This is a pretty hard post for me to blog about, and the number one reason why is because I actually suck at making goals and sticking to them. I’ve thought a lot about it and I think one of my biggest problems is that I often dream too big. This isn’t a bad thing but it just means I am really good at making long term goals but it’s the short term goals that end up taking you to the long term. This scares me even more when I think about how much my life is going to change in 4 months. I have to admit I am nervous that even my small goals won’t get met when my life spins into chaos. I’ve heard people say that if your goals don’t scare you then they aren’t big enough. Well the goals I am about to share with you aren’t very “big” in my opinion but they sure do scare me. I told myself that I would use this pre baby time wisely, by educating myself and doing things that will better my personal life and business. When setting goals you should really state how you will plan on achieving it, because goals without a plan are kind of more like ideas. You have good intentions but you have no idea how you are going to get there (I struggle with this part). So when writing these I tried to back my goal up by trying to explain how I will accomplish it. Sometimes my goals can be very vague so I tried my best to be specific, I also used the words “I will” instead of “I want to”. Saying “I want to” is like saying you may or may not do what it takes to reach your goal. It’s time to think positively people! So here they are, a little bit of everything including fitness, personal and business goals.
1. I will be more organized by documenting sales right away, and categorizing them into months. This will make my life easier at the end of the year and I will be able to see where I am financially. I will also be more organized by keeping my laptop, and hard drives clean. I will make a point to organize these things at least once a month. Lastly, I will make a commitment to toss the things I no longer need or use when I move into my new place. This will be the most organized move yet because I will know where everything is when I’m finished. I will also be building a new desk for my office space where I can properly store receipts, stationary, branding supplies and any other business essentials!
2. I will educate myself by watching one creative live a month and finishing Sue Bryce’s “30 Day Challenge” before the year is over. Many people are astonished that mom and I technically have no education in photography. I must say I am beyond thankful for this, even though I still don’t know the first thing about running a business. It just means we have no rules to follow and we aren’t in debt for something that we didn’t need the education for anyway. That being said, I am a firm believer in educating yourself within your profession. As photographers, I think the best education we can get is from other photographers who already have successful businesses. You often don’t get this in your typical classroom from a teacher who needs to follow a curriculum, that is why I am so thankful for creative live. It’s basically an online school for photographers that is FREE, as long as you watch live. Every month there is a set schedule of different creative live courses that can range from how to use photoshop to how to run a wedding photography business. After the course is over it is then available for purchase at a very reasonable price. Creative live has really been one of the greatest tools for our business and we haven’t even scratched the surface in what they have to offer. I’ve learned far more from these online classes that usually take place over a weekend than I did when I went to school for six months.
3. I will spend more time on my marriage by making a conscious effort to have at LEAST one date a month. A lot of people say to pick a date “night” once a week but I’m sorry that is just never going to be something we do. Tim and I can be some of the most unorganized all over the place people, we will never actually pick one night a week and stick to it. Maybe I’m a bad wife, but I just think every couple is different and that is not something we will do. However, we do need to spend more time together so I think committing to 1-2 dates a month will be huge! It’s funny how you can live with someone and not really spend much time with them. We are so bad for this and we often choose to spend our time with friends and being around people rather than spending a night out alone.
4. I will pay off my debt before 2014 is over by separating my wants from my needs. Enough said there, I am sure this is something we all struggle with but lately it’s been eating me alive. Tim and I have a very hard time budgeting because we simply can’t based on our pay structures, so we really just need to not spend money on things we don’t need. It’s that simple! I’ve had people say to me, “Oh but everyone is in debt now”… I’m sorry but it doesn’t sit well with me and I will refuse to be one of those people who is in debt for the rest of their lives. So goodbye debt!
5. I will join crossfit as soon as I’m able to walk and function after this baby comes. This has been something I’ve been trying to do now since the summer and finally when I was about to join I found out I was pregnant. Then I just stopped all physical activity! Although I am abnormally exhausted and have a pretty good excuse to be, there will be no excuses the next time I get pregnant. I really have no idea what my body is going to look like after this baby but I have a pretty good feeling it’s not going to look anything like it did pre baby. You guys can hold me to this one, if I don’t get off my ass after this baby comes I am not allowed to complain about my body. I hate hearing other people complain about their bodies who don’t want to do anything to change it. My thoughts on it are you either accept your body for exactly what it is and keep your mouth shut, or you can do something about it! We have complete control over what we feed our bodies and how we take care of them. Sorry if that’s harsh but its true… End rant.
6. I will be more crafty by committing to finish my house before the baby comes. I am literally obsessed with DIY projects and I have about 100 of them that I want to do, I just never do them. This is kind of like a double goal, finish my house AND be more crafty except I’m on a clock. I plan on making a new desk with shelves for my office, and painting the babies room/making it into the most perfect little nursery. There’s also our bedroom, which always seems to get neglected… not this time. Maybe I will document all of these projects and share them on the blog when they are finished. Either way, it’s happening!
7. I will make steps toward getting over my fear of public speaking and being in front of a video camera! I can’t really share with you HOW I am going to do this because it’s sort of a surprise but I will say you can expect to see me in front of the camera… talking. So, we’ll see how that one goes! You may have to ask me about this in another couple of months.
There it is friends, my rough draft of goals for 2014. I encourage everyone to write your goals out because it really puts things in perspective! Something else I need to do is make a new dream/vision board for my office. It’s more of a long term thing but I suppose you could include your short term goals as well. You basically glue images of the things you want to achieve on a board and hang it on your wall. I will be sure to post pictures of mine when I get around to doing it! Anyway, I hope I’ve inspired you to write some goals for yourself! It doesn’t matter that it’s almost February and it doesn’t matter if you wait another two months. I find people are always gung ho on their goals for the first two weeks of January, but you kind of stop hearing about them as the year progresses (This is why I never actually make “New Years Resolutions”). It doesn’t matter what time of year you make your goals, what matters is when you achieve them!
Happy goal setting <3
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