As you start off on your journey to pursue something of interest to you or something that you are passionate about and you begin to share your steps with others you will no doubt begin to receive a lot of advice – most of which is unsolicited. It may sound like…
“You need to have a website.”
“You need to get your Facebook page started.”
“You need to make sure you’re at this event promoting.”
“You need to have a blog and blog multiple times a week.”
“You need to write an e-book and start selling it.”
“You need to make sure you have a logo.”
“You need to incorporate.”
The list of “you need to” grows longer and longer. The deeper that list gets, the more overwhelmed you can get which often times can even lead to people walking away from what interests them or to being so overwhelmed that they never even take a moment to enjoy what they are doing.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when faced with a mounting list of “you need to.”
First is that we all define our own version of success. What does yours look like? To get to your level of defined success you may not “need to” do half of the things that everyone is telling you to do. You, and only you, can set the foundation for what you want both your business and your life to look like in the future. And everyone’s path will be different. Just because someone took one road of doing XYZ does not absolutely mean you have to follow the same exact steps to get there. Or perhaps you don’t even want to get to that point but have a separate destination in mind.
Second is that the words “need to” are a little overbearing. Take for example my blog. I started one (not because I thought I needed to) but because I wanted to. I wanted to have a platform to connect and communication with an audience. When I was able to, I wanted to increase my blog posts to twice a week versus the once a week I was doing. Did I need to do this to be successful in my mind? No; I wanted to do it. This blog this morning is another example of need versus want. I normally blog every Tuesday and Friday morning. Do I need to? No. So as an example I moved yesterday’s blog to today. We are in control of what we choose to do.
Third is to remember to take pause to look at what you have been doing. The pursuit of something (especially big goals) can be very daunting. Along the way we often get lost in forgetting everything we have already achieved. We only think that we have not fully gotten “there” yet. One of the things I find most motivating is to pause and look and what has been accomplished. Is it the full goal? No, but it is a lot. Doing that often will reignite the drive and motivation to push even harder and even more importantly, enjoy it even more.
Because at the end of the day, the only thing you absolutely, have to, 100% need to be doing, is enjoying whatever it is you choose to do.
James Patrick
jamespatrick.com
facebook.com/jamespatrickphotography
instagram @jpatrickphoto
twitter @jpphotography
