Emily Dean Photography » Destination Wedding & Lifestyle Photographer | Based in Birmingham, Alabama

Manic Monday | The Scary Stuff

Last year, when I decided to give this whole photography business thing a try, I made a list.  I listed all of the things that I needed to do, fundamentally, to start a business.  Things like get a business license, open a separate bank account, write a business plan, a marketing plan, a mission statement, a vision statement, blah, blah, BLAH!  Then, I made another list.  A list of things I needed to do, creatively, to start a busisness.  Things like create a website, start a blog, curate my online portfolio, etc, etc, etc.  At the end of the year, I looked back at that list & I’ll give you 1 guess what got done & what didn’t.

I’m pretty embarrassed about it & I can’t believe I’m telling all of you, but there it is.  I put off all of the scary stuff because it’s…well, SCARY, and then one day I woke up in a panic, thinking “Why haven’t I done ANY OF THAT STUFF?!!?”

I’m going to fail miserably if I continue to put off the not-so-fun things all of the time.  It’s never going to work if I keep hiding from the things that terrify me.  I might as well quit right now if I’m not going to grow a pair {that’s right…you can imagine that to mean whatever you want ;)} and start doing what I gotta do in order to do what I wanna do.

So, this month, I have dedicated myself to the scary stuff.  I’ve given myself a deadline & I’ve committed to doing all of the things that should’ve been done months ago.  So far, I’m on a roll.  I’ve finished all of the legal mumbo-jumbo & am almost ready to file my taxes {UGH!}.  Next up: write a business plan, a marketing plan, a mission statement, a vision statement, blah, blah, YEAH!

Luckily, I’ve found some pretty amazing resources & friends to guide me along the way.  Jasmine Star’s reSTARt course was just the kick in the pants I needed & Lara Casey’s Making Things Happen 2013 is helping me put it all into perspective.  WHEW!  So thankful for these ladies and their amazing talents & willingness to share their knowledge so freely.

Look out scary stuff…you’re not so scary anymore.

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Clearly, that is me…not being afraid of the scary stuff.

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