You know how you push yourself so hard always reaching for that next objective and the ever-evolving big dream that you forget to take stock of how far you’ve already come? That is why I love January. It’s a time for reflection and visioning your future.

Last year I published this post about my goals for 2014. This year I’d like to revisit some of those aspirations by analyzing my 2014 Successes and, ahem… “Works In Progress”. Then I’ll talk about my goals for 2015.

Success in 2014

One of the things I’m most proud of is meeting my goal of having my work featured four different times:

• Valentine’s Day Photo Shoot
• Valentine’s Day Photo Shoot (again)
  
• Pastures of Plenty Wedding
  
• Windsong Estate Wedding Editorial Shoot

I spent many hours submitting my work for publication this last year. Sometimes it was really tedious and frustrating but at other times I was surprised by unexpected wins. My feature on Zen Pencils was one such lucky break. The artist of Zen Pencils saw my photos (inspired by his work), he connected with me through twitter and asked about featuring them on his blog. Because of Zen Pencil’s large fan base I saw an incredible spike in traffic to my blog and got endearing comments (and emails!) from people all over the world. It was amazing.

Another goal I accomplished in 2014 was connecting with other Fort Collins area wedding professionals. Previously I hadn’t been great at networking with real people in the real world and I wanted to change that. Through my Black, White and Gold Wedding Shoot I met a group of talented Colorado wedding vendors. I’m very grateful to have developed relationships with many of them and have even had the opportunity to work with several on new projects.

Other wonderful and life changing blessings happened in 2014 as well, including getting engaged and quitting my job to work full time on my own business. Looking back, 2014 held some really great moments for me, both professionally and personally.

2014 Works In Progress

Although an antonym for success, I don’t like using the word “failure.” I think it’s important to have goals and try new things, then glean what you can from the experience. In that spirit, despite my ambitions in January of 2014, I’m labeling my misses, “Works In Progress.”

The most obvious was setting a goal of shooting 40 weddings. I mean, come on, I had a full time job last year (which wasn’t shooting photography)! I simply didn’t have the time to dedicate to that type of growth. I think, like a lot of other people, I like to see big numbers as a means to amp up energy and ambition but in the end it can be quite defeating. I actually only had one wedding last year – which ended up getting cancelled weeks before. Heartbreaking. While I stayed busy with editorial wedding shoots and wedding industry work, a whole year went by without a real wedding. It made me really miss my brides and grooms! That is why I am dedicating a lot of effort to booking real weddings in 2015.

Another “Work In Progress” is my blog. I had originally intended to blog 2 posts a week. A noble goal but in reality I was lucky when I posted once a month. The biggest reason for missing the mark on this goal was, again, a lack of time. Now that I am working for myself full time I have started to blog weekly. This year I intend to post to my blog at minimum once a week, and hopefully more.

2015 Goals

“Simplicity” is a key word for me in 2015. I’m simplifying a lot of things, including my pricing, my workflow, and my goals, to name a few. While I have a lot of projects and objective I’d like to conquer this year, I’ve decided to focus on two main goals:

1. Planning + Strategy // In 2015 a main focus is having a plan and a strategy to follow so I can reach my business goals. I think many small business owners can sympathize with my pain of always “reacting” to situations (plugging leaks) instead of working toward the bigger picture, but no more. I’ve already been working on a comprehensive Business Plan, which has changed the way I approach my work, my marketing, and what I give my time to. I will hone my Business Plan further and be implementing thorough marketing strategies and a business rebrand to grow my Moriah Riona LLC in 2015.
2. Choosing Joy // This year, I aspire to consciously “Choose Joy” everyday, in every situation. You know those times when you feel like you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Between moving to a new place and becoming my own full time boss I’ve been feeling that way a lot. I’ve found myself wrestling perfectionism, self doubt and anxiety. However, I know that I have a choice, to let my mind run wild in a downward spiral of doubt or to instead choose joy. I have an opportunity to focus all of my creative energy on my own work and my own projects now. That is an incredible blessing. While the journey might be messy and quite imperfect (I’m making mistakes everyday) I need to remind myself to “lighten up” and have fun with it all. I’m getting paid to do what I love. How many people can say that?

I’m so excited for everything 2015 promises. I’ll be doing big things with this business, including a total rebrand, new exciting projects and weddings, focusing on solid marketing campaigns, and attending Showit United in October to connect with and learn from some really awesome fellow photographers. I’ll also be moving to Colorado Springs this year, buying a house and getting married to the love of my life. I’ve already decided this is my year!

What about you? What new and exciting things does 2015 have in store for you? Are you dreaming big and making it happen? I’d love to hear how you are making 2015 YOUR year as well. Tweet me or shoot me an email. Maybe we can make big things happen together.

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