Overcoming Setbacks in My Photography Career

Here’s what changed 👇 It was 2019. I had just done my biggest job to date and I went on a fun hike only to come back and see that my entire camera bag had been stolen. On top of that I didn’t have insurance (I’ve since learned my lesson) But with no gear, and a $7,000 bill just to get back my base kit, I was faced with 2 choices. 1️⃣ Accept defeat and write it off as fate. I could come up with a bunch of excuses that may sound valid as to why I didn’t succeed, and my friends and family would probably respect it as the “logical” choice. But I would know deep down that I didn’t give it everything I had. 2️⃣ Scrap for any random side job I could to make the money back to get back in business. In other words I took full ownership for my situation. I could have very easily blamed the thief or bad luck or even God, and although I was tempted to, I ultimately blamed myself. 👉 It was my fault for leaving the bag in the car. 👉It was my fault that I didn’t have enough savings to cover it 👉 It was my fault that my business wasn’t successful enough yet to withstand a blow like that. And because this was my fault, it meant that I had the opportunity to fix it. So I took ownership. I took 2nd shooter jobs, borrowed cameras, flipped iPhones, did dropshipping, and tried all kinds of things because I couldn’t let someone else’s stupidity determine how my life turned out. If you’ve read this far I want you to understand 1 thing. You can learn all the best tactics and strategies, and you can have all the talent in the world, but without a base “WHY” you will easily be swept out by life’s obstacles. For me, the reason I wanted to do this so bad is because I’ve always loved telling stories. I couldn’t imagine not doing that. And I knew this would be one worth telling some day. So what’s your why? What keeps you going when you hear no after no? What keeps you going when life throws an unexpected jab? I’m genuinely curious so lmk in the comments :) And if you want to learn more tactics stuff be sure to follow @nashhagen and check out more of my content on this page 🤙 Be blessed and stay stoked 😎🤙