If you’re already a professional creator, then you know that you had to hear a lot of “no” for every “yes”. If you’re not yet a pro, or perhaps more importantly if you are a pro whose enjoyed a taste of success, then hear this: Get Used To Hearing “No”.
Quite honestly, understanding this will be some of the best medicine you’ll ever take – because once you get it…you GET it, and it will be with you forever. The powerful result of taking this medicine TODAY is that the word NO will change from bumming you out to inspiring you and driving your actions to get to the next YES. As such, enjoy this tasty medicine 😉
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1. Let “no” serve as a motivator. If you don’t win a gig from an agency or a magazine, if you lose it to another photographer, vow to win the next one. Make a plan for how to do it different, better than you did last time. Make new photos, prepare, hone your vision, whatever it takes.
2. Let “no” keep out the other people who don’t want it as bad as you do. Remember, when you’re hearing “no”, so is almost everyone else. When other artists hear “no” too much, they quit, defeated, never to return again. Don’t let that be you. When you hear “no”, let it remind you of this little post.
3. Let “no” remind you that this job isn’t for everyone, especially the uncommitted. In a round about way, every “no” should remind you that you’re in the right place, not the wrong place. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
4. Let “no” turn you into a better artist. A bunch of “no” usually doesn’t mean that you’re not talking to the right people. It usually means your work is not “there” yet. If that’s the case, see #1.
5. Mario Andretti once famously said, “If everything feels under control, you’re just not driving fast enough”. Same goes here. If you’re… …not hearing “no”, you’re not really getting your work out there enough, pushing what’s possible, pushing yourself.
Now here’s the kicker. It should be plainly obvious that, after a substantial amount of time cultivating the above vision, you will likely start to hear a hell of a lot of “yes”. That’s nice. Nice for the bank account. Nice for the ego. Nice for your portfolio or whatever. But when that happens, don’t get cocky. Don’t only seek yes, don’t depend on it, because it makes you and your work soft. Not in a cuddly way. In a way that you’ll get apathetic.
Of course it’s a balance, but mark my words: when you start to hear a lot of “yes”, consider doing what it takes to hear a bit more “no”. I’m betting that you’ll thank me – or more importantly, thank yourself.
I don’t know if you’re a psychic but I heard a no the other day and was at first a bit disappointed as I’d have loved to shoot her for my portrait skills. But then at least I asked her. Anyway a no keeps you down to earth as well and it saves you from offering cheap mass production work used to do translations and I slipped into the cheap and not so accurate translator.
So yes thanks for this post.
That’s the danger with only getting feedback on your work from Facebook, almost everyone on there will tell you how great it is, not what you can improve on.
Couldn’t agree more! I won’t claim it doesn’t at the very least boost my ego a tiny bit when people tell me they like my photos, however, it doesn’t make me a better photographer. I’d rather they tell me everything they don’t like and everything that’s wrong with it.
My brother works as an insurance agent and gives his reps bonuses to whomever gets the most no’s on calls per month. He uses the book “Go for No!’, which is a quick read but basically says: If you are getting 10 no’s for every yes, you are still connecting with 10 people who may not need your services or work now, but will hopefully remember you for when they do. It becomes a game and helps you not be afraid to hear no, sometimes it means, ‘yes, just not right now’.
I couldn’t agree with you more Chase,
I actually come from a background of peers who are all musicians (including myself), so the people I surround myself in are muso’s, none of which are as passionate about photography as I am. So I get flooded with a sea of “yes”. As fun as that is I always tell myself “no”, I’m not good enough to be on par with my photographic peers, and sometimes I’m so afraid of showing my work to other photographers because they could just rip my stuff to pieces… I guess what I’m saying is that I tell myself no and push myself to be better to avoid the fear of being ripped and analysed… Chase do you ever care/take on board other photographer’s opinions about your work or is it just “this is what I do like it or not.”?
Awesome post. After my exams are done I’m actually going to seek out a couple of no’s, I think 🙂