Want to gain clarity?
For the past few years, the biggest thing that has held me back is a lack of clarity.
“You can’t score without a goal.”
I was feeling like I didn’t have a clear goal.
It kinda felt like I was driving in the fog, not sure where everything was heading.
I was making some kind of progress, but I didn’t know what town was next.
BUT it’s finally feeling like that fog is lifting.
The Learning Stage
Basically a year ago exactly, I was in the beginning stages of building my personal brand.
I was writing every day (similar to how I am now), and working on building content ideas.
I was learning A LOT around this time last year, and wrote some of my favorite things to date.
I was discovering a lot about:
- one-person business model
- content business model
- and personal brands
I knew I wanted to create this type of business, but didn’t know what it looked like for me specifically.
At this time last year, I was running as far away from a camera as I possibly could lol.
I had spent the past 5 years behind a camera shooting photos or video, or staring at a screen editing videos each day from 9-5. Or later.
I was burnt out, upset, and feeling defeated that my career choice didn’t pan out to what I was hoping for.
I knew I didn’t want to use a camera to “make money” any more, so I started trying as many things as possible to discover what was next for me.
Taking Another Step
As with most things in life, I feel that you MUST take one step in order for the next to show.
If there are things that you KNOW you need to do, you aren’t going to move past those things until you do what needs to be done.
And unfortunately it’s almost always the difficult things.
This past month has been that place for me to finally realize and approach those difficult things.
And from doing so, I’m seeing the next steps unfold.
It’s not easy – but it’s necessary.
How to Gain Clarity
Clarity comes from weeding out the things blocking your view. Literally and figuratively.
I truly believe that you must remove the barriers blocking that view in order for new things to reveal themselves.
I needed to live the “VAN LIFE”…
in order to realize it wasn’t the life I had dreamed it up to be.
I needed to feel the complete lack of community…
in order to understand the power of relationships.
I needed to face pride and fear…
in order to address the issues of my past.
I needed to put myself in (too many) difficult situations…
in order to be okay with discomfort.
Only when we push our way through the crowd will we see the band on stage.
What I’m Excited About…
Feeling this stoke about things once again has allowed me to understand how I am able to help others who are in a similar position to where I was in the past.
Rather than running from “content creation,” I’m finally seeing it as the avenue to serving others who want to tell stories in their own unique way.
I no longer have to frame myself as a “photographer turned writer,” but rather as a photographer who loves to write. And teach. And share my experience. And fish. And snowboard.
And kinda still likes old VW vans I guess…
And that’s what makes me, me. It’s who I am.
I’m not some guru that knows everything. And frankly I never want to be that.
I’m just a person who has learned a thing or two about using a camera, words, or a voice to tell a story.
And I want to educate others on how to use these platforms as a way to make an impact with their experience and expertise.
Because the world needs more people who are passionate about things and want to share with others who are passionate about those things.
Ya know?
Takeaways For You
- Get crystal clear on what direction you want to head.
- What stance are you going to take?
- What experience/education are you going to share about?
- Why is this thing worth learning & implementing?
- What is your story ultimately pointing to?
- Share and create around this vision consistently.
- Content businesses require time and effort to receive recognition.
- Creating content for 1-12 months isn’t enough to get your name in front of people who can actually benefit from what you have to offer.
- Collaborate with as many people as possible.
- Get your work in front of more eyes.
- With more content, comes more clarity.
What value do you have to add to others? Use it!