Desire Mapping and Goal Setting for Your Photo Biz

Let's talk about what core desired feelings are. 

Knowing how you want to feel is the most potent form of clarity you can have in your life. Figuring out how to generate these feelings is powerful. However, first, you have to figure out precisely what you are looking for and create it.

We all want things- desire is a human impulse. The profound question here is, how do you want to feel? How do you want to feel when you drive to work? Or when you look at your schedule, when you get dressed in the morning? 

I know it seems simple, but many of us have empty goals that don’t align with the way we want to feel. The world's procedure of achievement is upside down. Our bucket list is outside of us. Have you ever stopped and asked why something is on your bucket list? Did you actually want that, or did your parents want it for you? 

When you focus on core desired feelings, you become clear with what you want. From knowing the core desires you have, you can create goals with genuine intention. These goals will be more fulfilling because they come from a deep place within yourself. 

I will give an example of an empty goal- one of my very own. For a long time, I wanted to get married before I was 25. I created this hollow goal To check it off my to-do list and get on with it. Society told me, "this is what a proper southern girl does." After doing a core desired feeling training with Danielle Lapatroe, I realized that I didn't want to be married. I wanted to be in a loving partnership. I became more specific about how I wanted to feel in a relationship rather than focusing on an end goal. It changed the game.

Moving on to creating your core desired feelings- decide what you want to do, have, and experience. We need to be deliberate and empowered in the decisions in our lives. Here's my advice " stop feeling guilty for having goals that don’t align with family or society expectations." You heard me. Many of us are on achievement autopilot. We focus on outer attainment and not inner attunement. Have you ever hit a goal and not felt as good about it as you thought you would? I know I can raise my hand on that one. By creating your core desired feelings, to can compare the items on that goal list and actually ask, "will this give me satisfaction and fulfillment?"

Here are the categories:

1. livelihood and lifestyle -

   1. career

   2. home

   3. lifestyle

   4. travel

2. body and wellness -

   1. health

   2. exercise

   3. body

3. creativity and learning -

   1. art

   2. music

   3. schooling/training

   4. new skills

4. relationship and society -

   1. relationship

   2. friendships

   3. family

   4. community

5. essence and spirituality -

   1. religion

   2. spirituality

Finding the words: 

Try to add feeling words to each category. I will give some examples.

Livlihood- Alive, Artful, Beautiful, Beauty, Bliss, Blissed, Blissful, Bright, Brilliance, Brilliant, Buoyant, Celebration, Cheerful, Colourful, Contributing, Creating, Creative, Curious, Deeply Well, Delight, Delightful, Delighting, Driven, Dynamic, Dynamism, Eager, Ebullient, Effervescent, Elation, Electric, Encouraged, Energetic, Enjoyment, Euphoria, Euphoric, Excited, Excitement, Exciting, Expressive, Extraordinary, Exuberance, Felicity, Fertile, Fertility, Festive, Flourish, Focused, Fresh, Fruitful, Fun, Giddy, Given, Giving, Glee, Gleeful, Happiness, Happy, Health, High, Hope, Hopeful, Illumined, Imaginative, Invigorated, Jazzed, Joy, Joyful, Joyous, Jubilant, Keen, Light, Lightness, Lit Up, Lively, Luminary, Luminous, Magic, Manifesting, New, Nourished, Offering, Optimism, Optimistic, Playful, Poetic, Prolific, Rapture, Rested, Restorative, Restored, Spark, Stimulated, Stoked, Sunrise, Sunshine, Thrill, Thriving, Unleashed, Upbeat, Verve, Verdant, Vibrancy, Vibrant, Visionary, Vital, Vivacious, Vivacity, Vivid, Well, Wellness, Wild, Wisdom, Wise, Young at Heart, Youthful

Once you write your words for each category. Pick the top five that speak to you. 

Mine are: 

1. Vibrant

2. Connected

3. Light-Hearted

4. Inspired

5. Honest

Okay, so how does this apply to your creative business?

Your business is an extension of yourself. Once you decide how you want to feel in your business, you can design everything around that. Every goal, every client interaction, stems from these core desired feelings. I used to have this goal of having 10k Instagram followers- but that was an empty goal because I didn't have a why behind it. Now I can use my core feelings to fuel my goal. I want to gain 10k Instagram followers to connect with more people and be of service to the wedding industry. I want my client interactions to be light and honest. I want to feel vibrant and inspired. Every goal on my list that didn't come from a deep place within me went straight into the garbage. 

I have felt an insane amount of growth by just becoming intentional with my goals. You can too!