60. What Do You Struggle With the Most in Your Portrait Business?

Do you ever find yourself dodging tasks that hit you in a weak spot?

Join me in this episode as we flip the script on turning weakness into total mastery. I spill the beans on a cool tradition: picking a 'word of the year.' It's not just a trend—it's a game-changer, especially for us photographers hustling with creativity and business.

I share my journey of kicking fear to the curb and figuring out whether to tackle stuff or pass it on. And guess what? This 'word of the year' thing is my secret sauce. Imagine having a word that sums up all your goals, guiding you through the year. We dive deep into how to weave this word into your daily grind—visual cues, resources, and the magic of weekly check-ins.

But it's not a solo mission! I'm all about the perks of sharing your evolution, even when it feels a bit out of your comfort zone. Let's chat about how this simple trick can take your personal and professional game to the next level. So, grab your headphones, and let's conquer those weak spots together!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to Mindset and Money Mastery for Photographers the podcast. We help overwhelmed photographers make more money while simplifying their business by mastering their you guessed it mindset and money. Tune in each week for practical and actionable tips to take your photography business up a notch. Let's dive right in.

Speaker 2: 0:23

Hello everyone. Today I wanted to share with you something that I've been doing for a while at the beginning of the year, and that is choosing a word of the year. A long time ago, I don't know if I read a book or I heard someone say this, but I'm not really exactly sure where this came from, to be honest. But I remember learning something about taking your weakest skill and mastering it, and we actually talk about this in our book a little bit the Unicorn. So if you haven't grabbed your copy, make sure you head over to the link in the bio and grab your copy of our book. They are going to be shipping out in February, so make sure you grab your copy there. So I remember learning this idea of taking the thing that you believe is your weakest skill or you were terrible at, and really just deciding to master it. Because the thing is that oftentimes the reason that we don't like doing something or the reason we dread something or hate an activity is not because we're bad at it. It's simply because we don't understand it. So if you listened to my episode about the book, the story behind my book and where it came from, you will have heard me say that I used to believe that I was a terrible writer and that I was awful at writing. And my English teacher in high school is I'm going to just blame it on her for fun partially to blame, probably not completely to blame but I remember her telling me that I was a bad writer and when she said that, I just decided I'm a bad writer, that's all I ever will be, and I just kind of accepted that as my fate. And the reason that I was not a great writer was because I didn't really understand how to write. No one had ever really taught me like yeah, I learned in school, but that's not really the same right, I wasn't good at it because I didn't understand it. Therefore, I hated the act of writing. Okay, the same thing happened to me when I was growing up for my parents.

Speaker 2: 2:20

I remember, when I was really young, hearing somebody in my family say we're just not runners in our family. No one in our family can run. We weren't built to run. And I remember going into volleyball in junior high and my sisters had played volleyball. So I was going to play volleyball because that's what we did in our family, and I remember having to run the mile and whenever I went to run the mile, I was already set up to fail, because I had been told by my family at some point in time growing up that I was bad at running, that we were not runners in our family, that we couldn't run. And I believed it. I believed that I was not a good runner and that I couldn't run. So I would go out on that track every Friday when we had to run our mile and I would dread it. Every being of my fiber was prepared to fail before I even started. And you see, the thing was that we had to run the mile every Friday until we could run it underneath a certain amount of time. And I decided, long before I even ran my first mile, that I couldn't run a mile. I decided that I would never be fast enough, that I would never be good enough to do it, and guess what? I never did it. Ultimately, I dropped out of volleyball because I hated running so freaking much and because I got into horses, and so I decided I'd rather just ride horses than have to go run a mile every Friday because I'm never going to run my mile in time. So I might as well just quit. And I quit.

Speaker 2: 3:56

And the thing is is that this is how our minds work. We might actually have the ability to be good at something, but somewhere along the way in our lives, somebody told us that we sucked at it or we weren't any good at it, or that we would never be able to do it, and we believed it, even though we might not have said like oh, so-and-so said this, I'm going to choose to believe that this is my fate. It was there in our brain, it was burned into our minds and sometimes the things that are said or the things that lead us to this place where we believe we're not good at something, it's not done on purpose or it's not some terrible thing. Somebody was like I'm going to destined Corinda to never be able to run or to write a paper in her life and she's going to think she sucks at these things. People don't do this on purpose. Unfortunately. People don't realize how powerful their words are and people don't realize that one simple little statement that they say could lead to you believing that you are incapable of something for your entire life and that you suck at it every time you sit down to do that thing. You're going to dread it. It's not on purpose, guys, I promise you that. But the cool part is is you can begin to recognize when these things happen to you and they're stopping you in your tracks.

Speaker 2: 5:05

So my challenge for you is to sit down and to think about all of the things in your business, all of the things in your life that might bring a sense of dread or like I hate this, and to choose one of those things your weakest skill, I like to say and to decide that you are going to master that skill, decide that you are going to make that thing your strongest skill. What you're going to find is that you're going to understand it and appreciate it more and all of a sudden, that thing that you once dreaded actually might become fun. And if, once you understand it, it's still not fun and you still despise it, well then maybe that's a good sign that it's actually something that's outside of your zone of genius and something that you can't outsource. But a lot of times, business owners just find something they dread and they're like I'm just going to find someone else to do that for me and they outsource it and it doesn't work when they outsource it, and the reason it doesn't work is because they didn't understand it themselves to begin with, to be able to appropriately and effectively outsource that task. So decide today what you want your word of the year to be, or your skill of the year.

Speaker 2: 6:20

So to say, over the last few years, my word of the year or skill of the year has varied in so many different ways. One year it was writing. I literally read every book I could read about copywriting. I watched all the webinars, I watched videos. I listened to podcasts. I wrote until I understood how to write that year and after I did that, writing wasn't so bad. There was another year that was my year of marketing, and I spent the entire year learning everything under the sun about marketing. And I didn't just learn from photographers or the photography space. I learned from every industry I could. I read all the books. I hired coaches, I hired mentors, I ran the ads, I hired agencies. I did all of these things. I spent so much money, so much time, so much energy learning marketing that marketing started to become easy. Finally, because I actually understood it.

Speaker 2: 7:15

I've had years when my word wasn't quite so skill-based. I've had years where my word was balance finding balance in my life. I just wanted to figure out in that year how to bring more balance in my business, my personal life and all of the things in my life. Balance has been a word of my year before. There's been a lot of different things over the years that I've decided to make my word of the year.

Speaker 2: 7:42

I was talking to my husband actually earlier today about recording this episode and I was telling him that I had actually been struggling a bit to figure out what my word was going to be this year and I'm still not 100% sure what I want my word to be. The last couple of weeks have been a little bit crazy to start the year and that's not how I expected it to happen and because of that I haven't had the time to sit down and reflect and journal and think about really where I want to focus my time and energy and attention this year and my growth. And my husband told me that his word for the year is intention. He wants to be more intentional in everything he does and I thought, wow, that's such a good word, that's such a good theme for the year, like being more intentional with your time, with your energy, with your focus, with your health, with whatever it might be with your business, with your work. I think that's a really, really powerful word. I really loved that. That was his word.

Speaker 2: 8:37

So take some time, reflect on your business. It might be a task-based thing. It might be something a little bit more I don't know Not task-based like intention or balance or magic, I don't know. Maybe your word of this year is magic. That's kind of a lot of my stuff that I'm sharing and teaching. This year revolves around finding more magic in your life. So maybe your word is finding magic in your business or your life again, finding that sparkle deep down inside of you that you know is there, but maybe you've lost. Maybe your word of the year is myself. Maybe it's about finding yourself again or discovering what's special about you and yourself. Thank you, think about what you want it to be and decide what you want it to be.

Speaker 2: 9:17

Once you decide your word or theme for this year, I want you to send it to me. Head over to Instagram and master your mind, money and send me a DM and let me know what your word of the year is, because I'm curious to hear what all of your different words are and what you're focusing on, and maybe I can share something that would help encourage you or point you in the right direction, to work more towards your goal and your focus for this year. So let me know what your word is. Once you find your word, then it's time to decide how you're going to focus on this word. Something I would strongly encourage you to do is to put your word up somewhere in your office, in your house, put little things around your home to remind you of your word. I want it to stay at top of mind so that you're constantly remembering. Oh, yes, I'm supposed to be working on this.

Speaker 2: 10:05

And let's use balance. Yes, I'm supposed to be working on balance. I'm supposed to be working on balance in my life and my business balance of all the things and you're constantly reminded by that and you can ask yourself am I living true to this word? Am I growing in this way? Am I working towards this or am I letting it go to the wayside? Keep a really close tab on that and see where you're at. The other thing is I want you to take some serious time to learn and look for resources that will help you grow in that area.

Speaker 2: 10:36

So, if your word is balance, maybe you're going to read some books on time management. Or maybe you're going to work on strategies to be more efficient in your business so that way you don't have to work so much. Maybe you're going to look for ways to balance your own self, with your family, with your business. Maybe you're going to work on self-care in your balance. Find something that's going to help you learn to be more balanced. Find techniques, find strategies, find a coach, find a book, find a webinar, find a YouTube video, a podcast, whatever you can find.

Speaker 2: 11:09

Decide that you are going to digest a lot of information surrounding that topic so that you can grow and you can learn and you can absorb and you can become better and you can start to master that skill and take something that you believe is your weakest skill and really master it. This year it could be your mindset. Your word could be mindset. Maybe you've really been struggling with your mindset and around your business and your life and you're just tired of that constant back and forth of highs and lows and being stuck and feeling like you don't know where to do and negativity or whatever it might be, or fear, or perfectionism, whatever that might be. Maybe this year you're going to focus on your mindset and growing in your mindset and stop getting in your own way. It's a great one to really master. So decide what it is. Put reminders all over your home. Create a strategy or a plan to really dive into that topic and to learn more about it.

Speaker 2: 12:07

Look for resources.

Speaker 2: 12:08

If you are struggling to find resources, let me know. I will reach out to my network. I will see what resources I have available for you and I will share whatever I can to help you with your word. If you need help, figure out where to go and where to turn and really just be intentional with spending time every week in that space, in every week, checking in. How am I doing on this? If your word is balanced for the year, how am I doing on my balance? How did I do this week? Was I good? Did I kind of follow the bandwagon? Do I need to work more towards balance? How can I be better next week? Check in at the Neve Every Week. See how you're doing, keep an eye on it and make sure that you're staying on track.

Speaker 2: 12:51

And if you find yourself falling off track, don't worry. Remember, be kind to yourself or, like I talked about in the last podcast episode, be kind to me. Don't forget that, because that is extremely valuable when it comes to growth, because there's going to be days when you step 10 steps forward and there's going to be days when you fall 20 steps back, but that's okay. What matters is how you respond when you fall back. What matters is how you respond when you fall down. You get to choose whether you pick yourself back up and you forgive yourself and you're gracious towards yourself and kind to yourself, or if you find yourself beating yourself up when you fall backwards. Beating yourself up when you fall backwards or you get stuck or you feel like you haven't been doing what you need to do is not going to get you anywhere in your business or your life. It's going to pull you further backwards. So be kind to yourself, be gracious to yourself, give yourself a pat on the back for doing the thing, even when it's little.

Speaker 2: 13:56

If this is something that you struggle with, I'm really really going to encourage you to do this, and this is something that my husband actually brought up to me the other day, and he was like Karinda, I really think we should start doing this together every day, and I was like, oh, together, I have to do this with you really. I mean, I love him, but the thought of doing this with him is a little scary and intimidating. I'm not going to lie, but he was like you know. I really think every day we should start writing down 10 things we're grateful for and 10 things like we've done or accomplished 10 positive things every day that we've been working towards. Oh man, could you think of 10 things you're grateful for or 10 things you're proud of yourself, for 10 things you've done each and every day? The thought of that is kind of scary. I think. Sitting down and writing down three things every day, that would be easy, anyone could do that. But could you write down 10 things every day that you're grateful for or that you've done every day? What would that change if you started to recognize even the little things you were doing or the little things you were working towards or the little things that were happening in your life?

Speaker 2: 15:06

I've been really challenging my coaching clients the last few months to celebrate their wins, even the small things. And as you're working towards this word of the year or theme of the year, and as you're going through this growth journey, I really do want you to remember to pat yourself on the back, remind yourself that you're doing okay. I was on a coaching call with one of my coaching clients a one-on-one call last week, and I looked at her and said raise your hand up, put it on your back and pat yourself on the back. Right now You're doing so many good things, but I hear you saying I'm not doing enough, I'm not doing good, I'm not doing right. This is something you're doing good, you're doing amazing, but you're forgetting to celebrate the little things in life, and so I want to encourage you, as you go on this journey this year, to grow and to develop as a person, as a business owner, as a master whatever it is that you're struggling with to be kind to yourself, to pat yourself on the back.

Speaker 2: 16:10

If you haven't read Mel Robbins her books they're awesome. She has a five second rule book and she has another book called the High Five Method, and in the High Five Method, she actually talks about how you should wake up and give yourself a high five. In the mirror Sounds so, so weird and such a tiny little thing, but if you think about how you feel when someone gives you a high five and you think about the power of just giving yourself a high five right. Having thought how could something as simple as giving yourself a high five in the mirror every morning change your trajectory of what you're doing and change how you feel about yourself and your life and your business and all of those things? Give yourself the high five, pat yourself on the back, write down those 10 things you're grateful for each day.

Speaker 2: 17:00

Write down the things you're accomplishing, no matter how small they might feel, and celebrate those things. Yeah, it doesn't have to be that you had a $20,000 sale to celebrate. Your celebration could be that you got out of bed, you put on makeup, you put on real clothes and you sat down at your desk today and got your work done. That's a lot of accomplishments. Actually get out of bed, put on your makeup, put on real clothes and sit down at your desk and get work done. That's four accomplishments right there.

Speaker 2: 17:30

Something as simple as getting out of bed and putting on real clothes could be something to pat yourself on the back for. But how many of you are just sitting there thinking, well, yeah, everyone does that. No, not everyone does that. You were doing something good by simply just getting out of bed today and doing life, you were doing a good job by making the decision to get up and walk down your driveway. I don't know if people walk down their driveway, that's just me. We have a long driveway, so I sometimes go walk down my driveway. But the mere act of getting up and walking down the driveway and stepping away from my computer to take a breath of fresh air is an accomplishment for me, even though for you that might sound crazy. But it's really easy for me to sit down at my computer and just not get up from eight o'clock to four o'clock when I'm done working, but taking a break to get outside and get some fresh air. Something as simple as that Pat yourself on the back, give yourself that high five and celebrate your wins, no matter how big or how small they may feel.

Speaker 2: 18:26

This year. I want to know what your word is, so seriously, take some time today journal, write down some ideas. If you're struggling to figure it out, just ask yourself what you dread the most. Whatever you dread the most is a great place to start for your word or theme of the year. Maybe you're struggling to figure out how to be a CEO of your business and step into the role of a real business owner. Your word could be CEO. You just want to step into the role of a CEO this year, not just be a photographer. Maybe your word of the year is sales. Maybe you dread selling or think that selling is terrible and you want to get more of your art on your clients' walls because it's important to you. So this year you're going to learn everything possible in your mind that you can about sales.

Speaker 2: 19:08

Baby, you're worried marketing, like it's been for me in the past. Maybe it's balance, maybe it's connection. This is a great one. If you are struggling in your business to market and you feel like you don't have any clients and you feel like you don't know anybody that could be your clients, I'm going to challenge you to use the word connection this year. Connect with people. Connect with people in your community and other circles. Get out of your bubble and meet people. That is one of the best things you can actually do to market your business is connect, connect, connect. Maybe that would be a good word for you. There's so many things you could do. Maybe it's your mindset, maybe it's your money mindset that you want to master this year. Whatever it might be, share with me in the DMs what your word is, post it on our Facebook group. Whatever your word is, and hopefully I can encourage you and share some resources and point you in the right direction of where to go.

Speaker 2: 20:00

The other thing I want to share with you all, too, is if you want to find more magic in your business this year and that is something you are working towards grab our book and join us in your magic year. Your magic year is going to be the place where we're going to help you find more magic in your business this year. It is a great place to get started and help you get on the right path in your business. Actually, your magic year members. They have an opportunity to add on our introductory wall art course. If, this year, something you're striving to do is to add wall art into your offerings or sell wall art, or transition to an in-person sales or virtual in-person sales, like I like to call it method, join us in your magic year and also add on the wall art course. You're going to be right on the fast track path to get there and to master that this year If you're ready to really dive full in and get the help and get the one-on-one coaching and support and the full in-depth course and content in your business apply to join us and time-ass your money. It's really the A to Z of building your business Everything you can need to know from the business to the marketing. You get my support one-on-one. You get coaching calls with me. You get group coaching calls with our community. That is also an amazing place to go if you really are ready for the in-depth dive into your business and you want everything there is to know. Make sure you check those out this year.

Speaker 2: 21:21

I love each and every one of you. I am so grateful that you would take the time out of your week to listen to me, share and pour into each and every one of you. This podcast is something that I do because I believe so deeply in my heart and soul that it is important to help photographers build their business. I believe that each and every one of you is capable of building whatever it is that you want in your business in a way that feels good for you. I hope that I am a small piece of your journey into building a magical business that you love and pays you well. Thank you, guys. If there's anything you want to hear on the podcast this year. Also, send us a DM and let us know I'm always looking for topics that you want to hear more about or learn more about on the podcast. Bye, guys.

Speaker 1: 22:03

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to support the podcast, please make sure you share it on social media or leave a rating and review. As always, you can check out the links and resources in the show notes over at MasterYourMindMoneycom. To catch all the latest from me, you can follow me on Instagram at MasterYourMindMoneycom, and don't forget to join our free Facebook group Photography Business. Tune Up with Corinne Decay. Thanks, again and I'll see you next time.