Mindset

While photography gear is important, there are many building blocks that must be created in order to fully master your craft.

Your mindset can make or break your success in many parts of your life, building your business included. If you do not have a strong mindset, it will become increasingly difficult to push past failing in the beginning in order to reach your end goals.

Stress, lack of sleep, and a bad diet are the basic factors that can keep someone from being able to have a more positive mindset. As someone in their mid-twenties, I also have issues in these areas most of the time. It can be hard to silence your thoughts when trying to sleep, silencing the voice in your head telling you of all the things you could be getting done or trying. However, getting enough sleep is more important than watching social media or worrying about things beyond your control. Without enough sleep, you will not have enough energy during the day to put towards your goals and all the tasks that need to get done.

Following that, the fuel you give your body also has an impact on your sleep and your brain capacity. If you are constantly putting junk food and large amounts of sugar and caffeine into your body, you will crash throughout the day, feel more tired, and have less restful sleep. This can also affect your body’s ability to travel easily. If you want to walk long distances, climb mountains, and wait to see wildlife or landscapes, having a bad diet can affect how easily you are able to traverse various terrain. I am currently on my own journey of better eating habits and exercise. I have many issues with the joints in my body, and with my current diet and lack of exercise, it makes those issues worse. It takes small steps to fully build back to healthy eating habits so I can build on top of that towards exercise, stronger will, and the ability to continue pushing through. It is a long journey, nothing good happens overnight. It takes a lot of practice to break old habits, and you may not see any results at first but eventually you’ll see the progress you have made.

In order to succeed, you have to truly want it with everything you are, no matter if it is sports, photography, or anything else in life. As long as you believe in yourself and keep working towards your goals no matter what, the hard work will pay off and you will learn much about yourself along the way to your goals.

I have been trying to build my business since before I graduated college in 2020, and just this year in 2023 I have made larger steps towards growing it. I had to start out with doing free shoots with models in my area and around my state, then a few of those models have come back to pay for shoots. I have spent more money this year towards my website, business cards, prints, travel, and props than I have made. However, that money has been spent well because I have been able to build my portfolio, learn new skills, meet many people in my community, and grow as a photographer. There have been many times over the last few years that I thought about quitting, that there was no way I could make my goal of travelling and doing photography full time. The world has not been kind to those of us that are not in the upper 1% of the population in the United States, but I know if I keep learning and keep pushing forward, everything will pay off in the end.  Progress does not always look like progress, but failing along your journey does not mean there is no hope. Failure is how you learn and grow, so do not give up hope at each obstacle in your path.