know who I'd be without Hank and John's influence because they've been in the backdrop of so many formative years.
One thing that's helped me a lot in the goal of taking it down a notch is remembering that most people are self-absorbed enough that they don't really care about your success/appearance/that one embarrassing thing you said that one time. Remembering this has removed a lot of pressure that I used to feel to live up to people's perceived expectations.
I'm happy to say that over the last few years I've gotten a lot better at taking it down a notch!
Vlogbrothers still has to pass a driving test, and I'm not convinced that Vlogbrothers's parallel parking skills are road-ready.
+++
Yeah, not unless openAI has gotten a lot better than I think it has, lol
Especially not on hills with a soft shoulder. No one is every ready for that.
Wonder if Vlogbrothers can reverse around a corner, or do a hill-start well yet?
Vlogbrothers is having no problem with roundabouts, though.
I was three when you started this channel! wow, happy anniversary vlogbrothers! I’m happy to be a new part of this community.
For a time my dad was an editor of newspaper that had been published daily for a similarly long time, and the knowledge of this unbroken streak had the opposite effect on him. The thought of ever being the person that caused it to break after all those years gave him a lot of stress. I’m definitely more on John’s side of that philosophy. Although it was a point of pride for my dad the world wouldn’t have ended if one day they hadn’t succeeded
16 years. Thanks for keeping this going.
+ ;v;
Ahh, it makes me so happy to hear you reference my favorite poem!! For those unfamiliar, the line "I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled" is from The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, by TS Eliot. It is a long meandering poem about growing older, letting yourself make mistakes, and what happens when you do not, in fact, take it down a notch.
That smile at the end was just so... peaceful. John really is taking it down a notch from the beggining, and that is so great to see
This is the video I needed today. Panic sobbing about wildly unreasonable deadlines. No one dies as a result of my missed deadlines. Take it down a notch. Great advice. Thanks, John. Here’s to 2023!
Keeping the smile during the camera turn-off was a good editing choice.
I've entered 2023 with similar feelings. 2021 I graduated college and got my first job, in 2022 I pushed myself and got promoted twice at said job on top of reading more books. MAN, I AM TIRED. Resolution this year is try to develop some chill.
These videos really help me feel better about myself, and know it's okay to be only okay.
My son turns 16 on Saturday and he has never known a time without vlogbrothers in it. While he has gone through many phases of viewership on TH-cam you and Hank have been a constant. He and I always look forward to your weekly videos when you choose to upload them. You guys are awesome.
I was not planning any specific new year resolutions for this year... does that count as taking it down a notch in itself?
I'm trying a New Year's intention this year instead of a resolution. Feels like less pressure. (Also my intention is to have better sleep hygiene which seems like a goal that takes life down a notch for sure.)
Sounds good.
One of your best Vlogbrothers videos. This one immediately went into the 'John Green' playlist folder. Can't wait until your next vlog, no, wait a minute, yes I can! Take it down a notch, John, you deserve it!!
Anyone else donating a John Green book to their local library tomorrow and letting them, jokingly, know their work is now complete? Yep. Me too!
Ahahahhaha I love this.
@@untappedinkwell I’m trying to think of the equivalent thing to do for my local bookseller. 😆
As someone who dropped out of medical school because I could not handle it, I would like to extend the sentiment of 'Thank you for that difficult work that I bombed out of so dramatically'.
I love this idea. As always, John you have the empathy with the world and had the courage to share something personal to improve not only your life, but others too. I hope you succeed in balance this year!
I have gone from “11” to about “2” in the last decade due to being severely disabled, sick and exhausted. And honestly? Realising that quality time with my kids is more valuable than travelling the world, or spending dates with my husband instead of trying to fix everyone’s lives, has been SO healing mentally.
I can enjoy living on volume 2, for a few decades I hope, and it will be magical.
I have come to terms that my doing things at 11 is not helping my ADHD or my chronic pain as well. Now that I finished my degree, I feel like I'm able to relax a bit, and it's been a huge help. I'm glad I'm in a financial position to do so, because it's so true. The pressure to be productive and successful is so damaging to what really matters.
I am a doctor who works in hospital as a rural family physician( delivered babies, works an office and does hospice) Thanks for the vote of encouragement, because I too need to take it down a notch. I’ve been working way more hours this last year and feel as though I needed a notch down and to channel the exact energy you are referring too.
Thanks for this video.
It seems like the way CGP Grey uses "New Years Resolutions", by calling it "New Year Theme" instead. Like year of creativity, or year of health. Using broad terms that can be applied to many situations. And i think you're New Years Theme is great and maybe something i will consider in the future.
This year my theme will be Structure, and i don't realy now what i mean by that yet. But i feel it's something I lack.
Hope you and Hank have a great year, and thanks for all the thought-provoking and emotion-provoking videos and other stuff you two put out into the world! 🙂
Well, you know how to clarify a theme?… Add parentheses!
I had the same thought, though I think of it as a "year of rhythm". I want to get a good rhythm going, figure out a routine for my life.
Year of the rabbit. 🐇
I love this idea!
Something along those lines was my only goal since around June 2021 and let me say it has been a HEALING 1.5yrs. I took a break from college, slowly reduced my social media use, and just focused on doing less for a bit bc I was so burnt out and exhausted. I've been finally back to challenging myself to start slowly taking it up a notch again and the stuff I'm doing feels SO much more fulfilling now. I'm very excited to hear this is your goal for 2023; it's been a really a transformative experience for me and I hope it is for you as well!
16 years of loving the fact John can always pull a relevant poetry quote.
Happy new year! I haven’t been on this journey since the very beginning, I arrived somewhere in 2010, in an Era between Paper Towns and The Fault in our Stars…an interesting time when Hank was a musician and John was mostly an Author, and was distinctly not a coffee company. I am more than twice the age of Vlogbrothers (the channel, not the brothers), and my 9 year old recently showed me a tik-tok which featured a Hank Green sound, though no actual Hanks, and let me tell you, it was a *moment* for me. The next generation Nerdfighters are amount us! I am so happy I found you all when I did, and so glad I’ve gotten to grow up with you.
Guys, you all were there through my entire teenagehood, helped me grow with your advice and I am insanely grateful to be a part of nerdfighteria... So yeah, I kind of ignored that you all existed way longer than I am here. Like, I was 2 years old when this all started, now I have finished school and start adulting. Thank you all! You are a constant to hold on to while I am lost, which is honestly quite often :)
Perfect ending. No need to finish editing. No lives were lost when we see you turn the camera off.
Congratulations on the continued success of this channel, and FYI my library could absolutely use BOTH another John AND another Hank Green book. You know, when you guys have time!! We love y'all, do what you can, and make sure you enjoy it 💯💖 You both put so much value into our world, thank you!!
Man, I appreciate you John. Good luck taking it down a notch this year.
16 years! Wow.
"Take it down a notch" is the life advice I needed to hear today. I suspect many of us needed this message. ❤️
I’ve been watching these vid FOR HOW LONG??? I’m about to cry at work
As soon as John said "I grow old, I grow old", I joined in for the rest of the line at full volume, alone in my kitchen 😂
I lost my job at the very beginning of this year, and I have a STRONG track record of holding myself to an impossibly high standard that just makes me feel like garbage, because where I think I ought to be is almost impossible. I definitely get to the point where I am preoccupied almost exclusively with the way people see me vs. how I see myself, or how I'd like to be.
The sentiment "take it down a notch" was exactly what I needed to hear today. Thanks so much for posting it.
Now I who saw the title and immediately thought of “kick it up a notch” premiere villain song from starkid’s starship and was thrilled at the possibility that it would reach main stream fame! However this video is far more important to me and many others than that and I sincerely thank you for this message that helps us a lot.
👋 Hello fellow Starkid fan, just wanted to say that my brain went there too 😂
Me and my friends were obsessed with Starkid about 5 years ago, and I've been reliving it recently by showing them to my bf 😄 so I thought of the song too!!
I thought this was just me 😂 it got stuck in my head after reading the title
I'm an ER nurse and it's all about perspective. Whenever someone is complaining because it took too long to get to their needs (because you're helping someone more urgent), I always say in my head "... but, did you die???" in the voice of Chow from Hangover. It helps me keep a smile on my face and "take it down a notch".
Love that smirk close to the end.
I frequently tell myself "it's PR not the ER" and I think I'm swapping to "Take It Down A Notch" this year
Wow, I’ve been watching vlogbrothers for 14 years. I don’t even know where the time went, but vlogbrothers has been one of the most consistent threads throughout those 14 years, which I deeply appreciate. How weird it is to have known and followed people for so long, yet my identity remains just one of millions. Happy 16th birthday! 🎉
I appreciate this. Over the past ten years, I have had a chronic illness that has led me on a journey from 1. repeated cycles of trying to be “normal” but crashing and burning, through 2. a period where I was almost completely bedridden and searching for diagnosis and treatment, to finally 3. having some kind of stability again, through the magic of turning it down a notch. It has been possibly the hardest and most important life lesson I have ever learned (the other possibility being the lesson that people almost never act out of pure malice and almost always think they have a good reason for even the worst behavior), and yet people want to argue with me about it all the time.
I love the deep, wise context you have been bringing lately, John.
Man, I feel this. When my nephew was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs last February, taking it down a notch became my thing for the latter half of 2022. In order to free up time to drop everything and fly to my sister's side at a moment's notice (we live way too far apart right now), I quit all the things I had volunteered to do because I was too polite to say no. And let me tell you, this taking it down a notch has relieved me of a lot of stress and I have so much more time for my family now, instead of having to, say, run a cub scout troop.
Thanks John, I was trying to ignore the fact there were people watching who were born after Brotherhood 2.0 started. Happy 2023.
(For real though, here's to year 17! It's a comfort knowing it's still going after so long
oh…
I really need John in my ear whispering ‘just take it down a notch’ in a hippyish voice whenever I get too stressed.
Watching vlogbrothers every Wednesday and Saturday (because timezone) has become a habit and how I know what day of the week it is
My first professional job out of college was at a hospital but on the admin/research side. My boss was fond of saying "there's no such thing as a research emergency". That has provided quite helpful perspective in the jobs I've had since.
NO WAY HAPPY SIXTEENTH
Can't wait to get my license!
I began a practice in 2015… I only post what I’m for… because I noticed that I would furiously type stuff up and make myself angry. Sometimes it takes me days to sort through my anger to figure out what I am for… What moves us forward. I fail sometimes and, Sharon Salzburg says a lot, I start again.
Vlogbrothers was the first channel on TH-cam ever I subscribed to, and that was about fourteen years ago. My life has been better for it.
It was great to hear this and I wish you the best of luck. I am actually doing that as well this year as years prior constantly working overtime 110 to 150 hours every two weeks. This year I am taking it down a notch with 83 hours every two weeks. I am so excited to have the extra hours and I'm practicing a lot of self-care.
Happy birthday, vlogbrothers! So grateful this project has survived well into its teen years XD
Hi from med school John! Hope your 2023 is chill and down at least one notch.
I've appreciated watching you guys since waaaaay back. You're always both calm and motivating. Two traits I try to embody around everyone else as a result.
I was born the same day vlogbrothers started, and I did indeed get my license today. I love growing up with this channel :)
As a fellow chronic notch raiser, I feel this.
I'm 32. That means vlogbrothers as a channel has existed for half of my life.
That's crazy.
happy birthday Vlogbrothers!
I'm so fucking glad you quoted the trowsers rolled line. "Take it down a notch" is my life motto, and that line is such a good example of how to do that. Yes, some stuff is important, but generally nothing is anywhere near as important as you think it is. Just settle down a minute first and ease into life.
“This library is almost complete it just needs one more John Green book” is a thought I have had, usually when a library did not carry all of your books. However, I understand it is not fair to demand more books of a person who has written several when I can’t even come up with an idea for one. Take it down a notch.
Man, I am definitely on that same trajectory. I'm learning now that sometimes the notch really needs to go down. I spent my 20s dialing up a lot of notches that did not need it, and I'm dedicating my 30s to figuring out when to dial it up and when to dial it back and then actually dialing in the correct direction.
Thank you. I will try to emulate some of that energy going into this year.
Also, happy New Year everybody.
Thank you John! I’m going to adopt this perspective for my year. I had a similar 2023 goal - to practice contentment. To sit and be grateful of what I have and proud of what I’m accomplishing and have faith that I can continue to grow without PUSHING MYSELF TO THE POINT OF BURNOUT, BEATING MYSELF UP, ALWAYS YEARNING FOR SOMETHING AND FEELING LIKE IT’S NEVER ENOUGH. It’s chilllll man. Take it down a notch. We’re doing great. 😌
i grow old, i grow old, i wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled
3:00 yep…. This is precisely what I needed to be reminded of
You're Right John.
I worked myself way too hard, trying to return to the physical shape i had, in 2014.
In 2014, I crashed my car, intentionally into a tree, suicide attempt obviously.
Thankfully, I did not succeed, tldr story.
I beat the odds, all of them.
Lasting injuries, Titanium stabilizer rod in left leg, had to learn to walk on left leg again, done that.
Buuut... I was in Marathon running shape, I'm not exactly close to that now, i've made it far though.
Take it down a notch, good choice.
I'm glad you're still here.
Happy you’re here. Wishing you a gentle, joyful year.
I know exactly what you mean. I’m a nurse, and I am addicted to feeling stressed out and necessary, but I had a part time job for a while at a big box art supply store and every shift I was like “This is great, I mean sure the pay is laughable and customers occasionally yell at me but I get to sit on a step ladder and sort paint brushes for an hour and ultimately, nobody ever dies here!”
I've just started to work at the hospital as a junior doctor and I was so relieved when he started talking about taking things down a notch because I'm so stressed out I might hurt someone out of inexperience until he ended up putting even more pressure on healthcare workers 😂 😂 thanks John, you shouldn't have 🙈
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast Doc. You've got this.
Watching this while on break, at work, in a hospital. And I’ve gotta saw I appreciated the little carve out for people like me
I’m 32 and I started watching right when you started. Here’s to watching vlogbrothers for half my life :)
I have been waiting 16 years for a vlogbrothers video with a Spinal Tap reference!!!
It's good to know that one of the nicest people on the internet sometimes falls into the same traps I do. Let's raise a glass now to taking it down a notch in 2023!
LOL, I guess I'm a first-name-bunch-a-numbers too. Aw.
You're a good person, John.
In 2022 I fell in love with the band Rush. Your remark about choices reminds me of a beloved lyric- “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”