The power of telling someone

How accountability can change your outcomes

Focus creates your reality. It’s been studied from a psychological point of view, but also extensively in the medical world around placebos. We know that what you focus on determines your outcome.

The reason I want to bring this up has to do with last week's post. I sat here and wrote about how it was five weeks since I did a workshop, and I had all the ideas in the world but hadn’t created anything from it yet. I even promised not just myself, but you, the viewer, that I would have shot three of those ideas by now.

I’ll get to that outcome in a moment, but for now, I want to say that when I wrote this, I didn’t just write it and forget about it. I also told my partner and my friend, who wanted to do some BTS of me making my photos. So, I immediately added layers to the premise. Writing your focus down and holding yourself to it is impressive, but we've all lied to ourselves, right? The written New Year's resolutions, the goals, the dreams, the jobs, the places we’ll travel—I could go on and on.

The written word is very, very important, and I think there aren’t many better ways to take what’s going on in our lives and heads and put it down to get a clearer, more concise idea of what we’re really going through. It’s an amazing vessel for storytelling, taking notes,. However for me I personally struggle with acting on my written word if I am only writing things down with nothing else.

The truth is, if I had written what I did last week and not told anyone, sure, I might have taken some frames but would I have been disappointed in myself if I didn’t shoot three ideas.

Would I really have felt like I couldn’t let myself down with just writing down “make 3 new frames this week”. Can I truly hold myself to that level of accountability?

I’m not saying people don’t— I know a lot of people who, when they decide what they want to achieve or how they want to achieve it, go after it and hit it hard. However, like many others, I’ve found myself less trusting of writing something down as my only form of accountability.

I believe that if we truly want to hold ourselves accountable, we need to figure out what we want and also get those closest to us involved. In its simplest form: you want something, you tell someone else to hold you to your word, and you go after it while they help keep you on track.

The truth is, we all want to do right by ourselves and what we want to achieve. But sometimes, old wounds, habits, narratives, or walls we’ve built get in our way, and we need help to get where we want to go. Last week, when I said I would produce three images, I did. I told others that I intended to because I truly wanted to take action. If I got busy or time slipped away from me, a message from a friend or a reminder from my partner helped keep me aligned with where I wanted to be.

So yes, I did take my three frames. In fact, I actually shot four. One didn’t work, but it will when I re-shoot it. One worked really well, and now I need to print it to achieve what I want. Image three turned out amazing, and it was merely an idea. I’ll share a version of that below. Image four is an older image that I’ve printed, and I’m experimenting with new methods of displaying it, having some fun with it.

I mentioned last week about action and excuses, and this last week has proven again that action leads to more action. Simple. I shot some ideas, which led to more, and then more. It’s led to new ideas and more options for what I can explore and how far I can push myself. Truthfully, I’m trying to get out of the literal and create just because I want to make something. If you’re a creative and you struggle like most artists do, I highly recommend reading Rick Rubin's The Creative Act. It has helped me a lot with getting out of my own way and creating for the sake of creating.

With all of this in mind, I pose a challenge to you, the reader. Set yourself a goal for this week. Create your focus, and get two people to hold you accountable for what you want to achieve. It could be writing a chapter, reading a book, starting a new project, walking every day, or making two cold calls. Whatever is on your list, write it out and tell two people who will check in and hold you to your word.

For me, in terms of carrying this momentum, I’ll say that by next week, I will have re-shot the idea that didn’t work, and I’ll also shoot two new ideas. My focus is to make new work every week for the rest of the year. What’s your focus?

See you all next week

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