Four Fine Fellows Photographing
It’s A New Year! [In Case You Hadn’t Noticed]
New Year’s resolutions. If I understand correctly statistics prove that they are not very well kept. Lots of gyms know this very well, they can offer a great deal on gym memberships at the first of the year, because so few people stick with it.
So what is the point of making a list of things that I would like to see happen or work to accomplish in 2014?
Well… When I actually make a list of things, whether I focus explicitly on that list afterwards or not – I tend to move towards accomplishing those goals in a subconscious manner. Those ideas and goals are always in the back of my mind.
I’d encourage any of you to do write some things down you are hoping to accomplish in the coming year. If nothing else it is interesting to look back at the end of one year and see how you did in the “goal accomplishing” business.
Things can majorly change in a year’s time. [I know for a fact 2013 ended a lot differently than I thought it would when I started 2013.]
I’m not going to hold this list up as “must do or I’ll die” goals. Things change. Having goals is important, but so is being willing to shift your goals if need be.
These are in no particular order. I tried to make some order of them, but nothing felt quite right…
Cue the laser lights and get the backing track ready… because here comes 2014’s goals and ideas.
Take Saturday’s Off
Over the course of the last few years I have found myself turning into something of a workaholic. Some of that is due to the fact that I work in a home office. It’s very easy to spend day’s on end sitting here staring at this computer.
As I fill my spare time [I’m single remember.] I work a lot of hours.
I guess working a lot isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Neither is it an overly good thing. For my head. For my eyes. For my body. For my gizzard.
And so I’m going to try my best to start taking Saturday’s off. And by off I mean I won’t consciously sit down and work on any particular work project. The rest of the week should give me plenty of time to get things done.
Share More
I can write as many words as I like about any given subject, but if I am not sharing about something that is either helping people or pretty personal… not many people care. [So say the analytics.]
I also was a part of several new things in 2013. I’ve never been much of a “community member” in the online sense of the term, but 2013 saw me being a bit more involved in several communities. Those types of connections are based a lot on whether people are willing to share or not.
I want to share more in the coming year. Both here on the blog and in whatever ways I can.
Write Every Day
As you get further down this list you will see that writing may play a pretty big part in my life this coming year. No I don’t have plans to publish a book, but as I share more in various channels I will be writing quite a bit more.
Writing is a lot like photography or any creative endeavor. If you want to do well at it, you are going to have to work at it. I definitely have room to grow in my writing… and I should have plenty of opportunities to practice.
Of interest to me is an idea that a lot of book authors subscribe to. It doesn’t take writing very many words every day till you have an entire book worth of material. A novel can have anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 or so words in it. If a person was to write 1000 words every day, they could easily finish writing at least two rough drafts of a decent sized novel within a years’ time.
I’ve yet to write a book. 🙂
PhotoSiteWP
One of the things that I am pretty stoked about right now is PhotoSiteWP, a blog dedicated to helping creatives get their work online using WordPress.
The blog will mostly go through a bunch of things that a person should consider as they move towards building an online presence, specifically using WordPress, but a lot of the general stuff will apply toward most other site building methods out there.
To begin with the info will be fairly simple and hopefully straight forward. If this is something that interests you – feel free to check out the PhotoSiteWP blog.
CorePresets
CorePresets is a site that I built to test a WordPress theme, but it is also a project that I am pretty interested in.
I’d really like to turn CorePresets into a bit of a “post production how to” website. This in turn could help market CorePresets as I start to actually sell presets.
How all that will work I’m not entirely sure.
LburgHomes
LburgHomes is my biggest business venture right now.
The biggest thing for at least the first part of the year is to start building a client base. Word of mouth marketing only really works if you have people who are working with you and are happy with the work that you are doing for them.
Web Work
I am also still building and managing sites for a few different individuals, businesses and organizations. I’m not entirely sure where I want to go with that in the coming year. I believe I will take the “we will see” route on this for now.
Ok… let’s move on to a few more personal things.
Losing Weight – Eating More Healthy
Isn’t this the one thing that we all tell ourselves we are going to do better with every year?
But here is the truth. I spend entirely too much time sitting at a computer desk and far too little time wandering around outside. When I do take a break I usually end up in the kitchen, because eating a snack is the simplest way to take a break.
And so… I’m preparing to start a diet. Instead of a diet that only lasts a few weeks, I’m hoping to make something of a “diet change.” What I mean is that I hope to change my “normal diet.” Eating healthy really shouldn’t have to happen only when I’m on a diet.
Travelling More – Hiking More
I love traveling and hope to do more of that this year. My cousin says he would like to go to the West Coast. I’d like to do that too. [Yes the same cousin I went to Maine with.]
But traveling doesn’t have to mean going across the country. I also would like to explore Virginia some more. There are some pretty incredible things here too.
Photographically
2013 saw me doing a lot less personal photography. There were several months where all I did was client work. Looking back that makes me a bit sad.
I’m hoping to do a fair bit more photography this year, both for clients and for myself.
I also have several friends who are interested in photography… I’m hoping to spend more time with them this year…
Personal Connections
This is a simple, yet really difficult one for me.
I wrote in my piece about being single at Christmas that I wanted to be a better friend in the coming year. That is still true.
But I also find that I need to spread my horizons some. Especially when it comes to who I associate with and how I associate with them.
On a business level I think I could benefit greatly from connecting with people in a personal way. Instead of simply sending someone an email, doesn’t it make a bigger impression if I call them? Or maybe even stop by their office and talk to them face to face…
Personal interaction is largely where success in business and life can be found. I think.
Spiritually
I am a Christian and I try to live the way I believe the Bible tells me to.
All parts of my spiritual life could definitely use improvement. I don’t believe we will ever get to a point where this is not the case.
I’d to be more open about my faith. Not that I would ever shove it down anyone’s throat, but that I would always be willing to share my testimony should the opportunity become available.
At the end of the day, this is what is important to me. All the other things can fall by the wayside. If I am truly walking with Jesus, everything else is just peripheral.
Not that the peripheral isn’t important, because it is. It is in the peripheral that we physically live and move and breath.
I pray that 2014 can be a year of really focusing on Christ and doing all the other things through that “lens.”
Here is wishing you all a very wonderful New Year! I’d love to hear from you this year!