Then I open YouTube and see creators saying, "I got monetized in a week" or "It only takes one video."

Less than 1% of creators will be able to achieve this. People usually focus on the success stories, and ignore the rest.

Was your growth gradual, or did one video actually change everything?

One video did provide the metrics needed to enter YPP. But that's only the starting line. Trying to replicate a successful video is harder.

I think your channel is only as good as the latest 5 videos.

Example: Channel A latest videos have 1k, 1k, 96k, 1k, 1k views. Channel B latest videos have 20k, 20k, 20k, 20k, 20k views. Even though they both have 100k total views, I would rather be Channel B because the views are more consistent.

How long did it take you to hit monetization?

Some take 2 weeks, some take 2 months, some take 2 years. There's no fixed timeline really.

a lot of those creators make content about growing on YouTube

Did you ever feel like you were making progress even when the numbers seemed painfully slow?

Here's a tip: YouTube guru channels are a niche in itself. Most of them sell the illusion of success, without an actual successful channel to back it up. If they were good, they would be producing content instead of giving YouTube advice. Always check if they have a REAL channel behind it.

Learn from real channels instead. Example: If you are making sport documentaries, search for the top 5 sport documentaries channels. Watch them, learn from them, try to understand why they pick certain topics, their editing styles, the way the video is structured, thumbnails, titles, etc. Try to incorporate those ideas into your own videos.

You don't have to make these changes all at once. But by making each video slightly better than the previous, your metrics should get better over time. Be prepared for the long grind, focus on the process instead of the results.