Photography goals come up at the start of every year, but you don't have to wait for January to start setting your goals. We'll discuss why you should set your photography goals and how to make them work.

Why is it Important to Set Photography Goals?

Before I answer that question, I want to share a quote that was on the wall at a former employer's office.

“Goals are dreams with a deadline.” – Napolean Hill

I can't tell you how much I hate this quote.

Every working day, I walked past a framed sign with this quote. I'm sure it was supposed to inspire me, but I have my own thoughts on inspiration.

I used to wonder who Napolean Hill was, and why I should take advice from him. On the positive side, he wrote a few books on success, one of which is among the top ten best selling self-help books of all time. Then again, his life didn't seem very successful. He had a number of businesses with ups and downs, mostly short-lived operations.

So this is the guy whose quote we're supposed to believe?

A dream with a deadline. Hogwash.

I believe in deadlines, but goals are more than a dream with a deadline. They are visions of where you see yourself in the future, and about the achievement you need to make in order to succeed.

Many people screw up their goals by placing artificial deadlines upon them. I don't believe that goals have deadlines. Instead, they're measured by quality and achievement.

What Are Some Examples of Photography Goals

I searched on social media to find some examples of the photography goals people were setting in 2018. Here are a few of their comments.

* Create more Sharable Photos

* Improve Portrait/Headshot Photos

* Air to Air Aviation Photography – Any chance I get

* Travel to New and Beautiful Places for Landscape

* Get more gear

* Start/Improve Photography Business

* Just Shoot More

I know and respect a few of the photographers who shared these goals. I can also appreciate the enthusiasm in some of these statements. Overall, you see a theme with most of the photography goals that people share.

They want to improve some aspect of their photography.

Makes sense, right? Why have a goal if you don't expect some kind of transformation? You want to move from point A to point B in your photography.

However, I see a problem with these photography goals.

They aren't specific. If you're going to achieve something or have some kind of transformation, you need to know what you're trying to accomplish.

In my mind, there are four stages of setting your photography goal.

1: Create a Specific Goal

I'm going to use my goal that I mentioned on the podcast as an example. Here it is:

I want to create a portfolio with a themed body of work to show in a gallery.

Sounds pretty simple, right? I want to have a gallery showing of my work. However, I'm not looking to attempt this with a collection of my random photos, whether I think they're good enough or not. Also, I'm not talking about getting one of my photos into a gallery.

I want to have the entire gallery showing my work. Those photos need to have a unifying theme, both in subject and presentation.

When setting a goal, I think you should really swing for the fences. Choose something that makes you a bit nervous, something big enough to require you to do work you've never done before. That means you need to have confidence in yourself. Maybe you haven't done this before, but that's why it's a goal. The idea of achieving it should make you sweat a little bit. Otherwise, you won't have a great sense of satisfaction when you achieve your goal.

Theoretically, that theme could be anything I want. It's a matter of my choice and artistic expression,