The Psychology Of YouTube Success | Michelle Khare

Michelle Khare (0:00)

I became the second person in the world to replicate Tom Cruise's stunt, hanging off the side of a military aircraft as it's taking off. No goggles, no helmets, no parachute.

Michael Gervais (0:10)

What separates people who get stuck after a setback from those who reinvent themselves and keep moving forward?

Michelle Khare (0:17)

I was working a day job as a video producer for another YouTube channel, and then moonlighting as a professional cyclist. I kind of got to this point where I felt like I had to choose between one or the other, and I didn't want to. So blending those two things together is where YouTube came about.

Michael Gervais (0:32)

Welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast, where we dive into the minds of the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I am your host, Dr. Michael Gervais. A high-performance psychologist named Michael Gervais. Who Pete Carroll brought in to work with the Seahawks. Famous for his work with Felix Baumgartner when he jumped out of space in the Stratos Project.

Michelle Khare (0:50)

Olympic athletes depend on something more than just training and talent.

SPEAKER_3 (0:53)

They have to stay mentally tough.

Michael Gervais (0:56)

Today's guest is Michelle Khare, creator and host of Challenge Accepted. The award-winning YouTube series where she trains with elite performers and athletes and professionals to take on some of the most demanding physical and mental challenges. Michelle doesn't just document fear. She studies it, she prepares for it, and then she meets it head on.

Michelle Khare (1:12)

The limiting beliefs and the negative self-talk, the anxiety. Those are all tools of information for what you are missing in order to be brave.

Michael Gervais (1:20)

We explore how Michelle has built a serious, sustainable business in the YouTube creator space. Without burning out.

Michelle Khare (1:26)

I really want to upend the understanding of what it means to make content online and challenge what that means. When they hear online content creator, I want them to think of the cool and incredible things that not only our team, but many teams on YouTube are doing. And it's very different from the stereotypical expectation you have from 10 years ago.

Michael Gervais (1:49)

This is the hard question. Are you ready?

Michelle Khare (1:51)

Challenge Accepted.

Michael Gervais (1:52)

What is one thing that you learned from working with Tom Cruise?

Michelle Khare (1:55)

At the end of our conversation, she shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and said...

Michael Gervais (2:01)

So with that, let's jump into this week's conversation with Michelle Khare.

Michelle Khare (2:10)

Michelle.

Michael Gervais (2:11)

Yes.

SPEAKER_3 (2:12)

Yes.

Michelle Khare (2:12)

It is on.

Michael Gervais (2:14)

What a fun jacket.

Michelle Khare (2:15)

Thank you.

SPEAKER_3 (2:16)

Yeah.

Michelle Khare (2:16)

Thank you so much. I mean, I wanted to give the visual watchers something interesting to look at. So if you're listening on Spotify only, be sure to turn the video on, right?

Michael Gervais (2:25)

Yeah, that's great.

Michelle Khare (2:26)

Okay.

Michael Gervais (2:27)

For folks that might not have appreciated what you've done to date, how do you describe in your own words what you do and how you're going about doing it? So can you just put in your own words like what you do?

Michelle Khare (2:43)

I host a show called Challenge Accepted, and it's all about me trying the world's toughest stunts and professions, which range from attending Secret Service Academy, to mastering Harry Houdini's Deadliest Magic Trick, to most recently, attempting Tom Cruise's stunt from Rogue Nation. Throughout the process, we make these in-depth documentaries about everything behind the scenes that happens.

My personal journey, the wins, the failures, and the successes.

Michael Gervais (3:11)

Well done. Can you give me an example of some of the stunts that you're doing and maybe paint a little picture for each one of them?

Michelle Khare (3:17)

Yeah, absolutely. So it all started by me writing all of my fears on a whiteboard and then connecting each fear to a potentially extreme circumstance where I could confront it head on. So a couple examples. To confront my fear of confrontation, I trained with an Olympic boxer for several months and then boxed in a sanctioned match in front of 15,000 people. To confront my fear of looking unintelligent, I studied with a chess grandmaster for 10 months to participate in a tournament livestream to 100,000 people. I have also attempted Harry Houdini's Deadliest Magic Trick, and most recently, I became the second person in the world to replicate Tom Cruise's stunt from Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, where, if you're unfamiliar, he is hanging off the side of a military aircraft as it's taking off. No goggles, no helmet, no parachute.