How To Successfully Fail At Being Successful — How Bad Do You Really Want It?

You have asked what it takes to be successful? Well, you need to be good at accepting failure.

So I’m in my 30's and have been doing photography seriously for about a year. What do I mean by seriously? Well, I’ve been shooting since I was six years old, however I mean I have not been doing anything else but photography for the past year. No side jobs, no benefits, no distracting projects — just photography. Since I made the choice to do this seriously I have had huge success. I have worked with industry giants, shot celebrities and worked with more brands than you can poke a stick at. Oh yeah, almost forgot — I am Producing the next biggest Reality TV Series in Australia.

A successful coach of mine once taught me this:

“The secret to success is already inside all of us. When you desire success as much as you want a breath of air, you will be successful.”

And who was this teacher of mine? The late, great Socrates.

I didn’t really understand this lesson until I actually went through it myself. And how recently? Like — last week. Anyone can call themselves a ‘Photographer’ or an ‘Artist’, but those who really have the right to do so are NOT the ones that work in their jobs each and every day simply doing what they think it takes by staying afloat, surviving by doing the small jobs that they hate, but rather those who want it badly enough that they are willing to put EVERYTHING on the line to achieve the result. They get that it needs to become their LIFE in order for any of it to become reality. Not a part of their lives, that’s too easy — no — it needs to actually become their LIFE.

Recently I employed a group of interns in the search for the “one” that would want to be a part of this industry as much as I do. They haven’t had it easy — long hours, hard tasks, the repetitiveness of persistence, etc… Some of them have done “ok” and others have quit far too soon because they couldn’t hack it in the real world. And what did I discover? Sadly, after interviewing over 300 applicants and starting over 20 of them, I found that…

“…not even one of them want it any where near as much as I do.”

So whats the point? And where do I fail here? Well, to be honest, I know that I will not be able to do this on my own— I need a great team that I can trust and that they need to understand exactly what it is going to take to get the goals and the dreams realised. And it’s not just an “up at dawn” siege, but it’s also about sacrifice, long hours and the persuit of something that you can’t see, feel or touch. But the failure results in the thinking and expecting that others will love, care, feel and work just as hard as I have.

This has been the greatest challenge that I have taken on in my career to date. To find another human that wants this just as much as I do.

As I was saying, a year ago I started my new studio. I designed it myself, chose the location myself, picked the furniture and the inclusions myself and then promptly lost direction in my work because the studio took all the time in my world which kept me from keeping to the basics of successful photography. My second failure was to leave it to others. The biggest mistake I have made to date. I was overseas shooting for Discovery Channel (a job that I landed by pursuing something I had always wanted to do) and whilst away working, the people that I trusted to take care of the business in my absence were the ones that not only didn’t know what they wanted, but they were the ones that will NEVER get what it takes to make it.

“I suffered the most, however learning from this has forced me to become stronger, wiser and even more determined.”

Letting go has been the most important thing I have done. In doing so I have learned more about my success and what it is going to take from me to have it continue, and its also taught me who I can be and what results I can cause from immediate failure. This also meant to choose to not have a studio — to let it go for now. It isn’t easy thats for sure, and all of those books that you have read telling you that it will take every ounce of your being in order to see the little sprout break through the surface is all true. But where to now?

Well… Let me show you.

I discovered that the majority of my work was being done off-site and without the need for a large production studio. I have also discovered that having a studio doesn’t create any extra credibility and that brands want to work with me because of my ability, not because of my studio. The studio has been GREAT, don’t get me wrong, however, for the work that I am focusing on, it’s just impractical to have such a huge distraction.

So, failure? — Some may say yes — However what I got from it was the importance of failing today in order to get the success for my business tomorrow. And what of my studio? Well, I am already on the hunt for my next creative space — however, it won’t be anything monstrous or distracting, it will be humble, creative and possess an outlet for me rather than others, where I can keep creating the best of my work with the people that deserve my time.