Goals for 2019

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired when it comes to making goals every year and not reaching them.

Recently, I went back and read a post I wrote about my goals for 2015, that’s right, 2015. Surely I should have accomplished those by now, four years later. Nope, didn’t accomplish a single one of them.

The thing is, they weren’t herculean goals like climb Everest or win an Oscar, they were totally obtainable goals. The only thing that stood in my way of accomplishing them four years ago… was me.

Here on the eve of 2019, once again I’m going to set some goals. Most will be the same goals I failed to accomplish over the last four years. This coming year however, I’m going to arm myself with the tools that will not only help me reach those goals, but surpass them.

So why is this year going to be any different?

Well, for a couple of reasons. One, and probably the biggest one is that I’m tired of being tired. I talk a good game but I’ve failed to deliver and I’m tired of spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere.

I’ve watched nature and wildlife photographers and filmmakers just starting out, pass me in the fast lane and never look back. They’ve left their day jobs and are following their passion.

I’ve Hired a Coach!

I think one of the best things I’ve done in a long while is to hire an online coach.

Not only has she been where I am, but she’s already helped people who are stalled just like me and helped them not only set goals, but to give them the tools and means to accomplish them.

For the next three months, Holly will be helping me figure out goals, how to reach them and figure out what are the things I should be focusing on that will move me forward. I’m really looking forward to having her guidance and perspective in the coming months.

So, what are my goals?

Getting Out More!

Nothing happens and I mean nothing if I don’t pick up a camera and get out. My track record for getting out in 2018 to go photograph or film something was pitiful. Sure I took a couple of trips and shot some amazing stuff but what about the other 50 weeks that I was home? I’ll need to do some deep soul-searching and find out why I’m not picking up the camera when I’m home. How do I re-motivate myself? You know it’s one of those things that when I do go out with my camera, I’m always glad I did. It doesn’t matter if I come home with a shot or not. I enjoyed being in nature. So what wall is up that makes me not want to go out and feel that way more? I think I solve this one and that will go a long way to letting me accomplish all my other goals.

Discovering New Locations to Photograph!

Another huge goal I need to make happen in 2019.

The few times I went out photographing locally this year have pretty much been the same place, my local nature center. I’ve photographed there for years and know it like the back of my hand. If I want to photograph a yellow lady slipper, I know where one is at the nature center to film. It’s one of my favorite places to film, but the world is a big place and there’s plenty of amazing things I could be photographing within an hours drive of my home.

I think if I find that motivation that keeps me looking forward to picking up my camera, the desire to discover new things to photograph will follow.

I have a big two-week trip planned for the American Southwest and I can’t wait to get out there and photograph the amazing things I’ve discovered in my research of the area. I need to apply that to Iowa as well. There’s some great places here that I’ve never visited. That needs to change in 2019.

Film More Wildlife!

Filming wildlife isn’t easy. You never know where they will be or when. Just because you saw dragonflies in a spot today doesn’t mean they will be around tomorrow.

As weird as it seems, I think my lack of filming wildlife is kind of tied into my lack of getting out as often as I’d like.

Photographing wildlife takes a lot of time and patience. I’ve worked on my patience and wrote about it in an earlier blog post.  But I think that because I restricted my time out in the field, I felt that I couldn’t just set up near a deer path and wait to see if the deer made an appearance. In my mind because I was going out so infrequently, I needed to photograph the sure things. I knew that coneflowers were blooming so I went out and photographed those. I think my brain was telling me to go with the sure thing and at least have something instead of going out those couple of times and having nothing to show for it.

That kind of thinking really goes against how I feel about nature. It’s not about the photograph, it’s about the being in the moment. Connecting, recharging. So I know I have some alleys in my brain that I need to go down and change that mindset.

Building This!

When I started this site, it was all about sharing my love of nature and wildlife and helping you capture nature with your own cameras. Just like dominos however, if the first one, getting out more, didn’t fall then none of the rest would fall.

So what does “building this” entail? More posts, more videos and ultimately, a full-blown course on how to shoot better nature and wildlife.

I’ve mapped out the course and all the different things I want to cover. Like my photography, I set the bar high for myself. If I couldn’t do it the way I wanted it to be done, I just didn’t do it.  The problem with that however is that you can’t get to the level you want to be at if you don’t start. So I need to get a lot more time in front of the camera, taking you on my travels and building up the production value of both my writing and my filming.

There’s a quote I discovered this year that is going to be my motto for 2019, “A year from now you’ll be happy you started today”.  So if I want to make that course a reality, I need to start today. So let’s see where we are at this time next year. I think I’m going to be happy that I started today!

What are your goals for 2019? A year from now what do you want to be happy about? Leave me a comment below and let’s talk about it.