To become a professional photographer is hard.
It’s more than just the difficulty of learning new skills. More than camera proficiency. More than lighting. More than directing and posing. More than sales. More than people skills.
It is overcoming the crippling fear and self doubt. That our work is good enough. That we deserve success.
How do we overcome that voice that whispers … you can’t do it… you don’t deserve it … what makes you so special … ?
We need to tell that voice that …
- I am special because I want it.
- I am talented because I will keep learning and improving.
- My time is valuable and I choose this.
- I love myself and I do deserve it.
… and believe it.
By changing our thinking and changing our internal story.
We can keep learning. We can do it. We can achieve our dreams. We can create what we want to create.
One step at a time. We can improve our skills.
By supporting each other we can become better together.
By sharing our skills and resources we can become better together.
By practicing and receiving feedback we can become better together.
By working at it consistently we can become better than we were yesterday.
Our goal is not to be better than that guy over there. Our goal is to be better than we were yesterday.
How do you keep up your morale? How do you ensure you keep improving? Are you getting to where you’d like to go? Share in the comments.
Boom! Killed it! Nice work
Morale can be a difficult one to maintain, especially those weeks when I feel like I’ve made a backward step. Sometimes I will revisit very early posts and see how far I have come. This helps. Taking a step away as being to close can lead to whatever the equivalent of “snow blindness” may be.
I Love your photos, keep it coming
Thanks Andy! Comparing yourself only to yourself, helps stop the nasty feelings of self doubt from creeping in. Measuring your personal growth is a great way to stay motivated. Motivation and support is one way we can stay creative together so I appreciate your feedback 🙂