Photos taken: January 04, 2023 (1/4/2023, 10:33:06 AM)
Published: January 12, 2023
To my dearest viewers a very warm welcome and a very happy New Year 2023. A brand-new year with a brand-new episode and this time I will be focusing on some of the takeaways of this crazy journey. Now, 2022 was an excellent year – greatest so far – in my venture when I met many people, had a lot of fun with them, took a lot of photos, started publishing those pictures on social media at a regular interval and last but not the least, learnt many lessons along the way. Some of them were the greatest of life lessons that I wish I learnt earlier. Furthermore, I also introspect how these learnings can expand your horizon and free you from many emotions that you might be vulnerable to in life. I must admit however, that some – if not all – of these lessons are painful learnings and may be quite uncomfortable to deal with at times.
First, I discussed in an earlier episode probably about one of my most important life lessons – getting out of comfort zone. Second, I discussed about our vulnerabilities; we all have them and one such vulnerability in life is our inability to handle rejections. Consequently, one of the biggest lessons you would learn in this venture or in any venture perhaps, is being steadfast in the face of those rejections and setbacks. And who has to deal with rejections more than those in typical sales profession? Well, perhaps none and hence this second lesson comes straight from the sales manual – being resilient in the face of obstacles. And finally, another great lesson I encountered is having a success mindset and getting lucky. Furthermore, I tend to believe nowadays, that two most things in life one must master is perhaps sales and marketing.
Today however, I would focus on another aspect of this journey. As I become more and more involved into this project, I noticed how my numbers went up from eighteen (18) all the way up to fifty-eight (58) within a span of one year while, in contrary, it took me almost six years to get to just one third of it. So, putting it the other way, I needed one third of time to get three times more result during the year 2022.
It was of course, only possible because of planning. From the year 2012 to 2019 I did about seventeen (17) but then it was COVID-19 up until the year 2021 and everything came to a halt during this period. Suddenly, there was no activity due to reasons out of our control and subsequently, when we were finally able to get into the public my numbers just went up, so much so, by up to three times and it happened perhaps because of appropriate planning and organization. Consequently, I had to put aside many activities and sometimes it was difficult no doubt, and of course, sometimes it was overwhelming however, I decided to stick to my plan. So, in short it was all about planning, execution, and commitment (i.e., sticking to the plan) – and consequently, feeling a lot of pressure to get things done – done today as opposed to by the end of the week or even the next day – and that pretty much summarizes my journey into photography in 2022. Going half-way through I have finally being able to confirm that yes indeed, commitment as well as planning is what drives successful completion of any undertaking.
Today however, I am happily confronted with the exact opposite. And this time I am presenting you our photogenic Helena from Germany to demonstrate it. Besides being photogenic as her mom – being a passionate photographer herself who loves to take pictures of people – would always vouch for, she is also a vegetarian (about which I will get to in a minute).
Would you show these pictures to your mom? …
Yeah, maybe
And what you think she will react?
She always thinks I am really photogenic …
Photogenic (I was very amused)
Yeah, I think she will like them…
I think so…
But I hope you like the pictures…
Well, I certainly like these pictures and needless to say how beautiful she looks. Her hair, I believe, is what caught my eyes as I was, once again, walking down Hyde Park along the path that goes to the intersection (next to the bus stop) at Park and Elizabeth Street. She was coming towards me, and I was to her, and it was the exact same way I met another encounter few months back. Furthermore, while coming to the city it was one more minute before the train arrived today and jumping onboard when I was resting my head against the compartment walls, I felt a bit of comfort by the air conditioning of the train as it was murky, hot, and humid outside.
Now, back to our main topic – having a plan or no plan. So, not having a plan definitely relieves you of all the pressure because when you set a goal pressure immediately comes along so which one is good? Following a plan to get things done and of course, putting a lot of pressure on yourself or not putting a lot of pressure and also perhaps not having a plan which could also mean not getting things done. So, let’s hear about it from my gorgeous stranger who was on her trip to seeing this world inspired by her mom.
I think my mom just gave me the mindset that I don’t have to be afraid to travel…
She used to travel at really, really young age… And she is also a photographer 📸
Ohh your mom! (This time I was happily surprised)
What type of photography does your mom do? …
She just photograph many people… she went on…
This is my first stop.
So, what’s your plan.
I don’t really have a plan…
You should have one… since you’re travelling…
I really don’t have a plan…I go where…yeah… life leads me…
You go where life leads you… But you should have a plan…You should have a plan A plan B and plan C…
May be sometime is not good to have a plan in this life…
Going through life and exploring things I think is the most important thing about life…
Going through life??
Going through life without having plan and putting too much pressure on yourself…
Do you think that’s a good idea?… If that is a good idea…Then what is the worst idea?
The worst idea is putting too much pressure on yourself
Yeah…
I like that one
Putting too much pressure is no good.
Sometimes life will work out as we continue to live… May be… live with a bit more freely and have more fun…
It’s true however, that although having a plan has its unique advantages, it comes with a cost. Sometimes it can strip you off the fun and if you’re always up to chasing a goal then you might have to sacrifice many other fun filled activities of your life. And on the contrary, not having a plan at all might also lead to non-completion of many things which perhaps you always wanted to accomplish. Hence, without being serious about it, some activities might as well be left unattended and would never get done despite having plenty of opportunities. Had I not made the decision of spending at least a day doing this project alone, back in 2022 I would’ve never come to this far. Like the remaining six years it would perhaps be another year completely wasted without any fruitful results.
You check all the boxes 📦
Vegan…Like children (mentioned earlier) read books (mentioned earlier) …And other people (she mentioned that she loves to help other people with basic stuff to make their life easier)
I do a lot of sports… So, I go to the gym, or I go for a run… So, in Germany I usually went every day to the gym…
Every day to the gym??!! Wow…
That takes a lot of commitment I guess
Not really because it’s… that’s a passion for you… it’s just easy to go there…
I also do like swimming 🏊♂️… I swam seven years
You swam seven years!!
What type of swim do you like?
Butterfly 🦋
No Breaststroke
“If it’s a passion for you, it’s just easy to go there.” And I think we all can agree that having lots of fun as well as having a great passion is an excellent drive behind successful completion of any undertaking although having a plan and being fully committed to the plan is also absolutely necessary along with the fact that you are coming from a position of authenticity to feel full motivated during the process.
So, once again, her spontaneity and free-spiritedness along with my passion and commitment made this a wonderful session for which I must thank her. Great work Helena and all the very best for your upcoming trip.
