The New Year is in exactly FIVE Days!  Are you ready?

As one year ends and we count down to the start of the new year, photographers and creatives are asking ourselves, “what do we want for our business in the new year?”  My hope for you and your business is that 2020 will be your BEST YEAR YET!

And in order to make 2020 your best year yet we have to not only think about what we want and allow ourselves to dream big but we also have to take action steps to make it happen.  Because what good our dreams if we don’t take action to make those dreams come true!

I will be honest with you, over the years I have dreamed up all kinds of things for my photography business and for Seniorologie.  Big dreams, lots of ideas but have not always taken the action to make them happen.  I have let fear keep me from doing things I wanted to do or I have let others keep me from doing the things I wanted to do.  But I am ready to stop all the excuses and stop letting myself or others hold me back.  What excuses or fears hold you back?  I am ready to reach those dreams and take my business to the next level.  Whose with me??

So together let’s plan and take action for our BEST YEAR YET!!  To help you plan your goals for 2020, click HERE to download my FREE Workbook!

Step 1 – Review and Reflect – Before we can get started with our goals and plans for the new year, we have to take a moment to reflect and review on 2019.  Ask yourself the following questions:

First, The Good…

What worked really well in 2019?

What was your biggest success in your business in 2019?

What did you implement that helped you and your business in 2019?

What were your strengths, things or areas you excelled in?

What is one big thing you learned about photography, yourself or your business in 2019?

Now, the not so good…

What didn’t work so well?

What things would you do differently?

What do you feel was the biggest failure in your business in 2019?

What were your weaknesses, things or areas you struggled with?

Other questions to ask…

What things or tasks do you absolutely love to do in and for your business?

What things or tasks to you absolutely hate to do in and for your business?

What of these things could you outsource?

What are things you know you need to do for your business but you haven’t had time to do?

What things or tasks do you always push to the back burner?

What boundaries did you set that allow you to grow your business but still make time for your family, friends and yourself?

What things do you need to say no to in 2020?

What things do you need to say yes to in 2020?

Once you have answered these questions, save it somewhere safe that you can review throughout the new year to remind yourself of where you have been and where you are going!  Or use the planning workbook to answer these questions!

Step 2 – Dream Big – Dreaming of where you want your business to go in 2020 is the next step in the process.  When I was in kindergarten, I remember overhearing my teacher tell my parents that I daydreamed a lot and she said it like it was a bad thing.  But I am going to give you permission right now to day dream for your business.  Set aside some time (maybe even set a timer) and truly dream of where you want your business to go in 2020 and what things you want to accomplish in 2020.  Big dreams, small dreams, all dreams are valid!

Do you want to gain more clients in 2020?  Do you want to quit your job and go full-time with photography?  Maybe you want to concentrate solely on seniors and not other genres or maybe you want to plan you first model team?  Do you want to teach other photographers and share your knowledge?  Do you want to speak at a conference?  Do you want to make x amount of money in 2020?  Whatever you want, write it down!

In addition to asking yourself questions, create a visual representation of your dreams for you and your business with a vision board.  You can make this vision board with actual items such as a poster board, photos printed out or cut out of magazines, items that represent a dream, etc or you can create this digitally with Pinterest.  Create a Pinterest board and pin things that represent what your dreams are for you and your business.  This could include a photo of a destination for either a vacation or destination shoot or maybe a photo of a person giving a presentation because you want to teach, whatever it is make sure it is a visual representation of what your dreams are for 2020!

Here is an example of my vision board for 2020…

Step 3 – Set Goals – The definition of a goal is the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.  You’ve reflected on 2019, you’ve taken time to dream big and now it’s time to focus on your desired result for 2020.

A good goal is one that is SMART

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time Bound

The first step is to brainstorm your goals.  Look at your big dreams and determine which of these you can set as attainable goals for 2020.  Be sure to write down goals that follow the SMART guideline above.

The second step is to prioritize your goals.  Look at your list and determine which one or ones are your biggest priority, which do you want to accomplish first, which ones are crazy important to you and would mean the most for you and your business.

I would suggest 5-7 major goals.  Too many can be overwhelming and prevent you from taking action.  So choose the right number of goals that you can actually achieve.

The third step is to categorize your goals.  The categories I suggest are financial goals, marketing goals, social media goals, educational goals and productivity goals.  By categorizing them you now have a clear picture of what area of your business will be most affected by these goals.

The fourth step is to set a deadline for the goals.  Break down the year into quarters and determine which goal you want to accomplish first.  By giving yourself a specific goal to reach within a specific time table such as the first quarter of the year, you are more likely to accomplish the goal.  Without a time table you are more likely to put it off and not take the necessary action steps required to reach the goal.

So let’s go through an example:  Your goals are to make x amount of dollars, create a successful senior model program, plan consistent social media content schedule and learn off-camera lighting.  Looking at these goals, some of them would need to be prioritized because they are time-sensitive such as creating a successful senior model program.  And some of them will affect others so working on the first one would most likely help in the second one.

So your quarterly schedule may look like this:

Quarter One – Create a Successful Spokesmodel Program

Quarter Two – Plan a consistent social media content schedule

Quarter Three – Make x amount of money (which quarter one and two goals will help accomplish)

Quarter Four – Learn off-camera lighting

Now that you have your goals planned out and a timetable for achieving them, create an action item list specific to each goal.  What do you need to do to accomplish the goals?

  • Write your To-Do List
  • Put things on calendar to make time to get them done
  • Schedule action items during times that are less busy so you know you will be able to get them done
  • Make sure to evaluate your progress along the way

Once you have your big to-do list for each specific goal, make sure to break down what you will do even further such as monthly, weekly, daily.  For instance in quarter one you will Create a successful senior model program and you have your to-do list of how to accomplish that so determine which items on the to-do list you will accomplish daily, weekly or monthly so you can make sure to accomplish this goal by the end of quarter one.

Now that you have this all planned out, you have clear direction of what you want and how to get there!  This is how you are going to make 2020 YOUR BEST YEAR YET!!  And I am here cheering you on every step of the way!

To help you in the goal planning process, be sure to click HERE to receive your free goal planning workbook.

And I would love to hear from you!  Join me on Instagram by checking out our Instastory and playing along with us as we share what the best thing we learned in 2019 was and what our biggest goal is in 2020!  You can screenshot the graphic, post it to your own Inststory and tag us so we see and share what you post!

In addition to that, I would love for you to join The Seniorologie Community of Facebook and share your goals with other photographers so we can all support each other in reaching our goals and making 2020 the best year yet!  To join, click here.

Planning for 2020 – The Best Year Yet!

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heck, yes i do!

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