**The Importance of Believing in Oneself**

Imean believes that "just because maybe there's some baggage that's burnt somebody out and they feel like they need to take that out on everybody" is not a healthy way to approach life. This sentiment highlights the importance of believing in oneself and one's abilities. Imean says, "I firmly believe it and today I firmly believe it... You can do anything you want my parents always used to say it comes with a price tag and what are you willing to sacrifice and how hard are you willing to work to get there." This mindset is crucial for achieving success in any field, including photography.

Imean's experience as a photographer has taught him the value of perseverance and dedication. He says, "I wouldn't say lucky but I am fortunate to be having the kind of career that I'm having... I didn't fall into this I busted my tail to do it and I guarantee you anybody who's successful and I've had the opportunity to meet other YouTubers that are very successful way more successful than me." Imean emphasizes that success is not just about luck, but also about being willing to put in the hard work and making sacrifices.

**The Role of Timing and Determination**

Imean believes that timing and determination play a crucial role in achieving one's goals. He says, "I don't believe in luck I think there's the right person - and there's timing so it's the right person in the right place at the right time doing the right thing." This mindset is essential for overcoming obstacles and staying focused on one's goals. Imean encourages readers to be willing to take risks and make sacrifices in order to achieve their dreams.

Imean also emphasizes the importance of being kind and supportive towards others, particularly those who may be struggling or feeling discouraged. He quotes Plato as saying "be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle and in the benefit of the doubt with people who behave poorly online, you don't know what they're dealing with sometimes." This quote highlights the importance of treating others with kindness and compassion, even when faced with challenging behavior.

**The Power of Positive Role Models**

Imean's experience as an uncle has taught him the value of being a positive role model for young people. He says, "I'm not a parent but I have a nephew who's 14 and I am constantly amazed he's way more sophisticated than me and my friends were at that age." Imean highlights the importance of treating children with respect and kindness, rather than trying to treat them like adults. He encourages readers to be mindful of the impact they may have on young people.

Imean also quotes a public school educator named William Purky who said "dance like nobody's watching". This quote serves as a reminder that success is not just about external validation, but also about internal motivation and determination. Imean encourages readers to find their passion and pursue it with enthusiasm, even if no one is watching.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, Imean's words offer valuable insights into the importance of believing in oneself, being kind towards others, and pursuing one's passions with determination. By embracing a growth mindset and treating others with respect and compassion, we can create a more positive and supportive community. As Imean says, "I want to leave you with two quotes... [and] I will give people the benefit of the doubt there".

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enok I have something that I want to getoff my chest and I normally don't dothat in this type of forum but I want totalk about online trolling and howcertain people in the photographycommunity tend to behave towards oneanotheranother thing that's bothering it'sgoing to bother you to this picture felldown back here and I'm working on it butanyway I know that I'm probablypreaching to the wrong choir because onething I will say about the stuff that Ido on YouTube is I mean sure there issome riff raff in there but for the mostpart i'm very proud of the audience thatI have and you guys tend to leave veryconstructive comments that yield furtherdiscussion that are intelligent and I'mvery grateful that that exists and i'mnot talking about something that's happeninghere and I also know that nothing I sayin this video is going to change the waypeople behave towards one another onlinebut here's the dealthe photography community is extremelyimportant now i'm old and I didn't havethe internet and high school so Iremember life before the internet and bythe time I got in college and becameavailable and I remember the differencebetween the two and I think especiallyif you live in a more remote area or ina small town that you don't have accessto the kind of camaraderie that'spossible thru the internet and I rememberin the early flickr days and I know Ialways talk about the early flickr daysbut pre-yahoo when it was a smallcommunity there was a dynamic there thatwas just really cool and magical andthere are friends that I made like Dave Biassworks at Ferrania - that's how we met there arefriends that I still keep to this daythat I met there that live all over theworld and that was the magical part ofthat is that it was an online communityof photographers from all over who gottogether and supported one another andthen flickr grew and changed and it justkind of faded out a little bit andthat's what happened but you know now wehave a larger influx of people onlineand I will say this I understand a lotof the frustrations that come withphotography photography is difficultbecause everyone's a photographer itseems sometimes you know everybody's onInstagram everybody has a cell phone andbeing able to stand out amongst theother work that's there is difficultit requires a lot of work a lot ofpatience and sometimesbecomes frustrating to people for thosethat want to do photography as a careerit's extremely difficult I will neverlie to you and say that it's not it isand so I understand a lot of thefrustrations that can boil up withphotographers in general but I think thethe power of us coming together onlineis to get around some of thosefrustrations and have that camaraderieto lean on and I think that's reallyimportant you guys know what I'm talkingabout you there are certain forums thatyou can go visit some of the bigphotography websites you know you readthe article and you scroll down to thebottom and then you see the disqusthread because I guess they don't reallycare about you know fostering a decentcommunity so they put it out todisqus whatever and somebody willcome in and they'll say something likeyou know a newbie question - abeginner question then somebody comes intears in and makes them look stupidbecause they didn't know or somethinglike that or even worse somebody comesin and has an opinion that differs fromeverybody else and therefore somebodyfeels the right to come in and just ripthem in half for it and like I said Iknow there's nothing I can say to changethat necessarily in this video but thisis a discussion worth having because it'sproblematic and I know it's only a fewpeople and it's a loud minority but itdoes existthe other thing that to give people thebenefit of the doubtthe internet is very crude the way itworks we hide behind fake usernamessometimes some people do and you don'tknow what's going on in their lives andmaybe there's some really traumaticexperience that they're having outsideof their internet life that they're justbringing that stress in with you know Iunderstand that doesn't justify itdoesn't make it right but that could bepart of the problem but I guess whatbrought this up and brought this tomy attention - two days ago I did a videowhere I gave some advice to a 14 yearold who had written me a letter andasked me what I thought the mostimportant thing I learned in photographywas and I shared that now this gotpicked up by a couple of the bigwebsites and I don't want to say wherethis was or who was involved because Idon't want to bring attention to it andit's really just not worth it and that'shappened before and it's really coolbecause more people to your video andall but you know you're going to get thetrolls in there now I have pretty thickskinI've done YouTube for eight years nowand I can deal with criticism I don'tmind if people disagree or want to makefun of me or whatever I've seen it beforeit's nothing new the problem that I hadis they disagreed with the advice that Igave this individual and then decided tostart doling out their own advice ofwhat they thought was important for achild to understand or a kid tounderstand or somebody who's 14 - a coupleof things come to mind first of all like Isaid I don't care - doesn't insult me it'snot a blast to my ego I just worrythat I shared that and it wasn't that itwas super private obviously I shared itonline but what if this individual isreading that and basically they went onto say that I was wrong in trying toencourage somebody to follow theirdreams now 14 or not I would have giventhat advice to anybodyfifty-five-year-oldseventy-five-year-old a five-year-old Imean that's just what I believe I liveby that and I firmly believe it and todiscourage a kid from pursuing somethingjust because maybe there's some baggagethat's burnt somebody out and they feellike they need to take that out oneverybody and that's pathetic and it'seasy and it goes nowhere and I justdon't understand that and if you don'tbelieve me and don't believe that youcan do anything you want - this is what I said inthe video you do anything you want myparents always used to say it comes with aprice tag and what are you willing tosacrifice and how hard are you willingto work to get there I'm - I wouldn't saylucky but I am fortunate to be havingthe kind of career that I'm having whenpeople ask me what I do for a living Iget to play with cool cameras I get totake pictures of whatever I want and Iget to talk about it on YouTube andthat's pretty cool it's very satisfyingit's exciting it's something that Iaspired to do I didn't fall into this Ibusted my tail to do it and I canguarantee you anybody who's successfuland I've had the opportunity to meetother YouTubers that are very successfulway more successful than me I met someof my colleagues I've met some verywell-known established namephotographers everyone has worked veryhard to get to where they are there isno questioning that they're willing tomake sacrifices they figured it out theywere willing to do it and it is you'renot going for the money or the fact thatyou just like to work a lot of longhours it's satisfying in the end when youget there but you can do it anybody cando ityou've got to put your mind to it you'vegot to be willing to put in thehours put in the work but you too canget it done and that's just a fact of iti mean I don't believe in luck I thinkthat an interesting conversation aboutthis recentlyrather than saying people are luckythere's the right person - and there's timingso it's the right person in the rightplace at the right time doing the rightthing and things come together reallyquickly we see that happen those peoplestill have to work to sustain it thoughso there is no luck in any of this it'sjust determining what you want to do andgetting with it anyway - let me justunderline the fact that I'm notpersonally offended by that - it's notsomething I felt was insulting to me butI was more worried about the kind ofadvice that we give to kids sometimes andthe way we come off as a community ofphotographers were not supportive a lotof times - we behave like that and Ijust it's just something that got undermy skin about thatlike I said 14 I would not call a kidfirst of all I am NOT a parent fulldisclosure but I have a nephew who's 14and I am constantly amazed I can tellyou he's way more sophisticated than meand my friends were at that ageI've had conversations with him thatI've really been impressed with howthoughtful he was with how sincere hewas and sensitive he was to certain thingsnow I don't see the day to day I'm not aparent I know that and my role as anuncle is very much different but as afriend of mine once said who has areally cool kid of his own and I wasasking about parenting and he said part ofthe problem sometimes is that parentstend to treat the kids like kids andthere are times where you want to treatthem like adults and anyway I'm notjustifying anything I'm just saying thatthis just got under my skin and Iwould like to know what you guys have tosay on this too because this issomething that affects us all when yousee people that just decide to be trollslike that and it's unfortunate but itexists I want to leave you with twoquotes I like quotes - anyway one of themis from Plato and I think this isimportant to the discussion as well itsays be kind for everyone you meet isfighting a harder battle and in thebenefit of the doubt with people who behavepoorly onlineyou don't know what they're dealing withsometimes and I will give people thebenefit of the doubt there - the otherquote I want to give you which is alittle bit happier but this is from apublic school educator years ago namedWilliam Purky who once said dance likenobody's watchingi will put some other videos up here tosome things have been talking about anddance like nobody's watching you canwatch one of those and I'll see youguys in the next video until then later\n"