When you have a job, you don’t think much about it. You go to work, put in your time, do what you have to do, and go home and forget all about it.
Things are different when you own a business. You no longer can leave work at work; it follows you 24/7. You think about the client you have to call when you’re making dinner. You wake up with a new marketing idea at 3am.
But sometimes along the way you begin treating it as a job. Clients aren’t coming in as much as they used to. The talk on the Internet is buzzing about the changing industry. Is there really a future in photography?
And so you wind up doing the “job” while thinking about a million other things. Sometimes it takes a moment to step back into photography and really think about what it means to you and how you can move forward.
Take a look at these questions. Spend some time thinking about your answers. And then spend some time reevaluating why you are a photographer right now.
1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
2. What are you doing at your age and is it different from what you could be doing?
3. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
4. What would you try if you didn’t have to explain it to family and friends?
5. What’s the best part of your day?
6. If you could go back in time 10 years and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
7. If you could go forward in time 10 years, what would you want to see for yourself?
8. Do you believe in what you’re doing, or are you settling for what you’re doing?
9. What is one thing you do differently than everyone else around you?
10. If you had to completely change one thing about your life, what would it be?
11. Has your greatest fear ever come true?
12. What customer are you most grateful for?
13. How do you reach out and touch the ones that mean the most to you?
14. What if you listened twice as much as you spoke, what would you learn?
15. Do you sometimes feel like you’ve lived this day one hundred times before?
16. What works and what doesn’t?
17. When was the last time you asked questions?
18. If you learn from your mistakes, how many mistakes have you made this year?
19. What does risk truly mean to you?
20. Can you change your definition of risk to achieve more?
21. If you knew you had five years to live, what would you change right now?
22. How would you like other people to describe you as a photographer? How do they describe you?
23. What do you love? Are you doing things right now that express that love?
24. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
25. What would make you happy? Do you always have to achieve something or can you get to happiness today?
26. What value are you giving those around you?
27. Who do you most admire? Why?
28. How can you be a mentor to others?
29. What will it take to achieve everything you’ve always dreamed about?
30. How do you see the photographic industry in 5 years and how will you be in it?
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