As we move through different life stages, what motivates us often evolves and changes. Sometimes, these changes correspond with your wider life goals, reinvigorating your passion and prompting you to hustle even harder. Other times though, these changes can create conflict. Your priorities shift, and things that were once unimportant become super significant. Your original career goals and motivations may no longer correspond with your current outlook.
This can totally happen in cam. You start working as a model with one set of values or interests only to find yourself in an entirely different frame of mind after some time passes. And just like that, you find yourself at a crossroads: Do you pull the plug on your chosen career, or do you find ways to make your career work with your new frame of mind? How do you sustain your cam career when the reasons why you started are no longer reasons to continue?
From boy-crazy coed to a top model on MyFreeCams with nearly 150,000 twitter followers, Ginger Banks once found herself at a similar crossroads.
“When I first started camming, I was doing it for the attention,” Banks explained matter-of-factly. “At first, I would do and say almost anything to gain positive attention of my male followers. I would perpetuate stereotypes and other negative things about myself just so they would like me — like not talking about politics or essentially [not] having an opinion.”
Unfortunately, Banks’ self-assessment is not unique. Many women, often on the younger end of the spectrum (meh!), seek attention from dudes via dumbing down their intellect or muting their interests. According to VICE via Canadian essayist/cultural observer Kate Carraway, there are a lot of reasons why, including:
More people will like you.
More people will like you better.
It’s not an act. Like everything else in life, intelligence is variable.
“Acting smart” isn’t always very nice. Some versions of “acting smart” may be on par with arrogance and/or jackassery.
Social pressures.
For the attention, which many people enjoy. (Why are women made to feel bad about enjoying attention?!)
Carraway’s rundown of reasons is simultaneously galling and insightful. People can be motivated by any and all of these reasons — out in the club, in school, and on cam. But for all her time spent motivated by a need for attention, Banks eventually evolved.
“I slowly realized [camming] was also a huge business opportunity and then began to explore my career in other ways,” she explained. “Once I started to realize these things, I transitioned more on my social media to allowing my followers to see the real side of me.”
Banks began incorporating different tools, such as Periscope, into her public persona and started getting real on social media.
“I’ve recently started to focus more on live streaming outside of just the sexual aspect, and it’s going well,” she said. “I now allow [the public] to see a much larger side of my life other than just me on cam masturbating with long, blonde hair.”
For some models, a healthy measure of competition and the desire to succeed are significant motivating factors.
According to Afyzel, an award-winning, top-earning model with ImLive, past successes motivate her to work toward new goals.
“Obviously, the money and prizes for being number one are an incentive,” Afyzel explained, “but with the changes in my life circumstances over the years, this alone would not be enough.”
For Afyzel, the thrill of competition and the adrenaline surge that comes from being in the game are a significant motivating factor.
“I have a motto, which helps me,” she said. “‘Give me something to fight for — a gift, an amount of money — and I’ll be there.’ I’m not the winner every time, but I am always there in the competition doing my best.”
According to Afyzel, there are several strategies a model can employ that will put her on the road to success. Independent models can choose when and how much they work. This enables them to plan their schedules around life offline, as well as allowing them to commit the hours necessary to be the best. To be the best, models must also balance attracting new members with keeping existing members happy and interested — and this balance must be maintained constantly. This is especially important when the time comes to motivate and mobilize members, because from contests to maintaining a public profile, models need active, engaged support from their community.
This level of work/life balance is all interconnected, and according to Afyzel “being number one takes time and a lot of dedication and hard work. Without the support in my private life from close friends and family, I would not have been able to achieve what I have today.”
Whether you find yourself at a crossroads or have found new passion in new forms of motivation, working toward a goal is always better when you’re all in. It’s important to be mindful of what’s motivating you and how committed to said motivations you truly are. If you find yourself working for reasons that aren’t making you happy, don’t be afraid to take a step back and reassess — even for just a moment. Sometimes, a step back can lead to a great step forward!
As always, stay savvy. “With both eyes open” is the best way to be on cam.
Find Afyzel on Twitter at @Afyzel and Ginger Banks at @gingerbanks1.
