It's your business and you can cry if you want to
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
One is Evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.The other is Good.
It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied,
"The one you feed."- Native American Folk Story
We have a lot more control over our lives than we like to admit.
You're here because you want to be.
You're reading this because you choose to.
You're a part time professional photographer because you chose this path.
You can stop anytime.
You can start anytime.
You have Caesarian power with which to choose left or right, to charge X or Y, to shoot with kids or couples or cucumbers.
As kids, we tested boundaries constantly, much to the dismay of our parents. Over time, worried parents and rule-mad schools and faithless employers clipped the wings of our fearless (even fearful) exploration, shoved them in a locked box and threw them in the ocean.
It was not in their best interests to see us fly.
After 18-plus years of living with our incredible power in bondage, we almost always go one of two routes, equally dangerous and tragic:
We explode, our power and control and freedom an incendiary cocktail. We drink, drug, sex and stupid our way through early adulthood. We don't have enough experience with our power to know how to control and focus it positively; we become undomesticated animals feeding our most immediate and base desires. We spend our college years and well beyond doing things our mature selves will regret - and this regret robs us of our power again. We eventually "grow up," get a "real job," and reduce our lives to debt and slavery until retirement.
or
We live scared of consequence. We've been warned, shushed, threatened, punished and brow-beaten into spiritual submission. We live outside our power, in a constant state of "I shouldn't do this," "What will my Dad say?," "I'd die if they were disappointed in me," "They would shun me if they knew," "I don't deserve it," "I should be happy with what I have," "What are they thinking about me?," "I don't know how to be good enough."
So we hide our power. We deny it. "No Risk, No Reward" becomes a reasonable mantra instead of the warning it's intended to be.
Do you see some of this in your own life? Do you see the people and experiences that have robbed you of your power?
We're left so damn scared, indecisive, weak, and insecure.
Listen: your business, like your life, is wrought by your hands. You've built this. You're in control. You're placing every brick and every beam. Storms will come and go, but only you can build and rebuild and shore up.
You are dreamer, architect, engineer and craftsman of your life, and of your part time photography business.
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
You don't have to listen to any piece of advice that doesn't inspire you or resonate with you.
You don't have to adopt "The Top 17 Best Practices As a Professional Photographer."
You don't have to cold call. You don't have to upsell. You don't have to sell out. You don't have to answer the phone on the first ring. You don't have to be "on your game" every day of your life. You don't have to market yourself in ways you despise to make art you hate for clients you resent so you can sell in ways you loathe to get money to buy things you don't want to impress people you don't like. You don't have to launch today. You don't have to wait. You don't have to listen to me. You don't have to ignore me. You don't have to embrace your true, powerful self. You don't have to live scared, either.
You don't have to do anything.
But if you're like me - and like the thousands of PTPs I've visited with over the years - you want to.
You really want to.
You want to make beautiful art.
You want to serve wonderful clients.
You want to earn Cheshire-grin money.
It will take strength, persistence, and tenacity.
And it will take power.
Try though it might, don't allow the world to convince you that your power is extrinsic - gifted, granted, bought. Your power comes from within: thought, choice, action.
Embrace your wonderful, purposeful, powerful self. Choose yourself. Dream big and work hard. Earn it. Your people are waiting for you to step up and put your art out into the world; they're waiting to be blessed by your work.
The mountain of success is waiting for you.
Step. Step again. Rise. And summit.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love
Next Steps
- Don't Be An Ass: "To assume makes an ass out of u and me." What assumptions have you made about your business that you can now take a wrecking ball to? Did you assume you had to market yourself in a way you hated? Did you assume you had to make perfect art before launching your business? Make a list of all the "I have to..." assumptions you've been holding onto. Then make a big, bold strike through each. Then tear the piece of paper to shreds and throw it in the trash. You're free. You're empowered. You're in control. Make your business what you want it to be.
- Brainstorm Session: Get out your pen and paper. Make a list of 10 ways you can choose to make your part time photography business more fun. Don't take yourself so seriously; really let your imagination run and dream up fun ways to make art and do business. Trust: that fun will translate into your brand, and the experience people enjoy with you. File this away in your Brainstorms folder.
- Subscribe Today: It's my calling to help you earn your first $5,000 to $50,000 as a part time professional photographer. I am truly grateful for your readership, and encourage you to subscribe to my e-mail newsletter at the top of any page of this site.
- Do This Now: What's the biggest struggle holding you back right now? E-mail me your answer (yes, right now!), and let's make a breakthrough today.
- Start The Conversation: If anything in this post has spoken to and inspired you, please comment below or drop me an e-mail. I'd love to hear how you're hustling to better your art, life, and business!
