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Making Choices: When Working at Your Passion Becomes a Chore
There's nothing like the rush of achieving your goals, especially in our world of owning a photography business. Getting that first phone call for a job and selling your finished product produces a high that you can't get enough of. But what happens when it starts to consume your entire life? In a lot of people the end result is burnout. Suddenly, it's not fun anymore. How did it happen?!? More importantly, does it happen to anyone else and can you recover from it? The truth of the matter is that it is more common than one would think. It has happened to the best of us and often forces us to do serious reflection and to change the way of thinking that got us there in the first place or even change how we do things in our business even if that means hiring help to keep up with the workload.
NoBS member Navelgazer (Jodi Fitzhugh) is known on the forum for her stunning images of children, seniors, infants, and families. She also knows firsthand the effects of burnout. It led her to make surprising changes. She felt more pressure than enjoyment and that's when she decided she needed to make a change. Here is what she had to say:
"I've gotten some pm's and email asking where the heck I went and I swear, if you've sent me something and haven't received a personal reply, you will!
I just dropped out for a while. I got REALLY busy and really stressed and down. I was a wreck for weeks. I prayed a lot. I meditated A LOT....and it all comes down to this one statement....
I hate owning a business.
Like, I don't just dislike aspects of it sometimes....I really hate all of it....taxes, insurance, vendors, marketing, etc....seriously, all of it. The only thing I really like to do is shoot. I LOVE shooting kids and weddings esp! But, when I looked back over 2009 I had hardly any images of MY kids. I want my weekends back. I want to shoot on my terms. Somewhere along the path, I lost my way. I never dreamed of being a great photography business owner....I only dreamed of being a great photographer. I realized that I don't need to own a photography business to do that. Not wanting to own a business doesn't mean that I can't be good or serious at photography. At some point, I bought into the the idea that I did!
Since I've made that decision, I can't tell you how dang happy I am! I race to pick up my camera instead of dreading the next session. I want to grow and innovate and not worry about trends and staying ahead of other photographers in my area. I want to do it for me.
So I haven't left or anything! I want to grow even further..."
If you are experiencing burnout, it's important to pinpoint the reason why and tackle it head on so that it doesn't rob you of enjoying your passion and making a good living. You may even decide it's not the right path for you.