Week 12: Pause to Celebrate

“Timing is everything. Now, when you’re just starting out, is the time to build a strong foundation. Be patient, and keep your eyes open for new opportunities.“
- Ivanka Trump

I started a book just over two years ago, and today I finished it. Today. After two years. That sounds just as crazy when I say it out loud as it does when I type it! I’d still be scratching my head if I didn’t have a good enough excuse to share with you .. so here it is .. timing.

Timing is everything. For better or worse, timing has the power to change the course of our lives. Note the key word here is: has. Timing doesn’t need to change the course of our life – we can accept defeat and failure with open arms just the same as we accept victory and success – but it does take a strong will, thick skin, and oftentimes external support from friends and family, to accept whatever is before us. At least it does for me.

So how does a two year reading excuse and timing have in common? The short answer, me. I started reading Ivanka Trump’s “The Trump Card” before I started my company (the idea to go into photography was already conceived). When I received the book as a gift, I found enough available time to start and read a few chapters of it. As it was, time caught up with me before I picked it up again; I switched careers, travelled a bit to visit family, lost a loved one, and then one day found myself restructuring my life according to what I felt were my priorities. Priorities that were always there, but just beneath the surface.

Fast forward eight months or so, and I was mid-way through my company’s first year, and somehow (timing!?) came across Ivanka’s book stacked on my bookshelf. It sat there partially covered with dust, and immediately I felt urged to pick it up again and continue. Twenty minutes later I couldn’t recall why I hadn’t already finished this book! Ivanka’s collection of personal anecdotes, enlightening notes from established entrepreneurs in every industry imaginable, and candid honesty was refreshing. But it was a little too much, all at once. Too much, in a good way.

I was still in a transition, trying to find a daily rhythm that made sense to me, and after another six chapters or so, I put the book down. This time it was deliberate. I wanted the information to really sink in; I needed to process the advice on my own time, to basically spread out the knowledge. And so I did. Fast forward another ten months, and I cracked open the book for the third time. You see, a lot of what Ivanka wrote about affected me differently now. I had a year of entrepreneurship under my belt, and knew if I wanted to keep on this path I’d have a lot more of learning to do. And so, these past few months that I’ve spent reading the final chapters, in a turtle like slow manner may I reiterate, was to let every word sink in. Completing the book was very satisfactory, albeit an accomplishment of longest read ever.

Photography Tip: Be patient. This tip is short and sweet because there really is no two ways about it. Be patient with your clients, and be patient with yourself. Sometimes the weather won’t cooperate, or a younger client may be particularly moody during a session, or your batteries die mid-way through a sequence (here’s hoping you have extras nearby), or you forget your 5-in-1 reflector at home, or you have to unexpectedly pay for parking, or your submission to a wedding magazine isn’t accepted,… the list goes on. The reality is, it’s life. Anything can happen at any given moment, whether good or bad. So be patient, and keep on like it’s nobody else’s business. Success is yours to have!