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I am a Weight Watchers girl. One of the tips they give you is to find an anchor. Something that you can see on a daily basis to remind you to stay on the right path. I’ve always liked that idea. That’s why, when I received this card I knew that it would be a great anchor for me.
Last year was a strange year for me. I follow my financials closely and by mid fall I realized I wasn’t going to hit the goals I’d set for myself. That is the first time in years that I haven’t so I really had to sit down and think about what was happening. That is when I realized that I may not have been hitting my NUMBERS goal (Don’t get me wrong, I still had a fine year, just not what I was expecting.) but I was achieving one of my other goals.
Two years ago I raised my prices for a couple of reasons. One was to bring my studio into line with other photographers with similar experience and businesses. The other was to open up more time for my family and special projects. Turns out THAT was the goal I was hitting last year. Last year I got to see more soccer games, volunteer in class/church and I was able to take on way more free sessions than ever before.
So far I have one photo session scheduled for 2012. Not a surprise since this is the post holiday season lull, but I am viewing it as a good omen for me. The session I have scheduled is a free session for a lovely family to continue to document the success of their daughter’s bone marrow transplant. What a perfect start to the year. That means that I have plenty of time to help raise money for arts programs at the elementary school, plan an excellent celebration for my soon to be 13 year old, and go to visit my friend Harry Potter. All stress free. I guess you really can’t put a dollar value on that so I better find some different benchmarks. Maybe I should have my accountant send me a tally of all of the volunteer hours I got to spend this year. THAT would be a fun report to receive!
That card (above) came from a Souluminations family thanking me for the photos I took. (Souluminations is the organization that puts together photographers with families who have terminally ill children.) I love that I had time to do this last year and I plan to do a whole lot more of it this year. I am going to keep that card prominently on my desk to be my anchor. To remind me to stay on the right path. To remind me to value the time I spend with my family and to keep volunteering because it makes a difference in my community and in my heart.