Review of Goals for 2011

Ok, time to check in and see how I did with my Goals in 2011 (my comments are in bold after the goal).

1. Work full-time as a photographer. DONE! I'm very proud to say that I did accomplish this, with a lot of work and struggle, and a bit of  help and flexibility too. From January to March (when my Mat Leave with Victor finished), I worked on my business plan and my application for the Self Employment Benefit Program (a government program designed to help people starting their own businesses). I was approved for that program in March and I believe that it was on March 11th, 2011, I started working officially for myself full time! I launched my website and blog, bought some new equipment, got my business cards, created my Facebook page, and got to shooting. At the end of the year I had shot 36 sessions including 4 weddings, sold several product packages (which surprised me the most of all), met a lot of amazing, supportive clients, and learned a lot about how to run a business and about my style as a photographer. One thing I didn't do was get rich, but I think that at the end of the day, I didn't LOSE any money so I consider that a success. I am going to continue working this year, but once my SEBP ends in March, I may need to bite the bullet and get a part time job to supplement our income a little bit, but hopefully I'll be able to support myself with my business alone.  This was a huge one, and I'm very pleased that I accomplished it.

2. Buy a house. DONE! Another huge one for us. We bought our house over the summer and moved in officially on August 16th, 2011. So happy with our choice of home and with everything so far. It feels so good to be a homeowner :)

3. Finish another quilt. NOT DONE. No time, no motivation, but perhaps this year; now that Victor is in a big boy bed and needs a cute quilt for hid room, I'll be inspired to get it done.

4. Get pregnant. DONE and DOOOOOONE. Got pregnant way ahead of schedule, had Violet in September, and never want to have a baby again! lol

5. Take 2 trips outside of NB (one with Victor and one with just Dan). NOT DONE. Again, just too busy with work, too poor from buying the house, and too big from being pregnant. Dan mentioned taking a week off this summer from work to take a few trips, one as a family and one just the two of us, so I'm looking forward to that.

6. Open an RESP, continue saving/paying off debt, 'grow up'. 50% DONE. I did open an RESP for Victor but we pretty much wiped out our savings on the house and actually racked up more debt on our credit cards with house related expenses. Not ideal, but I'm trying not to stress over it. Also didn't get our Will done, but with Violet and the house now in our lives, it's just as well that we waited. 2012 will be the year to get that sh*t done.

7. Read 6 books. NOT DONE. *Hangs head in shame*  I suck at reading, really I do. I read 1 book I think, the 2nd Hunger Games book (and it took over a freakin' year to finish!)

8. Put more effort into my friendships (and make new friends). MEH. I did hang out with Sara a lot this year (mostly because Victor was going to her until the end of summer, so I saw her every day), but my faraway friends (Anna, Heather, Jelena) got the short end of the stick, it was just sooo busy. Haven't made any new friends either, but maybe having a neighbour will help with that? Who knows.

9. Continue/expand on buying local/organic food. Again, MEH. I tried, I got on stints for a couple of weeks, but fell back into old bad habits. This is probably the most challenging thing for me, I find it soooo hard to change my eating habits, I honestly don't know if I'll ever truly change.

10. Spend less time on the computer. NOT DONE. Not at all. If your count my phone (which I do), I actually spent MORE time on the computer last year, both for work and for foolishness. I want to break my phone habit, because it's crossing over into Victor's life, which is not good at all (having a 2 year old who is addicted to an iPhone is not a good thing). Shame.

11. Take more risks.  I'm going to say DONE, though it's probably arguable. It was a huge risk to start my business, not knowing how it would go and if we'd be able to survive financially. We also took a risk by buying our home when we did, again not knowing how we would cope financially. Having Violet in the driveway was risky, though it wasn't my choice (ha!), and I did a couple of small, foolish 'risky' things like dye my hair red. I don't think I lived it up quite as much as I wanted to, but again, our plans for the year changed quite a bit when that positive sign popped up on the stick back in February, so I can't blame myself for not doing as much as I had wanted. 


("RISK" was also my One Little Word last year, and I've decided not to do one this year as I found that I pretty much forgot about it after the first 3 months or so, I'm not a meditative person on that kind of stuff, so it was just a word I picked that seemed to fit at the time. It did motivate me in the beginning, but then life took over. Ah well.)


So there you have it. Probably 50/50, which is about average for me and my Goal making. Not perfect, but I never once claimed to be. I like to try :)

G.