On my recent trip to NYC, I got to see and meet a whole lot of people. Being able to observe how many characters navigate their lives allowed me to understand the simple concept of personal standards.

How do people hold themselves?

What do they value? / What don’t they value?

What do people present to the world vs. their real struggles.

It’s very prominent in today’s age where people are concerned with their image and judge based on what people put out there. Our ability to broadcast our every move has its pros and cons. I won’t list them out, I’m sure everyone can find out. It’s really how we contribute to this broadcasting and what we do to participate that determines how we differ from society’s pressure.

What you put out into the world is what you receive in the end. It sounds very woo woo but hear me out. Let’s say you post a photo of your work (creatives I’m talking to you), the work you find decent, the lighting could be better you think, some details could be improved, but overall you think it’s an ‘ok’ photo and want to post it anyway. What does your client see? A poorly lit photo of your work? Possibly. An amazing reflection of what your skills entail? Definitely not. If you don’t see that in your work, you can't expect your audience to scrape through your clutter to see that too. It comes down to what standard you hold yourself to. Putting out the work you want to receive, at the quality you want even if you may be late to post to the gram. Now, I speak about this on the social media side but it stems from your life as well. People who hold themselves at low standards invariably get dealt a low standard hand. That’s the way life goes. I’m sure many of you have seen it, especially when you live in a densley populated area.

Its not to say that its a bad thing to hold yourself to a different standard. People will live their life the way they live it. Don’t expect more than what you give to the world. Never feel that your standards are better than the person next to you either. They are just different, and that’s okay. Its the reason why comparison is the worst thing you could ever do to yourself. It's worse now, with social media, and you just have to ignore that little voice that tells you you’re not good enough, you can’t have as much as… At the end of the day, you know what you want. You may not know how to get it, but you’ll improve yourself to get that much closer to your ideal standard.

We’re all working on it, we’re all selfish. Think for yourself and don’t get swept away by someone' else’s ideal.

I know I spout all this advice, but this is almost a reference for me. It’s something I try to live by each day. Producing quality work for people to enjoy and observe. I hope you guys are enjoying it. I would love to know what you all think.