Happy New Year friends!
I bet everywhere you look you are seeing New Years Resolutions. Lose weight, save money, travel more, exercise, read books, reduce screen time, be present, make sourdough... the list continues.
In a world where it seems everyone has advice about everything getting a clear vision for what YOU actually want out of your life can be difficult. Perhaps it's just me or my ADD talking but sometimes I get overwhelmed with ALL the different ways I can improve my life. I think about ways to be a better mom, ways to be a better wife, things I could do to be skinnier, smarter, and of course ways to improve my business.
About 3 years ago I began reading more self-development books and found a small group of friends, not photographers, who had similar goals. Meeting people who also wanted to make an impact and loved business was so good for me and helped me see things differently. I realized that although I had done well in many areas, so much of it was me just running 1000 miles an hour doing my best and hoping it would all work out.
For example, my photography career looked a little like ...
January - boudoir sounds fun, lets do that!
February - oh, I could make some money doing Valentine Mini's.
March - discount everything because spring has NOT sprung.
April - you're almost to wedding season, take some seniors.
May - October - work every single weekend with weddings and you better not say no to anything in between because you'll need that money when winter comes.
Oh WINTER - let's just take so many Christmas pictures that your entire head explodes in the cookie dough.
It's January - Repeat.
I worked this unorganized cycle for YEARS. Now granted, I made plenty of money doing it, took vacations in between, and it was not bad for a long time. The thing about working this way is that it does satisfy many of the goals we have as business people but leaves us in the same place year after year. I stayed booked, stayed paid, and kept the camera in my hand; however, it wasn't until I repeated this cycle for 10 years that I realized things were missing! Where was the dedicated time to improve? How about to expand? What about my dream to retire as a photography mentor?
WAIT. Was I missing it just because I was making money?
So much of what I do as a mentor is meant to help people not make the same mistakes I have made and I am not shy about sharing them. My cycle WORKED for what I needed it to do but it just went on for far too long. I had outgrown my business but didn't prepare or plan for the time to level up.
If you're a photographer, don't do as I did.
GET CURRENT WITH YOUR GOALS. Each year, see the opportunity you have to reevaluate. Ask yourself, do you still like what you're doing and how you're doing it or are you just living the same year over and over?
Maybe you're a new photographer and you'd kill for the cycle I described. Well then, go back and look deeper at what I did. I had an idea, thought it would work, made an offer, and went for it. Over and over again. I made money for years because I never overthought the offer. If it worked, great. If it didn't, make another one.
I currently have a group of students moving through a photography business program called Elevation. (*It's just started if you still want in* Elevation) We are working through things like this with intense instruction. I explained to the group how they will benefit from setting goals in 5 specific categories. As business people we are in charge of setting ourselves straight, getting our own goals in order, and making a plan. No one is coming to do it for us. That's the truth.
I firmly believe, based on my own screwups, that if you will set goals in personal growth, professional reach, finances and investments, work hours and freedom, and elimination and simplification you will create a pathway to a success that you may not have seen before. Get Your Goal Sheet Here
I'll briefly explain:
Personal Growth - How are you going to grow as a person this year? Listen to podcasts? Read Books? Start each day with meditation and prayer?
Professional Reach - How are you going to expand your reach as a business person? Photographers - this means work outside of sessions and editing.
Finances and Investments - Sure, how much money do you want to make but lets think bigger than that. How much money do you want to save? How much money do you want to invest? On what? Where? How?
Work Hours and Freedom - So you want to make $500,000 but your goal is to work 2 hours a week???? Maybe revisit that. Set goals inside of what you want work to FEEL like and what are you actually willing to do to meet your financial needs?
Elimination and Simplification - MY FAVORITE CATEGORY. What can you eliminate to make your life better? What is your goal around simplifying? For photographers it might mean, eliminating the burden of trying to grow on tiktok - maybe those aren't your people OR eliminating taking spring mini-sessions. How can you cut back to move forward?
This kind of talk just lights me up and I hope that it connects with someone today. If you're a photographer looking to grow your business this year, let's connect! Grab my full downloadable Printable Goal Worksheet for Photographers and you'll be signed up for my photography education email list where I share tips, exclusive offers, and photography challenges - don't worry - I'm not a spammer.
Grab your printable Goal Sheet Guide Below!
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