No What Ifs

I hear it all the time and I wonder why.  People are constantly asking the same question and I understand it but I don’t know why they are constantly asking the same old question. I mean, why wonder about it? Do something about it. It seems like I hear it even more frequently now too. You meet someone and you get to talking about this or that and then they say it. “What if…?”

‘What if’ is the one question I have spent my life trying to avoid asking. Throughout my life I have had my fill of difficulties and I have gotten to those points in life where I have to choose which path to take. The question I ask myself is what path will lead me to the least what ifs.

When I left the corporate world, more with a shove than a step, I asked myself what is next for me?  If I got another corporate position I would still make a good living but what good is that “living” if I have no life?  Is it good to be able to pay your bills and not do what you love; to be unhappy, probably downright miserable, 8 hours (or more) a day? Would I be asking myself that question, ‘What if?’ The answer was yes I would.

I needed to pursue my dreams, my passions; I needed to do what made me happy, not some executive or manager. So I chose the path that asked the question the least. If I went back into the corporate world I would do well and I would pay the bills and, and, and. In my later years I would ask myself, “What if I had given it all up and started my own photography business? Would I have been successful?”

I don’t want to wonder what life would be like if I made different decisions and I don’t do that when I work for my clients. If you hire me to do a job, whether that is shooting the headshots of all the C level execs or if it is creating images of your latest project, I won’t go in wondering what I am going to do. I will come in with an idea and a plan of action. I know the direction I want to take it. If we have planned it together and we have done the due diligence that we should do, rest assured that the images you need are going to be there and I am going to do my best to exceed your expectations. I am going to try to over deliver and I am going to avoid any problems I can.

My goal in everything I do, especially my work, is to avoid asking that question. Nothing gets to me more than if I were to deliver the high quality images I have created for you and then have you say, “What if you had shot it this way?”

The best way for me to avoid the ‘What If’ is to ask a better question, “If I do it this way, will I have any what ifs?” if the answer is yes, then that is the wrong way. You can’t afford them and I can’t stand them. So let’s do something together that doesn’t ask what if but is your vision.