This is for all of you… charlotte family photographer
I was sitting at my computer like I had so many days and years before…editing, writing, and feeling like things were good but knowing they could be better. I wanted to break through where I was in my business and move into more…more of something. charlotte family photographer
the shiny stuff
A new emailing program that I had signed up for seemed like THE answer (like so many other shiny objects I had purchased before). That afternoon I was scrolling through the email FB group looking for help when I came across someone who was offering a complimentary session to just talk about my business.
When I signed up to chat I hoped she would have answers for me and assumed she would have a program or something for me to purchase. When she called me I knew I didn’t have a cent I could give her but I really wanted help!
the phone call
During the course of our call I knew I needed to work with her but I kept thinking there was no way I could hire her. Everything in my account was meant to go somewhere else.
When she told me about her coaching program I tensed up and told her I needed to talk to my husband. In the moment I said that, I knew that he would be totally supportive of whatever I felt like I needed to do for my business. This was my call. I could step into this if I really wanted to.
what I didn’t expect
When I said YES! to coaching with her I felt like I had completely stepped into my own power. Suddenly, I knew I had been giving my power away for longer than I had realized.
Working with my coach I broke through so many things I had been allowing myself to be limited by, things I just wasn’t seeing. There were opportunities and money all around me. I just needed someone who was further down the road than I was to show me what I wasn’t seeing.
During that first month of working with my coach I made 5 times what I made the previous month and started seeing opportunity after opportunity that had been in my life that I wasn’t seeing. It was extremely powerful for me!
Since then I’ve experienced breakthrough after breakthrough and seen my business in a whole new way.
Here are a few highlights I’ve learned since that day:
#1: You CAN take back control of your life and business.
For me, I realized I was constantly giving myself an ‘out’ for what I wasn’t doing that really mattered to me. I convinced myself that I had done everything I could think of–when really I was caught up in stories that just were more excuses as to why my business wasn’t going where I wanted it to go.
action step for you: what excuses are you giving yourself for not moving ahead? write three reasons you’re listening to these excuses
#2: I stopped buying the stories.
In our industry we have a lot of stories that we tell ourselves to perpetuate giving us an ‘OUT.’
Some of these stories I bought at face value or would occasionally buy into if they fit my particular thing I was up against.
I’ve come to see these stories in a much different way. I see them as ways of believing that aren’t really real. These stories keep us from believing in what’s possible.
Things like:
*photographers can’t really make money in the winter
*all of those newbie/amateur photographers are messing up and undercutting the industry
*the rules about who is allowed to start a workshop and who isn’t
*people just aren’t into what I take pictures of or my style of photography
*how long you have to be in the industry to start sharing your knowledge
*selling to photographers means you’re a sell out
*no one in my area is willing to pay what I’m worth
*if you teach or create products for photographers and you’re not a particular person then you shouldn’t be creating or teaching
*and so many other stories
action step for you: ask yourself why you believe the stories you believe, see what you have to say
#3: I changed my mind.
Before I changed my mind, business would get rough and I tended to give my power away by believing these stories and creating stories for myself that gave me permission to stay playing small and a victim to my circumstances and situation. I would stop seeing what was possible and start seeing only the ways that nothing was working out for me.
When I hired my coach I realized how much (and how often) my subconscious part of me had taken over, keeping me protected and away from pain and hurt.
doing the opposite? what?
Changing my mind meant doing the opposite of staying safe and the opposite of worrying about what other people would think of me. It also opened up my mind to possibilities and opportunities I had not even considered before.
action step for you: write three way you are you playing it safe and three ways you want to start playing bigger
what happened
Once I started looking at my life and business in this new way I began to see all of the opportunities that had been pulling at me but that I had been pushing away, telling myself I couldn’t do more, be more because of my circumstances and situations. I would look longingly at what others were doing and say, “Why not me?”
When in reality exactly what I wanted and longed for was already in my life. I just couldn’t see the opportunities for what they were.
doing these three things will help you, too
What you long for is in your life right now, too. Whatever you want, there is a way for you to have it (and it’s all legal! lol). For every problem you face there is a solution. And that solution is in your life, for the taking, right now. It’s just a matter of opening your eyes to seeing it.
If you want a successful business making $20k, $200k, or $2million! then what you need, all of the resources, are in your life right now to make it happen.
You’re going to hear about this coaching program, I’m launching soon, and a lot of you are going to want to join because inside you, you’ll be thinking, “Oh man, that’s exactly what I need. Exactly!”
And about one second later you’re going to say, “But I can’t do it.” You may say that because you don’t think you have the money, or maybe because you’ve got lots of obligations, or four kids, or you’re suddenly afraid of what it will mean to your life if you sign up.
That first feeling you felt is your higher self telling you that this program is what will hep you get you where you want to go.
what bears have to do with it
The second feeling you’re having about there being no money, time, or the fear of what may or may not happen…that’s your subconscious protecting you from something scary! In it’s own way it’s yelling, “BEAR!! BEAR!! Run for your life!!!” Because your subconscious doesn’t like change. It thinks change is bad and scary and if you’re feeling that feeling there must be a BEAR around (run!).
When everything is relaxed and staying just the way it is (even if the way things are isn’t what you REALLY want or isn’t serving you) your subconscious loves it! Why? Because it means that you’re safe! And keeping you safe is what your subconscious DOES.
Do you really want to live a safe life? Or do you want to say to your subconscious, “Thank you for wanting to keep me safe. BUT I’m going to go hang out with the stuff that scares me and gets me closer to the me I’m meant to be (because there’s no bear here). Thanks anyway. You can keep doing your job but for now, I’m going to do the scary stuff and BE AWESOME!”
ready to be awesome?
I decided safe and playing small wasn’t for me. BEING AWESOME is who I am. BEING AWESOME is who YOU are!
When I stepped into being coached I stepped into being more of who I’m really meant to be on so many levels. It’s been crazy but I love that I’m discovering, everyday, at 44 years old, what it takes to be me. Really me.
If you’re a person who doesn’t want to keep playing small in your business then you’ll want to keep an eye out for the next email I’ll be sending you in a couple of days.
To playing bigger,
Davina
PS If some piece of this resonates with you, _please_ share your thoughts or action step thoughts (that would be awesome!) on my blog HERE or on my Facebook page HERE. I’d LOVE to hear from you!
Make sure to get your copy of my free e-book. CLICK HERE!
3 Comments
thank you. thank you. thank you. Yes, this totally resonates with me. I’ve gotten stuck in the new and shiny syndrome, with each new purchase “guaranteed” to be the thing to make me flourish. And it didn’t. And I’m still stuck. I have this VISION of where I want to go… but have never been able to make it happen. I’ve taken leaps of faith, but have fallen a few times, too. (Dusted myself off, got back up again.) I’ve even hired a business coach… but she wasn’t in the industry and I spend SO MUCH TIME trying to explain it to her, that I ended up right back where I started. I would LOVE to get some REAL help from someone who has been here before. And I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.
Michelle! I it’s so easy to get distracted, isn’t it? Something new comes along and we think it is THE thing to get us unstuck or to make our business take off. In reality, we are the ones that keep ourselves stuck. What’s super exciting is that we are the ones that can get ourselves UNstuck and thriving and creating a business we totally love. I’m so excited for you to see what’s coming in these coaching programs I’m launching next week (on Monday)! I think one of them may be the perfect fit for you! Having a vision is the first step. You are already in a great place if you’ve gotten that clear in your mind. The next steps are totally what I can help you with. I can’t wait to hear more about your vision!
Girl. You have me all figured out. I haven’t even kept up with your posts because I know you have all the answers for me! I have been telling myself I don’t have time right now. I need you, but there are bears!