Gaming Ramble Weekly

Hello! Thanks so much for taking the time to click on this post. I appreciate you stopping by and reading my ramblings, and my hope is that this week I’ll be talking about something that interests all of us. It’s definitely a more personal one from me this week, and while this blog has always been a great way for me to talk about the stuff that interests me, I was always going to leave room for it to be a more personal iteration of the Gaming Ramble Weekly idea. So if you’re on board, I want to talk about a personal ambition of mine this week, and some of the hurdles or stumbling blocks that currently slow or block my ability to reach this.

Where I’m from, Northern Ireland, there is a significant amount of stigma around people who put themselves out there on social media, and one thing I’ve noticed is that there are no huge gaming creators from here. Whether that’s in games journalism, or streaming, or other areas of the space, it just doesn’t exist. I suppose our accent and general voice tone just doesn’t lend itself to the creation space, but I do think that the social media stigma stops people from here really going for it and seeing what they can pull off.

Over the last three years or so, I’ve realised that the gaming industry is a genuine passion of mine, not just in playing games, but actually keeping up to date with the latest movements in the industry and understanding the impact of things for the gaming community as a whole. Now, I’d be the first to admit that I tend to go through “phases” of interest in things, and while this does apply to my gaming habits (my YouTube recommended currently is a scary amount of Elden Ring Randomizer content), it has not been like that for my interest in the industry. When I first started Gaming Ramble Weekly at the start of 2023, it was because I wanted to create a portfolio of work to try to pursue a career in games journalism, an idea that has continued to live in the back of my head. The idea of “what if?” is perhaps one of life’s biggest questions. And the answer? As Coldplay so brilliantly put it: “If you never try then you’ll never know…”.

When I first started Gaming Ramble Weekly…it was because I wanted to create a portfolio of work to try to pursue a career in games journalism

One of the biggest success stories in the streaming space recently has been that of the rise of Jynxzi, who after reaching 5 million followers on Twitch, made a very passionate speech about never giving up: “I streamed to one person every day for a year…and that was my Dad. And now look where I am chat. Never ever give up..” This did start a little bit of debate within the streaming community, where people shared their stories of how they’ve streamed for multiple years to audiences of below 10 people, and how easy it is to say “Never give up” when you do eventually make it. Ultimately, it’s about how much you put in, as well as some talent and a sprinkling of good fortune.

The point of all of that, is that sometimes I’ll have moments where I’ll read an article online and think to myself “I wish I was doing that”, and while writing this tonight, I have that strong desire to want to reach there. But life is probably the most difficult game of them all, and constantly things come up that either get in the way, or cause setbacks, or in some cases accelerate processes. I know for me, I’m juggling a job in financial services alongside planning a wedding with my brilliant fiancee (who will laugh because she has absolutely sorted much more than I have), as well as saving for a house. It’s tough to juggle all of these while also wanting to chase an ambition, but it’s days like today where I enjoy the idea of having a long-term goal.

TikTok really has shown me that consistency and a bit of hard work can lead to some good results. My goal with it has always been a bit of an experiment, and I wanted to reach 1000 followers by the end of the year, all purely organic with no ads or anything like that paid for. Today, I am just 9 followers away from reaching this goal in just a third of the time, and hope is that as I continue to grow that part of the Ramble Weekly portfolio, that it will create more of a platform for me to be able to put more engaging pieces of work out into the world.

So what is it I’m really trying to say? I guess this is a post for me to read whenever I feel discouraged, and a reminder that dreams are there to push ourselves out of our comfort zone. And not everything needs to fall into place immediately, but the only person who can try to make your dream a reality is you. If you have an ambition that you’re struggling with, type it into the comment box below and we can connect, maybe share some tips and help each other on this road to reaching where we’d like to get to!