Goals, the Key to the New Decade

While there are many folks out there arguing if the new decade starts in 2010 or 2011, one thing for sure it’s a new year and obviously many like myself made new resolutions to live by and all seem to have a common thread, that 2010 will be better than the previous year.  I wholeheartedly agree and without getting too personal in my life I’ll give you insight on my thoughts for the New Year.

As humans we all make mistakes, and Lord knows I made quite a few in the past decade, the key is how we learn from these mistakes.  My greatest mistake in the last decade was trusting in too many people that promised so many great things, often that lead me to promise others things I found out I could not deliver unless the promises made to me became reality—some did, most didn’t.  I trusted too many people and that alone impacted some of my own integrity—but I’ve learned from it, trust less, trust yourself and your gut more.

Still my best friend in life, Rhonda.

I’ve always been taught to help others, that I did in the past decade more than ever.  Many took that help and never looked back and said thank you, others did say thank you, and the reality of it all, I learned who were truly friends for the sake of friendship and were friends only for their own personal gain.  Obviously during this trial of friendship you separate the two, sometimes more quickly than others—but ultimately you know who they are and they know who they are too. My mantra is simple, never be a quitter, always look forward.  Keep the passion alive and the passion will guide your goals.

I set many goals in the previous decade, some I didn’t accomplish, but the importance is that I set my goals.  My goal strategy is like in the military promotion board system for noncommissioned officers, we express long-term and short-term goals as part of our promotion evaluation.  While 2010 will start out tough at first, I foresee that it will finally begin to flow much smoother than the past, especially if I stay focused on my goals, perhaps I will even get promoted.

My short term goal this year is to push very hard in getting my “photographic therapy” concept out to many, my long-term goal is to realign my business back to a level higher than it once was, to move more forward in my photography and writings in a more positive manner without impacting it in negative fashion from potentially false friends and false promises. It’s time for me to use the lessons learned to help decipher quicker who is real and who is in it for their own benefit.  It’s time for me to make wiser decisions and focus more on what I do best based on experience, passion, and creativity.

In the new decade, as I’m one of those that feels the decade started in 2010, I plan on avoiding conflict, poor decisions and learning to filter the real from the unreal.  I plan on spreading the gospel of photography in every possible way my passion guides me to do so, for the benefit of others of my choice, and those that stand with me will gain, those that don’t, will be short-lived in my life as I have far less room for error in this decade as I get older and much wiser.  Separating the real from the unreal only gets easier because I don’t live the past, I’ve learned from it and learned there is always better.