It's Time to Stop Compromising on Your Dreams

1/10/2015

It would be so easy if there was just a button on our computers we could hit when we forget about listening to our hearts.

We're through the first week of the new year and for most photographers the "slow season" is officially underway. It's the perfect time to stop procrastinating and do some clean up of your site, your blog, even your desk or office.

But it's also a great time to establish a few priorities for the year ahead...

"If you don't get what you want, it's a sign either that you did not seriously want it,
or that you tried to bargain over the price."
Rudyard Kipling

I keep finding great quotes and the more I read them, the more they morph into a business application.

I've heard so many great ideas from so many of you and then later heard, "It just didn't work out!" Almost all the time it's because you started out aggressive, loaded with energy and direction and then lost your patience. You didn't "seriously want it" bad enough or you compromised on your approach, "bargained over the price."

It's just a short post this morning, but I hope it makes the point. Surround yourself with positive people who help you believe in yourself. Don't compromise on anything your heart tells you is right. Pay attention to your mind's eye and when you visualize something, don't rest until you've got it.

How's all that apply to the business of being a photographer? Don't slow down on your education. Keep building your skill set to be the best. Stop listening to negative people who take up space and use up oxygen. Believe in that face looking back at you in the mirror every morning.

Photo Credit: Finger © momius - Fotolia

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"Why?"

Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound byte. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. There were fifty different artists featured in 2016 and we anticipate doubling that in 2017. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

Authors

Skip Cohen is President of SCU, founder of Marketing Essentials International and past president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI. He's been an active participant in the photographic industry since joining Hasselblad USA in 1987 as president. He has co-authored six books on photography and actively supports dozens of projects each year involving photographic education.