Tell me if this sounds familiar…
You have an idea or a plan that you want to PERFECT… but you end up getting in your own way.
Maybe you overthink things and find yourself stuck.
Or maybe you want things to be a certain way and then get frustrated when that vision doesn’t come to life.
I never want to do things halfway, because if there’s a better way, let’s do it!!
It kills me to let anything go out the door in my business when it’s not as great as I know it can be.
But I realized that I was hurting myself by overthinking or overworking ideas.
Because it can NEVER be perfect… especially in a creative field.
There’s always another bell or whistle that can be added or another way to accomplish amazing things.
I think that can stall creatives like us, and then we miss the whole deadline!
What I have done to help me let go and overcome perfectionism is create a system to keep me unstuck.
I read a blog post recently by Seth Godin and it stuck with me.
I think it’s a tool that will help you greatly, too! I’m going to share a section with you because it’s short, but it’s so powerful.
It’s called “The Power of TK”.
Here’s what Godin said, “The origin of the editor’s mark ‘TK’ is murky.
It’s what you write when there’s a fact or addition you’re waiting on.
Instead of stopping everything, simply type ‘TK,’ and you know you can come back and fix it later.
The modern purpose of ‘TK’ is that there are few words in English that contain these two letters juxtaposed in this way, so it’s super easy to use Word to search your manuscript.
Except for ‘latkes’ and ‘pocket knife,’ but I think it predates search.
The magic of ‘TK’ is more interesting.
The existence of ‘TK’ means we don’t have to stop and wait for everything to be perfect before we proceed.
If the flooring for the kitchen hasn’t arrived yet, ‘TK’, and then move on to wallpaper the dining room.
Our lives are filled with ‘TK’ moments.
It will come.
No need to stop and wait for it.”
My question to you is, how can you “TK” your photography business?
Instead of letting one small thing lock you up, put a “TK” there and move on to the next thing.
For example, if you don’t have the perfect financial management software to run your business, put a “TK” there and either keep your records on a pad of paper or Google Spreadsheet.
If you don’t know every single tool in Photoshop, learn the ones you need, and then “TK” the rest for later when you have time to take an advanced course.
One important thing to consider is that you have to know when to “TK”.
Essentially, “TK”-ing is setting something to the side so you can keep going without getting stuck.
But there are times when you actually do need to press the pause or stop button and actually fix what is broken.
For example, if you’re realizing you simply don’t know anything about how to run your business, you just jumped in and have been guessing, “TK” is probably not the right answer.
You likely need to hit the pause button and learn how to do it.
Then, once you have a formula, you can “TK” as you grow.
I see a lot of photographers try to guess their way through their business…
My philosophy is, if someone before me has figured it out, learn from them!!
For us, we specifically teach portrait photographers how to build a brand that is worth more.
We teach how to price, how to market, how to attract the right clients, and how to sell without feeling pushy or yucky.
Our students can use “TK” because they have a formula that they’re following.
If you want to build your business, now is the time.
I want you to see that once you get the foundations set in your business, you can use “TK” as a tool to go even further!
If you wait until everything is perfect in your life, it will never happen.
The worst thing you can do in business is to stall out and end up stuck.
Get yourself a system so that you know exactly what to do step by step.
Time is going fast, and we are only here for a short time.
What I want you to do right now is put a “TK” on your self-doubt.
Let’s do this!!
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