Kick Start 2018

I took some time off for the holidays, so now that I am back to a normal schedule, I am looking forward to a new year and making resolutions. If you are like me, once made, keeping them can be challenging, so I updated an earlier post to share with you.

I came across a very interesting and creative technique recently. Although I have used mind mapping in the past, but I hadn't used it for setting my New Year's goals. Try it. It is fun and can help you kick start your year.

Most of us want to improve our minds and bodies. Camera Walking is a great way to get out moving to achieve better health, fitness, and creativity.

This year in addition to being healthier, I want to become a better photographer and storyteller. When I reflected on this, I realized that at the center was learning. Years ago I read a book, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50. The author's research highlighted that learning was key to people's ability to thrive. It didn't matter whether they were learning how to play an instrument, becoming a more effective writer, or attempting to develop other skills, the main thing was that they were challenging themselves. And as Robert Greene, author of Mastery, said, “The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.”

As I develop my skills, not only do I turn to workshops, books, and people to learn from, I also need to be willing to risk and make mistakes. When we try out new ideas, take different types of photos, or learn how to use software to process our images, we are stretching. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't, but in the process of pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone we learn. In fact recent research shows that when we push ourselves mentally and physically to do difficult things, we are helping our brains stay healthy.