The dirtiest word of them all...
How do you create powerful goal objectives in your life?
It’s no secret that I have a bit of a potty mouth when it comes to the way I express my thoughts and actions.
It is the way I want to show up in the world, after all, :)
But, I’ve been deeply engaged in this long-standing battle with myself to remove one, particular dirty word from my vocabulary.
It starts with a “P” and ends with “-erfect.”
This word, and the meaning behind it, fostered a real problem for me when creating my goal objectives up until a few years ago. I proudly referred to myself for years as a perfectionist, striving for the best of the best of the best.
But, as I believed this to be true, I never found myself truly achieving this level in any area of my life.
Years later, therapy and personal coaching taught me that not only is perfection an impossible way to set realistic and valuable goal objectives, but, it also, ironically, is a hindrance to achieving authentic and realistic growth.
This pursuit set me up for black and white thinking, despite the fact that we live in shades of gray, and that set me back, and contributed to a lot of procrastination and lethargy in my life.
Fortunately, I now understand the importance of setting realistic, goal objectives, and this re-calibrated process has become my compass for a growth mindset.
Although I’ve gotten over the hump, unfortunately, not everyone has gotten the memo.
For example, when I hear my thought leader clients use that word around me, it drives me up a freakin’ wall.
I only want to choose the perfect-looking portrait pics. I want to wait until everything is perfect in my life time before I book my next lifestyle photography, portrait session."
Ugh, jeez, stop it, PLEASE - my heart dies a little bit when I hear this out of their mouths.
To all of the change agents out there under this impression:
It. Doesn’t. Exist.
Period!
So, waiting to invest in a branded portrait session until the perfect moment where every single star in the constellation is aligned, you might never get your photo taken again!
Does this mean that we don’t strive for excellence?
Hell no - and let me be abundantly clear here - you are aiming to produce the best, most compelling, authentic and powerful portrait pics you’ve ever created in your life.
And we don’t stop shooting until we’ve achieved that.
But, the measure of success will never be perfection, because it sets up an all-or-nothing expectation, and that’s quite frankly not the way to judge your branded lifestyle portraits.
Throughout every shoot, there are a wide variety of variables that are in play, some play out more ideally than others.
Whether there are challenges involving locations, your appearance, my equipment, the timing of the session, etc. - our collaboration will ensure that resourcefulness will kick in and we can bypass any hiccup in the creation process, and the goal objectives for create magnificent, magazine-quality images that clearly show a variety of sides of your personality.
It’s in the hiccups where resiliency is needed, and that actually makes the portraits worth that much more to you, because despite whatever issue popped up, we blew right past them and met the goal objectives for the session!
Of course, you could hold off and wait until every star in the constellation is aligned. Of course, if you do that, you might never get your picture taken again.
So, what do I say to that?
Own your appearance. Own your expertise. Own your value.
And understand the bigger picture here - these photos are your gift to your followers. The thought leadership you attach to these portrait pics will help these folks with their pain points, and inspire them to be better than they were yesterday.
How perfect is that? :)
Has your battle with perfectionism held you back with regards to investing in a much needed, branded lifestyle portrait session?
Set up a time to chat with me here and let’s see if I can help you with that.