Podcast Ep 378 - Why Your Revenue Goals Are Sabotaging Your Business

In this episode of the Flourish Academy Podcast, Heather Lahtinen dives into the frustration and disappointment we feel when we don’t reach our business goals. She shares insights from working with photographers on strategy calls and one-on-one coaching, exploring how focusing solely on revenue can overshadow other meaningful achievements.

Learn how to recognize non-revenue victories (NRVs), celebrate wins along the way, and create a mindset that supports long-term success both in business and life.

Show Notes:

• The emotional impact of not hitting revenue goals and why it can leave us feeling defeated.

• How focusing only on one number (like revenue) can make us overlook meaningful progress.

• Practical advice: track non-revenue victories (NRVs) to stay motivated and build momentum.

• How coaching and mindset tools can help process challenges faster and maintain calm, grounded energy.
  
  

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TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to the Flourish Academy podcast and today we're talking about what

happens or how we feel when we don't reach our goals. My name is Heather Lahtinen

and 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. We just wrapped up our four

clients in four week challenge. And if you missed it, don't worry, that's okay. I

always have opportunities to work with me. In fact, if you would like to talk to

me about your business or maybe get my opinion on your pricing or marketing, how to

get more clients, you can head over to www .getcoachedbyheather .com to register for

our next complimentary coaching workshop. I call it fast track coaching so we can

get through things faster, get results, move forward, etc. But what we're talking

about today is something that came up several times this week. As of this recording,

it's a Friday. Yesterday, we had our strategy call inside of elevate. But I also

worked with several photographers in one -on -one sessions and lifelines and in our

challenge this week. And we were talking about the disappointment we feel when we

don't hit our goals. So we have this thing we'd like to accomplish. Usually it's in

terms of revenue. I'd like to make X number of dollars in my business. And we

don't hit that goal and we feel disappointed and defeated. And then that goes on

repeat. And what came up was some version of I'm just always so disappointed.

I never hit these goals or I never accomplish what I set out to do. And I just,

you know, for once, for once, I just want to hit one of these goals or achieve

something. I'm trying to achieve. It was just this general sense of I'm not getting

what I set out to get and it's really disappointing. Then we often talk about

creating protocols or thought plans around what happens, for example, at the end of

the year, if you don't hit the number you set. Okay, so let's say you were aiming

for $50 ,000 and you just feel so frustrated because last year you made 40 and

you're thinking I can definitely do this and what's going to happen when I don't do

it and actually feeling frustrated ahead of time thinking about not achieving the

goal. And we just get so wrapped up in these very specific accomplishments.

It's somewhat reminds me of weight loss. You have a number you'd like to hit on

the scale. And if you don't hit that number, it's like nothing else matters. Nothing

you've done or accomplished on that journey is important to you because you haven't

hit that number. You throw all of that work out the window and you're like, well,

I didn't do it. So here we are again, frustrated and defeated. And that's because

you aren't celebrating all of the wins that you've accomplished along the way. In

fact, I think you are dishonoring your journey by not looking at those wins.

So with a couple of clients that I was working this week, I said, "Tell me about

how you are winning. What are you accomplishing that you feel really proud of that

is not tied to revenue?" And then this reminded me of episode 290 where Nicole

Begley and I talked about non -revenue victories, NRVs,

because you need to ask yourself, is money really "the only way to measure success."

Okay, so as I helped my photographer friends work through this, I helped them focus

on all of the things they are accomplishing and it was win after win after win and

their brain kept trying to go back to yeah, but I'm not making the money I wanna

make or I'm not making enough money, or I can't pay my bills, or something just

negative all focused on money. And I kept saying, okay, but tell me where you are

winning. What have you done that you're really proud of? We did this on the

strategy call yesterday, and people were just coming on left and right with all of

these amazing wins that they were not remembering.

I mean, they were discounting because they weren't hitting a revenue goal. And I

think that that's really dangerous. It's a mistake because when you don't hit that,

and that's the only way you measure it, you're always going to feel like garbage

and you're going to feel terrible. And then what type of action do you produce or

not produce from that feeling? It's just certainly not aligned and it doesn't get

you to your results faster. In fact, I would argue that not reaching the goal but

focusing on how you are winning will get you there faster and easier if you just

allow it. But it takes some focus and a decision on purpose,

intention, I guess I should say. I'm intentionally going to focus on all these ways

I am winning. So again, everyone is sharing their wins and I was just pointing out,

you know, look how much you have accomplished. And if you keep doing these things,

ultimately you will get the result that you are seeking, but you have to focus on

again, what's good, what's happening, what you're doing, being proud of yourself,

acknowledging yourself in celebrating, but it gets even more interesting because at

first these wins were things like, you know, I talked to these people, I went to

this networking event, I finished my website, I love my pricing. I'm feeling good

about whatever area in your business. Maybe it's your photos, you had a great

session, a client was happy, etc. But again, what was more interesting to me is

that I was talking to two clients in particular, and I'm sort of going to combine

these stories, but they were telling me about things that were really, really

challenging them in their lives and these, these weren't small things. I mean, these

were the types of things that slow you down, cause a lot of anxiety or just really

difficult to navigate through, but even to, even once you do navigate to get past

it emotionally and mentally, you know, you replay it. And so they're explaining that

their win was they were able to work through these really challenging circumstances

much faster than they would have been able in the past. So in one case,

I think she was saying that before she joined elevate, if this same situation would

have happened, it would have taken her weeks, if not months to get over this one

event and it would have been absolutely miserable. Now that she's been in elevate

and learned a lot of these tools, she said she worked through it like almost

immediately, certainly within a few hours and it was not a problem. Something that

would have caused her anxiety for months. She worked through immediately and it was

not a problem and she's happier. I think she used the words calm,

grounded and peaceful because of what she's learned and elevate. And this was a life

situation. This really wasn't even related to photography, but she wanted to share it

because it was a huge win for her. And I was explaining something similar that

since working with my coach, I have experienced that same type of feeling of

grounded and peaceful in more neutral about situations that would have had me like

crazy, maybe for even months, I would have ruminated forever. It would have ruined

everything. I get through those much faster. So I asked her, I said, what is that

worth to you? Now, keep in mind, she has not hit her revenue goals. I said, what

is it worth to you to have those feelings to feel calm in a situation like that?

And she said, Heather, it's absolutely priceless. You can't even put a number on it.

And I agree with her. I have the same feeling. What's it worth to not feel anxiety

at the level that you used to? What's it worth to have better relationships, work

through things faster, and then be able to focus your energy on your business? Like

those things were taking up so much cognitive space previously in my brain and in

her brain, and now we've released them. And it's, It's like, it's like we've been

liberated from our own brains and it is the most amazing feeling ever because then

again, I can focus on growing my business. So part of the point to this was, you

know, you invest in a program like elevate $299 a month and you have a revenue

target and goal, which you should have and aim for. But then you don't hit it and

you want to say things like, Oh, well, I wasted my money. I guess this wasn't

worth it. But then you look at all of these ways you are winning in your business

and your life, ways that are absolutely priceless. You know what that means,

right? You can't assign a dollar amount to it. What is that worth? Is it worth

$299 a month? Even if you did not hit your revenue goal, To me,

it is worth any amount of money to just feel better and have the energy to pursue

the things I really want to work on, which in this case, we're referring to

business. If, however, you only focus on one specific accomplishment,

like the number on the scale or the number of clients you've booked and the revenue

you've brought in, if that's the only thing you focus on and you don't hit it, you

are going to feel terrible because you will feel like you have lost. You make it a

game that you can't win or I should say is like either you win or lose period. It

becomes very black and white and there's so much more to the picture. It's just not

black and white. It's not like that. I can win, win, win and feel so amazing about

myself and my business and never hit my revenue goal. In fact, when we were on

that call, I said, you know, I'm aiming for a million dollar business. And if I

never reach that accomplishment, I am still going to feel amazing about what I have

accomplished, how I'm feeling, where I'm winning, how I've grown. The entire journey

has been absolutely amazing because of the person I've become regardless of that

goal, I just want to caution you because if you are too focused on that revenue,

it's going, it's actually going to be harder to reach it because you make it either

win or lose. I'd recommend if you haven't already that you go back to episode 290

and you listen to that conversation Nicole and I had on non revenue victories

because there are a million other ways that you can measure success outside of

revenue. And I think that you should, because again, once you do, then the revenue

is inevitable. If this resonated with you even a little bit, if you're like,

oh, I can see where this is true, but I really need some help with it, I would

love to talk with you about your specific situation to help you move through it.

Head over to www .getcoachedbyheather .com to jump on our next fast track coaching

call. I'll see you then.