It’s been said so many times. There’s power in dreaming out loud. In writing dreams down and speaking them out loud.

It’s terrifying. It’s paralyzing. It’s scary. And fear is always the grip that holds us back.

For so long, I’ve allowed fear to hold me back from my dreams.

But I spoke those dreams to two dear friends/photographers last weekend and, in our sacred little balcony pow-wow, I was encouraged and pushed to define my dreams even further, to narrow the scope, to define my words, to think bigger. And not just that, I was pushed to talk through how I was going to make these dreams of mine come true. I don’t have all the answers and neither did they, but there’s power in spoken word and in written goals.

Here are my goals, my long-term dreams:

• Shoot 20-30 weddings a year (starting with 15 in 2013).
• Shoot destination weddings, whether it be in other U.S. states or international.
• Shoot a wedding in Italy. (This was on my bucket list.)
• Shoot a wedding in every U.S. state.
• Expand into the high school senior market, specifically working one-on-one with senior ladies for unique, fashion-styled senior photos.

And here are my goals for this year (2013):

• Shoot 15 weddings
• Book 10 weddings for 2014 (by end of 2013)
• Book a destination wedding
• Photograph 2 styled shoots
• Attend (watch) 6 creativeLIVE workshops
• Apply to be an attendee in a creativeLIVE workshop OR attend a photography workshop (Justin & Mary, Bobbi & Mike, Melissa Jill, etcetera).
• Submit my weddings/engagements for feature and get at least 50% accepted for online publishing
• Read 1 business book every month
• Become an active participant in the Showiteers group / be available/knowledgable to answer questions from newer photographers
• Refine post-production process to 5 total hours from loading > culling > editing. No cutting corners on quality. Use a timer to get accurate time spent.

If you’ve already created your goals, link up with me! If you haven’t, I encourage you to post just TWO goals in the comments section below. Two big, scary goals that you are afraid to say out loud. Let’s do this together!