Three Things to Help You Achieve Your Dreams in 2019

Have you ever set out to achieve a dream or goal of yours and found yourself not accomplishing what you set out to do? In this quick article, see three things I do to make sure I'm staying on track to achieving my goals.

One of the biggest culprits I find that stands between me and achieving my dreams are the excuses I make. Each time an excuse arises, it serves as a way of procrastinating something. I find when I make an excuse for something, it may seem rational in the short term, however it ultimately ends up holding me back in the long term. Below I list the three most common excuses I hear and how to overcome them. 

Age

As a 21 year ol, and fresh in this industry, at times it is daunting to approach big name companies and ask to work with them, or comparing myself to other people who are getting those gigs. I find myself constantly attributing the opportunities I'm given being connected with my age. I realized though that age is simply just a number. If you want to land big gigs or work with your dream clients, the only thing stopping you is having the guts to reach out to them, or your work is not good enough. An easy way to combat this excuse is by being honest with yourself and your work. Are you confident in your the quality of work your producing? Additionally, one thing to keep in mind is that the only competition you have is yourself. Ask yourself if you can be better than you were yesterday. If your answer is yes, than you're on the right track. 

Equipment 

The excuse of not having equipment is one of the most common things I hear as to why people can't achieve the shots they want. The equipment is not the only thing that makes or breaks a great image, it's the person behind it. I know it's cheesy, but it's true. You could have a really crappy camera or lens, but the thing that makes it connect to the audience is the emotion, the story, the feeling, and a multitude of other things. Not what camera was used. When I had a picture I took on my back porch, with a Canon t4i and a kit lens, end up on the cover of the New York Times, that's when I realized that gear was not the thing holding me back. So if you're ever feeling like you need to dump your savings into the latest and greatest equipment, take a step back and think about what you want to accomplish with the pictures your taking. In today's society, many people have a smartphone in their pockets and they are fully capable of bringing your vision to life. Filmmaking and photography is more accessible then ever these days, so there is no excuse to not making it happen.  

Need an inspirational, modern day example of someone who capitalizes on this phenomena? Check out this video below by Casey Neistat who is the epitome of making the most of what you have.

Not Having Enough Time 

There are 24 hours in a day, and it's your choice on what you do with them. Five to eight hours are spent sleeping, but what is most important is maximizing on the time that you're awake. More often than not, we'll be offered the biggest opportunity of our lives, but find ourselves saying “I don't have time to do that.” When the excuse comes up, the first thing it means is that your priorities are not straight. If you want something bad enough, you'll make time for it. A prime example of this is getting up early in the morning. On the average day, it may be easy to hit snooze a dozen times, but if you have a plane to catch, you'll be out of your bed within minutes. Find out what is most important to you, then make time for it. Even if it's five minutes a day, if you keep chipping away at something long enough, eventually it will manifest into your dreams happening.

2019 is your year to kick ass, the only thing standing in between that is the excuses that you make. List three ways your going to kick 2019's butt this year in the comments below.