There have been gallons of ink spent on the topic of motivation but personally I find two things
really work for me – deadlines and paydays. Often the two are related, and when they appear together
they have an amazing way of providing the impetus to get things done.
The project I began work on a year ago with a promise of shooting a picture from my deck each
month that would be a suitable photo for a calendar is now complete. The year long project did help me
improve my photography skills which were not nearly as good as I thought as proven by some of my
early examples. I have included photos from January and February in this column and of course we had to
have a sample to close out the year so December is included.
Like so many things in life it was a great idea and fun in the beginning, then there was a time
interest lagged but I had told people about it (another sure motivation) and I wanted to finish it rather than
admit defeat.
Years in the newspaper business and a few thousand stories helped me learn about deadlines and
a certain respect for them, although I did have one editor ask me “if I thought a deadline was a dead cat in
the jungle?” to which I replied I knew very well what a deadline was and I loved the sound they made as
they went whizzing by. That conversation did not end well for me, I still think he just failed to recognize
my humor.
This was not a project with a monetary reward but it was something I started and am proud of
now that I finished it, yes I have two suitable pics for each month of the year and there is not a single
mention of the C word in the bunch. That is a part of year we do not wish to carry forward.
