Lessons learned while taking time off
At the beginning of January, I shared that I would be taking a break from booking photo shoots and from social media until March 31st. Since today is April 1st, I’m excited to say, I’M BACK!
When I shared my struggles and my need to take a breather, I received so much support via email, text, and on social media from past clients, friends, and followers. I am so grateful to you all. I was worried that I would lose clients and that people wouldn’t understand, but the exact opposite was true. I just want to thank everyone for all the support because each and every word of encouragement really meant a lot to me.
I finally had a chance to spend time working on my business instead of working in my business – which has given me a lot of perspective. I have more clarity about why I am a photographer and what I want my work to be about. I plan on sharing all this information with you in future posts. In the meantime, I would like to share the lessons I learned during my break that I feel are worth sharing.
Lesson #1 – Missed opportunities are not the end of the world
You may miss the bus, but there’s always another one coming! In other words, there will always be new opportunities. Losing clients or missing out on projects simply means that they were not meant for you. I had to learn this one quickly, instead of being down about not being available, I was honest with myself and with potential clients. The truth is it’s better to give 100% all the time. Clients can also tell when you’re not giving your best and that’s just not a good look either. I learned to shake it off because although people may lose interest and go elsewhere, there are also those that will encourage you and will wait until you’re available too! Those are the folks that I really want to work with anyway.
Lesson #2 – Always be honest with yourself and with others
I was amazed at how many people could relate to me. The only way this was possible was because I was quite frank about my situation. Some of you even expressed the fact you also needed to take a break from social media or from other things in your lives that were distracting. Being honest with myself and with others was the best decision I could have made. I learned that I wasn’t alone which was pretty awesome.
Lesson #3 – There’s inspiration all around us
I thought that I would lose my ability to be creative once I lost touch with others via social media and because I wasn’t being as active with my camera. I can honestly say that this was not the case. I was inspired by so many other things around me. Things like nature, music, time with friends and family, reading, and physical activity are all opportunities to be inspired and feel re-energized to fuel the creativity inside me. There’s inspiration all around!
Those are my top 3 lessons learned. Once again, THANK YOU for all the love and support, friends! I am still growing, but I feel more aligned with my purpose than ever before. I feel refreshed, eager, and excited to get back to doing what I love, connecting with people and freezing special moments in time for all eternity.
