Ever wish you could leave your J.O.B. and be a photographer full time?
What if circumstances didn’t give you a choice, what would you do?
If life handed you lemons, would you make lemonade?
That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest, Pat Flynn. Pat went to school and trained to be an architect, then got a job in his field and was living the dream until the rug was pulled out from under him and he got laid off.
How does that relate to photography?
Well, I see a lot of parallels between the two industries of photography and architecture. Both are creative endeavors, done by people very passionate about their respective craft.
There is a lot of value in learning from Pat’s experience especially if you can relate to any of these situations:
- you want to leave your job and do photography full time
- you’ve ever lost a job outside your control (laid off, fired, forced retirement)
- you’re on the verge of saying “oh what the hell” and going for it but you have reservations and fears
- you’ve dreamt about having your own business
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% of what you do with it” – Charles R. Swindoll
Some of the possible take away lessons in this interview are:
- it’s better to say “oh well” than “what if”
- life begins at the end of your comfort zone
- get support from others doing the same thing: business people, other photographers
- sometimes the best things in life are those that are not planned
- it doesn’t have to be perfect, just get it out there. Just “ship it” and fix it later
- business today isn’t B2B any more it’s P2P, or Person to Person. People want to do business with other people, ones they like and trust, not a brand.
So without further ado, please watch the interview with Pat where we talk about all that and more!
Pat Flynn – author, Let Go
Links mentioned in the video
- 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris
- Let Go – book by Pat Flynn
- Fizzle.com – honest online biz training
- MeetUp.com – find people to connect with
Where you can connect with Pat
- Twitter – @PatFlynn
- Smart Passive Income – Pat’s main website
- Smart Passive Income podcast – one of the top business podcasts on iTunes
Action Plan
I simply leave you with this question and this visual.
What will you do when life hands you your next curve ball or a lemon?