Feeling so motivated today and felt the need to write a blog, which is crazy because I am NOT a writer, grammar is not my forte (yes, I am the friend who uses the wrong their, there, and they’re every once in a while), and I would rather share my creativity with graphics or photographs.
For those of you who don’t know – I do Graphic Design full time, formerly for Shay Designs & Marketing Solutions, a business that I started fresh out of college, that grew to more than I ever expected and recently expanded/rebranded to Maxology Marketing & Design (which I co-own with 3 awesome and talented dudes). I also own Shay Photography, completing a lifelong dream of mine to become a photographer – I truly love what I do!
I remember being a little girl and my mom would buy me disposable cameras (remember those?) and I would line up all of my stuffed animals and photograph them. I have always had a passion for photography and now it is part of my career!
That is just one of the 10,000 factors that have brought me to where I am today and I would love to put them all in one blog but that would take forever and you may fall sleep on your keyboard.
However, below are 4 of the biggest factors (in my opinion) to be successful and follow your dreams.
PEOPLE & NETWORKING. Surround yourself with positive influences, motivating individuals, people who can teach you new things and push you to be better. Keep a healthy relationship with these people – do good business, be honest, and communicate! Weed out the negative influences and the dream crushers and replace them with positive people who truly care about your success. DO not let people take advantage of you and your talents – what one person isn’t willing to invest in you another will value you for all your worth! #positivevibes
LEARN. Never stop learning. Read books & blogs, find social media groups to participate in, watch tutorials on YouTube, go to local chamber events, go back to school, LEARN! Don’t turn to others to solve your problems, go out and find your own solutions! Don’t let this scare you, let it motivate you! Hop on the Google machine for information – unless you are sick, don’t self diagnose 😉 – always try to do something or learn something yourself first, you will be better off and learn more in the long run! #knowledgeispower
STAY MOTIVATED. Take action. I found when I was most stressed was when jobs were piling up. The only way to feel better, was to stay motivated and check something off my list! Three tips for staying motivated…
1. At the end of each day plan for tomorrow – I found I am most motivated when I wake up and already know my first 3 things to do for the day.
2. Start with a small task and work up to something bigger.
3. Take a break. Yes, it does sound counterproductive but sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself (cough cough, or your sanity) is to step away, go for a little walk, grab a quick drink of water, and come back to it!
#takaction
NEVER GIVE UP. This may seem simple but it is so true. There will be tough times, poor times (literally, sometimes following your dreams isn’t cheap), fun times, frustrating times, awesome times, and all sorts of times – take on the battles as they come and celebrate the successes no matter how small – You answered all your emails today?! GO YOU!!! #onethingatatime
Today I spent my morning with two very motivating, inspirational, local entrepreneur women – Lindsey who owns, Lindsey Jo Design and Hannah who does freelance marketing consulting. I felt so inspired and motivated just knowing, I am not alone in my journey to tackle my dreams & life goals!
During our conversation Lindsay said,
It’s never a stupid idea to follow your dreams!
Today I am so glad I am on this crazy, amazing, sometimes scary, but almost always satisfying journey of following my dreams. To all of you following your dreams, whether it be through a career, or another adventure – CHEERS to you! You are a rockstar! And as Journey would say, “Don’t stop believing!” (Yes, I am a huge 80’s music fan #funfact).
Thanks for reading,
Shay
