I can’t believe it’s already over a week since the new year! I hope everyone has had a great start so far. The past few months I have been doing a lot of brainstorming for my business and for my personal life. I think it is very important to look back at your year and see what changes you would like to make in order to succeed the next coming year. 

Today I wanted to share with you my goals for the year and what I do to stay motivated. 

1. Recognize what stripped away your motivation last year. If you don’t do this it will happen to you again.  There are two things that I can recall making me feel depressed and losing my motivation. The first one was when I wasn’t booking any weddings. I had been booking 14- 20 weddings every year and then in 2017 that number dropped. I was so sad and it made me question everything I was doing. I felt everything I had worked for was all falling apart. But then I realized I was no longer meeting up with my clients and my emails didn’t sound like me. So I changed that and things started getting better.  The second thing that made me lose motivation was when I started going on Instagram and began to see what other photographers were accomplishing (all while I wasn’t booking anything). I was second guessing myself and losing hope.  I didn’t even realize I was doing this until I actually began to analyze what I was doing. So, make sure you know what caused you to lose motivation last year and work on that.
2. Don’t write down your BIG GOALS!  It’s important to know not to write your big goals on your to-do list because that will end up stressing you out every time you read it. For example, if your goal is to make 6 figures this year, don’t add that to your to-do list. Instead, you need to create a plan for how you are going to make that happen during each week/month. For instance, reach out to 3 photographers and ask them what their approach is, revamp your website, work on your branding, post weekly on Instagram, attend a workshop, learn off-camera flash (OCF), etc. All these steps will help you reach that goal.
3. Prevent a “PitFall”. I learned this from Katelyn James. She is an amazing photographer and someone I look up to.  A “pitfall” is when something in life happens and makes you get off track. For example,  every time I go traveling I always end up getting off track. Instead of coming back from a trip, or a holiday, feeling stressed and overwhelmed with all the work you need to get done, look at your calendar in advance. Know what you have to do after the trip not just before the trip. If you know you are going to have a wedding when you get back from the trip then make sure and email your bride before you leave on the trip.
4. GET SLEEP! I can not tell you how important this is and I know that with having a child some days that’s not going to be possible. They may get sick, have so many school events to attend, or games that will drain you, but if you don’t get enough sleep you won’t feel good or be productive. You simply won’t get anything done when you’re exhausted.
5. Create a consistent educational plan. Set up a time every month, one to two afternoons, to find some motivation and learn from other educators.  Leave your work at home and go to coffee shop, a park, or anywhere you want and dedicate some time to improve your business. Doing this monthly will help you stay motivated and actually see all those tutorials you bought but haven’t gotten to them.  So pick a date and write it on your monthly calendar. 

This year I am doing Katelyn James All-Access course, where I will be getting a monthly educational via email watching her work in the moment. I am super excited! I already got my first video and I loved!  
Now on to sharing with you all a few of my business and personal goals…

Business Goals

1. Weekly Blog. I know will help my business so much, but it’s something that I tend to push aside. There are so many things I have learned since I’ve started my business and would love to share with you all. I have decided to at least do one blog a week in order to stay motivated throughout the year (because in case you haven’t noticed I am a terrible writer)! It will also boost my confidence whenever I write more than one blog post a week!  If you are like me and don’t like writing you may want to consider hiring someone to help write your blogs or proofread them.  Since making this a goal for 2018 I have been working with Jooliana, from Zinnia Marketing Agency, to help me with my writing skills. She is great and helps me stay motivated and on track. 
2. Revamp my Website. As a wedding photographer, my work changes about every 6 months as I improve. It has been a while since I have updated my website. This year I want to change the whole look and feel of my website. I have been working on this for quite some time now, so I hope to get it up and running soon! 
3. Accounting-Filling. One thing that I have struggled with every year is the accounting part of my business. There is so much I have learned about accounting and booking these past few years, but I am still lost and at times feel overwhelmed. I have decided to set a date each month to do all the bookkeeping and separate all the receipts to keep everything filed in order, not just thrown in a box.  Another thing I am in a lookout for is a bookeeper. I need help to make sure I am doing everything correctly, from what to keep filed to paying my state taxes. So if you know of a good bookkeeper please let me know below on the comments! 
4. Bridal Party Photos.  It’s important to continue learning, improving, and staying creative. This year I want to improve my bridal party photos; which means during the time I’ll be taking photos of the bridal party I will dedicate more time to them, get more creative, try things I haven’t done, and really test my limits. 

My personal goals are more like checking off my bucket list. They are things I would like to do throughout the year, a new habit, a good deed, or a new experience. I don’t like to get very specific with these goals, nor set an exact date because things happen in life and you may not be able to do it the month you originally wanted to, which makes you feel like you failed.

Personal Goals

1. Sky Dive. This has been on my bucket list for quite some time now. I think it’s time to scratch it off! Maybe I’ll do it in the summer during my birthday month.
2. Attend a spiritual retreat. I have been wanting to dedicate some time to myself and God. It is always good to disconnect from the world a bit and find your inner self and connect with the Lord.
3. Travel. I enjoy traveling and I make it a point every year to either make a small trip here in Texas or travel to a different state/ country. This year I would like to visit a state I haven’t been to yet.
4. Run a 5K. I have been wanting to get back to working out more. So I decided to run a 5K this year. Because I know I can not commit to working out daily right now I am not going to set myself up for failure by saying I am going to work out 4 times a week when I know that’s not going to happen. What I do know will help me get back in the grove of working out more is by signing up for a 5K. This will help me commit and want me to train before the race.
5. Read a book. I have a really bad habit of picking up different books and not completing them. I also am not a reader, I wish I was. But every now and then there is an educational book I begin reading, but never finish because I start reading another one that caught my interest. It’s not that the book isn’t good, I just get caught up in the busy world and then forget about it. So how am I going to make this happen? Not sure, but I will carry the book everywhere I go. I will also commit to setting a time to read at least twice a month. If I end up reading more days great, but I know myself so I am setting something I know is reachable for me. 

I am looking forward to the new year and everything God has planned for me! I hope I am able to accomplish this and more. I will keep you posted throughout the year! I might even come back to this post and let you know once I completed and how I made it happen! Love you all and thanks for sticking around. I would love to hear what your goals for the year are. Please feel free to share your goals or any ideas, tips, or things you do to stay motivated throughout the year.

XO,

LYNNET

If you are interested in booking Lynnet Perez Photography for your wedding or engagement photography, please visit my contact page. All other inquiries email me at perez.lynnet@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Also, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram for my latest updates on engagements and weddings!

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Lynnet Perez