Becoming a storyteller

"Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity." – James Clear

One of the most memorable self-help books I have read is James Clear’s “Atomic habits”. One of the key points of the book is your identity is the sum of all the action you take. If you want to take on a new identity, you must take action, instead of focusing on goals, you need to find a system that will work for you and encourage you to stick with it.

Looking back to the amount of effort I put into my photography practice during the last year, I conclude it was the most productive year I have ever had. I committed to making or editing images weekly, and I credit the effort of producing consistently due to my signing up for the Gathering Light class as I mentioned in the prior blog post.

Here are a few take aways from my experience of making consistent effort last year:

When you want to be good at something, you will need to act. The better you are at what you do, the more confident you will become. Your habits are how you embody a particular identity. The more you act in a particular way, the more you reinforce your belief of being a certain type of person. Each action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to become. For example, when you go to church every Sunday, you are religious. When you write every day, you are a writer. Act and choose the action wisely, make sure the action you take will allow you to become the person you want to be.

There is something very powerful about doing the action and letting that drive the belief you have because it provides actual evidence, and in turn the evidence becomes a feedback loop that propels you to keep moving forward. For example, when I make the commitment to make images every week regardless of whether I want to or not. I take the option of not doing the work out of the equation, then I cannot say I am not committing to making improvement. My action vouches for my commitment to become an artist, and my consistent output reinforces that belief and gives me the courage to say “I am an artist. I have work to show for my effort”. As I continue to do the work, my belief continues to stick around. When your behavior doesn’t match your belief, that’s when self-doubt creeps into play.

Having the right process is key to making sure we stick to the habit. It is easy to get too focused on achieving the result and forget to formulate the right process that will encourage us to stick to the path. Instead of focusing on the outcome, ask yourself what type of identity you want to achieve first, then think about the habits that will encourage you to achieve that desired goal. Instead of focusing of external goals of winning competitions, making images that impress people, I make the decision of becoming a storyteller with the images I make. Instead of employing words, I decide to make mini folios of images that have coherent themes and tell stories. Once I find out how much I enjoy this process and I start reaping the benefits, I stuck to it, and I could see my artistic voice becomes ever apparent

There is usually a lag time between starting a habit and seeing the results. A habit is a compounding process, as with any compounding process, it usually takes some time to see any results. People only see the end results coming from those great photographers, but you don’t see the messy parts and the years of working at it that preceded all of those great work. It will not be the one photo I make this week that makes me become a great photographer, or one portfolio that may show promise, it is all the success and failures that come before. The results do not come from the last hit, but all the hits that came before. When you embrace the idea you need to build volumes of work over a long period of time in order to embody the identity you commit, the rewards will compound over time.