Long story short- I learned a valuable lesson lately. Not everyone is going to love your work…or even like your work…or maybe even just admit that they might slightly enjoy it. That is OK because I am learning how to turn my haters into my motivators.
I rarely ever use the word “haters,” but I felt it applied in this situation. Recently, I had an encounter where someone really did not enjoy my work. Hey, it happens. Not everyone is going to like it and that is fine. It is really how you go about sharing your opinion on it that matters, and in my opinion, it was shared in a disrespectful way.
At first, I did what any sensitive, normal twenty-four year old person would do- Waited until I got to my car, balled my eyes out, and called my mom. I know, it was definitely not the most logical response to this situation, but I needed to honestly. I just needed to let it all out. When I got home, I consumed mint chocolate chip ice cream for lunch (on taco Tuesday of all days) vented to my cat, and proceeded to act like a savage for about an hour until I cooled off.
Then, I needed to “get back on the horse.” These old sayings man, I apologize, but they just come out.
I needed to handle it and to deal with it. Hey, there are mean people out there and that is okay because I am not mean and I will not let it get to me any longer. People are allowed to not like my work, but people are not allowed to disrespect me. Social media is horrible sometimes because this reminded me of when I received hate messages on my instagram from random accounts- I am talking real mean stuff…stuff that only someone close to me would know and to this day I am still not 100% sure who sent them. Karma man, remember it.
Here are some ways I decided to “Turn my Haters into Motivators”:
I continued to create! Wooo! I did not give up photography because of this. I will continue to grow, and to create and to keep doing my thing because man, do I love it! Regardless of how many people follow me on instagram or how many people check out this post, I will continue to create. I have been creating since I was a child and saved up for my first digital camera. I have been writing daily since I first learned how. This minuscule life event will not cause me to throw away my passions.
I worked with other brands. I learned which brands enjoyed my style and really flowed with it and which brands did not. I learned that photographers do need to adapt, and content creators really focus on their true unique creative work.
I grew. This experience motivated me to push myself in new creative directions and to learn more. I am no photography/editing expert, but I hope to learn more and more each day.
If you are having a hard time recovering from a similar situation, here are some simple options to help readjust your mindset to a more positive one.
Need some inspirational videos? GaryVee has great ones on YouTube.
Need some inspirational quotes? You might want to check out Pinterest.
Need some inspirational reads? I recommend “Rise and Grind” as well as “#Girlboss”
From my instagram photos, you can see that I am typically a happy person. Well, I try to be. I try to share a positive image and encourage others to live positive, happy lives. As you can tell from this article, this is not always the case.
Express gratitude for the opportunities that you have. Express positive energy to the universe and it will return. Let’s turn these haters into motivators!
Becsea 