Setting Big Goals


Goals are scary to me sometimes. I am very goal-oriented and while that can be a very good thing, it also becomes discouraging when I don't reach my goals in my ideal timeline. (This happens more than I'd care to admit... I think I tend to set big goals on tight timelines, so sometimes they are reached but more often than not, they are not.) And often when that happens, those goals become idols. This is a constant battle I fight with myself, trying to walk the line between setting goals and defining myself by my "successes". Here, I will share a few of my goals for my business and a few personal goals over the next 5 years. My hope is in sharing them with you, I will have accountability to myself and to you to pursue and follow through in these goals. But I also pray that I will have grace for myself in the case that I don't reach any (or all) of these goals. I know that God's timing is perfect, and in His time I will achieve what I need to. So without further ado, my goals:


Business Goals:

  • Make a "full-time" salary through photography.
  • My passion for photography is what gave me the confidence to start this business, but I also recognize that our world runs on money and we have financial goals that we are striving towards that we can't meet without me contributing to them, too!
  • Attract regular inquiries from new clients (and clients I don't know).
  • I have never done a photo session for a client I don't know... this is a huge goal. Not only to do sessions for people I don't know, but to regularly (as in, monthly or even weekly) have inquiries from potential clients I don't know and be able to move those potential clients to clients booking sessions and loving the results.
  • Utilize my business as a means to share the gospel.
  • This is a driving factor for me... I know God gifted me with the ability to do photography so that I could serve Him while doing it. If I'm not serving Him, then I may as well quit now. I don't know exactly what this looks like, but I know God will provide me with opportunities to glorify and serve Him and to share His truth with the clients I serve, I need only look for them.
  • Settle into a niche.
  • Every photographer I've talked to said at the beginning, they photographed anything and everything, but as their business grew, they began to settle into their niche. I'm not entirely sure what that will be for me, but I'm hoping it will be seniors and families, as those are currently my most favorite types of sessions. Whatever direction I go, in 5 years I hope to be pretty well settled into my style and my niche.


Personal Goals:

  • Pay off all debt outside our mortgage.
  • This has been a goal since we moved into our house. We have acquired a couple different debts since we moved in, but we also have worked really hard to pay of quite a bit of debt since we got married. My goal is that photography can be a way to supplement our debt payments so we can continue snowballing our debt and working towards financial freedom! It has been so freeing to make the strides we have made so far!
  • Have a youth ministry that is steadily growing in numbers and deepening in faith.
  • I love what I do with youth ministry, but at times I can get discouraged (especially in this COVID world) because I begin to believe the lie that what I'm doing doesn't matter, because I don't have many students coming. But I know God has me exactly where He wants me, and I feel so blessed to be able to pour into these students lives. However, I also know that, Lord willing, our ministry can make a bigger impact. I hope and pray our ministry becomes a multiplying ministry that reaches teens for Christ and equips them with a faith of their own before they graduate high school. I hope and pray that each year, our ministry can grow by 25-50%. That seems like a big goal. But we serve a big God.
  • Complete some home renovation projects.
  • I very much enjoy projects! My goal is by the end of 5 years to have our upstairs remodeled and finished, have our bathroom remodeled, have our hallway fixed (if you've been to our house, you know what I mean. If you haven't, just trust me that our current floor plan is ridiculous...), and add a second bathroom in the basement. Lots of projects, and I'm super excited to get started!
  • Coach.
  • I have wanted to coach cross country since I graduate college. It seems I might have the opportunity to do so this fall, and I am so stoked! But if that doesn't work out, I will continue to search out opportunities to coach. I love cross country and I love building relationships with young people, so coaching is a wonderful way to combine those two passions!
  • Start reading again.
  • 1 book a month. That's not a lot, but it sounds like so much right now. Everything has been so chaotic and crazy... but that's no excuse to stop learning or stop stretching myself.
  • Run Boston marathon.
  • This has been a bucket list item for me for a LONG time. And gosh darnit, I want it to be a reality. I know I'm capable of hitting a BQ time, but it's going to take a lot of discipline and grit. But man, what an honor it would be to run that race!


Lord, help me to strive after these goals as a way to serve and glorify you through them all. I pray that these would not become idols, but would be stepping stones in glorifying you through my ministry, my personal life, and my business. I pray that if any of these goals do not come to fruition, that I would have grace for myself as you have grace for me. I also ask that you would bless this business and bless these goals. I know your timing is perfect, but I also know many of these goals are on my heart because you have put them there. Help me to keep my eyes on you as I go after these goals, remembering that they are but a means to draw myself to you and to point others to you. Help me to stay rooted in my faith as I embark on this journey of being a small-business owner, a ministry leader, and a wife, among many other things. Help me to be obedient to what you have called me to do. I pray that through this business, you would provide me with opportunities to share the gospel, to serve, and to love well. Amen.