Last year I blogged about my 2016 goals and got super deep with some of them. I wrote what my biggest goal of the year was: to travel. And I fully believe because I put it out there into the universe for everyone to see, is why that dream came true. Goal = check! I was hired to shoot the most beautiful elopement in Paris, France and it was a once in a lifetime trip that I will never forget. I made lifelong friends with my bride + groom and I’m already eager to see and photograph them again.

There’s something powerful about taking your goals and writing them down for the world to see. Nerve wracking, yes. But overall, powerful.

I don’t like to call these resolutions… the very meaning of the word ‘resoultion’ is ‘the action of solving a problem’ and I don’t want to feel like I’m constantly solving problems. Where’s the fun in that? By setting goals, you determine where you set the bar, how high, and YOU decide when to hustle to make that goal happen. The past 4 years of owning my own small business has been one big dream, goal, hustle.

So this year, I’m changing things up. I will always hustle at this small business owning thing because it ignites the fire in my heart, lets me live out my passion day in and day out of being a photographer and a boss lady, allows me to stay home with my daughter and provides for us financially. Its my dream come true and I’ll never sit on the sidelines and let it run itself. I’ll always hustle.

BUT, I don’t want to hustle so hard anymore that I’m not present for the life happening around me. God has blessed me so immensely and I don’t want Him to ever think I’m not grateful for all He has done in my life. We’re also trying to expand our family which means I’ll need to be around even more. Which leads me to my 2017 goals…

Goal 1: Stop the busy. Say no to more things and yes to fewer things. Say yes to ONLY the things that make my heart sing and let everything else go. I’ve already done this ONCE in the New Year and we’re only a few days in y’all. I’m PROUD of myself!! I still have a long ways to go on this goal, but I took the first step in saying ‘no’ to something that would’ve taken valuable family time and not been worth it for me professionally or personally.

Goal 2: Stop the scroll. Be present in LIFE. Stop scrolling Instagram like you’re going to find the next best thing on there. Instagram scrolling leads to negativity and comparison and I’m through with letting it take the wind out of my sails. Nobody is perfect, nobody has the perfect small business, the perfect family, the perfect anything. We’re all flawed human beings just trying to find our way and our happiness. Scrolling to see what others are up to will never be more important than spending time with my family or watching my daughter do something really cute. I look back at everything I’ve missed and feel really angry at myself for getting lost in the scroll. Just stop.

Goal 3: Be PRESENT. Adding onto number 2, I want to be present more. Not just in stopping the scroll from social media but I want to stop checking my email in the parking lot of my daughters school before we head home. I want to stop feeling like I have to respond to someone right that second. I want to put the laptop away, put down my phone, and be present for my husband and my daughter more. This is something I will regret with every ounce of my being in 20 years if I don’t start now.

Goal 4: Read more. I have dozens, and dozens…and DOZENS of books that I’ve bought over the years and never read. Some I have picked up and read the first 20 pages of and then I put it down and forget about it. Since I won’t be scrolling Instagram and Facebook as much, I want to use that time to read more. I also want to limit my screen time at nights and quit Netflixing just because. I really want to take that extra time of nothing and throw it into reading to better myself. I already have a healthy stack of books for 2017 and I’m hoping I can read at least one book a month. So far, I’m 1.5 books down — go me!!!

Goal 5: Blog more. Enough said, ha. I’m always running around so fast that I forget to blog my clients sessions and I am SO sorry about that!! Blogging is definitely going to happen more this year :)

And lastly, my word for 2017, incase you haven’t already seen a trend here (LOL) is…

PRESENT.

I just want to be present more for my family. I want to put the right systems in place for more flawless days. Less stress. Less on my to-do list. Just LESS. I don’t want to take every session that comes my way just because I have a hard time saying ‘no’ to people but in turn makes me less present to my family. I need to set aside certain days and times for laundry and house work and editing and blogging that doesn’t interfere with late night giggle and snuggle sessions or mid day painting with Aubree or dinner time with that amazing husband and baby girl of mine. See what I’m getting at here ya’ll? I just want to be present.

I want to sign off more and not feel the pressure of social media. I want to stop watching everyone travel the world, putting on a million workshops, working on more tangible materials for their businesses and booking weddings in exotic places and thinking I have to do the same thing. The sad thing that happens when we see 20 different people doing 20 different things and hustling super hard is: we feel like we have to do ALL of those things in order to be successful. And thats sad. We don’t have to be that way. We don’t have to book weddings in exotic places while traveling around the world, WHILE working on tangible paper goods for our businesses, WHILE planning and putting on workshops, WHILE working, WHILE blogging, WHILE doing everything. You don’t always have to be moving or busy to be successful. More margin is healthy.

2016 taught me so much. I checked a lot of goals off of my list. And then I learned that some of them are just silly. I don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. I just need to do what I want to do and what works best for me and my family and this sweet little business of mine. Traveling is FUN and great, and I’d love to do it here and there, but I never want to be gone a lot. I don’t want my daughter to remember that her mother was always absent for work. That takes me back to only saying yes to the really important things.

This years goals look a heck of a lot different than last years goals do, but I believe thats called growth. 

I sincerely hope for all of you, a happy, healthy and successful 2017 with plenty of margin left for the good stuff.

Thanks for following along friends :) I can’t wait to see what 2017 brings!

xo!