Day: November 19, 2014

Do you feel adrift? Time to take some action

by Stanley Learybusiness / Nikon D4
 
Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/4.5, 1/60 [President of Honduras talks with Maria Saporta]

Do you feel like you are working hard but are not getting any traction? You might even feel adrift in this world.

Here is a good indicator you are struggling and not getting traction to move forward in your life. Look at your calendar and see if you can see things on it that you put there that are different than what you had on your calendar last week, last month, or even last year. If things look the same all the time, you are in a rut.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 5000, ƒ/6.3, 1/30 [Vince Dooley talks with the President of Honduras. They are building a soccer field in the Agalta Valley that will be named Vince Dooley field]

Once you are in motion on a bicycle, the wheel’s spinning helps stabilize you due to angular momentum. You may remember a physics teacher taking a bicycle wheel and then spinning it at high speed and maybe sitting in a chair and having a student move it and watch how it impacted them.

Using this principle of angular momentum, you must change to move. For example, if the bicycle wheel spins and you do not turn the handlebars, you will remain going straight.

Change

The most significant obstacle to improving your life is your willingness to change your routine.

While I do not recommend doing something different today than you have in the past, it will change your life. So why not just do anything other? Well, that will likely result in you turning your bicycle into a ditch.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 5600, ƒ/5.6, 1/250

The other day I was in the Delta Airlines corporate offices board room. This room was magnificent and where the airline’s board meets. This room is where change happens for Delta.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 5000, ƒ/5.6, 1/500

While my board room is our kitchen table, changes around here affect our family just as much as discussions around the board room tables change.

Here are a few tips to help you steer your life in a new direction:

  1. Brainstorm–Take some time and dream.
  2. Pick the best ideas
  3. Be SMART
    1. S–Specific
    2. M–Measurable
    3. A–Achievable
    4. R–Relevant
    5. T–Trackable over time
Since many who read my blog are photographers, you might have goals in several areas:
  • Portfolio–You may want to grow artistically and add new images to your present portfolio or even completely change it
  • Financial/Career–You may want to achieve working for certain media or corporations. You may also want to have a certain income. 
  • Lifestyle–This can be family goals of marriage, children, or moving to a new place
  • Attitude–You may want to be more positive and not as negative
  • Health–Maybe you want to lose weight or get into better shape
  • Volunteer–Maybe you want to give back and find an organization you can plug into to do more public service
I can tell you from my own life two types of changes have had profound effects on my life. 
 
First are those accidents or things that were from more outside forces. For example, car wrecks, layoffs, health emergencies, and you get the idea, but all of these dramatically impacted my life.
 
Second, are those things where I made conscious decisions. Marrying my wife was one of the most profound and life-changing things I could have ever done. Having a child was life-changing. Going to college and later to seminary changed my life.
 
Here is my challenge to you. Take some time, sit still, and ponder where you are and if this is where you want to be. Then, brainstorm what could be if things are not where you want to be. 
 
Be realistic in your thoughts. Your plan that you come up with will be very similar to your planning a vacation abroad somewhere. First, you will have to have picked your destination and what you want to see and do. Then you will put aside the money and make all the plans to make it happen.
 
TIP
 
You can easily set a goal to retire at age 35, and many have done this. However, I recommend a plan that all those who reach that goal then put into place—setting a goal that gives your life meaning and purpose. This way, you are much happier every day than having a plan that you eventually realize was empty.