Why goals are so important to me

I look back on the past two years alone of my modelling career and its hard to imagine where I would be without goals. I want to highlight some of the intentions and reasons I believe have shaped my modelling career in some very satisfying ways:

#1: Intention. Just the idea of having an idea of why you do what you do has substantial power. Seems like a silly thing to say. The first thing I ask models when they come in to model for me is that exact thing: what is your intention? Why do you do this? The answer to those two questions will tell me many things about that model. To give an example:

Earlier this year I was honored to be part of a hair show by the WELLA professionals. Many of the models were represented by Patti Faulkner. I was not. Amongst one of the Agency represented models was Emma. Emma was the oldest model at the show. She talked to me for hours about her life, and how she takes model gigs occasionally to try and pick up extra cash. She didn't really seem passionate about modelling at all. It seemed like she was more looking for quick cash. I was surprised by this as I knew the agency represented models weren't receiving payment. Emma and I were amongst the final group of girls to get our hair cut/dyed and styled. We put in a long day of waiting, and quite a few hours in the hair style chair itself. None of the models got to choose their hairstyle, it was in the contract. They picked the style for you, and as a professional model, they didn't worry about your emotional response to their cut. Professionals understand the process.

I left with a very colorful strawberry blonde color tone on top, and a big smile on my face. I would've picked the exact color if they d let me. I loved it. It felt young and fresh and frankly I was happy for change and probably would have been happy no matter what they did. The next morning all the models and wella professionals would meet on location for stylization and to practice on the runway.

I don't know if many of the girls noticed, but I did... No Emma. I waited at least an hour before asking one of the stylists what happened. " There's always one" was the response from one of the stylists. I was surprised that more emotion or remorse wasn't expressed. They spent so much time on her hair. Twice as long as they did on mine. Two different dyes, a fresh pair of bangs: I'm talking hours of work. Apparently she wasn't happy with the look. It wasn't what she was looking for. She didn't show up, and to boot, she'd sent WELLA a long email (or so I was told). I didn't know the show was about the models desires and opinions. I thought it was about being confident about whatever the client gives you. In that moment I noticed how we were different. How our intentions and goals were not the same.

Constantly, I find myself setting new goals. Not on paper as much as mentally. Mental goals are great as long as you truly set them, Simply thinking over the goals may not be enough. It takes at least 17 seconds of consistent thought about the same thing before that thought can connect to another. I find I have to really think deeply about my goals. I shrink the goal down as small as I can in my mind, so that I can see every different aspect of the goal. I can visual what tools I will need to bring the goal to reality. What do I need to bring? When do I need to show up? Who do I need to invite? The smaller I can get the goal, the better. The more I can think about it, the better.

I owe a lot of thanks to Michael when it comes to making goals. He's always really encouraged me to make goals. I think of goals as break-through thoughts. Goals to me, are new ideas that have more depth and structure than ever before. They blossom and grow as I do. My goals are constant. They flow freely in and out of my collective consciousness until 1 really resonates with me. I then focus intensely on that goal to bring it into reality.

Goals have been a huge source of what allows me to expand as a model and continue to try new things and have new experiences in the modelling world. Goals keep me connected to my career, reminding me that my contribution will determine my progress.

This photo was taken by Brian Burke