Extra Bonus Stop Sign #11

by | May 19, 2008 | advice, creativity, effort, stop signs, tiger wood

Many people want to do something interesting with their lives. They want to
accomplish something. But they are unaware that effort is needed, deliberate focused
effort, to do those things. What stops them is the overwhelming nature of the big
picture. ‘I can never graduate from college, I can never get a law degree, I could
never move to another country, I could never learn photography.’ They are thinking
about ALL the things they need to do and it seems like it can’t be done.

But the truth is you don’t have to do ALL those things. All you need to do is the
next thing. If you, for example, want to be a portrait photographer. What is it you
need to do? Do you need to have an entire studio, all the top equipment, the best
computer and software and printer? No, you don’t. What you need to do is take a
photo and look at it. Then maybe you need to read your camera manual and play with
the settings. Then maybe you need to look for good lighting opportunities in your
house or yard and take some more photos.

See what I mean? You might have a goal, you might have a dream, and that is good.
But the key is that you then put that big picture dream on the back shelf and focus
on the events of today, right here, right now. Here is an example. Take Tiger
Woods, the famous golfer. It is obvious that from an early age his goals have been
lofty. He truly has set his sights on being the best golfer ever, winning the most
tournaments over the longest amount of time as possible. Intimidating goals to say
the least.

But guess what? Interviews with him repeatedly have him saying that when he is on
the golf course he thinks of NOTHING but the shot he has right in front of him. Not
the dreams, not the accolades, not the money. Just the shot. And the amazing part
is the more he is able to focus on that one shot and NOT think about anything beyond
it, the closer he comes to winning the tournament, having the best season, and having
the greatest career in golf.

He has very few stop signs in his head. What are your stop signs?

Stop Sign #10

by | May 16, 2008 | advice, art, creativity, excuses, ideas, stop signs

Stop sign #10 – But…but…but…
Answer: no excuses, go be who you are suppose to be and create what you are suppose
to create. Don’t wimp out, don’t be a lazy baby about it. If you see something on
the side of the road that might make a good photo, STOP YOUR CAR and take it! And
no, I don’t mean you should do that on the way to your daughter’s wedding with a car
full of people. Be smart about it obviously.

Here is a good quote. “It is easier to act yourself into another way of feeling than
it is to feel yourself into another way of acting.” What that means in the context
of the stop signs is that if you wait until you feel creative to act on it, you might
wait a long time. But if you act creative, if you take the photo, walk around the
corner, look at a detail, pay attention to the light, even if you don’t feel
creative, guess what? You will have a VERY creative day!

So, go take the photo! Then take another and another and another until you can’t
stop smiling because you are so proud of yourself, just as we all will be.