Monday, June 14, 2010

Action Cures Fear. Knowledge Cures Fear.

It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do." {Ralph Waldo Emerson}

I've lived a (large enough) portion of my life afraid to do certain things. The other day I was talking to a photographer I've worked with and I realized something truly remarkable about him. He was working in corporate America when he picked up a camera and became interested in photography for the first time. He took some classes, bought himself the equipment he would need and then quit his job and built his business.

In a short time (~one year) he was able to build a name for himself in his city. Everyone wanted to shoot with him (because he did things different) and everyone wanted to learn from him (he offered workshops that were quite popular in the photography community). I hope to have him guest post on the blog soon about some of his unique business and marketing practices that made him so successful but for now I'm bringing him up to make the following observation. He was successful because:
  1. He was skilled/gifted and passionate about something.
  2. He took classes and got educated in his chosen craft.
  3. He had the guts to quit his job and fling himself wholeheartedly into his chosen profession.
  4. He learned the ins and outs of marketing himself and promoting himself online.
Take a moment to reflect. Are you missing any of these key things in your work/art? The area I want to improve on is getting educated in my field. I've taken classes before but learning is a lifelong thing. With technology improving every day, I need to constantly learn new things in order to run a web and graphic design firm in the great State of Texas. I also need more writing education. These are my goals. With passion and knowledge, it won't be as scary to step out all the way. Action cures fear. Knowledge cures fear. Take a moment today to think about the things you can do to move you toward your dreams.

9 comments:

  1. That's great Regina. I hear people frequently talk about wanting to build this or that, but they fail to fully dive into that world, their passion is fleeting. It's passion that will drive someone to keep learning, and as you said, learning is a lifelong thing, and if you don't care enough to learn more and more about something then how can you become the voice for it?

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  2. Love that thought Wes:
    "If you don't care enough to learn more and more about something then how can you become the voice for it?"

    Nice. + So true. We stop growing and we are less effective when we make the decision to let knowledge not be a priority.

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  3. Great post Regina. I'm so afraid of doing so many things, and I feel like that holds me back. I should learn how to use that fear to drive me forward :).

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  4. It's the flinging!!! The funny thing is I hear stories all the time about folks in "Corporate America" who make the leap... CEO's Lawyers, etc. who go from security and "benjamins" to obscurity and pursuit of passion. I think often times I excuse myself because "hey... I'm not exactly bankin' so I gotta build capital before I can just throw caution to the wind." But ultimately, I'm haunted by the truth that one day, at some point I will have to make a decision and chose "One Way" or "The Other". There no 2-ways about it and in reality even while I'm still towing the bi-partisan line, I'm already making a a decision in opposition of what I'm called to do. Then again, I timing is everything. It'll happen, but I've definitely been more encourage as of late little by little to let go of "The Other".

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  5. What an inspiration. When we're passionate about something, we gravitate toward learning more about it. Win-win!

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  6. Great post! Action cures fear. Love it. Words to live by.

    Found you at Writing In a Nutshell. :)

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  7. Hi Regina - I am back to let you know that I have an award for you over at my blog :)

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  8. Bane- Thank you.

    WritingNut- Thank you so much. I'm excited.

    Jill- I agree. I'm a research-addict.

    Janet- Thank you. I just found your blog now too. That's a fun contest you have going on.

    RoddyG- I love the realization that by not making a decision on which way to go, we are making a decision to not go the way which we know we are supposed to.

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