Nicole Begley (00:00)
Welcome back to today's episode of the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Bagley, but today Heather Lahtinen is taking over the airwaves again with a really interesting conversation. One that I think is absolutely critical for all of us to listen to. So we spend so much time believing life and business is going to feel better once we arrive somewhere else. Maybe it's a certain income, a certain level of success, a certain version of ourselves. But what if it's success actually doesn't deliver those feelings that we're chasing?

And what if those feelings are already being built, but maybe just not where you think? In today's episode, that's what Heather is talking about. She's unpacking the mindset trap of quote, there, why strategy isn't always the answer and how your identity work can actually change everything. Stay tuned.

Nicole Begley (00:48)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses.

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Nicole Begley (01:47)
In this episode, I'm sharing a lesson from a recent Elevate strategy call that was inspired by a situation I experienced recently. Well, okay. There was an inciting incident. Let's call it that. But let me, let me circle back to that in a moment.

Let's say you're chatting with your photographer friends and one of them is so excited sharing about how last month they made $12,000 and they are over the moon. They're so proud. They're feeling confident like everything is working. Everything you want to feel, but you don't because you brought in $250 during that same time period. How

do you feel in that moment? Disappointed, frustrated, defeated, maybe even some version of like small or less than like you can't make this happen.

What are you thinking in that moment? You know, maybe it's like, it must be nice. Good for her. I've never had a month like that. I've never achieved the same results. I'm not even sure I'll ever be able to do that or be capable of that. Or maybe it feels like everyone else is getting clients and making money except you. Okay, first of all, we know based on the model that the circumstance of someone else's revenue does not

cause us to feel awful. It's our own thoughts about that circumstance that's causing these negative feelings. And it makes sense. Of course, you're going to feel disappointed. If you have thoughts about someone else's success, then there's the work. That's the coaching we need to do. And it turns out I had something similar happen to me recently as well. I'm in a high level mastermind with people who are making

million dollars or more per year or they're on their way. And in our call last week, we were talking about our monthly revenue because we had all set pretty high goals for the month. One of my mastermind friends was so excited because he made, he brought in 800,000, 829,000 to be exact in one month, nearly a million dollars in one month.

And he was talking about his offer and his strategy. He was sharing everything. And after he explained what was happening, it was my turn. And I tend to use humor in these situations because like, what else are you going to do? And I said, I don't want to brag, but I brought in a solid $18,000 last month. I mean, like, come on. Right. In this moment, I knew what was happening in my brain. I caught it.

I was feeling defeated and disappointed because I am nowhere near those numbers. I can't even wrap my brain around it. And I felt very small. I took a deep breath again because I caught it. And I said with sincere vulnerability, I'm struggling right now. I hear that and I'm sad and I'm frustrated because

I'm falling out of belief as to whether or not I can accomplish that. And I'm so happy for you and inspiring. I find this young man very, very inspiring. And it's both of these at the same time. I'm disappointed, sad, frustrated, and so inspired. But you know, I wouldn't want him to feel like he

couldn't share his achievements for the fear of how it might make others feel or me. Because here's the thing. He was never thinking I'm going to share this and make people feel bad. Like that's my goal. People people like me feel bad all on their own based on their own thinking. Maybe you're the one experiencing the success right now and you're afraid to share it for this reason. You don't want to brag. So you don't say anything.

I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole in particular because I have an entire training I'm putting together on this aspect. But what I'm sharing today is about how to recognize the success you are creating right now with the journey that you are on at this exact moment. Because here's what I told myself. If this is what I need to experience, that is the disappointment, frustration,

and feeling inspired. In order to get to my next level, then so be it. We often believe our success, security, or happiness is somewhere out there when in fact it's already within us. And today I'm walking you through six key lessons from the book called The Alchemist. And I'm translating them into coaching concepts you can apply directly to your business

and your mindset. Let's dive in. There is a problem. We have a problem. You still think that it is better there than it is here. So you are looking for the answers, the checklist, the strategy, whatever it is, so that you can get quote there. Well, where is

there? Is it a certain number of clients? Is it revenue? In what do you think you will feel when you hit that goal? When you have the number of clients, when you're making a certain amount of money per month or per year, or maybe you have a personal goal, maybe a weight loss goal. I often put

revenue and money and weight sort of in the same category because they both feel a little elusive, right? And we always think that it is going to be better there than it is here. And this is, this is the problem. What do you think you will feel? The problem is that we think that, but I'm asking you, what do you think you will feel when you are making that amount of money that you want to make?

security, stability, safety, freedom.

You just there's something in you that's telling you even if you can't identify the emotion, you just think you're going to feel better, right? You are just for sure. For sure. You are going to feel better when you are, quote, successful.

But I wonder what you will be thinking when you are feeling those things. So for example, if you think that you will feel secure, you'll have security, you'll have freedom. Those are feelings. What are the thoughts generating those feelings? Like if you think that, let's say the goal is, I don't know, $75,000 in revenue for the year.

and not you'll feel secure if you hit that. Then what is the thought that's leading you to feel secure? Because as Susie just mentioned in the chat, you know that you're then feeling the opposite of that now. So then the thought now is I'm not secure and that feels awful. But you just have to explore what do you think is going to be better when you get there?

And are you sure? Can you be positive that that's going to happen? Because I promise you, I can guarantee when you hit your revenue goal, you will feel happy. And I bet that you feel happy for a solid five minutes.

but your brain is going to come with you. And if you didn't shift your thinking along the way, then no outcome will make you feel happy. I have a friend that through, so it's, about 11 months into the year. She, this year has lost nearly a hundred pounds. She has worked so hard.

And listen, she's my age and things just get harder when you get into your 50s. It just gets more challenging, you know, but she's she's struggling with this concept of of how she views herself because she doesn't really feel that much different like in terms of her confidence or her self-esteem. She's proud. She's worked hard. She feels good. However, her brain came with her.

And she still has the same types of insecurities that she had before she lost the weight. I remember hitting six figures for the first time. I don't know what I thought I was going to feel. I just wanted to hit it. was it. And when I did, I was excited. Two point three seconds. And then I was very, very underwhelmed by that. You think that you are going to be like just blown away into this stratosphere of amazingness and everything is going to be great when you get there.

And that's why you are so anxious to get there because you're seeking a feeling that is generated from a thought. But what if that doesn't happen? I can almost guarantee you that it won't happen the way that you think it's going to happen. So I was contemplating this last night into this morning, this idea of how we're just, by the way, I still do this. I...

honestly believe when I get this house paid off and I have a million dollar business, it's going to be better. Everything. I don't know what, everything. don't know. The sky's going to be bluer. I don't know. Everything will be better when I get there. It starts to feel a little elusive. Well, because it is because my brain's going to come with me and then it's going to be, yeah, my brain's going to say, well, what's next? Is there another goal? Because I reached this one again, it was kind of underwhelming and nothing really changed.

Nothing really changed, but a few things shifted. So many years ago, I read a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Kolelux. Paulo is the author's name. Has anybody, anybody read this book, The Alchemist? Amazing book. It is the story of Santiago, who is a shepherd who follows a dream about treasure near the Egyptian pyramids.

Along the way, he gets robbed multiple times. He gets stuck working for a crystal merchant. He is guided by the King Melchizedek. He is taught by the alchemist and he sent through the desert toward Egypt. So he's he's he has this treasure. He dreams about this treasure. He's heading very far away from home towards Egypt. He finally gets there.

and ultimately discovers that the treasure was actually back home all along at the very spot where he had the first dream.

This is a metaphor for all of the mindset and self-concept work that I teach, that we work on here. It's that the treasure is already inside of you. The thoughts and the feelings are already there. They are already present. You just have to unearth them and you have to become the person who can see it. If you are believing that it is better there than it is here, then we just have some work to do in this area.

So what I did was I pulled six key lessons from the alchemist and I translated them into coaching points for us, for Elevate. So in the alchemist, he calls it his personal legend, the thing you're meant to pursue, your personal legend. So in the book, Santiago has a dream about the treasure and the treasure represents his personal legend or the life he's meant to create.

So photographers think that they're chasing clients or income, but what they're actually chasing is the identity of the person they want to become. Is this familiar? We talk about self-concept pretty often. So I wonder if you could consider what is the personal legend of your business? Who are you becoming as you build it? And we can tie this back to the self-concept ladder that we talked about,

three self-concepts I believe we go through, is I am a photographer, I am an entrepreneur, I am a six-figure CEO. And this is exactly Santiago's progression. His journey requires identity upgrades. Same as us, identity upgrades. The journey is not tactical. It is identity-based. So in your business, you have a

personal legend as well. And it is not about clients or income or Instagram. It's about who you are becoming. So my first question today is what is the personal legend of your business?

Who are you becoming as you build it? Again, this ties back to identity, self-concept, essentially how you view yourself, your thoughts about you. I've placed a worksheet in the chat so that you can grab that and maybe start to maybe print this and just start filling out as we go along.

The first in the series of six I'm working through is this idea of your self-concept or your personal legend. I mean, I don't know about you, certainly before this morning, I had not thought about this this way. So I think this might take a minute for you to sort of process and think about ⁓ if you have anything you'd like to share, please feel free to put it in the chat.

I who it is, your legend of like who you're becoming. Like I wanna be a seven figure entrepreneur. I want to own, run, manage a business that brings in $1 million per year or more. So there has got to be a self concept and identity wrapped up in that as the person who can do that. And that's part of my journey.

It's already within me.

The journey is not tactical, it's identity-based.

Everyone wants the strategy in the checklist. I will absolutely provide those for you. But that's not it. The journey is not tactical. It is identity based. The second point is the treasure is at home because the value is already within you. So Santiago goes on this massive journey across continents

to find treasure and guess where it was? Guess where the treasure was? It was back at home right where he started. This is the metaphor I want you to understand. Everything you think you need to succeed is already inside of you. You already have it. As photographers, we tend to think that the treasure is a better strategy.

another checklist, a perfect marketing plan, maybe a magical email sequence, the best website, or, and I quote the one right answer, the magic strategy that finally works, the tactic that gets you the results, but that is not true. The treasure has always been within you because the treasure is your belief, your courage, your creativity,

your resourcefulness, your willingness to show up in your relationship building.

Strategy does not create results. The version of you who executes the strategy creates the results. And that might seem like a very minor difference. Like maybe I'm splitting hairs with the way I'm saying that, but it's very true. The strategy does not create the results. It's the version of you who executes the strategy that creates the results. So the treasure was not in Egypt.

and your treasure is not in my checklist for you or another checklist that you buy.

Your results do not come from strategy. They come from the version of you that executes. And we always, I'm going to say it repeatedly through this training, get used to it because we need to hear it multiple times before we believe it. You think you need more checklist, but what you need is more belief in yourself. That's a self concept. That's identity based. Every photographer I have ever coached or worked with already had the treasure. They just didn't recognize it yet.

Number three, the journey creates the person who is able to overcome the obstacles. So in the book, Santiago is robbed. He gets stuck working for the crystal merchant. He crosses the desert. He gets delayed. He gets detoured. He gets discouraged. Does this sound familiar? Frustrated, defeated, disappointed, maybe angry.

Every obstacle he meets is not assigned to quit. It's not assigned for you to quit either. It's training. was training him to become the person who can handle the treasure he's seeking, which is the same for you. When you face slow bookings, no inquiries, crickets, crickets, these crickets that you hear when you post or you send something, maybe a failed offer, pricing that doesn't work.

confusion, doubt, fear.

It's not a problem. It's identity training.

These are not problems. It's identity training. This is the invisible equity you are building. So you could ask yourself, if this obstacle, if this challenge is not a stop sign, what identity is it building inside of me? Endurance, confidence, certainty, courage, resilience,

Security, freedom, ⁓ interesting. All of the things you thought you would feel if you got there are actually inside of you and being built from the challenges. Confusion, doubt, fear, any of the negative emotions, they are not problems.

It's identity training.

Number four.

Following the omens and trusting your intuition. In the book, he says, when you want something, all the universe conspires to help you. One of the biggest lessons in the alchemist is learning to follow the omens or the signs that the universe has given you.

But oftentimes photographers ignore their intuition because they don't trust themselves. We've talked a lot about trust, building trust in ourselves as an identity, self-concept. They might think, you might think, what if I picked the wrong direction? What if I mess up? What if this doesn't work?

someone else must know better than me. So I better do what they say. But an entrepreneur who doesn't trust themselves cannot build a business that they trust. So in the model, we know that our thoughts create our feelings and then feelings drive actions, actions create results. If the thought is, I don't trust myself, well, you know where that leads.

but your intuition, it's a tool. It's a CEO tool. You should use it. You should strengthen it. You should pay attention to what feels aligned for you. When you show up consistently, talk to people, build relationships, own your own value, ask for the sale, make the offer, believe you are capable. The world responds, the market responds. All of a sudden people line up.

Ready, willing and able to pay.

Part of the universe conspiring in your favor is meeting people. We talk about meeting people. You have to meet more people. You have to talk to them. You have to make more offers to more people. That's part of this, what I'm wrapping around this idea of following the omens he calls them or listening to your intuition and meeting people, which is actually much easier than following a checklist, even though you might think it's the opposite.

Number five, I want to talk about the crystal shop. Santiago stays in the crystal shop too long because it feels safe. Do you remember that scene? He's there for a while. He stays longer than he needs to because who wants to take a risk? This feels, this feels secure. It's predictable. It's comfortable, but you've had crystal shop moments too. We all have, you're probably in one right now to some degree.

How does that show up? We stay in maybe underpricing or stuck in indecision. We work with clients who aren't ideal. We stay on platforms. So maybe social media that don't feel aligned or in networking groups that you don't want to go to. Maybe you stay in business models that you've outgrown. But these crystal shop moments, when you become aware of them, they're never a waste.

They teach you what you're no longer available for. So these crystal shop seasons, you might be in a season, not a waste. It's just data. The crystal shop reveals what you're done with. Like, I'm not going to do that anymore. What you want next, where and when you're ready to grow, what you're no longer available for. So instead of judging those seasons,

You can just say, thank you, thank you, Crystal Shop, because it helps you see the next version of yourself. This also builds invisible equity and inner clarity. So it's not a waste of time that you, you know, I can remember having sessions for $50 and giving away all of the digitals. Not a waste of time, data. It gave me data, clarity, so I was able to build a better foundation.

Number six, maybe the treasure was the journey. The final message in the book was he found gold. Yes, but the real treasure was the growth. As photographers, of course, we want bookings and filled calendars and sold out mini sessions and maybe six figures in revenue. You want all of those things. That's that's where you're thinking it will be better there than here.

The real treasure is accumulating more confidence. You become more courageous, more intuitive, more resilient, more certain, more self-aware, more trusting, more aligned, more secure, more free. And all of this is what makes you unstoppable. That's the real treasure, not the bookings, not the revenue. And every single day,

that you show up, you work on your mindset, managing your thoughts, meeting people, building relationships, taking imperfect action, investing in yourself, coaching yourself, raising your beliefs. You are compounding that invisible equity. And then the results will show up in people, friends, family, other photographers, they'll say, wow, wow.

That was really fast. And you're like, no, it wasn't. I was digging for treasure this whole time.

If your business is its own version of the alchemist, where are you at on your journey right now? Are you in the beginning? Are you in the desert? Maybe at the crystal shop, finding omens, realizing the treasure is already yours. It doesn't matter because wherever you are, it's perfect. It's perfect for you. If you haven't read the book,

I know several of you have. It's an easy, quick read. It's a parable told in story format. And you'll be like, ⁓ I get it. When I first read it, I did not know. Although maybe I suspected that he was going to find the treasure back at home or within himself, that he went on this massive journey that was not a waste. He could have stayed home and just found the treasure. I suppose if he had a metal detector, which he probably didn't. I don't even know what year this was written.

but he needed the journey in order to build the invisible equity. So again, you think getting there where there's money and clients, you think that's going to be better than here, but it's not because the treasure you're accumulating is all the stuff I just mentioned around confidence and resilience and certainty and trust and all of that alignment, all of those good things.

So I included a, I'm sorry, I was going to say spreadsheet, a worksheet with this training. And I just want to hit that really quickly. And then I'll, I'll open it up for any questions or coaching, but in the worksheet, I said, step one is to identify your Egypt and the Egypt is the external thing you think will finally make you feel successful. The place, you know, where you're like, I've arrived, this is, this is my Egypt.

Some examples of that could be when I get the perfect website, when I niche down, when I book 10 more clients, when I hit $5,000 months, when I'm more confident, when I finally fix my marketing strategy, when I finish this course or a particular workshop. What's the Egypt you've been chasing lately?

The place where you think if you arrived, you would feel what done there. Like, it's just interesting. Step two is to identify the desert detours in the desert is just the obstacles you think are stopping you. Examples would be no time, no clarity, confusion, overwhelm, doubt, fear.

no engagement, no ideal clients. What obstacles feel like they are slowing you down right now?

Step three is to identify your crystal shop moments and the crystal shop again is the safe but misaligned place you stay too long. Signs that you're in a crystal shop under pricing saying yes to clients you've outgrown staying in confusion avoiding decisions clinging to checklists instead of trusting yourself playing small to avoid judgment.

I know that I've done that. So where have you been staying safe?

instead of aligned.

Step four, discover the treasure you already have. And the treasure, the art is, are the internal strengths, qualities, and invisible equity you've built. The real, the real source of results. These examples are resilience, courage, creativity, empathy, curiosity, perseverance, work ethic, not hustle, generosity.

coachability, your unique vision, your personality, your ability to connect with people. I emphasize the word your because it's the unique treasure that you already have within you. I'd like you to list five treasures you already have that contribute to your success.

Step five is the realization and this is the breakthrough moment. If the treasure is already inside of you, what becomes possible right now without anything externally changing? Nothing, no circumstance needs to change. Not the number of clients, not the number in the bank account, not the weight on your scale. No circumstances need to change. What becomes possible for you right now when you realize that the treasure is already inside of you?

Step six, the alchemist action is to connect identity that leads to belief that leads to action. What is one aligned action your quote treasure self? You know, you know, you have the treasure would take this week. Maybe it's something small, but it feels brave, something that comes from belief, not fear examples. Reach out to a past client, raise prices.

Promote an offer, go meet someone locally, ask for a referral, make a decision you've been avoiding, show your personality online, book a session you've been scared to post. Just write one aligned action you will take within the next 48 hours.

And then lastly, step seven, the final reframe is you're not becoming someone new, you're evolving into someone new, but you're really just uncovering the treasure that was always there. That call continued on with coaching. talked with a lot of our Elevate members about their thoughts around their journey, where they're at, what's already inside of them, et cetera. It was amazing. It was very well received.

And if this resonated with you, you would love what we are doing inside of Elevate because it's this kind of mindset work, these deep identity shifts, the breakthroughs, the ability to finally see the treasure that's already inside of you. It's one of the things Elevate is all about because we're not just building businesses. We're building belief systems that support the life you actually want.

If you are ready to stop chasing the quote there and start fully stepping into who you're becoming here, then check out the link in the show notes. And I would just really encourage you to join us inside of Elevate. You will never regret it. We will help you unearth what's already yours. You see what I did there? Mining for treasure. We unearth it.

I hope that you found this useful. I'll see you in the next episode.