So you want to be a professional?
Photographer. Director. Golfer. Belly dancer. Designer. Waiter. Model.
If you’re wondering if you’ve got what it takes to go pro, try it. Seriously. Quit what you’re doing now and go there. You’ll know soon after you’ve tried to go there whether or not you’re in the right spot. If you don’t have what it takes, it will be obvious – going pro will be too hard, other things will seem more interesting, more pleasurable, more fun.
On the other hand, if you do have what it takes, you will be reborn. All setbacks will seem small, all goals achievable, all hurdles put there only to keep out the others. You will know you’re on the right path.
One thing for certain is that both paths–trying to go pro and steering clear of going pro–will be full of fear. In one case the fear is that you’ll fail and not be good enough. In the other case the fear is that you’ll never have lived your dream…
When you think of those two, which one is worse?
That’s my biggest fear; reaching the end of this life, looking back and realizing it was full of regrets and lost dreams. That fear will always outweigh any others that come into my life. It sounds cliche but life is too short to let fear get in the way of your dreams. Yea it’s scary, yes it will hurt, yes you’ll sacrifice and yes, pursuant to Chase’s point, you will know right away if that dream is worth living or can be lived. The important thing is that you look can look back with confidence and say you did it, or at least tried.
I recently went through some tough times in my life and I shined through adversity. I decided to reinvent myself and reconstruct the foundation for the respect I was eager to thrive upon. I just started my new website which is getting great feedback , and I am going to go to local agencies, boutiques, shops and enter the professional commercial world.
I am interested in editorial-commercial, and even delve into deep artistic personal work. And other times I just like to have fun and shoot whatever.
As many before me have said: That was exactly what I needed to hear.
Great post! The only way you can really fail is by not trying in the first place. Also, I found out that you don’t always have to know exactly what your dream is before you start, but can fine-tune along the way, as long as you know your general direction. The only thing that doesn’t work is make decisions based on what you do NOT want (out of fear).
thanks chase. this drives my motivation today. but as chris said, there needs to be some transition time. otherwise it is just scary…