Today’s post is about something that I personally have struggled with a LOT in the past as a creative (+ still do, although I’m getting better!!), so I figured I better post about it because there’s got to be other people out there like me, right!?!

Opportunities. 

There are SO many of them out there for small business owners + creatives … online courses, workshops, lectures + classes, mentoring … you name it!! All GREAT things, + all things that we have + will always continue to take advantage of!! We’ve said it many times before — that we believe very strongly in the importance of continuing to better yourself + your craft as a creative, never thinking you’ve “arrived” + have nothing else to learn. Opportunities like mentoring with a more experienced creative in your field, or online classes dedicated to an aspect of your business that could use growth, are incredibly valuable + important to invest in. HOWEVER, you can’t do them all. And you shouldn’t!!

It seems there are always new opportunities being created + launched in the creative world, + many of them are very appealing experiences!! But, if you’re anything like me, you quickly find yourself becoming overwhelmed with thoughts like, “Oh, I have to jump on this opportunity if I want to get anywhere with my business!” or “Everyone else is signing up for this workshop, I better do it too!” And of all of a sudden, we feel stressed about everything we COULD be doing or everything we think we SHOULD be doing, + we forget about what we’re ALREADY doing and/or have committed to in our businesses!!

Doing everything won’t make you better at anything. End. Of. Story.

Maybe it’s choosing two or three opportunities/experiences per year that you invest your time + money into, + the rest of the year is spent implementing the things you learned with EXCELLENCE into your business. Like, REALLY making changes!! Not learning something new, checking it off your list, + then moving onto the next thing … but never really taking action with what you just learned. You know what I mean!?

This past year, Caleb + I chose a couple of opportunities to invest in for our business (investing could be both time + money, or either time + money): Online business + photography courses through the International Academy of Wedding Photographers, a retreat focused on the balance of our faith + our business, hosting our local Rising Tide Society Gathering, + a getaway for local wedding vendors in our area. There were a LOT of other things we could have also done (+ maybe wanted to do), but instead we chose to take action in our business with the things we learned from these specific opportunities, + do them well!! We also made a conscience choice to spend more of our time with the people in our life who we love + were missing … but that’s another blog post ; )

Bottom line (I’ll say it again), doing everything won’t make you better at anything. <3