Discipline is hard...
We were just talking recently in our small group about how when things get busy and overwhelming, the first two things to go in anyone's life is Bible reading and exercise (if those are two things they are even doing in the first place). And it's got me thinking.. discipline is so hard. It is so easy to skip a day of something. But in doing so, it makes it so much harder to get back at it the next day. We have to take active steps to discipline ourselves.
I have been training for the Indianapolis marathon for the last few months (I believe my training plan started towards the beginning of July). It started out pretty easy... easy runs 4-5 days a week. But gradually the training got more difficult. And now, I'm running 50-60 miles a week, including two hard workouts, a long run, and three easy runs. I adore Wednesdays when I can enjoy a morning of "sleeping in" because I don't have to get up early to beat the heat. Tuesdays are speed work and repeats. Thursdays are tempo runs (or race pace runs). Sunday mornings are total chaos because I have to get a long run in early enough to still tackle my responsibilities at church. It has been completely exhausting, chaotic, and some days a hot mess. But here I am, still running, still training, and still going for the gold (or in this case, the Boston qualification).
There are so many times it would've been easy to quit running, to quit training, and just give up. There have been plenty of workouts (especially in the first few weeks of speed work) that I couldn't hit my paces consistently. I had serious doubts about making the time goal I had set. Then, weeks into my training, I had the genius idea to bump my time goal up, 5 minutes faster. (What kinda crazy lady am I?!) I wanted to ensure that if I hit my time goal, I'd get into Boston. And as crazy as it seems, I've been hitting my paces. I've put in the work, and I'm starting to see the rewards of it. To the point that I've started talking about Boston like it's actually possible, and not just a pipe dream.
You guys. Discipline is hard. But we do it every day! We get up and go to work. We do chores we don't want to do. We support our families. We work out and train. We pray and read our Bibles. And we reap the rewards of our discipline. For me, it's time to become disciplined in my journey with photography. The last couple of weeks I have been reevaluating, and have dug into a business course that I purchased a while back. Boy, has it helped relight the passion I have for photography and for making this a sustainable business! But I need goals, and I need action steps to do it. I need discipline. It's like training for a marathon; I know I won't see results overnight but I need to be faithful in taking the "training" seriously to reach my goals.
Business Goals:
- Build a sustainable income to help support us financially, pay off debt, and provide a financially stable household for our future kiddos
- Build a rapport with local families and seniors to enter into those two photography markets
- Ideally, get to a place where I am booking at least two of each session a month on average (hopefully more!!)
- Create a lasting impact in the lives of clients I serve
- Create a high-end, joy-filled client experience
- Use this business as a way to share the love of Jesus
I don't have all the answers yet, and some of my goals I still am working through. But I know God's got this, I know I am growing, and I know if I am disciplined then I will begin to see fruit of that in my business. Let's do this.
