If you read my Saturday Post you may know that, according to my docs. I am recovering from major surgery. Keeping up to date with seven posts per week has proven challenging so I’m going to revive a practice I used when I had surgery on my hand several years ago—a “best of posts” series but this time the series will feature the best guest posts, starting with these words of wisdom from the legendary Skip Cohen..
Guest Post by Skip Cohen, photograph by Joe Farace
“Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.”—Ingvar Kamprad
Ingvar Kamprad is credited with the above quote. He’s the founder of Ikea and I remember hearing stories about him when I was with Hasselblad. He lives a quiet unassuming life and back then he was still riding his bike to work. Well, his quote got me thinking a lot about so many photographers I’ve met.
New Photographers
New photographers especially seem to have a horrible time just forgiving themselves for mistakes made along the journey of becoming a professional. They beat themselves up and I’ve even met a few who decided the road was too hard to travel and just walked away from photography as a profession.
The truth is the quote applies to everybody, no matter what kind of business you’re in. It’s only when you’re asleep that you make no mistakes, take no risks and live a life that’s safe with your head buried in a pillow under the blankets. You’ve got to take risks to grow your business. You’ve got to take chances along the way and experiment with new techniques. You’ve got to spend money to make money and there are probably a hundred other snappy one liners we’ve all heard over the years.
So, stop worrying about making mistakes. Take the risks, but do it with the commitment to do your very best every time. Work to expand your skill set, so that with each mistake you make, it becomes part of the learning process. Here’s one more perspective:
“As you begin to take action toward the fulfillment of your goals and dreams, you must realize that not every action will be perfect. Not every action will produce the desired result. Not every action will work. Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right.” Jack Canfield, Motivational author
Like these tips? Visit Skip over at his website for more insights on how to be a better photographer and business person!