31st March 2018, time flies fast and furious, it’s not something that we do not know. Today is the last day of the first quarter of year 2018 and I decided to take a few hours of quiet time for me to reflect on my personal and business side of photography during this first quarter of 2018.

First and foremost, let me start on the business aspect for my photography:

  1. Slow and small growth, not exponential, in this current economic climate, it’s still pretty difficult on the ground level.
  2. Photography business portfolio is expanding, need to upload and showcase more diversification when the opportunity arises.
  3. A partial travel familiarisation trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand during end January to early February 2018, a golden opportunity to add on to my travel portfolio and hopefully gain more traction for future travel opportunites in the near future.
  4. Phootgraphy and travel blog/website is back working again, my content still needs repairing and tweaking, this would take some time. At the same time, I am looking at making changes and improvements to my blog/website. A change of template is coming soon!
  5. Not chasing “numbers” anymore, I am chasing quality content over other benchmarks.
  6. Photography business can be cyclical, I must always be prepared, continue my marketing, content creation, awareness, engagements, collaborations, slow and steady growth is my motto.
  7. During Q1 2018, there had been hits and misses, all these are part of running any business and life. Learn from the life lessons and carry on moving forward.
  8. Always learning and improving my photography knowledge and skills, constant reminder to myself.
  9. Avoiding negative people and those people who “put me down” in my life, whether in business or personal life.
  10. Partnerships and collabroations: The foundations had been laid and built since last year, looking to grow and expand this segment even bigger, wider and further. Check out Hpility SG, The Epiphany Duplet and also Love At Second Sight project.
  11. During the most recent UQ alumni networking event in Singapore, I had the opportunity to catch up with my alumni seniors who holds management/executive level positions in their organisations, it was humbling to chat with them, listening to their advice on the difficulities in running a business (no matter how big or small). They were encouraging and helpful to share their work experiences, invaluable and priceless to me.

Next, let me share and reflect on my personal aspect of my photography:

  1. Less time for leisure/personal photography: when I am not doing commerical/work photography, majority of time were spent on planning, marketing, pitching, discussion, content creation etc etc
  2. Spend quality time on quality personal projects: Returning to my inner most photography self, taking on photography works/projects close to my heart.
  3. Commit to fewer organisations: Some organisations don’t deserve my precious time and photography. It’s time to reduce my commitment to just a few organisations.
  4. Not chasing “numbers” anymore, I am chasing quality content over other benchmarks.
  5. Always learning and improving my photography knowledge and skills, constant reminder to myself.
  6. Avoiding negative people and those people who “put me down” in my life, whether in business or personal life.

As Q1 2018 draws to a close, Q2 2018 opens, I am currently reading this book “The Little Book of Ikigai: The Essential Japanese way to finding your purpose in Life”. 生き甲斐 a.k.a Ikigai, has been my guiding principles for my photography, in both personal and business aspects.

Here are the 5 pillars of Ikigai (I brought this book along when I traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand)

That’s me, reading “The Little Book of Ikigai” in Chiang Mai, Thailand; Peps Goh took this photo.

My journey continues, a big thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who have followed and supported this journey of mine that I embarked on. It has been very very tough and difficult journey, no words can describe it. There were times when a small pat in the back, or even pulling me up when I am down, small achievements and recognition lifted me up and kept me striving onward.

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