Have confidence - believe in yourself!

Read a really good article today on ephotozine - excellent photography resource - and I thought I would share....I think it applies to every aspect of life....

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/Photography-advice-from-Annabel-Williams-11872

"Step 10 - Have confidence - believe in yourself - Annabel Williams' 10 Steps to success and happiness as a creative person!

The biggest single thing that holds creative people back is lack of confidence. I have met so many talented people throughout my career, and this is the thing that most of them have in common. Lack of confidence can be due to all sorts of reasons - but I believe that creative people are born with it! Secretly inside, we can look at our pictures and think they are really good, but then the worry kicks in and we start to think we can't do it.

How may times have you felt like this? On top of the world one minute, and down the next? Many things can knock our confidence; a stray comment from someone, a rainy day, camera failure, being tired and many more.

But you've got to believe in yourself to be successful at what you do, or at least pretend to be confident when it matters! I still have days now after 25 years in photography when I think I'm not good enough! But that's what makes us better. It makes us determined to keep up, learn more, get out there and improve.

If you really think your pictures are not good enough, but you want to be a great photographer - then you need to make them better; you need to get out there and learn from the people you respect and admire. Chances are that your photos are really good, but you may need direction on how to take them further; which style to drop; which style to pursue - have the confidence to ask someone; send them an email - but remember - only ask people you really respect and who you think will understand you and be on your wavelength - otherwise you may not get the answer you want!

If people are constantly telling you that you are good - believe it - and allow your confidence to grow. Determination will fuel your confidence - be determined to be successful and you will be. Confidence and determination will drive you forward. How good did it feel when you sold your first picture? I can remember the first time someone spent a lot of money on my pictures - I couldn't believe it - I'd only pressed the shutter, and someone thought they were good enough to put on their walls! This gave me huge confidence - I thought "if someone wants my pictures, then other people will want them" and this gave me the confidence to develop my business.

Don't worry about what other people think - unless your client's don't like your pictures! Either change what you do, or change your clients! If you think you're onto something, and you enjoy what you do, then have the confidence to take it further.

I remember when I first started doing makeovers, sometimes I didn't get it right, and the client was unhappy, which really upset me. Until a colleague said to me " do Marks & Spencers cry when someone takes a pair of knickers back because they don't like them? No, they just accept that 99% of their clients like what they sell and move on!" He had a point! We always get upset over the one person who makes a negative comment - just remember the other 99% of people who love what you do and focus on them! That's what I do, and these 10 steps are my way of telling you what I've learnt from experience over the last 25 years - that's why I am able to feel happy and successful as a creative person (most days!). "

Nyt nyt!