Looking Back and Looking Forward

Goals, Personal

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“Be who you were meant to be, and set the world on fire”
– St. Catherine of Sienna

Well, friends, it’s that time of year again. The time of year that I go into deep reflection-mode and try to evaluate where I’ve been, where I am, and where I want to be. The new year always does this to me, and I get really excited at the prospect of turning a new page and getting a fresh start. I expect a lot out of 2016 – I want it to be a year to remember, and a year that changes everything. To be honest, I’m not entirely sad to be leaving 2015 behind. Although it was filled to the brim with amazing adventures and beautiful moments, it also held a lot of personal struggle for me, and people I know and love. I am hopeful that the new year brings a fresh chapter, and am so excited to see the adventures that it brings!

Because I work alone, it can be challenging sometimes to get motivated to do big things (like make big plans for changes in the new year), so this year I enlisted the help of PowerSheets for assistance in getting excited about making meaningful goals for 2016 – both personally and professionally. I want the new year to push me harder than I’ve ever been pushed, but I also want to look back and be really happy with how I chose to spend this year of my life. I want to focus on what’s important to me, what means the most to me, and what brings my heart happiness!

2015-12-30_0002.jpgPowerSheets example

I’m only in the first two weeks of working through the PowerSheets pages, but so far I’ve figured out a lot of stuff about myself. Two things it had me do were figure out things that worked + things that didn’t work in 2015. I’ve listed them below just in case you’re nosy, and you can also take a sneak peek into a few of my pages in the photos in this post. We’ll just count this as my review of last year’s goals, shall we?

Things that worked well in 2015
– spending the last moments of each day unplugged with John (we have a rule of no phones in the bedroom)
– got much better at unplugging when I was spending time with friends or family
– cooking more at home (thanks to Blue Apron)
– travelled to incredible places, including Ireland, France, Colorado, New Orleans, Boston, Nashville, Memphis, Oxford, Austin, Dallas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Chicago. In case you didn’t know, last year’s word was “ADVENTURE.” I think I nailed it.
– got all sessions and weddings finished and delivered on time
– got featured on Style Me Pretty’s home page twice (here and here)
– had an article I wrote about newborn photography published in February’s Lemonade & Lenses Magazine
– attended a photography workshop in Nashville
– featured online on Bridal Theory blog
– featured online on Southern Weddings blog and Facebook page
– featured in print with Southern Weddings Magazine, Confetti Magazine, Arkansas Bride, Weddings in Arkansas, and Southern Bride
– photographed 26 beautiful weddings, and loved every single one of them
– photographed 13 sweet newborn babies and their incredible families
– participated in book club, and attended almost every single one of our meetings

Things that didn’t work well in 2015
– said YES to too much, and ended up feeling overworked
– failed to come up with an efficient blogging schedule
– spent too much time and energy comparing myself to others, and feeling not good enough
– tried to please too many people, instead of listening to what pleases me
– got lazy, and didn’t take as many personal photos as I wish I would have
– I didn’t do any styled shoots like I wanted (although in my defense, I had one planned that fell through last minute)

PowerSheets example

Sorry this post is so long – I’m wordy sometimes! I promise you’re almost done. As you may have noticed above, last year’s word was ADVENTURE. After a lot of writing and brainstorming for 2016, the word that keeps resonating with me is RAW. I want the new year to be striped down of all of the over-complications. I want to shoot from the heart, forget the rules, be true to myself and focus more on how something feels rather than how it looks. The word RAW for 2016 makes my heart skip beats, and I plan on hand lettering it somewhere for my office so I can see it every day and remember what this year is for.

I just want to finish up really quickly with my 2016 Goals. These are all things that I want to do in the new year, not because I think it looks good or sounds good – but because I really, truly, deeply want to make these changes. I’m inspired to do things differently in the new year, to grow from the changes, and to look back on the year fully satisfied that I did things in a way that made me truly happy.

“You know all those things you’ve always wanted to do?
You should go do them.” 

– Lara Casey

2016 GOALS
– say no to things that don’t inspire me or bring me joy
– leave at least one weekend per month free of weddings and shoots, and spend it making memories with friends & family
– take more chances in photography / break more rules / stop caring about perfection
– blog more consistently
– shoot 2-3 styled shoots throughout the year
– photograph at least 25 weddings
– photograph at least 12 lifestyle newborns
– create holiday card designs before September (busy season) starts
– be more grateful for all the things that I have, and soak in this season of life
– do more things outside, unplugged (go to a park, go camping, go for walks, go to the lake)
– submit at least one wedding a month somewhere for publication
– read the following books: “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” “Girl Boss,” “Redeeming Love,” “Big Magic,” “Sabbath,” “The Happiness Project,” “Year of Yes,”
– send one card a month to someone I am grateful for, just because
– attend a workshop that pushes me and inspires me
– get back into a daily routine of waking up early, working out, and starting work by 9 AM
– work towards booking more destination weddings
– keep my fiddle leaf plant, Greta, alive

Happy New Year, friends. May 2016 bring you incredible memories, lots of love & laughter, and most of all great joy.

  1. Em says:

    The best part of this post may be your final goal for 2016 🙂 But really, I love it all, and it sounds like you are setting yourself up for an incredible year!!

  2. Emily C says:

    I hope Greta thrives in 2016!! I’ve mourned the loss of too many house plants. My plant at work is thriving though. It’s because she gets watered regularly there and my houseplant is often ignored. So I would suggest picking a day (I water mine 2x a week) and doing it regularly.

    I wouldn’t get too worried about comparing yourself because people like me think you ARE the best!! Sounds like this year’s word will help you overcome that insecurity and be even more badass.

    Don’t forget sleep is imperative to badassness!

  3. Yaya says:

    I’m a little late to the party but I wanted to say that I absolutely ADORE you and I think you are such an amazing person and i LOVE LOVE LOVE all of this post. You are inspiring and full of so many phenomenal ideas and talents. You are the BOMB! ily
    -yaya

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