Here we are: the end of a month, a year, a decade. I’ve been running my company for three and a half years. It was a hard year, but I have learned a lot. I guess that typically comes with hard experiences. There were days that shook my confidence and days that showed me just how capable I am of doing this. There were a lot of things that weren’t great about 2019, but I am in a great place because I have a fresh start ahead, and know what I need to do differently.
2019 IN REVIEW
Overall, there were a lot of improvements to how I run my business. I was apart of shooting nine weddings, as well as four other shoots and two rebranding projects. This was also the most productive year for my blog, with 27 posts, four more posts than last year. I was a lot more consistent on social media, although I would argue that that still needs work. I shot some of my best work this year, and as I look back even just two years, I see improvement.
There were also plenty of mistakes made and things I need to get better at. I failed big time at connecting with others. When you work from home it’s sometimes hard to leave the house, especially if you’re as introverted as me. I have to get better at that. I also failed to take advantage of extra time I had to be working on my business. There is always work to be done when building a company, always a full work week that can be done. This year I won’t be letting that precious time get away from me. In general, I will be much more disciplined to do hard things.
BEST DESIGNED PIECE OF THE YEAR
Out of the Office Notices
BEST PHOTOS OF THE YEAR
2020 GOALS
If I had to choose a word for 2020 it would be “connect.” I’m not really into choosing words, but I really need to do this better. I need to take some bolder moves and bigger risks. GOAL: Connect with people and get my name out there.
One thing I’ve struggled with this year is doing the hard work, not just the fun work. I neglected goals and small projects that were difficult simply because I didn’t want to struggle creatively. You simply cannot run a company avoiding hard tasks simply because you don’t want to struggle. GOAL: Be disciplined in completing difficult tasks with integrity.
2019 was a light year for work, so I spent a lot of weeks working only as much as I needed to. I worked at least 20 hours every week, but I seldom met my goal of working the full 40-60 on a consistent basis. If I didn’t have client work, I didn’t work as much. I worked as much as the bare minimum required. GOAL: work 40+ hours/week. Work ahead. Work on my business.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2020
I am grateful for the mistakes I made in 2019. They have cut out my work for me as I move into the new year. Because of that, I feel like I have a plan of action that will help me grow my business. I have direction and an agenda for the year, something that definitely got a little lost last year. This will probably be the most challenging year for my business yet, but I couldn’t be more excited to take it on. I’m excited for what’s ahead.