When we first discover photography, we find its allure seductive; seeing through a lens and freezing moments captivate us.

While this heady feeling can carry us far, it can be challenging to maintain.  

So how do photographers stay motivated? Here are ten ways to do it.

1. Set Your Goals

It all starts with setting an end goal.  Just like on any journey in life, once you know where you’re going, you can start plotting your road there.

In photography, your end goal can be as grand as having a gallery someday or it can be as simple as focusing on specific improvements in your style and technique.

Once you know your end goal, you can start breaking it down into steps and identifying the mile markers you’ll need to see clear progress.

You can start by setting up daily activities you should do to reach your goal. This helps establish a daily routine that will help get it rooted in reality.

You may find that changes in mindset are necessary both before and after you achieve your final goal.  

Those pursuing the life of a professional photographer will find this especially true.  A relentless pursuit of your end goal is the only thing that will get you past apathetic inertia and the voice in your head that reminds you of your past failures.

2. Know Your Why

Once you have a clear goal in mind, you have to figure out why you want it.

It’s not sufficient to focus on how and what you do. Knowing your “why” is about having a clear vision of what’s driving you towards the goal that inspires you.

Along the way, you’ll face adversity, but if your sense of purpose is greater than the difficulty of your challenges, there will be little that can stop you.  

Without purpose firing your passion, it can be challenging to move towards your vision of the future.

Your “why” stands as a North Star in your sky, one you can direct your life towards as an unstoppable force of positivity.

Even when trouble gets in the way, you’ll always be able to correct course towards that goal if you clearly understand what it is.

Your “why” will keep you moving forward despite any negative emotions that come up like fear, doubt, and discomfort.

The stronger the connection you form with your why, the better you’ll perform.

When you bring this internal motivation together with the external actions you’ll find incredible inspiration.  

This is the benefit of having a mission and purpose that you care deeply about and build your goals around.

3. Focus on Today

If you find yourself feeling driven to accomplish things quickly, you’ll need to let it go.

It takes a long time to build a body of photographic work, especially one you’re proud of.  

Today’s fast-paced world has glamorized approaching all our tasks with a focus on speed.  Our jobs and schools provide a significant amount of emphasis based on how quickly we reach our goals.  

The reality of photography, however, is significantly different than this.

Every photographer has their path and advances at their own pace.

As a photographer, you’ll have many images to take and projects you’ll want to finish.  It’s impossible to make them all happen instantly, and attempting to do so is to subject ourselves to frustration.

So don’t rush. Your life as a photographer is a marathon, not a sprint.  

Fight the battles of just one day and come to love the process.  

At the end of the day, remember to look back on your work with pride. Appreciating your accomplishments cultivate self-efficacy and help build momentum.

Each night, compose a record of what you did to reach your dream and write down a list of what you intend to do tomorrow.  Then let it go.

Go to sleep with a clear mind. Tomorrow your journey continues.

4. Track Your Progress By What You Produce

Measure what you produce instead of the time you spend doing something.  This is easily the best productivity hack.

Basing your progress on your productivity rather than on the amount of time you spend is a great way to stay motivated.  

Results keep us going like no other metric will.  Focusing on what you produce is more important than how much time you’ve spent on your projects.

For instance, when I edit my images, instead of measuring how much time I spent in front of my computer, I commit to finishing one picture a day.

This method of measuring your success is just so much more motivating than the others I tried.

5. Honor Self-Commitment

It’s not uncommon to find self-commitments challenging to keep. Most people find commitments they make to themselves harder to maintain than the ones they make to someone else.

But, nothing destroys your self-confidence and motivation quicker than failing to honor commitments to yourself.

This is especially true if you fail to complete your projects from a fading of motivation. Doing so typically creates a recurring detrimental behavior that slowly wears away at your sense of self-confidence.

But, every time you finish something, your brain releases dopamine signaling that the reward you are chasing is within reach. This makes you feel wonderful and boosts your self-confidence.  

You gain forward motion, enabling you to move on to your following goal with less resistance.

By following through on commitments to yourself, you will build the self-confidence needed to reach your goals.  Achieving small goals cultivates self-reliance and help boost your motivation.

6. Take Action

Action is one of the easiest ways to stay motivated.

Your thoughts cannot become a reality if they are not accompanied by action.  It is action, not our thoughts, that gets us closer to our goals and help us build momentum.

Regularly producing work builds habits that keep your creative mind in tune. These habits make it effortless for ideas to come.

By working consistently, you keep your mind busy and your creativity aroused.

Also, if you’re feeling unmotivated, action is one of the quickest ways to change the way you think.

If you are consistently acting in a way that gets you closer to the life you desire, your thoughts will shift to that reality.

Many times your thoughts will pull you away from your goals and potential to achieve them. The choice to act rather than to remain idle is how we overcome those thoughts that come unbidden to our mind.

The act of taking action means that we have eliminated the time for us to focus on the negative.

Internally we may be anxious and tearing ourselves down, but staying in motion will overcome it.  The more you practice this habit, the less effort it will take to keep it in motion.

So, keep focused and shoot continuously. Don’t let your feelings get in the way; start taking action.

7. Become Part of the Community

Taking active steps to contribute to your community can make a huge difference in your motivation.  

For one, seeing others charge towards shared goals can help motivate us to stay on target.

Bonding with like-minded people that you can be accountable to, exchange concepts with, and get feedback from is an easy way to stay inspired.  

Also, being around people with similar values serves to reinforce our concept of who we are.

We benefit from having our sense of purpose and our identity reinforced every day, especially when our passions feel like they’re starting to wane.

The first blush of our love of photography will come back to us as we surround ourselves with those who support us on our journey.

Finally, being a part of a community reminds us that we’re not alone. It provides a mirror that reminds us that all of our worries and struggles are universal.  

Our community gives us a place to learn and connect with others. These connections are essential in our lives, especially when we are dealing with issues that are integral to the human condition, including a lack of motivation.

So, look to see how to be a more active participant in your community. It could be through teaching budding photographers, providing feedback and critiques, or simply sharing your ideas. Invest some time to be with others, and the return on your the investment of your efforts can be fantastic.  

8. Put No In Your Vocabulary

It’s essential that we learn to treat our time as sacred. This means turning our mind away from the temptations the world tries to bring.  

Saying no enables you to focus on what’s essential and is key to staying motivated.

Our lives are full of distraction. In general, humans need time and energy to refocus and achieve a mindset ready to grab onto the task at hand.

Multitasking is a myth, and when we try to multitask, we’re not doing more than one thing at a time. Instead, we are rapidly switching between them and not being as productive as a result.

The brain isn’t designed to function this way.  The very fuel it uses to help you focus on your tasks is burning up as you try to do too much at once.

“That switching comes with a biological cost that ends up making us feel tired much more quickly than if we sustain attention on one thing,” Dr. Levitin from Mcgill University says in an interview.

By saying no to distractions, we keep our subconscious attuned to the needs of our work.

By eliminating unnecessary tasks, you’ll find yourself motivated and on the road to accomplishing your goals.

9. Don’t Self Sabotage

We’re always succeeding at validating our subconscious thoughts. This isn’t always a positive thing, as what you’re confirming could be all your worst thoughts about yourself.  

If you think you’re a procrastinator and you find yourself procrastinating, chances are you’re validating that opinion.  

When you feel unmotivated to work on your goals, and you find yourself watching Netflix, you are probably finding a way to reinforce your beliefs.

You’re establishing that this is who you are and what you are uninterested or incapable.

Why do we stick to these tracks even when they’re counterproductive?  Because they have succeeded in seeing us through life this far and the human mind is, at its core, a survival machine that repeats what it perceives as working.  It takes work to change that.

10. Believe In Your Goals

When you believe in goals, you’re more inclined to find yourself motivated to take action.

When attempting to accomplish a new goal, it’s essential to have faith in it. This is especially true if the goal is something that you haven’t accomplished in the past.

Failing to do this can cause your brain to freeze and try to stop you with feelings of self-doubt and anxiety.

As humans, our brains are wired to repeat our past. This means it’s essential to fully accept that anything you want to accomplish is within your grasp, regardless of past failures.

To achieve our goals, it’s essential that we stop convincing ourselves that we are incapable of accomplishing our goals.

Whether it’s because you believe you’re incompetent, too busy, or any other reason, it’s vital that you quit telling yourself it can’t be done.

The chances of you giving up on yourself are far higher than giving up on someone else. So it’s vital that you have faith in yourself if you’re to stay motivated.

There’s no meaningful difference that separates the person you idolize from you other than their relentless pursuit of their goals.

Conclusion

If you find your passion in photography waning or your inspiration lacking, I hope this post helped provide some insight and inspiration to find your way.

I wish you good luck on the journey ahead! Cheers!