56. Future forward and planning your next year with Aislinn Eileen
Aislinn is a wealth expander, confidence coach, and multi-six-figure business owner. She helps high-achieving wedding pros and coaches expand their perspectives and scale their businesses with ease. Through content strategy, mindset work, and business strategy she’ll help you take your business and mindset to the next level.
Time really flies when you’re doing business. With 2022 coming to an end, it is best to plan for the coming year, especially for your photography business.
A fresh new year with a good plan for 2023 is a halfway-done project. In this episode, you’ll learn all the important things to plan for your next year.
Having a sustainable business
A sustainable business means having an intentional strategy. An intentional plan is a good way to start.
When you want to create a sustainable business, think of a long-term business that comes from intentional internal work. This comes from having a plan and vision for what you’re creating for your photography business. Business goals are important.
Goals vs intentions
Goal setting is important when you have a photography business. You set your future forward which is a specific outcome of what you want to achieve in your business.
You can have a goal of earning $10,000 per month in your business. That’s the desired outcome. To get that certain amount, you have to take action and plan how to achieve that.
The intention setting is quite different, it’s more about the present. An example is that you choose to be present today and make adjustments when things aren’t aligned.
If you want to reach that $10,000 per month goal, how do you set your intentions? You can, on a daily basis, do self-talk on how to focus on positive things.
Learn how to set the right goals.
Episode 13
Planning your next year
The best way to for planning your next year is to take a step back and look back on this year. What worked and what didn’t?
It can also help you if you keep a journal where you track your activities. You may do it on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. Just something to look back on and evaluate what happened and reflect on what to improve.
Here are some questions that you can ask yourself when looking back:
- What worked that brought in revenue, time, freedom, and joy?
- What kind of love do your business, social media account, and launch process needs to be given? Have you neglected some things along the way?
- What’s one thing you’re super proud of from this year?
When this journal becomes an annual thing, you’d be shocked to see how much you’ve grown in the past year.
If you’re going to do the same things that you did this year, expect the same results next year. Nothing’s going to change if you don’t adapt. Don’t expect something to change when you’re just repeating everything.
Learn how you could be hurting your photography business.
Episode 22
But sometimes, we don’t see this ourselves. This is why it is also important to invest in mentors, educators, or coaches. They can see your blind spots and tell you how to improve. They can also help you with the limitations that prevent you from progressing.
Creating a vision board
So what’s the next step after planning your next year? You can create a vision board. A vision board is a visual representation of your goals. Collect images on Pinterest or create one to hang on your wall.
And when you have your vision board, put it in your office or in a place where you can see those goals every day. You can also save a digital version of it and use it as a screen saver or wallpaper on your phone or computer.
Writing a letter or scripting for the future
Scripting is like manifesting, you write a letter to yourself as if the goal has already been achieved. You can write it today and open it a year later.
In that letter, you can write congratulating yourself for achieving the goal of $10,000 per month income. Write to yourself as if your goal has already been achieved. It activates an imagination or visualization of success.
That kind of mindset is really important to remind yourself that you can achieve your goals especially if you’re planning your next year.
The best way to start the new year
After answering the questions about 2022, it’s time to ask yourself what are the things that you can leave behind. What are the social circles that don’t serve you or you don’t serve? What kind of support do you need to invest in?
You might think of doing a rebranding for next year, but it’s not going to be the reason that clients will hire you. If you don’t change the inner work and systems that are supporting your business, if you don’t fix those things, a rebrand won’t help you.
It’s important to know what’s working for you and leave the things that don’t if you’re planning for your next year.
One mistake you might do is to share your goals with people who are not supportive. They might not support you and this can lead to you losing confidence in yourself. Sometimes, it’s those dearest to you that aren’t the ones who are most supportive. A coach or a mentor can help build you up.
Remember that you need to invest in yourself. Working on your emotional intelligence can do wonders for you. It’s going to help you relieve stress, communicate more effectively, and manage your emotions.
Learn the 7 pieces of sustainable business.
Episode 53
What Aislinn wants you to know
Remember that you don’t need to burn your business down to the ground every single year to start fresh. It’s best to take a look back on every month or quarter if you are planning your next year. Know what worked for you and what didn’t. And if you’re not surrounded by supportive people, do it for yourself. Be proud of what you have accomplished and will achieve in the future. You can also get yourself a coach to help you and your business.
You’re also invited to join my minicourse that starts on October 31st, where we’re going to work towards creating your best year yet!
Connect with Aislinn Eileen
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Learn more about the Sustainable Photography Program
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This podcast is all about education and inspiration for photographers. A sustainable business is profitable and lasting. Instead of short-term wins you want to make sure you’re doing things that matter. Both to yourself, and to create the business you want. The goal of this podcast is that it will help you build and structure your business around your life, instead of the other way around.
