Podcast Ep 359 - Is Your Idea Still Brilliant Without Validation?

In this episode of the Flourish Academy podcast, Heather shares powerful insights from recent coaching sessions with photographers, including a key mindset shift around validation, consistency, and self-belief.

Discover how to stay rooted in your vision—even when you hear crickets—and how reframing consistency as compound interest can transform the way you show up for your business and life. If you've ever felt defeated by a lack of response or struggled with being consistent, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

• The emotional rollercoaster of launching a new idea
• Creating internal validation instead of relying on external feedback
• Why brilliant ideas need time, visibility, and the right audience
• Using the “compound interest” mindset to stay motivated in business
• Real-life examples from marriage, business, and fitness
• Spotting the difference between facts and thoughts in client objections

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Connect:

Heather Lahtinen: Website, Facebook, Instagram

TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to the Flourish Academy podcast and today I'm sharing my coach notes

from recent conversations with photographers My name is Heather Lattinan I'm a

photographer educator and entrepreneur and I founded the Flourish Academy as a

resource for photographers of all levels We want to help you pursue your passion on

your own terms because we believe there is room for everyone in this podcast We

focus on creating breakthroughs with your mindset to discover the things that are

really holding you back in business and life. Last year I introduced a new type of

episode that I call coach notes. And that's because I have been averaging between 12

and 15 hours per week with both our elevate group and in private one -on -one

conversations with photographers. And you can just learn a lot when to talk to

people this much about the challenges that they are facing while growing their

businesses. And by the way, if you would like to get help, head over to www

.getcoachedbyheather .com to sign up for our next free fast track coaching workshop.

I will answer any question you have about business. So what I decided to do was

share my notes from these conversations because I know that you'll find them very

valuable. And I think today's episode will be fairly brief because I have zero

notes. So what happened was yesterday I hosted a group coaching call.

Oh, you know what? Actually, it was our fast track coaching workshop.

And I also had a few one -on -one private zoom conversations with our elevators.

We call those lifelines. So there were two concepts that came up that I just

quickly wanted to share with you. In the first conversation, one of our elevators

was sharing with me that she was feeling really defeated and disappointed because

last week she had a brilliant idea that she loved and was certain was going to

work and she was so, so excited about it. And then she shared it and she heard

crickets. So she felt very defeated, as I already mentioned. So a week had gone by

and all of a sudden her brilliant idea was now a stupid idea or at least that's

how she felt. And that was because she didn't receive any validation that this was

a good idea. So I said, wait a minute, how can an idea be brilliant one day and

then stupid the next? What's happening is we allow circumstances to dictate what we

think or the story we tell ourselves. But I said, you, you still believe this is a

brilliant idea, right? And she's like, Oh, absolutely. I know that everyone needs

this. This is so great. Like she's so hyped up about it. And I said, so you

shared it Once a week ago, nobody replied and now all of a sudden it's stupid.

That doesn't even make sense. Maybe two people saw it and maybe they weren't the

right two people. You have to be willing to share your brilliant idea over and over

and over again over the course of, I don't know, years in order for people to see

it, catch on. Oh, the right people to see it so that they reach out to you and

hire you. We had a lengthy conversation, but essentially I asked her, do you still

think this is a brilliant idea? Again, she said, yes, I said, okay, then how can

we generate enough validation within from ourselves so that we don't need it

externally? Cause if it's a still, if it's still a brilliant idea, then it doesn't

matter if anyone gets it because I'm just going to find more ways to share it so

that people understand, I am legitimately confused when photographers and business do

not join elevate. And in my brain, I think, okay, I just haven't found the right

way to connect with them yet. Because if they knew, if they understood, they would

never hesitate to join because it's absolutely a life changing mind -blowing,

brilliant program, like that's what I believe. So I'm never going to stop talking

about it in as many different ways as possible, as often as possible,

until the people who see the value and need it join.

So that's, you know, from here until forever more, and I'm willing to do that. I

don't need your validation to tell me it's a brilliant program. I just know that it

is. So how can we cultivate more belief in what you know, to be awesome about your

business, about the experience you create about your photography, in this case about

her idea. What do we need to do? What do we need to tell ourselves to have such

a strong belief that it doesn't matter whether people respond or not.

And then she talked about how she doesn't like, this was interesting. She was

telling me she doesn't like to repeat herself because that means people aren't

listening and it's really annoying. So what she was doing was projecting her dislike

onto everyone else on the planet because we believe that everyone acts this or

thinks the same way that we do. So she doesn't like repeating herself. So she's not

going to repeat herself because everybody hates that. And I said, well, really? Is

that So how many times have I told you that marketing is simple. All you have to

do is meet people, tell them your photographer and make it offer. I've told people

and elevate that at least 50 billion times. And yet there are still issues that

come up, things that we need to address. And then I'll teach it a different way

and somebody will say to me invariably that they've heard me say that, you know,

50 billion times and it just now clicked. So I have to be willing to repeat

myself. And by the way, side note, I also hate repeating myself. I find it annoying

and I don't want to annoy other people, but I just recognize that it's necessary

because people will need to hear it many different times in many different ways for

it to finally click. And I use this example all the time. So please forgive me.

But I said to her, if you could manufacture a pill in your kitchen for $5 that

cured cancer, would you just share it once over the course of a week and decide,

well, nevermind. I guess nobody wants this. And she said, no,

I said, would you repeat yourself? And she said nonstop. I said, okay, because it's

a brilliant idea, right? She says, right, you don't need anyone else to tell you

That's a brilliant idea. Correct. You just believe that this is a worthwhile

endeavor. Yes. Okay. There's your parallel. How could you cultivate that in your

brain for your photography services? It's still a brilliant idea. Whether people jump

on it or not, I don't, I don't know. I'm just going to keep talking about it

because I, I have enough belief in myself that I don't need to get it from you or

externally. I validate myself. Yes, Heather, you're brilliant. You're a genius. Even

if you still cannot spell the word genius or the word entrepreneur. So what?

Okay. So that was the first conversation. And the second one, my photographer friend

and I were talking about consistency and showing up in your business for your

business, specifically related to marketing. And this was not the first time I heard

this actually in, within the past week, I've heard this multiple times,

which is why I decided to address it. This idea of consistency, it's just really

hard for me to be consistent. And I talked this over with chat GPT and in one of

my trainings last week, we actually worked through this, but then I had this, I

don't know, somewhat of an epiphany, Which is, what if it's not consistency? Because

oftentimes we need to make, we need to link something to something else. We didn't

make a, excuse me, we need to make a connection that makes sense to us as to why

we would do something or why we wouldn't do something. In other words,

it's not enough to say, Hey, you need to show up consistently in your business for

things to work. Like no kidding. Of course I know I need to do that, but I

haven't, I haven't really made a strong enough connection that compels me into

action. So what I said to her was, I don't look at it so much as consistency in

my mind. It's always about compound interest. I'm investing in my business in terms

of my time in my marketing and those efforts will compound over time just like

money and it will be astronomical and in incredible ways that you can't even see

yet. For example, if you invest $10, $100 in a bank account,

even with a high yield, you're going to make, you're going to make pennies on that

money. But you know that if you keep putting more money in that account and you

save that it will compound over time. And in 30 years, you'll be a millionaire.

That is actually how I view everything in my life.

Relationships, money, my health, my brain, my business. Because if you told me to

just show up consistently to say working out, I would be like,

okay, yeah, I mean, I can see why that would be necessary, but I, I just wouldn't

be able, it wouldn't be compelling enough to me. But when you talk to me about

compound interest, I'm like, okay, I can do that because it's like,

if I go to the gym and I, oh, by the way, you know what? This applies to both

of these conversations. If I go to the gym and I pick up five pounds and I do 10

reps with my arms. Do that. I then say, well, where are the muscles? I don't have

any muscles. This is so irritating. I put in all of this effort and I don't see

any change. Okay. This, this goes back to my friend who did something for a week

once. That's just not how it works or my other friend who's saying, I need to show

up consistently, but I don't. That's because you haven't made a connection with the

long term results. What would I need to think or believe in order for me to show

up or feel compelled to act in a consistent manner? So I'm not seeking out

consistency for the sake of consistency. I'm putting that in the action line of my

model and I'm asking myself, what would I need to feel? What would I need to think

or believe in order to feel compelled to show up consistently?

Well, I would need to look at the long -term gains and benefits. And I personally

would view it as compound interest. If I show up in the gym every day for the

next three months, I will have some muscle development. I've actually applied this.

I was telling her, I applied this to my marriage. Craig and I have been married 25

amazing years. We've been together for 30, the happiest of my life without question.

And I look back when we were starting out and we were very young, meaning not so

bright. I mean, when we started dating, our brains weren't even fully connected yet.

But I just knew that it was important to show up consistently.

Okay, but that's not how I looked at it. I looked at it like investing in our

relationship. And by the way, in myself, like making myself better so that we could

reap the rewards of compound interest over time. And here we are 30 years later,

30 years experiencing the results, enjoying the results I should say,

of that compound interest. I just wonder if it would help you to look at it in

these terms rather than asking yourself or maybe even beating yourself up, why can't

I show up consistently? I just need to show up consistently. If I did that, then

everything would work. And then it's just all focused on consistency because you have

to do it that way. And it feels, I don't know, heavy, challenging, Maybe even

impossible, like, I just can't do this, but I just look at it. I just have a

different perspective. I look at it from a different angle. So rather than the

negative, I think, how can I invest in order to be rewarded,

get the results of compound interest? That feels compelling and exciting to me.

This is a great example of any challenge you're facing in business or life.

Maybe it just needs a good reframe. Maybe you need a new perspective. And by the

way, that is my job. I do it all day, every day. And it is the most rewarding,

fulfilling thing. I mean, in the world, I'm able to sort of pull my client's brain

out of their head and just show it to them. Oh, this is what's happening. I can

see why I'm reacting that way. I can see why I'm resisting consistency because I

just can't get connected with it. And then we sort of, you know, shift their brain,

turn it around a little bit, get a new perspective, replace some words, feel a

little bit better. And then that leads to better, faster action and ultimately

results and just another really quick example. One of my private clients was telling

me about a client she was talking with. And she said to me, Heather, they gave me

so much pushback on the pricing. And then I'm wondering, should I restructure it?

Should I do this? You know, and then, you know, her actions were the result of the

thought they gave me pushback. When I explained that to her, she was flamaxed.

She said, Heather, I never saw that as a thought. I saw that as a factual

circumstance. They gave me pushback in her brain was exactly what happened,

period. And then everything flowed from that. And I said, no, no, no, no. They saw

your pricing, they saw numbers, they said words, then your thought was they gave me

pushback. And I've been working with her for a long time, many years, and she said,

I can't believe I missed that. I said, that's okay. That's what I'm here for,

if this episode resonated with you, I would encourage you compel you to join us

inside of elevate where these life changing breakthroughs happen on a daily basis.

And sometimes it's a two minute conversation. Other times it's 20 minutes, but can

you imagine what you could accomplish If you cleared some things up in your brain

in the next 20 minutes and then the next thing and then the next thing I Hope

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