For context, Aris is a loooong-time antiwork guy, if you were to ask him, based on just everything I know about the guy. He did bullshit work too. He also was big into fighting games and I watched him do Soul Calibur 2 stuff and now he still commentates Tekken but basically, here's the deal- he identified what he is good at, and he got better at it, until he could start getting paid to do it. I'm a little older than Aris myself. We're both older millennials. We both don't give a fuck and will tell it to you straight because we watched the internet explode and we saw how fast new markets can pop up for jobs you had no idea would exist when you were a kid.
Here's Aris' part:
Edit: I have spoilered the link because I don't know a better way to NWS it but I figure I should say you know, there's cursing and stuff, you know, dude is a gaming streamer
>! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AvKfYf40To !<
Here's my part on top of that. If you are reading this right now and you are a teen, I'm telling you this advice and saying “my age” not because of some extra wisdom my age gives me, but because it factors into a specific point. When I was a kid, I wanted to write for EGM or Gamepro. I wanted to review video games, back when I was 13, in 1996. I am 39. Aris and I could never have dreamed that there would be a platform like twitch where people would tip grumpy old fucks like us just to say whatever we feel like and play games for your entertainment like a trained seal.
What I'm saying is, take the advice and find out what it is you actually like to do and get good at it. The “follow your dream” idea isn't just some spiritual thing, it makes sense. You are representative of your age cohort, so the interests of people at your age now, in your teens, will be reflected in the interests of the people of the same age, in your twenties. They are the same people. As you grow older, you will find that the things that are enjoyed among your generation will be remembered, and if you can turn something into a craft, then you've got a market. Get genuinely good at it because the market doesn't have to look like it exists now. You will need to adapt to the market anyway, and you will not know what's coming. The only thing you can actually stay steady with is what you like doing. You might not be able to start off doing it for money, but boring people pay through the nose for the work of highly skilled creatives.