Writing Down Goals

I have contemplated to post my goals on the blog. To be honest, I have contemplated about a lot of things, of what to post, of what is too much to share and of what is not enough shared on our blogs. This time, I have decided to try it anyway. There are times in life, we just need to do it and learn from it. One may call it trial and error. So be it.

I have been following Melissa‘s blog for over two years now. I have been inspired by her business, writing and blogposts since then. A lot of conducts in my business have been adopted from hers. Recently, she posted her goals on her blog even though it’s been fifteen days of 2013. She just made me feel that I can justify sharing my goals even though it’s three weeks late. 😉

I have narrowed down to the following 17 goals from my 101 in 1001 list last night. I have 11.5 months to accomplish them all or not accomplish some of it. That’s fine. I will quote what Melissa said on her blog: “Putting pen to paper makes your goals concrete, allows them to enter your subconscious, and provides a bit of accountability. And if that isn’t enough to motivate you, this next factoid may send you over the edge: People who write down their goals make 9 times more money over the course of their lifetimes than those who don’t. WOW! I’m guessing that’s because people who write down their goals actually accomplish 9 times as much over the course of their lives than those who don’t. And the money is just a side effect of productivity.”

1. Continue prioritizing time alone with God and learn disciplining myself in prayer before starting my day. (Requires a lot of discipline but I worked on it! And I have to say it was a 98% success rate and I filled the whole journal with prayers!)
2. Meet up with new friends that I make at church at least once a month. Create a meeting day for everyone monthly, if possible. (The meeting up part every month worked! But to try to meet with everyone monthly was hard! Will work on this in 2014!)
3. Read at least two books a month. (Some months I read 2 books, some others only half of a book!)
4. Be more intentional in every way. Be present and learn to enjoy every moment. Be in the moment. (Still working on this!)
5. Shoot 8 weddings in Ontario and second shoot at least 16 weddings for a few photographers. (DID THIS!!!!)
6. Arrange and collaborate with vendors/photographers once every quarter. (the last two quarters got really busy with real weddings and clients. Sent out the invites though so maybe if you are a vendor and you think we can collaborate together, give me a shout NOW!)
7. Reach out to at least one vendor and two photographers every month. Continue developing the relationships.  (Although this is to be continued, happy to say this had been done consistently in 2013!)
8. Blog 2-3 times a week. Learn to build advance blog planning. Develop a strong content/series on “for photographers” category. (There were 8 weeks in 2013 where we only blogged 1x. We’ll work on this in 2014! But 8 out of 52? Not too shabby!)
9. Take two vacations with Kevin this year, possibly first and last quarter of the year.  (First: Chicago, part 1 and part 2. Second: Ottawa and Montreal)
10. Create consistency in our work and improve/add to our portfolio monthly.  (Our portfolio page is merrier!)
11. Learn to bless others with this gift, figure out how to do it without hurting the business side of it. (After a long time of researching, I am now a proud member of Smiling Eyes team!)
12. Try different marketing approach to establish hello|inspira in Ontario (still going on! And this is NEW! )
13. Find mentor(s) and be mentor(s) to others. (Still need to find a local mentor in 2014! So far Skyping with our mentor is done consistently!)
14. Create a wish list and blog it for the universe to see. (February 2013, blogpost HERE)
15.Print and find ways to display our work and travel photos at our new place.
16. Attend 2-3 workshops this year on business and technical skills on lighting. (Here and here. Also went to Beloved’s which is not blogged!)
17. Start inviting comments on the blog. (We have an average of 8 blog comments per posting now woohoo thanks guys!)

I have intentionally keep some of them general and some very specific. I would love to see where God will bring me and not limit His plan by being too specific on some of them. However, I have updated my annual dream and goals journal and wrote down the nonspecific goals in each month, making sure I am updating them as time goes. Making sure I am accountable to God and myself on these. As I have written on no 17, I would love you to share your goals or blogpost on goals at the comment box below or just leave a mark that you have visited this post! 🙂