How to Keep a New Years Resolution.

Ed van der Elsken

Feliz Ano Nuevo
We all have ambitions that we would like to achieve with our photography and making specific plans and having a clear understanding of how to achieve them is the key to success. In education there is an acronym called S.M.A.R.T. 

S - specific, significant, stretching

M - measurable, meaningful, motivational

A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented

R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented

T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

I have used a broader version of the variety than used in education as I trust it is more suitable for your achievements. 

Let me give you an example of how I am going to apply this today. 

Specific

I would like my Facebook 'Teach Yourself Photography' page linked by this blog to hit 65 'likes.'  It is currently at 35 so the increase is a decent amount and realistic. I would like to achieve this by the end of next month. If you have not done so already please hit the 'like' button at the top left of the blog.

Measurable

It is easy to measure if this has been reached and it will definitely provide extra motivation to increase the amount of posts for the page.

Attainable 

Yes. The increase while quite large simply requires some self-promotion and asking people to like it. 

Relevant

The more people that 'like'  the page on Facebook the more it helps me to find stuff that is useful and enjoyed by others. It increases my knowledge and helps with future lessons.

Trackable 

Yes.

I trust that a brief over view of this method will enable you to meet your aspirations this year or even this month. I watched an interview with Matthew Jordan Smith and he wrote his goals down and put them on the mirror so he could see them each morning. The advice form this photo tutor is to set smaller goals, achieve them quickly and then set new ones.