This is it, the last blog of 2017. I was trying to figure out what to write about and I thought I would write about motivation. Not just in life, but in light. How do we stay motivated in this industry, and how do we make our light motivated.
Let's start with life, which is a pretty heavy subject, but I have been really faced with it in the last couple of weeks as we welcomed our newest addition into the world. If you know you me, you know how much I love being a dad, and how important it is to me. My kids are a great motivation to do well in my career, I don't want them to go hungry or not have a roof over their heads, but that's not really what I am talking about. I am a motivated person, but there is a line that I struggle with between motivation, working too much and depression. That might sound weird so let me explain. I think most creatives struggle with depression of some kind, what we do is personal, it's hard to show people a part of ourselves and hear someone say they don't like it. Even more than that, it's hard when feel like it's never enough. I sit with my kids and I feel bad that I am not trying to provide more, I start working more and I feel bad because I am not spending time with my family. Where's the line? What is work/life balance? Let me be the first to say that I don't have great answers to these questions, but I have some thoughts...which is why I have a blog ;)
First of all to you dad's (and mom's) that are out there fighting this fight, keep going. It's a good fight, and you can do it. The world needs people who care about their kids, who take the time to play on the trampoline and read them bed time stories, people who put down their phones and their iPads when their at the dinner table...shoot, people who sit around the dinner table! This might sound idealistic, but it's the truth. I might not have a lot of answers but there is one thing I do know, I will always choose my family over my career. I might work a lot, but I don't want to look back and realize I missed out on my kids or being best friends with my wife. I'd rather miss a photo shoot than first steps and birthday's.
Secondly, you will be tired and there are other things in life that will be sacrificed. I don't have a lot of free time, and I don't sleep a lot. I had to learn how to say no to a lot of things in order to be where I am. I don't remember who said this, but it's important that "we learn to say no to what is good, so we can say yes to what is great". I heard this a while ago and it actually changed my life, I say it to myself all the time. Are you doing work you shouldn't be? Are you saying yes to projects and clients that you hate working for or aren't really worth your time? STOP! Before you say yes next time take a breath, look at your schedule and your goals, then figure out if it's actually something you should be doing.
Finally, let it go. I would say my number one struggle in this industry and my career is what other people are doing. It might not come out in my tutorials, or my blog, but I am extremely competitive person. I can't even begin to tell you how many things I've stopped doing because I wasn't the best, even if I enjoyed it. I would look at the competition and know I would never be that good, so I would drop out. If I am being honest with myself, and with you, I will tell you that Photography is probably the first thing I haven't walked away from when I knew I would never be the best. I had to learn it wasn't about being the best, but what I really had to learn was to let it go. I need to be able to look at incredible photographers for motivation and inspiration without becoming depressed or losing motivation. What's the key to this? In my case it's two things. Probably the most important thing is not to compare yourself/myself to someone else, we all have different journeys and styles. Don't envy someone elses journey, you don't know what it's like. Secondly, be happy for them. Sounds weird right? Be happy that they have achieved success and move on. Most people, especially in photography, have worked really hard to achieve success...give them a little credit and move on with your journey!
I know this might not seem like it's about being motivated, but it is. I am not trying to give you a song that pumps you up so you can crank our some work, although I can do that if you send me an e-mail, I want you to wake up motivated. Motivated in life, with the passion to keep going even when it's tough and things look grim. If you wake up knowing you will do great things today, whether that be putting on band aids or taking photographs, you will wake up motivated. If you wake up and know you're doing mediocre things that you'd rather not be doing, you probably won't stay motivated.
So this is my challenge to you for part one of my motivation blog - "Say NO to what's good, so you can say YES to what's great!" In doing this, you will also be awesome ;)
Watch for part 2 of this blog, on motivating light, coming soon!