Hi, I’m Jessica Sterling, a portrait and event photographer based here in Los Angeles. And today I wanted to talk about self confidence and fear. It is one of the biggest subjects, questions, aspects of your career and life. Here are a couple of thoughts on that:

Terrified = Awesome.

Joss Whedon, the director, said something like how if he’s terrified he knows he’s doing the right thing. As an artist, if you’re trying to break out on your own, fear is something you have to really take a look at and tackle.

It takes a lot of courage to be a freelance artist. Think of it this way: if you’re out there making your own path in life, you’re not working in nine-to-five job. You’re doing something that’s maybe a bit unusual, something where you have to figure it out and direct your own ideas and motion, and you fail or you win.

It’s way scarier than something where somebody already found the way for you. It’s as if you are going through the jungle. You don’t have a compass, and you have a machete… and it’s getting dark out… and you’re hacking away… and there’s all these mosquitoes biting you. It’s more like that than if you were just driving down the freeway, listening to your podcast… relaxing… drinking your latte.

The Annoying Dude

But let’s say you’re trying to do something. And you have a little voice that’s giving you a hard time, and it’s like constantly telling you that you can’t do it, like you’re going to make a mistake or it’s not going to happen. You’re hacking through the jungle and it’s getting dark, and you’re like “I’m doing this man!” And then you have like this really annoying dude who’s hanging out on your back, like piggyback style. And he’s like saying, “it’s getting really dark. I don’t think you’re going to make it. Boy that mountain’s really far away. Do you think these mosquitoes carry malaria? Oh, that machete is really old and the handle is probably going to fall off. Oh, you’re gonna get splinters and maybe ruin your manicure…”

You don’t need that! Get that guy off your back! If you start having doubts and worries, try to channel that same energy into something productive. Turn it toward your goal. Say to yourself, “I’m going to get to that mountain, if it’s the last thing I do.” Take all that worry and wondering and negative energy, and put it toward what you’re trying to get done. Because anything that’s not pushing you forward is basically dragging you back.

Be Prepared

A real big thing to confidence is preparation. You’ve handled it, it’s done. So if there’s some area that you’re kind of worried about or shaky on, see what you can do to get all your ducks in a row so that way you’re not worried whatever it is. Just try and tackle it. When you’re prepared, you have that stability to make decisions because you’ve already thought it through. And it’s also just part of being really professional. If you’re a wonderful artist, you owe it to the world to get your stuff out there. I want you to kick butt and do great. Hope that’s helpful. Be sure to subscribe to our channel and follow the blog to keep up with all of our new content. And remember to get out there and capture your own images of life.