What are my goals for 2022?

I am a big believer in setting goals. That you have a goal or a dream that you can actively work towards. A goal that you yourself is the master of. A goal that you can achieve if you put in the time and effort and work towards it. I have many goals. Many things I want to achieve in life. These goals differ a lot. It can be lifegoals as well as milestones.
I also believe that these goals should be something that I myself have the power over. That they are achievable if I simply work towards them. Therefor they are not unrealistic. However they require a lot of work to be achieved.
The other day I sat down and made a list of some of the things I want to achieve this year.
Here are my goals for 2022.

Work towards making photography my main source of income

Now this is a big one. However with 12 months in the year, the progress and collaborations I have managed to secure lately, this should be possible. Once again, it all comes down to myself, and how much work I’m putting into achieving this goal. If it was easy, most people would probably travel the world and take photos. It’s not. However I believe that I’m capable of putting myself in a position, to make it a reality.
Now within this goal, I obviously have smaller goals, that I work towards as well, in order to make my overall goal a reality. That includes making a certain amount of money in a month, solely from photography. Selling products and so on.

Run a photography tour

Being able to run a photography tour would be amazing. It involves two of my favorite things, travel and photography. Also, I love teaching and having the opportunity to pass on my knowledge and hopefully help someone else on their journey, would be an amazing experience. It is a thought that I have had for a while and I have a lot of different trips planned and prepared, for when I take the next step.

Get featured on a big site

When I talk about getting featured on a big site I think of Instagram. Now honestly, this is not a dream of mine. However I reckon that most photographers that love what they are doing, also love when people appreciate their work. Even though I photograph for myself, and would continue doing so even with no following, being able to see your work featured by famous sites is still an amazing feeling. I have been featured on big sites before. However this year I want to take it up a step, and make it onto sites such as Natgeo, Nikon, Discovery, Earth, CNN and so on.

Get 500 monthly visitors on my website

Now this is more of a milestone than a goal I guess, but seeing my website slowly growing is a great feeling. Even though I’m very inconsistent regarding when I post, I still love to see it grow. When I put in the effort, I also see the numbers slowly rising. Simply by posting a few articles within the past month, I have seen an increase in numbers by almost 100 people. As of now I have around 185 monthly visitors, so 500 should be very likely. Once I hit 500, the next goal will be 1000.

Meet and shoot with other photographers

Due to the pandemic I haven’t been able to meet up with as many people as I would have liked. However I believe that being able to surround yourself with likeminded people, is the best way to grow. I would love to be able to meet up with more photographers over the next year so that we are able to shoot together and learn from each other.

Get back in shape

The classic. The new years resolution for most people. However I know that this year, I will once again get back in shape. Having two meniscus injuries within two years had a huge impact on my overall shape. However I have already started, and am already seeing results, regarding my runs. I’m slowly cutting off time, and once I’m able to start running regularly again, I will also start breaking my old records.

Run 5 km in under 21 minutes

A few weeks before my first meniscus injury I was able to run 5 km in 18.50 minutes. The fastest I have ever run 5 km. This year my goal is to work towards that time, starting by getting under 21 minutes. If I follow my old routine, I see no reason why this shouldn’t be possible to achieve once again, and also, doing it within a few months.

Run my second half marathon

As with the 5 km, a few weeks before my first meniscus injury, I woke up one day and decided to run a half marathon. Up until that point, the longest distance I had ever been running was 12 km. However I decided to do it, and so I did. I would love to be able to get into the same kind of shape that allowed me to complete a half marathon. And I would love to do it before the month of July. That gives me plenty of time to complete the goal, and if I’m able to avoid injuries, I’m certain that I will run a half marathon again.

These are just a few of my goals this year. I have many more smaller goals, that build up to me achieving those goals. And others that are unrelated. However having a list of goals, will allow me to constantly go back, and be able to keep track of my progress.