Resolution updates....

I thought today I'd write a brief post about my new year's resolutions, and how I'm getting on with them. It's very easy to lose sight of things you set out to do at the start of the year, once old habits kick back in and comfort seems like a more attractive option.

So to recap:

Professional Goals:
1. To provide my new 2012 bookings with a useful information pack.
2. To participate in the 2012 Murrayfield Thee Wedding Show this spring.
3. To hopefully produce more sample products for my wedding show, and showcase some of the gorgeous images that have made me proud of what I do from 2011.
4. To do more photo shoots.
5. Redevelop and assess my website and blog.

Personal Goals:
1. To shape up, so that I can complete a 10k run in the summer.
2. To read more books.
3. Sleep more! Or rather, get a better sleep pattern developed.

So where am I with each?

Professional Goals
1. Well, I've got my first meeting of the year with a couple tomorrow, and another wonderful bride-to-be on Monday, so the information packs are getting rolled out!
2. The wedding show is yet to happen. I've recruited a friend to assist me on the day, and am planning on how to make my stall attractive to potential couples looking to hire me. I'm also due to receive some tickets as well for this, which I'll be giving first to my couples if they're interested.
3. I've also sorted out my budgets for my sample products - which I'll start designing next week.
4. I've already had two photo shoots - one for a commercial client, and another for a fellow wedding supplier. I'm also lining up some more shoots, and had a great recce on Wednesday to find new locations for the shoots. It really feels like they're coming together. I've got more things in the pipeline as well, all in various stages of planning.
5. It's been assessed, and I'm identifying what the best options are. Hoping to have something new sorted out by end of April.

Personal Goals
1. Back at the gym! after a few sessions at the gym, I've also had my first outdoor run earlier this week, which was hard (cold air hitting the lungs wasn't pleasant) but I had a real feeling of satisfaction afterwards. I've also been making a point of going out for a walk on a regular basis, as well as trying to watch what I'm eating. With a bit of effort, I've lost weight already, and it's motivating me to do more.
2. I am reading more books! I discovered a brilliant website, called Goodreads recently. It's a mix of social networking and books - you can see what your friends are reading, how they rate it, and it gives recommendations if you're trying to think of what to read next. I've also set myself an annual reading goal. I deliberately set it at 15 books, because there are times when I am too tired to read after a lot of work, or I don't have time in the day. Since becoming self-employed, I don't have a morning or evening commute, and my weekends are no longer work-free time zones. Fifteen is a little over a book a month, which felt like a sufficient number.
3. Actually, I'm getting better at this... sometimes I do end up staying up later than planned, but mostly I've been quite good at trying to go to bed and give myself even half-an-hour's reading time.

I feel that overall, I am achieving (gradually) what I set out to do. I think after the wedding show, I'll be readjusting my goals for the remainder of the year, bringing in new ones, and also looking at what I did well and what I could have done better with the show.

I hope if you made any new year resolutions that you're getting on well with your plans. My advice though, is that resolutions can be made any time of year, you don't have to wait another ten and a half months to make them if your new year resolutions seemed to last a week - you could even make small, seasonal resolutions. Even if you don't "achieve" it, somehow explaining what prevented you, or what you could do to change it and make it more manageable is a good way of assessing how to make things work positively. Explain anything you didn't achieve, but don't let it be an opportunity to make excuses for not doing it. Even saying "I got bored of doing it", means you need to think of a way of making it more interesting, or assessing what aspects you actually got bored of. If your goal was too broad, for example, find a way of breaking it down into smaller goals. So "getting fit" can seem daunting, but saying "being fit enough to run a 5k by the summer" gives you a set goal and also a set date to achieve it by.


In the meantime, I'll share this with you, which is a wonderful blog feature - I really was on cloud nine when I saw this! I recently had my photographs from Steph and Tom's wedding in Glasgow featured on the incredible Whimsical Wonderland Weddings blog. I'm absolutely over the moon about being featured on the blog. These were also the photos (if you remember) from their gorgeous Loch Lomond engagement shoot .