Happy New Years!
I'm a big fan of New Years resolutions, in part because I'm actually pretty good at sticking to them.
(The secret - make them achievable, measurable, and ideally something that you can break up into a series of smaller steps. So no "Get in shape" - instead, something like "Be able to run a 5K without stopping.")
Despite that, I hesitated to write a blog post about my resolutions this year. Plenty of them have to do with Zack Wussow Media, but to be frank those aren't that interesting. Either the goals are somewhat out of my control (I can't make more people hire me, for example, only look for ways to encourage it) or else I've set up systems which should take care of the goal with no real work on my part.
Instead, the goals I am most excited about are only tangentially related to ZWM. But I am excited about them, so I thought I would share three big ones.
4 Portfolio-Worthy Projects
This one goes on top of continuing my photo-a-day project (which is nearly a year old!) and continuing to expand my Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Maternity portfolios, two areas of my business I'd like to see expand in 2016 and beyond.
This year I want to do four large, involved photo projects that push me as a photographer.
Self-assigned projects are a great way to develop any skill. In my case, the projects are partially just for the fun of it, and partially to see if there are new avenues of photography I should be exploring, or new skills I can bring back to my regular work.
I'm sure I will post about them here, and depending on the details they may make it to some permanent home on this site.
4 New Skills
I also want to learn (to some reasonable level of fluency) four new skills. I'm not terribly picky about what they are (though I have some ideas already), just that they are useful things I don't currently know how to do.
Are they likely to change the way I photograph a wedding? Nope. Though I never rule out the possibilities of cross-pollination.
I think it's important to never stop learning, though, and I always find it amazing how once you learn to do something, you start to see opportunities to use it everywhere.
I've already dipped my toes into the first thing, and I expect I'll be sharing some news about that here around the end of January.
Get in Shape
I know, I know, I know. I said earlier this is a terrible resolution because it's entirely un-measurable. I'm working on the details.
The fact is, my body is pretty important to my job, and my job is not really good for my body. Hefting a heavy camera and an even heavier camera bag of accessories for eight-hour days is bad for you in almost every way possible. So I need to take better care of myself than someone my age normally would, just to break even.
Two years ago I ran a Tough Mudder. Right now, I wouldn't stand a chance. A year from now, I'd like to be able to again.
I'll work on the details...
Everything Else
There's a few other big-ish things I have planned for this year, most of which you will probably read about here when they happen... But for now that is all I will say.
What about you? Any exciting resolutions for the year ahead? Whatever the new year brings for you, I hope you have a wonderful, exciting, successful 2016!