Like all endeavors we encounter in life, staying motivated can be a challenge. Whether it’s a job, fitness program, and yes, even a photography blog, the desire to continue is not always easy. Many photography bloggers start out with the desire to publish a small collection of photographs and often, to add some personal reflection for added flavor. After the initial buzz of seeing their work published wears off and the existing material exhausted, it is this period of time which separates successful blogs from the also rans.

Motivation comes in all shapes and sizes. What works for one person, may or may not work for you. But you must explore and define what it is that propels you to produce material on a regular basis.

From a personal perspective, having a clear plan of what I am doing or supposed to be doing helps grease my creative wheels. I must have a list in front of me, otherwise, countless hours are spent reading Seth Godin’s blog or TechCrunch, and never accomplish a thing for myself. Creating a daily plan, whether at work or home, keeps me on a straight path for productivity. The digital age has always made staying focused a challenge. Working online is particularly difficult, due to all the distractions inherent with being connected. Too much access to factoids and link bait. I must put pencil to paper in creating a detailed to-do list, prior to wiggling my mouse to wake up the screen. But one of my biggest motivating tools is reading.

Read…Read..Read…I love reading about people in business doing what I do or doing what I ultimately want to do and learning lessons from their experiences. Having role models is not just for children! Following in the footsteps of successful people can be a great time saver on your road to success.

I have several photography friends which are motivated to shoot pictures everyday. Plan or no plan, they walk around the camera in tow, ready to capture life in all it’s glory. I wish I could be more like that. Without a plan of what I intend to capture, the camera is a mere necklace and my mind is blank. Just another example of our differences.

I wanted to share some of my favorite motivational sites with you. This advice can be applied to all fields or events in your life. Take a few moments and check out these great writers and let me know what you think. If you have some other favorites, please share.

Seth Godin, A List Apart, Steve Pavlina, Get Motivation, Conversation Agent

motivation, motivational, motivational speakers, motivational writers, time managment