Hello friends! Max is with you, and welcome to the “Russian with Max” channel. This is a channel for those who study or are learning Russian.
This is the last video in two thousand and twenty-four. And, as usual, as usual, at the end of the year (and now the end of December) I want to record a video with the results of the year. Talk about the results of 2024, reflect, reflect.
And in this video I will tell you about my professional results, yes, about the “Russian with Max” project. I’ll tell you what worked, what didn’t, and what I would like next year. By the way, I already had a podcast where I talked about professional results and personal results.
You know, I now live in Argentina, now I am in Buenos Aires, and if you want to listen in more detail about the results and especially about my personal results, then listen to the podcast. There will be a link below in the description. Well, now let's talk about professional results.
December looks great in Argentina, doesn't it? Very cool, everything looks very cool around. Well, on the one hand it’s cool, on the other hand, I’m, of course, used to seeing December differently – when there’s snow, New Year’s decorations, when everything is a little different.
But everywhere has its pros and cons. And of course, overall I enjoy the sun. It's not that hot yet.
December is a month of moderate weather, moderate temperatures, not hot, not cold, overall beautiful. And at the beginning I would like to talk a little about the difference between a podcast and a video. In fact, now it is not entirely clear what is a podcast and what is a video.
Actually, a podcast. . .
because I have both a podcast and a YouTube channel, and these are different things. In general, a podcast is an audio format, it is an audio format when you record audio, and people can listen to a podcast in different applications: Apple podcasts, I don’t know, does Google podcasts exist there yet or not? And so on, yes.
Spotify, of course. Or some applications like Podcast Addict or something else. And the YouTube channel, well, it’s a YouTube channel where I post videos.
And often people confuse my videos with podcasts. People write in the comments: “Max. .
. ” In the comments on YouTube, people write: “Max, great podcast, thank you! ” But this is not a podcast.
And confusion. . .
the good word is “confusion. ” The confusion happens because many content creators post their podcasts on YouTube, in video format and call it podcasts, so there is a little confusion. But in general, here is the information on where to find my podcast.
Well, you already know where to find a YouTube channel, since you watch my video. This is what I wanted to say at the beginning. Let’s now take a little walk around Saavedra Park, this is Saavedra Park in Buenos Aires, and talk about my professional results, about the results of the “Russian with Max” project.
I said, “Let’s take a walk,” and I immediately sat down and am sitting now. Well, okay, first I’ll sit, and then we’ll definitely take a walk. I'll start with the bad, the bad.
I'll start with what I don't like. What am I dissatisfied with, what am I dissatisfied with. What am I dissatisfied with in a professional sense, yes, in terms of the project.
Two things. First thing: I am unhappy that I was not able to implement some projects within my project. So I wasn't able to do any of the extra stuff that I really wanted to do.
Let me give you an example: for several months now I have been trying to make an audio course about famous Russian writers. This will be a course for approximately B1 level students, and the course will talk about the biography and interesting facts of Russian writers. And all this, of course, will be in understandable Russian, which is called comprehensible, yes, that is, it will be understandable for B1 level students.
And it will be interesting! And the course turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. That is, making the course turned out to be much more difficult.
Therefore, for many months now I have been redoing something, changing something, trying to somehow find some new solutions, find some new, new. . .
Birds. Find some new thoughts to implement them. Here.
But everything is going very slowly, and I haven’t been able to complete this course yet. But I really hope that next year I will still do it. And I had other thoughts, other ideas, and, unfortunately, I was not able to implement them either.
Here. I consider this, well, how to say, a negative thing. That is, this is what I don’t like, this is what I am dissatisfied with.
This is the first thing. The second thing is burnout. Burnout.
Yes. Unfortunately, in two thousand twenty-four I was unable to maintain this work-life balance, yes, the balance of life and work. And at the end of the year I experienced burnout.
I mean, I'm just. . .
I tried to record podcasts, I tried to film something, but I had absolute apathy, complete burnout, and I just couldn’t, I couldn’t write or film something. By the way, this is the first video I'm recording this month. Because, well, it was really difficult.
For a year and a half, a year and a half, I worked without a normal vacation, without actually resting, and as a result, this burnout happened. This is bad. Well, I think it's bad because I couldn't organize a vacation for myself.
I couldn't organize a vacation for myself. And this is a mistake. This is a mistake that should not be made.
But for many reasons this happened, and this is what I will work on next year. I will try to find this balance and still rest so that this burnout does not happen. Because it’s better to have a completely normal rest for two weeks and then continue your work than to fall into apathy and despondency.
Another good word is despondency. This, by the way, in my opinion, is a mortal sin in general, if I’m not mistaken. It’s better to rest than to stop working altogether, to stop functioning for a whole month.
Now, this is the second negative thing. And at the beginning, at the beginning, when I was planning this video, I thought: “Damn, what’s good and positive? What are the positive results of the year?
I got burnt out and didn't do anything I wanted to do. What's even good? What's positive?
But, as always, you just need to look more closely and you will see, you will see those nice, good, positive things. What are they? Let's talk about this.
What good happened in two thousand and twenty-four professionally? In fact, the main good thing is if. .
. if you look closely, that is, if you look carefully. If you look closely, what good happened?
Firstly, the main good news and the main achievement is that I am continuing this project. Actually, yes. Just continue to do what you are doing and receive feedback from you.
. . And you write comments to me, I regularly receive letters about how students receive Russian language certificates, how they find work, how they.
. . I don’t know.
In general, when I receive letters about your successes, I get a huge dose of inspiration, and I understand that I am doing something right. And just continuing what I’m doing is already, I think, great, this is already an achievement. Because, well, look: every week, well, almost every week I made a video, I released a podcast.
. . If you haven’t subscribed to my podcast yet, then be sure to subscribe.
There will be a link where you can listen to the podcast, for example, on my website or in any application, on any platform. So, every week there is a video, a podcast, then additional materials for our membership program. There are a lot of useful materials for each podcast, there are transcriptions for videos, for podcasts, and so on.
That is, all this is actually, well, quite a big job. And if you look closely, if you look closely, it’s already cool. This is already cool.
Well, as a result, in two thousand and twenty-four, my YouTube channel reached one hundred thousand subscribers. One hundred thousand people, friends, one hundred thousand! One hundred thousand people!
It’s actually, well, it’s hard to imagine! This is a huge number, it seems to me, of people, just a huge number, who watch me. Therefore this is the result.
This is the result. This is the result. This is a positive, great result, this is an achievement.
I am absolutely sure of this. And I want to thank you, friends, for watching my videos, for liking and commenting. I rarely respond to comments, but I read almost all comments.
Sometimes, of course, my head just swells from this. But for me it is important to read what you write. Let's talk about my plans for 2025.
In fact, my plans for '25 are. . .
is to try not to make the mistakes that I made in '24. What mistakes do I want to avoid? First of all, don’t put yourself in a state of burnout, right?
Do not bring yourself to a state of burnout, that is, do not allow yourself to burn out. Trying to rest, trying to find that balance of work and, well, life. Moreover, I live in another country and have a small child.
Damn, well, life is not the easiest thing at all, you are constantly exposed to various tests. Yes, being tested is a good phrase. You are constantly subjecting.
. . each of us is subjected to different tests in life.
And. . .
What can I say? Sometimes it can be difficult to deal with problems. But what to do?
You have to try. Nobody said it was easy! It's such a cliché.
We so often say: “But no one said, no one promised that it would be easy. ” Or: “Nobody said it would be easy. ” Indeed, no one promised me that life would be such, you know, a pleasure, when you are simply constantly in a state of efficiency, yes, such super efficiency, you will constantly have an excellent balance of life and work.
No! All this needs to be created with these hands. It's all work, it's all work.
But we will work, we will work. I definitely want, friends, to make some new materials. I'm interested in this myself.
I want to make a course about Russian writers, the course should be cool. I really want to do it, and do something else in '25, something new, something interesting, something unusual. Here.
These are my. . .
these are my plans. In fact, globally, that’s all I’m planning for now. Let's see if I succeed or not.
But, friends, an important point: write, what would you like from Max in 1925? What would you like to see and hear from Max in 1925? Maybe you have some interesting ideas?
Write to me please. Leave a comment. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
May all your wishes come true in the New Year, may all the goals you set be achieved. May you achieve all the goals you set. Well, see you later, see you in 2025, friends!
Bye!
