{"id":34728,"date":"2017-06-01T12:35:13","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T19:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=34728"},"modified":"2017-01-21T20:44:06","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T04:44:06","slug":"who-is-holding-you-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/01\/who-is-holding-you-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Holding You Back?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"34594\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/contact-sheets-2\/r0004144-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1325\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;GR II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1470920054&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18.3&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"eric kim street photography\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Downtown LA, 2015&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-34594\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\" alt=\"r0004144\" width=\"1180\" height=\"782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144.jpg?resize=660%2C437&amp;ssl=1 660w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144.jpg?resize=768%2C509&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dear friend,<\/p>\n<p>Who is holding you back in life?<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Is it your partner? Your work? Your lack of money or resources?<\/p>\n<p>Or is it yourself\u00e2\u20ac\u201d your lack of self-confidence, your lack of focus, or your lack of initiative?<\/p>\n<h2>You control your future<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33410\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33410\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"33410\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/22\/information-is-everything\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1325\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;GR II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1473906983&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18.3&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1600&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0028571428571429&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Tuyen Quang, 2016&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33410\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\" alt=\"Tuyen Quang, 2016\" width=\"1180\" height=\"782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-1.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-1.jpg?resize=660%2C437&amp;ssl=1 660w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000262-1.jpg?resize=768%2C509&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33410\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tuyen Quang, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Know that you have control over your destiny in life. Your life is short. You make the decisions today, for your tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>What is holding you back?<\/p>\n<h2>What if it all depended on you?<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33414\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33414\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"33414\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/22\/information-is-everything\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1325\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;GR II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1474495714&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;ERIC KIM STREET PHOTOGRAPHY&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18.3&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;800&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Hanoi, 2016&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33414\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\" alt=\"Hanoi, 2016\" width=\"1180\" height=\"782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658.jpg?resize=660%2C437&amp;ssl=1 660w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000658.jpg?resize=768%2C509&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33414\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hanoi, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An experiment I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been doing to myself: imagine that everything is in my control.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t earn enough money, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fault\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is my fault.<\/p>\n<p>If Cindy gets angry at me, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t her fault\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is my fault.<\/p>\n<p>If my photography isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t progressing as I wish it is, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t because my camera isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t good enough \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not innovating enough.<\/p>\n<p>If I feel that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough time to do meaningful and creative work \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t because of others. It is because I fail to filter out the distractions in my life.<\/p>\n<h2>How to gain control of your life<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33409\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33409\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"33409\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/22\/information-is-everything\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1325\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;GR II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1473907056&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18.3&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Tuyen Quang, 2016&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33409\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\" alt=\"Tuyen Quang, 2016\" width=\"1180\" height=\"782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272.jpg?resize=660%2C437&amp;ssl=1 660w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-color-0000272.jpg?resize=768%2C509&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33409\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tuyen Quang, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So friend, what is holding you back from becoming the best version of yourself?<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, here are some suggestions that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve personally used to gain more control in my life:<\/p>\n<h3>1. Say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no\u00e2\u20ac\u009d:<\/h3>\n<p>I am horrible at saying no, because I always want to please others. But if you want more control in your life, you need to learn how to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no\u00e2\u20ac\u009d more often.<\/p>\n<p>A good way to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no\u00e2\u20ac\u009d without sounding like a prick \u00e2\u20ac\u201d tell people, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thank you so much for the offer, but my bandwidth is currently maxed out. I appreciate you of thinking about me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<h3>2. Purposeful procrastination<\/h3>\n<p>I feel in life, we procrastinate on what isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t important to us.<\/p>\n<p>Society wants to guilt us for procrastinating. But most things we procrastinate on aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t important to us.<\/p>\n<p>A question to think to yourself: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I died tonight, would I regret procrastinating on this or not?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Not only that, but nobody this to be written on their tombstone:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  Here lies John, he answered all his emails.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What can you procrastinate on, and what more meaningful or purposeful work can you work on instead?<\/p>\n<h3>3. Never blame others<\/h3>\n<p>The last thing which I touched upon earlier is to never blame others.<\/p>\n<p>As an assignment: pretend like you had 100% control of your destiny for a week. Never blame others; only blame yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Then what changes would you make in your life, to take positive action to create the life you want for yourself?<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33361\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33361\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"33361\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/image-17-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2.jpg?fit=3388%2C2259&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3388,2259\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Perfection V700\/V750&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"nyc eric kim street photography\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;NYC, 2015&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2.jpg?fit=2000%2C1334&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33361\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2-2000x1334.jpg?resize=1180%2C787\" alt=\"NYC, 2015\" width=\"1180\" height=\"787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2.jpg?resize=2000%2C1334&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2.jpg?resize=660%2C440&amp;ssl=1 660w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Image-17-2.jpg?w=2360&amp;ssl=1 2360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1180px) 100vw, 1180px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33361\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NYC, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nobody is holding you back. So go forth and become the best version of yourself today.<\/p>\n<p>Always,<br \/>\nEric<\/p>\n<p><em>Learn more: <a href=\"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/philosophy\/\"><strong>Philosophy &gt;<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear friend, Who is holding you back in life?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/R0004144.jpg?fit=2000%2C1325&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}