I've been following Adam Krowitz on Instagram for some time now, and I saw him post this a while ago but it wasn't until last night that it really had me thinking and reflecting on the past year. The entire video was put together so well, the quote worked perfectly, and I was drawn into the video the whole time I was watching it. My favorite part of it all is the old man and how he is pretty much looking back and reflecting on his life. Thinking about all that has happened in 2016, this video was a huge inspiration to me and makes me look forward at what's to come in 2017.
This video hit me because the quote "happiness drives everything" is so true. I see a lot of my friends and family unhappy because they aren't living how they want to. They tell me they want to do something, but never take the steps to get there. As hard as it is to get to that point in life, I feel like happiness really is the key to it all. When you are doing something you truly love, it makes all the difference in the world. When we have a passion to do something, we are able to create and achieve things we may have never thought would be possible. We put our all into what we do so it comes out perfect and we care about it so much that it gives us a reason to look back on why we started doing it in the first place. So whether or not we are where we want to be in life, I've realized that finding happiness alone is enough to get us to that next step and get to where you want to be in life.
In 2016, I started my own company, Simply Visual Productions, graduated college, and immediately started working as a real estate photographer for Jump Visual on top of what I was already doing. I also started writing for Fstoppers, collaborated with other photographers, and pushed myself to do more personal work with my drone so I could get better at flying and all. I saw all the potential out there in photography and videography where two years back I was sitting in class wondering what the hell I was going to do with a degree in photography. I was questioning what I was majoring in and if it would be worth it to actually stick with it or not. In the end, I am glad that I chose to do what I wanted to do. When I first decided to do photography, not everyone was for it. They said it's not going to be easy to make a living out of that, and that I should do something else. I took all that in but came to realize that it isn't so much about the money, it's about doing something that I want to do, something I enjoy doing, and something I can wake up every morning and be happy about because I will be doing it for the rest of my life. Even though the hard times come, having this mindset will allow everything else to come together just fine. When I look back at what I have achieved at 22 years old, I have to say I am proud of the things I have done and how far I have come along from even just 5 years ago when I started college. I realize I have a long road ahead of me and I couldn't be more excited to keep moving forward. For me to be doing what I love really means a lot and I have to say that I am happy I chose to do what I do.
As 2016 comes to an end, it is a great time to look back at what you have done and what you have created within the past year alone. Take the time to appreciate all you have done for yourself, your friends, your family, and be happy about all of it. With the New Year coming in, we can all set goals and go out to achieve them. There is always more that we can do, but we need to make sure that we are actually happy doing it. I hope that this video inspires anyone who watches it and I would definitely encourage you to take a look at some of these other videos from Goalcast as they are all very well-made re-edits.
For more from Adam Krowitz, check out his Instagram and website.
Video speaker: Gary Vaynerchuck
