One of my favorite YouTubers, Tessa Violet, posted a video a while ago called “Don’t Not Do Things (because you’re bad at them)”. It's a great video, but I let it slip to the back of my mind until now. I’m currently in a place in my life where I’m about to make a major change in my everyday life and jumpstart a plethora of new things, all while struggling to gain traction in the things I have already been doing. Tessa makes a lot of good points in her video and I’d like to expand on those thoughts and give you some of my own!
Comparing yourself to others is the worst thing you can do when trying to start something new. Successful people work for a long time before they get it right. Don't compare your beginning work to the successes of masters. You two are on completely different levels and it’s not fair to you. Look to their work for inspiration and things to learn and work on, not as a standard for your own work.
Something you've most likely encountered in your journey: failure. You need to understand that it’s OK and normal to fail, even completely screwing something up. Failure can be embarrassing and painful, but everyone who is good at what they do has failed at that same thing many times. You have to be willing to fail and accept that sometimes you will. Learn from your mistakes and have some grace with yourself.
Practice is a given but is often overlooked. Don’t give up on practicing because you think you aren't going anywhere. Keep at it and maybe find a new way of doing so. Work on things one step at a time. In particularly difficult areas, try focusing on one area before you move to another.
For me, the biggest challenge is confidence. Having confidence in yourself and your abilities makes the experience much easier and more enjoyable. Practicing being confident can seem difficult, but I do it the way Tessa mentions by pretending I’m someone I know who is or at least seems confident. I try to channel their excitement and confidence in myself and apply it to my own situation. For me, that might be approaching someone about hiring me as their photographer. For you, it might be starting a business, or displaying your work for the first time. Having an attitude of confidence when you're afraid or discouraged can be a challenge, but find a way to work on it little by little and be gentle with yourself in the process.
What are some things that you want to do, but haven’t yet? Let me know in the comments!
