There’s a trick your brain is playing on you to keep you stuck right where you are, no matter how badly you want that next level of growth in your photography business.
The crazy thing about this trick is that you don’t even realize it’s happening.
It’s your brain’s way of trying to protect you, but it’s really holding you back.
If you find yourself consumed with thoughts of, “But what if this happens or what if that doesn’t turn out the way I expected?”
Listen up because today I’ve got five things to do to get yourself out of this habit and feeling confident like you have never before.
I also have nine magic words to say if a client stumps you with a question you don’t know how to answer.
I’d never really thought about it before, but after doing a live session for my students at summer camp this summer in Nashville, it was so obvious.
The sneaky “what ifs” were locking so many people up and keeping them from moving forward.
My guess is that you might be getting stuck here, too.
Here’s what it looked like for my students.
We had gone through this session in the morning, we built the presentation, and then I gave the presentation to my client in front of everybody.
After the presentation, we debriefed and so many of them were saying things like, “Oh my gosh, you presented it this way. And then they ended up ordering it a different way.”
They realized they were asking themselves things like, “What if they want four instead of three in their collection? What should I do?”
And they got to see me handle that real time.
Someone else said, “What if they want it bigger than what’s on my price list? Or what if they ask me a question that I don’t know the answer to?”
They were poking holes in every step of the process, and it all came back to those two words, “what if”?
If these sound familiar and you’ve found yourself in the past getting into a “what if” pattern, here are some tips to stop the pattern and start moving forward again.
1. Find a Balance Between the Big Holes and the Backup Plan
Find a balance between the big holes and the backup plan, but don’t spend five hours on the little things.
This is what creates the paralysis by analysis and that procrastination is one of the worst forms of self-abuse.
Figure out the big things, like what products you are offering, and don’t overanalyze it.
Make the decision and move on.
2. Change Your Perspective
Here’s how I like to think about this.
The score is tied in basketball and the coach pulls the team over to the sidelines and he creates a play around player one.
But the one thing we can’t control is what the other team does.
We know that despite having the biggest star ever on our team, they may double team that person.
We may not be able to get the ball to that person.
So what do we do?
We make a game time decision and we go with the next best choice in the moment.
And in business, that ball rarely goes exactly where you think it is.
Just like in sports.
That’s what makes it fun.
So you just serve.
You serve people and you get back to them.
3. Nine Words to Say if the Client Stumps You
I think this one’s going to solve everything for you.
“That’s a great question. I’ll get back to you.”
That’s not hard, is it?
You can say, “You know what? I have to research that.”
If you’re in the sales presentation, you might say, “Hey, look, I want to look at the wall. I want to measure it and give a final recommendation on that.”
How can you break yourself of the habit of going there in the first place?
The “what if” is a habit you’ve trained into your brain. Your subconscious is trying to protect you when you don’t need protecting.
Here are five things you can do to get yourself in the right headspace so that you can completely let go of the “what ifs”.
1. Have a safe place to fall
This is why I have spent my entire career creating a community of the most kind, heart-centered photographers.
Because when someone else falls, when they fail, or when they don’t know the answer, we’re there to pick them right back up like a big feather bed.
They can fall, we’ll pick them up, and we’ll send them back out there.
2. Learn from your mistakes and keep going
You know how people say, “You need to do something for 10,000 hours to become an expert.”
I heard someone say, “Oo, it takes 10,000 mistakes.”
I love that. I feel like that’s why I’m a really good teacher in my programs because literally every mistake that can happen I’ve already made.
Don’t have shame around the mistakes.
3. Trust the process
If you have a system and a process to follow, you can go back and see what step you missed.
If you don’t have a process, you’re like, “Oh, I guess it’s me. I’m not good enough.”
No, get a process and trust the process.
4. Trust yourself
When you have that process and you know it’s proven because you’ve seen all the people who have followed it and had results, then you have to trust yourself.
Trust yourself to maintain control and pivot in the moment and stay calm and just say, “Hey, that’s a great question. I’ll get back to you.”
5. If you lose a client, you’re not going to die
You’re going to do your best and at some point or another, you’re going to lose a client.
You’re going to make a mistake and they’re not going to be able to get past it and they’re going to leave you.
And you know what?
That’s okay. You’re not going to be for everybody.
If you can simply identify that “what if” that’s creeping into your subconscious, you can tell the “what if” goodbye.
I want you to have the confidence to know that you can be successful as a photographer.
You can make a quick thinking decision because you’ve practiced so much.
You are as deserving as anyone else to be in business right now.
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