When you are behind the camera, who are you thinking about? Are you thinking about how to create the best image for your client, or are you thinking about how your photos will stack up against other photographers you follow online?
Or do you hesitate to post your work online because you worry about what other photographers will think of it?
Guess what? Other photographersā opinions donāt matter. They donāt define you as a person, artist, or business owner. They donāt pay your bills. Those photographers may not even want you to succeed because of jealousy or other fear-based issues.
If you are waiting for validation from your peers to make you feel confident, you will be on a constant roller coaster of emotions - confident one day (omg - that photographer I admire commented on my photo!) and defeated the next (hardly anyone liked my photo and no one commented.)
Itās time to disconnect your sense of worth from the opinions of others and start to believe in yourself, and let your confidence be motivated intrinsically instead of extrinsically.
How do you do this? The biggest thing we need to do is pay attention to our self-talk. When you hear yourself saying things like āI suck as a photographer...ā or āIāll never be as good/popular/successful as so and so...ā or āIām not even going to post anything because people might think Iām no good...ā
Ask yourself these three questions about your thoughts (borrowed from Jon Acuffās book ā
Soundtracks.")
- Is it true? (most of your negative self-talk ends right here!)
- Is it helpful? (if it is true, is it helpful or just bringing you down?)
- Is it kind? (would you say it to your best friend? No? Then why are you saying it to yourself?)
Once youāve asked these questions and concluded your thoughts need changing, then what? Flip it upside down!
āI suck as a photographerā turns into āIām growing as a photographer - look how far Iāve come in the last year!ā
āIāll never be as good/popular/successful as so and so...ā turned into, āIām writing my own story, and itās not worthy of comparison.ā
āIām not even going to post anything because people might think Iām no good...ā turns into āIām going to post this photo because I like it. Itās okay if others donāt.ā
Let me be very honest with you ā you ARE good enough. Your work IS worth putting out into the world. Yes, you may not be where you want to be yet as a photographer or you may be mired in self-doubt, but the world needs your art and your heart. Be generous with both!
