Top 10 Lessons Learned in 2018
I used to take mistakes extremely hard. While the majority of my mistakes were small and didn't warrant discipline I took it upon myself to ensure it didn't happen again. Mistakes are just a part of life though so enevitably another one would occur and I would beat myself down when it did. I always thought this was because I was a perfectionist, and maybe that's part of it, but I've come to realize I just didn't have a good understanding of life.
Mistakes are part of the deal. No matter how hard you try to prevent them from happening they will occur. Mistakes are how you grow as a person so today I have a much better reaction that doesn't crush my self esteem. While I still don't love making mistakes, I am to a certain degree a perfectionist, I no longer beat myself up. Instead I search for the knowledge to be gained from them.
My current trajectory has been full of hurdles. I've never built a photography career from scratch before. Even after four years of photography and business courses I didn't graduate with step by step directions like an Ikea Micke. The last three years has just been me winging it and adapting. So for this list of 10, rather than call it the top 10 mistakes I made, here are the top 10 lessons I learned in 2018.
10. Learning Another Language is Hard But Speaking Another Language is Great
Before Sarah and I went to Italy last spring I tried to learn some Italian. It was a headache. They have a lot of words that aren't the same as ours if you can believe that. I learned German for 13 years and even that had very little overlap. It was very difficult to pick up a new language in just a handful of months but I was able to set a solid base before we left. While it had been a struggle to pick up the small amount I did, using it was very rewarding. Once I developed some confidence with it, I enjoyed using Italian to communicate with the locals. I eventually realized how I sounded didn't matter. Just making the effort was appreciated and they were more than willing to help correct any errors I made.
9. Don't Worry About Money
Late last year Sarah got the opportunity to go to Costa Rica with her travel agency. She asked what I would think about extending the trip to spend a few days together in a new country. Initially I was hesitant. The trip was on short notice so plane tickets were a costly purchase and our schedule would only give me two full days exploring the exotic location. I was worried I wouldn't get to experience enough of Costa Rica to justify the cost of getting there. In the end, I joined my wife and was so thankful I did. In two days I got a feel for the beautiful country I otherwise would have no knowledge of. It was a quick taste that has me itching to return to explore the jungles and beaches further.
8. Start a Newsletter
My frustrations with social media continue to rage. Instagram is not a reliable source for sales and Facebook is nothing more than a greedy corporation. Quick rant, after sell our data they wind up before congress to explain what happened. Then they put out their saving face commercials about getting back to what made Facebook great, community, but still demand anyone operating a page pay them in order for their community of followers to see their posts. I understand boosting posts to potentially expand your audience but if someone has clicked the follow button under their own will they clearly want to keep up with what that page is doing. I shouldn't go home for Christmas and get questions from family members asking why they haven't seen anything from me lately. YouTube doesn't force people to pay for their subscribers to see new videos. Just let my fans see my content. End rant.
Now I have a monthly newsletter. The newsletter decision came a little too late last year. After my first festival season had passed I finally decided to start collecting emails and have a shorter subscription list because of that hesitance. I needed a way to ensure that those interested in my work are able to keep up with it. If you would like to sign up for the newsletter you can input your email into the contact form on the website.
7. Don't Buy Pit Fruits in Bulk
Just a grocery shopping mistake on the road to adulting. I have a tendency to over do it when a good sale presents itself. I'm they guy with a bag full of .50c avocados or a cart full of $1 pineapples but I learned I can't do that with peaches and nectarines. For starters, I rarely find a decent nectarine or peach in Colorado to begin with. That combined with my habit of filling a bag with them for .75c a pound leads to a lot of disappointment. The only thing worse than biting into a fuzzy skin balloon of sand is realizing there are eleven more just as disgusting brothers and sisters waiting for their turn to get thrown away.
6. Don't Wait Until November to Use a Beer Pass
Colorado has a lot of breweries, like a lot. So many that people have started making coupon books for them. Last year Sarah and I got one called the Pub Pass where for $25 you get a book with 25 breweries in it, each of which you get one free beer. The pass was good throughout 2018 but by November we had around 16 left to visit. It became a scramble to punch our pass before it expired on January 1st. We did not succeed but don't plan on waiting that long in 2019.
5. Remember Who You Used To Be
After my trip to Canada last summer I realized a big part of who I used to be had been lost. After my best friend, Nate, died two years ago I had given up on a lot of the things we used to do together. I tried to keep up with some of those activities but his memory made them feel hollow. After fishing our favorite lake again I found peace with his passing. Lately I've been able to jam out to my favorite country songs again and feel the freedom like when we were kids driving to a lake with the windows down and the volume cranked. My goofy side has been coming out more often and my creativity is spiking. I'm getting more excited about seeing friends and making plans to do more with them which was a big part of the days before we lost Nate. I've been making a point to do the things that filled my memories again and the happiness it's brought me is showing. I didn't realize how drastically I'd changed in the last two years but I'm trying my best to free that side of me again.
4. Never Give Up on a Day
I learned this lesson at my first show. After spending the night talking about my work and traveling I was disappointed when the lights came on and I hadn't sold anything. Before they were able to kick everyone out of the gallery a gentleman came up and bought a piece off the wall. Unfortunately that wasn't when I learned my lesson. There was another show over the summer where the gallery saw only a few visitors and rather than stick it out to the end I packed up early. As I came back for my last handful to take to the car, a lady was looking at my work with wide eyes. She didn't buy anything but without my bin prints out, I don't know that she wouldn't have. From that moment on I made a point to hang around until the doors lock.
3. It Only Takes One
This was the lesson I learned on the night of my first sale. On a night where a thousand people walked through the gallery, it just took one person to put me on cloud nine. Throughout festival season that became my mantra. Watching crowds of people walk by just to draw in a single strangler here and there can start to wear on the confidence. I was able to keep my chin held high knowing that just one of those stragglers could make my day. With that knowledge I approach everyone in my booth as if they are the fateful connection that puts me in the black.
2. Make Time to Exercise
It's hard to make time for physical activity as an entrepreneur with a full time job. Every minute working on my business is a minute closer to making it a career, or at least that was my excuse to avoid the gym. The last few years I let my health slip because I was putting so much time into working. I finally got to a point last year where I made an effort to exercise to some extent every day. The results actually boosted my productivity. Rather than fighting through heavy eyelids and a tired mind I had energy and focus at night. The time I was losing by going on a run or to the gym was maximizing my time at home. For 2019 I am putting an emphasis on exercise to benefit both myself and my business.
1. Don't Discount Your Work
While I learned my lesson on this mistake I haven't been able to stop kicking myself for making it in the first place. On my last festival of the year I was beginning to feel desperate. My investment wasn't paying off but there was still time to change that. By this point I was aware that just one person could come in and change my day but on this instance it took two. A man and wife walked in and fell in love with a piece on my wall. To my luck they each fell in love with a different piece. After walking around to think about things they returned having settled on the conclusion of buying the pair. Unfortunately before the husband gave me his credit card he twisted my arm for a discount. This wouldn't be a mistake if I'd said no so obviously I caved and even as I'm writing this a dull anger is burning within me. I should have been stronger and confident in my work. I was clearly making that sale regardless of the discount but I was so desperate for a sale that I relented to his gentle persuasion and wound up $100 down on the weekend. After that moment I grew a backbone and learned to value my work at the price I've dictated.
Mistakes are part of the deal. No matter how hard you try to prevent them from happening they will occur. Mistakes are how you grow as a person so today I have a much better reaction that doesn't crush my self esteem. While I still don't love making mistakes, I am to a certain degree a perfectionist, I no longer beat myself up. Instead I search for the knowledge to be gained from them.
My current trajectory has been full of hurdles. I've never built a photography career from scratch before. Even after four years of photography and business courses I didn't graduate with step by step directions like an Ikea Micke. The last three years has just been me winging it and adapting. So for this list of 10, rather than call it the top 10 mistakes I made, here are the top 10 lessons I learned in 2018.
10. Learning Another Language is Hard But Speaking Another Language is Great
Before Sarah and I went to Italy last spring I tried to learn some Italian. It was a headache. They have a lot of words that aren't the same as ours if you can believe that. I learned German for 13 years and even that had very little overlap. It was very difficult to pick up a new language in just a handful of months but I was able to set a solid base before we left. While it had been a struggle to pick up the small amount I did, using it was very rewarding. Once I developed some confidence with it, I enjoyed using Italian to communicate with the locals. I eventually realized how I sounded didn't matter. Just making the effort was appreciated and they were more than willing to help correct any errors I made.
9. Don't Worry About Money
Late last year Sarah got the opportunity to go to Costa Rica with her travel agency. She asked what I would think about extending the trip to spend a few days together in a new country. Initially I was hesitant. The trip was on short notice so plane tickets were a costly purchase and our schedule would only give me two full days exploring the exotic location. I was worried I wouldn't get to experience enough of Costa Rica to justify the cost of getting there. In the end, I joined my wife and was so thankful I did. In two days I got a feel for the beautiful country I otherwise would have no knowledge of. It was a quick taste that has me itching to return to explore the jungles and beaches further.
8. Start a Newsletter
My frustrations with social media continue to rage. Instagram is not a reliable source for sales and Facebook is nothing more than a greedy corporation. Quick rant, after sell our data they wind up before congress to explain what happened. Then they put out their saving face commercials about getting back to what made Facebook great, community, but still demand anyone operating a page pay them in order for their community of followers to see their posts. I understand boosting posts to potentially expand your audience but if someone has clicked the follow button under their own will they clearly want to keep up with what that page is doing. I shouldn't go home for Christmas and get questions from family members asking why they haven't seen anything from me lately. YouTube doesn't force people to pay for their subscribers to see new videos. Just let my fans see my content. End rant.
Now I have a monthly newsletter. The newsletter decision came a little too late last year. After my first festival season had passed I finally decided to start collecting emails and have a shorter subscription list because of that hesitance. I needed a way to ensure that those interested in my work are able to keep up with it. If you would like to sign up for the newsletter you can input your email into the contact form on the website.
7. Don't Buy Pit Fruits in Bulk
Just a grocery shopping mistake on the road to adulting. I have a tendency to over do it when a good sale presents itself. I'm they guy with a bag full of .50c avocados or a cart full of $1 pineapples but I learned I can't do that with peaches and nectarines. For starters, I rarely find a decent nectarine or peach in Colorado to begin with. That combined with my habit of filling a bag with them for .75c a pound leads to a lot of disappointment. The only thing worse than biting into a fuzzy skin balloon of sand is realizing there are eleven more just as disgusting brothers and sisters waiting for their turn to get thrown away.
6. Don't Wait Until November to Use a Beer Pass
Colorado has a lot of breweries, like a lot. So many that people have started making coupon books for them. Last year Sarah and I got one called the Pub Pass where for $25 you get a book with 25 breweries in it, each of which you get one free beer. The pass was good throughout 2018 but by November we had around 16 left to visit. It became a scramble to punch our pass before it expired on January 1st. We did not succeed but don't plan on waiting that long in 2019.
5. Remember Who You Used To Be
After my trip to Canada last summer I realized a big part of who I used to be had been lost. After my best friend, Nate, died two years ago I had given up on a lot of the things we used to do together. I tried to keep up with some of those activities but his memory made them feel hollow. After fishing our favorite lake again I found peace with his passing. Lately I've been able to jam out to my favorite country songs again and feel the freedom like when we were kids driving to a lake with the windows down and the volume cranked. My goofy side has been coming out more often and my creativity is spiking. I'm getting more excited about seeing friends and making plans to do more with them which was a big part of the days before we lost Nate. I've been making a point to do the things that filled my memories again and the happiness it's brought me is showing. I didn't realize how drastically I'd changed in the last two years but I'm trying my best to free that side of me again.
4. Never Give Up on a Day
I learned this lesson at my first show. After spending the night talking about my work and traveling I was disappointed when the lights came on and I hadn't sold anything. Before they were able to kick everyone out of the gallery a gentleman came up and bought a piece off the wall. Unfortunately that wasn't when I learned my lesson. There was another show over the summer where the gallery saw only a few visitors and rather than stick it out to the end I packed up early. As I came back for my last handful to take to the car, a lady was looking at my work with wide eyes. She didn't buy anything but without my bin prints out, I don't know that she wouldn't have. From that moment on I made a point to hang around until the doors lock.
3. It Only Takes One
This was the lesson I learned on the night of my first sale. On a night where a thousand people walked through the gallery, it just took one person to put me on cloud nine. Throughout festival season that became my mantra. Watching crowds of people walk by just to draw in a single strangler here and there can start to wear on the confidence. I was able to keep my chin held high knowing that just one of those stragglers could make my day. With that knowledge I approach everyone in my booth as if they are the fateful connection that puts me in the black.
2. Make Time to Exercise
It's hard to make time for physical activity as an entrepreneur with a full time job. Every minute working on my business is a minute closer to making it a career, or at least that was my excuse to avoid the gym. The last few years I let my health slip because I was putting so much time into working. I finally got to a point last year where I made an effort to exercise to some extent every day. The results actually boosted my productivity. Rather than fighting through heavy eyelids and a tired mind I had energy and focus at night. The time I was losing by going on a run or to the gym was maximizing my time at home. For 2019 I am putting an emphasis on exercise to benefit both myself and my business.
1. Don't Discount Your Work
While I learned my lesson on this mistake I haven't been able to stop kicking myself for making it in the first place. On my last festival of the year I was beginning to feel desperate. My investment wasn't paying off but there was still time to change that. By this point I was aware that just one person could come in and change my day but on this instance it took two. A man and wife walked in and fell in love with a piece on my wall. To my luck they each fell in love with a different piece. After walking around to think about things they returned having settled on the conclusion of buying the pair. Unfortunately before the husband gave me his credit card he twisted my arm for a discount. This wouldn't be a mistake if I'd said no so obviously I caved and even as I'm writing this a dull anger is burning within me. I should have been stronger and confident in my work. I was clearly making that sale regardless of the discount but I was so desperate for a sale that I relented to his gentle persuasion and wound up $100 down on the weekend. After that moment I grew a backbone and learned to value my work at the price I've dictated.
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