Today's blog post is inspired by something I hear a lot. “I am too busy. Life is too busy to work on my business.” If you're a photographer who either wants to start a business, or has started one and feels little burnt out, this is for you.
Here's the catch: life is always busy. It's always going to be busy. It doesn't really matter what you're trying to make time for. If it's a priority, you will find a way.
Every year, I go at least two months without any alcohol. Last year I went mid July to mid October, and most recently, I did the month of April. It's not just a good pause for my liver, but it's a great exercise in how I view what's going on in my life. At any given time, I could say “I can't stop drinking this weekend because I'm going to a barbecue. And the next weekend is so-and-so's wedding. And then we're going to see friends the following weekend.” There's always going to be something, because life is always busy. If the priority for me is this healthy annual practice, that has to be the priority. I could talk myself out of the priority so easily, but I choose not to.
So, when I hear folks say “life is too busy to work on my business,” that tells me that you're talking yourself out of it.
We will make time for the things that are important to us. Full stop.
If you're watching Netflix, that means that relaxation time is high on your list. If you're an avid runner, you know that you do have time to run. You just choose to make that time. It comes down to figuring out what the priority is, and then shifting stuff around.
We all have the same 24 hours in the day.
Of course, some of us have more help than others. Some of us have more money than others, or more resources. I understand that, and I have a solution! You've heard me talk about starting with tiny habits and tiny changes, right? If you're super slammed, maybe you can put just 10 minutes a day towards your business.
Practice habit building. Choose a time, then tell yourself “Every morning at 9am, I work on my business for 15 minutes.”
That is going to change everything for you. Because as soon as the habit is there, the progress starts. The hardest part is getting started. Some days, you might jump in and 10 minutes turns into two hours because you're excited.
Another big factor here is your “why”. If you really want to build this business and you're clear about why you want to build your business, you will totally make the time. If you don't have that clarity, you will struggle to stay motivated, because procrastination is due to a lack of clarity.
Maybe you don't know where to start. Do you blog? Should you learn about SEO? Do you start a newsletter? There are a million things that you could be doing. I'm totally guilty of this myself, and I solve it by first, being really clear about my goal. Second, I break that goal down into smaller pieces.
By the way, if you're struggling with stuff like this, I highly recommend checking out my webinar next week! I'm offering an in-depth training that will cover the three essentials you must have to grow your photography business so that it's profitable and enjoyable. This is a video training, it's live with me, and there will be some Q&A at the end. And I'm also going to include the one thing that all successful business owners know. I'm speaking from my experience growing Jennings photo from zero to six figures.
One of the best things about signing up for stuff is that educators like myself take all the stuff that we've learned, all the mistakes we've made, and we help you get from A to B a lot faster. If you're interested in developing a stronger foundation for your photography business, sign up for a time slot here: https://photobizhelp.com/webinar
