GOOOOOOOOOOAL!
The announcer lets out a celebratory “Goooooooooooal”, the culmination of hours of training and up to sixty minutes of on field play. Do you celebrate when you accomplish your goals? Perhaps, that question should come after an introductory, “Do you set goals?”.
It’s time for New Year’s resolutions. But it is also time to set some goals. If you are a procrastinator you may want to wait until you’ve purchased a worthy coffee cup for your personal goal setting session. “Goals Will Get You There” or “You Don’t Have to Shop to Hit a Target” might be suitable adages to find on that cup. But wait any longer if you want to reach your own goals! Get out the pencil and paper as soon as you have finished this short article and get started on some goal planning. It can indeed help you get there.
Goal Setting for Photographers
A coach may be helpful in getting you in setting appropriate goals. My previous coaches helped me learn these important guidelines:
A goal should be attainable. Yes, a lot of cash may soon make it possible to go to the moon, but make your goals should be possible for you.
A goal should be measurable, both in terms of accomplishment and time. Saying you will eat a lot of ice cream or visit a whole bunch of countries is not measurable. Saying you will eat 10 gallons of ice cream this year or you will visit 5 countries may indeed be attainable for most of you.
A goal should be sensible and relevant. Okay, the ice cream goal above might not be sensible. A healthy eating goal might be. If your goal is to take photographs in ten U.S. national parks, your trip to Japan might not be relevant.
Your goals should be time related. What is your deadline? Perhaps you want to set an earliest date to attain the goal (so you don’t overdo it) and final deadline. Know whether the final deadline is flexible. If you are training for a specific marathon, you will have an application date and a set date for the race. Missing a date means you won’t reach your goal. But if you want to read ten novels by year-end, and you have read nine, you can certainly attain the goal a bit late.
Goals may be in many areas of your life, not just directed at getting rich or looking like a superhero. For example, you may want to write two letters each to ten different friends or relatives this year. You may want to take two strokes off your golf handicap. You may want to learn to paint (make it measurable), or learn to play 10 chords the guitar, or learn how to make two kinds of vegetable based pasta.
For photographers, goals might involve purchasing new equipment, having a personal show, placing well in a contest, or photographing specific new locations.
I set some goals last year and reached some of them:
- Had a personal show at Mountain Artists Guild in Prescott (a lot of work, but a great experience)
- Exhibited for the first time at an Art Fair (a lot of work, but a great experience)
- Learned to take still life photos ((had to take a class for this)
- Framed my own prints (bought some equipment for this)
- Sold individual framed or mounted prints (did not quite reach my monetary goal)
- I became familiar enough with a location and my skills that I felt comfortable offering my first teaching workshop (previously had done guiding only).
There were some other goals not accomplished. The Photoboomers newsletter missed the total subscriber mark by over 200. This means I need to reassess. Did I take the goal seriously? Were other goals more important? What more will I have to do to make it happen? Will I renew the goal at the same level or a higher level?
Some goals take a lot of pre-planning as does the one I have described below. Unless you are being paid for accomplishments in stages, you will have to sandwich the steps between your other pieces of life. For this reason, it is smart to start with the distant goal first and work backwards to the short term goal. For example, if you are planning on having an photo journalism article published in National Geographic, that might be a reasonable goal for 10 years from now. So here is what the planning and milestones might look like.
10 year goal - Have photo journalism article published in NatGeo.
8 year goal - Have article accepted for publication in NatGeo.
7 year goal - Submit article; make requested revisions; re-edit photos; return to location for more photos if requested
6 year goal - Take writing class; write article outline, finish edits on best photos
5 year goal - Finish research, complete third trip to location
4 year goal - Follow up research; use contacts for better images
3 year goal - Return to location (perhaps in winter and summer?); improve photos
2 year goal - Research your idea; create. Notebook and fill it; Visit location; make critical contacts; blend into the community as much as possible; take initial photos
1 year goal - Read NatGeo writing and photography guidelines, research all past 10 years of NatGeo articles; brainstorm ideas; determine 3 most promising ideas; cull photos from similar work you have done; write NatGeo editor to share your availability and give talent resume; request potential subjects (that you might add to your own.
Not all of your goal setting will be this detailed, but some goals that are dear to you may require even more details. Be thorough with your goal setting and planning.You are then likely to reach your goals in a timely manner.
My hope is that you find time this week to set some goals for yourself in areas such as health and fitness, recreational endeavors, work, family, finances and spirituality. At the end of this year you will feel like screaming “Goooooooooooooal”.