Freedom Focus Photography

Stop Setting Goals Like This in 2026

• Nicole Begley, Heather Lahtinen • Episode 321

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321 - Let’s kick off 2026 the way we actually want to run our businesses: with intention, self-trust, and a plan that doesn’t require burnout as a personality trait.

What to Listen For:

  • Why goals can feel heavy
  • The identity shift that matters
  • Where you want to feel different
  • Using feelings as thought clues
  • Your dream year, without burnout
  • Are you editing your own dreams?
  • A fast way to find clarity
  • How vision simplifies decisions
  • Saying no without guilt
  • Welcoming challenges instead of resisting

If you want 2026 to feel different, it starts with how you think about who you’re becoming, what you’re building, and what you’re willing to anticipate instead of fear. Hit play, grab the four questions, and let’s start this year with a mindset that actually supports your growth. And if you want support and structure along the way, come join us inside Elevate.

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Nicole Begley (00:00)
Happy 2026 everybody. Welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Begley. Before we get into today's episode, I wanted to give you just a little bit of an update of what to expect here around Hair of the Dog, Freedom Focus Formula headquarters moving into 2026. I've been talking about the year one as a realignment year.

A year that we start to kind of move forward in a new direction. It's also now the 10th anniversary of starting this online education business in the of the dog. And I am so excited for our next evolution. Right now me and my team are re just, my gosh, we are reevaluating everything inside the business and taking our three flagship courses, streamlining all of them, bringing them together into one portal, one login.

one integrated community, integrated homework, integrated feedback. It's going to be a whole new level up and I am so excited for this. We're hoping to have a go live date by March 31st. So starting quarter two, there's going to be a whole new experience here in Nicole Begley HQ and I'm really excited for it. So anyway, that's what's going on behind the scenes. And this particular episode is really all about

2026 goal setting, how to ⁓ take basically the stress out of goal setting. like if it already feels kind of heavy, you're really going to want to listen to this because we're back with four powerful questions that you can ask yourself as you move into 2026. So Heather and I are on this episode. Let's get started. Enjoy.

Nicole Begley (01:44)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses.

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Speaker 1 (02:44)
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Bagley. And today to start the new year off right, we have our favorite Heather Lottinen. Happy new year, my friend, even though it's not really the new year yet. We're recording this in December, but like, I don't know, my kids have two days of school and then it's Christmas break. So it's essentially the new year. I'm calling it.

Speaker 2 (03:06)
Yeah, this is our new year for sure, because you and I are always, always thinking ahead anyway, right? So we're planning for the new year. We're getting excited already about things that, mean, even before we hit record, we were talking about all of these new things that we have going on that are very exciting. So yeah, it's happy new year time.

Speaker 1 (03:24)
it is my favorite time of year except the weather sucks.

Speaker 2 (03:27)
Right. Besides that, it's pretty awesome.

Speaker 1 (03:29)
But it is a good time. mean, I would I'm sorry for our Southern Hemisphere friends because like then the weather's really nice, but it's also the New Year. So you're like, want to like do New Year's things and start projects. But the weather's nice. But I guess most people in like Australia, it's hot. So you're probably enjoying to be outside in the wintertime anyway. So anyway, it is what it is. What are what are we talking about? Like it's the New Year. So like.

Let's do it, let's start it off right.

Speaker 2 (04:00)
Yeah, yeah, I came prepared with some new ways to think about heading into the new year. But before we get to that, I actually have a preamble that I would like to discuss with you.

Speaker 1 (04:10)
That sounds serious. I need to sign anything?

Speaker 2 (04:13)
Yeah, there's a contract. Okay, I wanted to talk about two new features that are coming to Elevate in January. The first is a guided curriculum that I've created to help people step through the process a little more easily. So sometimes we get this question, you know, how much time is required inside of Elevate? And obviously, you can spend as much or as little time as you'd like, right? But I get the question. It's like, what would move the needle?

Some people can spend many hours because this is their full-time gig. Some people have a lot of responsibilities and maybe another job. So I'm putting together this curriculum that's like, hey, if you only had an hour per week, here's what you need to go do. Or if you had four hours per week, then go do these things. So I have these different levels with guided curriculum. I'm really, really excited to test that out and see how it helps people get through really focused.

Speaker 1 (04:55)
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (05:10)
ideas and things, you know, right away so that they can achieve success. Then I decided actually you and I came up with this together. You inspired me to create something I'm calling the Elevate Daily or, or Daily Elevate. I don't know which sounds okay. Whatever you get the idea. This is a private podcast inside of Elevate.

with a new episode every weekday, Monday through Friday. It's only one to five minutes long and it's just maybe inspirational. Some thoughts to try on some beliefs, what I'm working with, what we're working through inside of elevate very, very brief episodes. I love it. Yesterday I asked our elevate members if anyone would volunteer to commit to listening to the first 30 episodes. So basically a month.

And just sort of tracking what they're thinking and how they're feeling to see if it makes a difference because I have a theory, Nicole. I have a theory. you are in the proximity of belief, ultimately and always, you cannot help but start believing in yourself because you just hear it constantly. So it's something I say often, I say, I believe in you. I know that you can do this. You're perfectly capable and you have everything that you need.

Speaker 1 (06:16)
Hmm.

Speaker 2 (06:32)
So I asked them if they, you I was asking for volunteers on this strategy call and just about everybody raised their hand. Yes, I'll do it. Yes, I'll do it. Because it's, you know, low commitment, to five minutes per day.

Speaker 1 (06:44)
Do it while you're doing other things, is convenient.

Speaker 2 (06:46)
Absolutely. So, and as you know, I have invited you to contribute to this. So when excited, right? When you have time, you just send me over a little audio file and I'll, I'll upload it and then they can grab that. And I just, it's just an experiment. You know, I love to experiment. That's what business is all about. How can I, how can I help people make more money faster? That's always the thought. And

again with my theories is like, if we could build the self concept of trust and belief faster, then we could take more action that's aligned, you know, ends with revenue. So that's the premise. The premise is the proximity to belief and confidence. always say, I have enough for both of us, enough belief and enough confidence. And if you wish to borrow some of mine, I would, I would like to give it to you.

So if you spend this time with me, really brief, I've already started recording episodes and I think that they're going to be really fun. It's only available inside of Elevate. So message there is join Elevate.

Speaker 1 (07:47)
I love it.

Well, and if you guys want to join freedom, focus formula.com slash elevate, come join us. It's incredible. but yeah, no, think one of the most exciting things for this too is it can become a habit because it's so quick and easy. So then like once you start to do these little habits, then you can.

You just start focusing more on your goals and the next thing you want to do and you feel like you're making progress. Even on the days you can't quote, make progress, you still did something towards your goal. And I think that's really important because your subconscious brain is still like, hey, we did something today. Even if we didn't get to that other goal, we still did something, completed check.

Speaker 2 (08:32)
That's right. And you start to feel better about yourself. And when you feel better, you act better or you do more. And then it just compounds from there. Speaking of which, I wanted to share with everyone this post from our friend, Susanna, who just joined Elevate and she posted this a few days ago. She said, I quote, O ⁓ G with a lot of E's at the end.

I had my first IPS session since I joined Elevate and the fifth one of my career. One being a month ago, which went okay. And the others were years ago and they were okay. I'm paraphrasing now. They went really badly for her. She said they were a disaster and she took time off from IPS. So, okay, today she said, I used to get nervous, but I never got nervous today. I was so excited. And as I was driving there, I kept saying,

I cannot wait to show them their pictures. I know I captured them well and now I can offer them the ability to hang it around their house or have albums. I felt so empowered since joining Elevate and that is the feeling I brought with me to the IPS session. I was so excited. So this is going into it, right? She was so excited. And the sale, $5,000. This is less than a week, I believe,

since she had joined Elevate, shifted some thoughts, got really excited and brought in $5,000.

Speaker 1 (10:01)
I have breaking news. I have breaking news. I have breaking news about this. She was on my pricing call today and we were chatting about just some different things and I had her kind of share her win and like what shifted and all of that. And she's like, you know, she had the sale and then they thanked her three times like within 24 hours. And then she said, they just reached out and ordered more. What?

Yep. Yep. Yeah. And we were talking part of the, on my call today, we were talking a little bit about some objections and, session fees and all sorts of stuff like that. And, I think one of those, one of those things that is a, you have to kind of start to get that shift, but then as soon as it does, it is a permanent shift of, people are excited to purchase this from me because I think a lot of us have this limiting belief that

you know, that we're taking advantage of somebody or like we're forcing them to spend this money or they're going to regret. think that's a big one. They're going to have buyer's remorse of purchasing the artwork with us. But once you have this happen and you have clients that are ecstatic and thank you profusely and then order more, it allows us to internalize like, I am serving them. I always say sales of service.

Speaker 2 (11:16)
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:22)
I am serving them by just showing up and helping them and they are excited to purchase this, which if you need to anchor it to something that you've experienced, can you think of a time, Heather, can you think of a time that you've spent money on something that maybe would have been seen as a splurge by some people, but you were so excited to spend money on it?

Speaker 2 (11:45)
Yes, 100 % when we hired a carpenter to build out our garage. Yeah, I loved loved giving that guy money. He so happy to do that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:56)
huh. Yeah. So, yeah. So like, I think the biggest challenge for photographers is we have a hard time dropping into the value that our clients see from the services we offer because you might not have been so excited to spend all that money on a carpenter if you yourself were an expert carpenter. Yeah. Because you can be like, well, I can do that.

Speaker 2 (12:18)
Yeah, correct.

Speaker 1 (12:21)
By having that film of I can do that, we are just cannot be in the shoes of our client who cannot do what we do. And they are very excited to have what we can do for them.

Speaker 2 (12:34)
My favorite part is that they thanked her three times. It was like, thank you for allowing me to give you a lot of money. That is amazing. You know what I just noticed is you were saying that she actually commented on this post. This was the same day. So not today. I guess you spoke to her today. This is previously she said, thank you, everyone. When I left, I finally felt like I got a glimpse of the business woman I want.

Speaker 1 (12:42)
Yeah. Uh-huh.

Speaker 2 (13:02)
to be. My confidence felt authentic and I'm so excited to keep moving forward.

Speaker 1 (13:11)
Amazing. Mic drop. We're done. We're done here. That's it. That's the end of the episode.

Speaker 2 (13:15)
I mean, that is so fantastic. And she was hesitating to join Elevate because she's a very busy schedule. She has a lot going on and she is so obviously so glad that she did. Everyone who joins Elevate says to me in some way, it's so much more than I thought. And it's it is helping me in so many other ways than I anticipated. So I think that is, yes, all we need to say about that.

Speaker 1 (13:43)
I love it. I love it. Amazing.

Speaker 2 (13:46)
Okay, shall we move on to our topic?

Speaker 1 (13:48)
Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Okay. I'm ready. I'm here. right. And once again, you're kind of keeping me in the dark. I'm really not sure what I signed up for.

Speaker 2 (13:55)
I I know, which is I appreciate your trust so much because that is pretty bold. But I came up with these four, I don't know, segments, four different ways of thinking about the new year. That's not traditional goal setting. So you know how there's this all new year, new me kind of culture, which is fine. It's not my favorite, but that's okay. And I was thinking, how about this? How about new year, new lens?

Speaker 1 (14:21)
I would like a new lens. Are we buying new lenses? Is that what it is? Heather, you're telling us after all this time, the secret to a successful photography business is just to buy the new lens.

Speaker 2 (14:31)
100 % that's it. Just get a nice lens. You'll feel great. When I, thought I was very clever when I came up with this because new year, new lens was like, my thought was how you see the world, you know, like the glasses do you put on?

Speaker 1 (14:47)
I'm gonna go buy new lens and transform my business.

Speaker 2 (14:49)
I know, right? So it's about how you see things that I'm just looking at 2026 a little bit differently than I have in the past. And I thought, why not share it with our friends? So the first thing is, well, let me say this goal setting sometimes can feel a little heavy or maybe even discouraging because it feels far away. feels rather big. So I want to replace goals with intentions or actually

way I prefer to talk about it is identity shifts. So something I teach inside of Elevate and I've shared on the podcast is this idea around self-concept, who you need to become and how you view yourself in order to grow your business. instead of thinking, I need to set these goals. It's like, where do I need to shift my identity? Where do I need to start thinking about how I view

challenges, obstacles, my ability to trust myself if I experiment and things don't go well or how I handle failure. Those are all self-concepts. So this is different than a goal that comes from setting step. By the way, I'm not hating on goals. Okay, definitely set goals. I'm not saying don't do that, but I think that you might find you see more growth

and greater shifts when you think about this identity, know, and self-concept rather than just an action list. So the question I have that goes with this is what is one area where you want to feel differently in 2020?

Speaker 1 (16:33)
differently. Correct. That is a key.

Speaker 2 (16:36)
That's the word. That's the word. Like in Susanna's case, she talked about she finally feels like she's the type of business woman she wants to become. Guess what that is, Nicole? That's a self-concept. And she felt confident. Those are self-concepts.

Speaker 1 (16:48)
Yeah. huh.

And that, I say that feeling now that she has it is something she can carry through even when other sales sessions don't end up at that level of a sale. She's still going to have that identity and still feel the same way about them.

Speaker 2 (17:09)
That is so beautifully said because nobody can ever take that from her. She's had that shift in her identity with confidence, self-trust, and she will always have that for that. Doesn't mean it doesn't dip, right? Things happen. But because she has tapped into that, no one can ever take it from her and it will only and always compound over time. And this is massive. This is like a tectonic shift in the plates, you know?

Speaker 1 (17:13)
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (17:37)
Like her whole world has changed.

Speaker 1 (17:40)
I mean, you want to get that identity that you want to have. So whatever it is you want to lean into, you want to get to where it is such a sure thing that if somebody said, are you a smoker? It's a yes, no question. There's no like hesitating. I mean, and you and I are both to this point now we've been in business for over a decade, self-employed. How long have you 15 years? my gosh. Being self-employed. no, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (17:59)
22 years

Speaker 1 (18:04)
Mine's been 16 years. It was from 2010. Holy cow. Anyway, at this point, I can 100 % say that I am an entrepreneur. I, there is, I cannot, will not go back to work for anyone. It is such a piece of my identity now. So as you practice it, becomes just more set in that, that identity, which also works the other way.

when you are sitting and practicing like the negative emotions and the negative self-talk, like you're just perpetuating that. So let's change it.

Speaker 2 (18:39)
Yeah. And it's by asking yourself what's one area where you want to feel differently in 2026.

Speaker 1 (18:46)
I think the other piece of that too is when you're asking that yourself that question in that way, where do I want to feel differently? I've always said that our feelings are a barometer to our thoughts. Yup. That like when you are feeling like not great, frustrated, stressed, nervous, like bad, like any pick any negative emotion when you're feeling that way, there is a thought underneath that. What is that thought that that because I think sometimes it's hard for us to

Speaker 2 (18:55)
Yeah, you have.

Speaker 1 (19:14)
to figure out like, well, what am I thinking? We have 60,000 thoughts a day. Most of them are the same every day. So that's a lot to be aware of. But when you can look for that feeling, that allows you to shortcut into what you're actually thinking.

Speaker 2 (19:29)
think that's really smart because the truth is a belief or an identity is simply a bunch of thoughts that you continue to think. So if you can shift those or if you can shift that these all work together, you know, it's not, it's not totally linear is what we're saying. You know, it's like, if I can think differently, or if I can start to believe that I want to think differently and start to focus on this shift I want to make, and this is how it will feel.

Speaker 1 (19:36)
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:57)
and then it can generate these thoughts. It's just beautiful. Okay. It just, it just all works together and it creates a new identity. And just ask Susanna, by the way, she'd be happy to talk to you about it because we both asked her, Hey, can we share this? Like, yes, absolutely. All right. Number two, second one. So again, goals are fine and they're important, but I believe that

Speaker 1 (20:12)
She's like, guess please.

Speaker 2 (20:24)
vision is more powerful. So if you could think about how your vision has changed, Nicole, I'm asking you. my gosh. Over the years, like you started a photography business. Do you happen to remember what the vision was back then?

Speaker 1 (20:40)
Yeah, my vision was to replace my $35,000 a year salary. Taking pictures of families because pet photography wasn't a thing. Right. It was in Seattle. Yeah. There are like three photographers in Seattle and none anywhere else in the country yet. Oh, is that funny? It was a hot bed for the start of pet photography.

Speaker 2 (20:52)
Right.

right? don't think I knew that.

Speaker 1 (21:05)
But yeah, no, it started off as just let me have something that I can do part-time to help provide for my family and make a little bit of extra money.

Speaker 2 (21:13)
And now, what is the vision?

Speaker 1 (21:16)
I mean now the vision is to make sure every single freaking family and pet photographer on the planet can run a sustainable business.

Speaker 2 (21:23)
So basically world domination is the vision now.

Speaker 1 (21:26)
Yeah, yeah. Like led by each individual photographer that like ends up getting into this. It's like, let me just start a little bit of extra money doing something that I love. Yeah. Right. You didn't get paid for it.

Speaker 2 (21:38)
Right, right. So you see how that vision has shifted over the years. You have a even personally your vision personally then verse now. It's just like if you start to pay attention to what you want to create, the vision grows, the vision expands. But again, that's a little more. What's the word I'm looking for? Because the goal is like, know, linear is like this thing and the vision is more.

Speaker 1 (22:00)
It's more, it's, bigger. It's grander. It's like, it's what's a good metaphor for that. I mean, really it is. I feel like the goal would be like James always does the, flying the plane metaphor where it's like little changes. You're like, I have a specific target. I'm a flying from New York to LA and like, I got to get to LA. That's your goal. My goal is LA where the vision is like, why are we driving? Let's The vision is how am I to get there? I'm building a plane.

Speaker 2 (22:27)
⁓

Speaker 1 (22:30)
Yeah. Yeah. huh.

Speaker 2 (22:30)
Yes, yes, yes. But

different, bigger, broader than the goal. Okay, I like that. That was it.

Speaker 1 (22:37)
Vision

is made up of many goals and the goals and the vision might shift. You need to know where you're going. Otherwise it's like, you know, you're going on a road trip without knowing where your destination is. You don't, you don't know what, you don't know what decision the vision also gives you a rubric for decision making. You can ask yourself when opportunities come to your business, you can say, does this help get me closer to my vision? Yes or no. Okay. It's a lot easier to say not right now.

Speaker 2 (22:42)
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:06)
Because here's the thing no one tells you. When you're starting out, you're like, come on, opportunities, opportunities, like, and there's opportunities everywhere. And when you're first starting though, you might be more, more apt to say yes to different opportunities. But then the longer you're doing this, the more your business grows, the more influence you start to have in whether your local market or a broader market, whatever, anywhere, more opportunities are going to come. And it becomes critical that you remain focused on that vision.

and start asking yourself, again, it's bigger than you. The vision's bigger than me. The vision's not about me. The vision's about how my business can help serve other people because my business is no longer me. I have a team of other people helping me. I have the community. Like we're all in the same train, going to the same place with the same like desire to help. And so that becomes a really easy way to start to,

because every opportunity is an opportunity cost that you say yes to.

Speaker 2 (24:06)
Right. And do you would you say then that vision is more like about alignment towards a specific, you know, goal vision?

Speaker 1 (24:16)
Yes, I think it is. It's alignment towards that. But I think the bigger piece is figuring out what it is because you and I both know this. How many people do you ask? What do you want? And they can't answer it or they say some like little whatever, because they might be scared of the vision. They might be scared of being judged for the vision.

Speaker 2 (24:37)
Yeah, any number of things could be there's some sort of fear around that vision. It's unbelievable to me that you just said that because yesterday I had the Elevate Strategy call plus several one-on-one calls and it came up three actual times, three separate people. came up in one day where it was like, what do you actually want? And in each case, they stared at me for a solid 30 seconds and they were like, I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 (24:56)
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (25:05)
And I said, then that's exactly what we need to work on is gaining clarity.

Speaker 1 (25:10)
And if you're not sure, could you imagine how much more stressful making decisions in your business is? Like if you don't know what that vision is in your life, this could be business in life, but if you don't know what that vision is, then you're just floundering. Well, I don't know, should I do this or that? Or, well, what if I do that? What if it's the wrong one? Like if you have a vision, that becomes a lot easier.

Speaker 2 (25:31)
Yeah, because without that vision, you're just like working, working, working, hustle, hustle, hustle, doing all of the things to no end. Yeah, because and then and then left wondering all the time if your hard work is ever going to be worth it or produce anything. But yet there's no pin on the map. So you don't even know where you're headed. So I think it helps with alignment over hustle because it does limit. like that big fancy word you use Rubik.

Speaker 1 (25:57)
rubric. Rubric. Yeah, Rubik's Cube. Yeah, Rubik's Cube, rubric. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:58)
Brick, sorry. Rubic.

gosh. Side note, my son can solve any version.

Speaker 1 (26:08)
My son too, we should get them together. ⁓ It was a couple of years ago, he was on a Rubik's Cube kick and he would get these 37-sided cubes. They were all sorts of different shapes and he's like, I don't know, it must be this, it must be the same strategy. And they all had a very similar strategy.

Speaker 2 (26:10)
We

Yeah, they know the algorithms. think, I think Evan said they memorize the algorithms and you just know. So it's only, it's only a set number. And then you just go to town. That actually is a good metaphor. If you didn't know that, if you didn't know that there was a set number for constraint, you would be like me and I would be like fumbling with it.

Speaker 1 (26:37)
Yeah.

You're like, this is not working. Yeah. would give up long before it ever got finished. Side note, did tell Colin, I'm like, dude, you could ever the entrepreneur. I'm like, you can make a YouTube channel, Colin's cubes and teach people how to solve the Rubik's And then it could be just like his hands solving it real fast. I'm like, someone watch that. There's always YouTube channels of people unwrapping stuff. Certainly they would watch you solving Rubik's cubes.

Speaker 2 (26:59)
Perfect.

sure they would. There's a business idea. If photography doesn't work out for anyone, you could do that.

Speaker 1 (27:16)
I'm telling you, there are opportunities everywhere. I had to put that through my vision rubric.

Speaker 2 (27:21)
Yes. my gosh. Rubic Rubix. Okay. So my question in this area is what would it look like if you had the year of your dreams without burning out?

Speaker 1 (27:33)
and without worrying about what other people think about that year. So no norms like, yeah, no out.

Speaker 2 (27:36)
Yes, yes.

⁓

So when I asked these people yesterday this question about what do you actually want? I caught on to the fact that people have to think about that and they kind of, you know, look up and look around and they're searching for the answer in their brain. And so the last time I asked it on the call, I said, you have exactly half of one second to answer this question I'm about to ask you, because I don't want you thinking about it.

Because here's why, when you start thinking about that question, you are self editing so that the answer matches your version of reality. And you're not dreaming. Self editing based on what you believe is realistic. That is not a dream. That is not a vision. That is boring. So I made it a little bit more challenging for people.

Speaker 1 (28:25)
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (28:29)
to just say what it is, like, what are you dreaming about? What would that look like if you had the year of your dreams without any constraints, any fears, without burning out? It was just fun and light and easy. What would 2026 look like for you? And just let yourself dream about it. Don't put these artificial rails, you know, this isn't a child's bowling alley. You can remove the bumpers and just let yourself imagine what that could look like.

Speaker 1 (28:56)
Yes, I agree.

Speaker 2 (28:59)
All right, good one. The next one is.

This idea of not fighting against reality and reality being that it's going to be hard and challenging. Instead of wishing it were easier, my favorite Jim Rohn quote is, don't wish it were easier, wish you had more skills. So this goes back to the identity thing about.

Speaker 1 (29:25)
Hold on, I might have a thing here, because what if it can be easy?

Speaker 2 (29:31)
It could, yes, but not wishing for that.

Speaker 1 (29:34)
Okay, okay, that's where that's the distinction. Not wishing for it to be easy, embracing the challenge, knowing it can be easier than expected. Yes. Okay.

Speaker 2 (29:42)
Yes.

They're also saying like, I don't, I actually, here's the truth. You do not want it to be easier because you wouldn't develop any skills.

Speaker 1 (29:53)
Yeah. And if it was super easy, everyone else would do it and then they were like even,

Speaker 2 (29:57)
So what if easy wasn't the goal, although it could be easier than you expect. What if it was like, yeah, there are going to be challenges. And so what I am here for it. So I was talking to my life coach last week about this. And I said, I think my brain has been fighting against reality, you know, wishing this wasn't happening or this was happening or whatever. And then I'm trying to coach myself.

Speaker 1 (30:05)
And I am here for it. ⁓

Speaker 2 (30:23)
around my thoughts and I'm, you know, and non-judgmental and it's okay to feel this way and all this like good coaching stuff. But then I had this epiphany that was like, I wouldn't need to coach my brain on that. If I loved and anticipated challenges, leaned in instead of resisting, that's what's making you miserable.

Speaker 1 (30:39)
leaned into the challenge.

What if having a business is really actually what if life it's really just a series of challenges to teach us things because I think it is. Whether it's personal or business, it is a series of series of challenges to teach us things. And also, also if it was super easy, you wouldn't appreciate the business that you felt you wouldn't. You wouldn't have celebrate the wins.

Speaker 2 (30:55)
think it is.

Speaker 1 (31:11)
It's that duality of the universe, like happy, sad, like to really appreciate the great times in life. Yeah, there's going to be some pretty sad times too. And maybe the beauty of living is being able to experience all those things.

Speaker 2 (31:24)
Wow, you sound like you sound like an actual stoic philosopher.

Speaker 1 (31:29)
me just call me it's my Buddha it's my Buddha day it's yeah the end of end of the year I got there's a book so you know it's all good but yes I mean we could go into we could go into it's karmic soul contracts but we'll just leave it at that

Speaker 2 (31:32)
Yeah. Epictetus Nicole.

Yeah.

Ryan Holiday wrote a book called The Obstacle is the Way. He's a stoic guy, studies the philosophers. And basically he's like, well, you need the obstacles and the challenges in order to find the way, the path. And that's necessary. So many of us, obviously self-included, resist the fact that something might be hard and it's not conscious. I mean, I love hard things and trying to work my way through all these difficult obstacles.

But somewhere, know, subconsciously I'm resisting reality. And I just, I just had this epiphany. I was on the treadmill and I was like, well, if I, if I wanted the challenges, if I said to myself, I don't want it to be easy because I want to be stronger and I trusted myself, there's the self concept, then I would just continue to move forward without all the arm waving and the dramatics.

Speaker 1 (32:43)
And what if, what if the challenges are actually what allow you to step into that next identity? Because if I've said this before too, where, you know, in free to focus formula, we teach the kind of the four levels, help you move through the four levels of your business to at least level three as quickly as possible, which is like you're starting out like all inclusive digital, start to add some products, and then you get to that 2000, 3000 average sale plus like your, your boutique business.

If you opened your business and all of a sudden you were having $5,000 sales all the time, you like, as soon as maybe something shifted, you wouldn't know how to make that, to get it back there. Like you need to have that, that experience ability and it to have processes in place and also to know how you build it in the first place so that one thing shifts because we live in a constant.

world of change, everything is changing around us all the time, the economy, buyer psychology, AI, there's so much stuff that's constantly changing that if you don't have the experience of going through those things and learning things for yourself, then you can't possibly keep up with those and continue on that path because there's always going to be a new challenge that's just like, all right, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (34:02)
And sometimes, sometimes all the time, the only way to learn is to have to go through it yourself. That's the only way you get the wisdom. Now, listen, I'm a I'm like a prophet. So you're stoic. I'm a prophet. There's there are people listening to this right now that are agreeing with you. And they're like, yeah, I can see that. then they're like, Nicole, why? my goodness. Why do I have to go through that to get the five? They'll joke. They will joke.

They will say so ingest they will say, yeah, but it would really be really nice if I got those $5,000 sales right out of the gate. And the minute that happens, if you're listening and you're doing that right now, you are in the resistance. You are resisting reality. You still don't want to accept that you have to face these challenges and that the journey is there for you and for a reason. That's OK. No judgment. But just know you're still still still hoping, wishing that that could happen for you.

Speaker 1 (34:56)
One more, one more thing, just before we move on to the last one, and it kind of reminds me, it's similar that I have, a sign in my mud room. It's, like, I forget exactly what it says, but something about like the happiness is the journey. Like the journey is happiness. Like same thing here that like, this is the journey. This is life is challenges. And the same thing that like the people that are like, all right, I'll be happy when it's easy or the same people I'll be, or

you know, it'll be great when it's easy or I'll be happy when I have X, I have Y, I have Z. I'm like, no, no, no. You need to be happy with the journey. So like you need to, you need to accept that this is part of the journey too and go forward into it with just the, all right, I'm here to learn. Let's go. Like this is making me better. And having that faith that you have what it takes to get the lesson you need or the result you want.

Speaker 2 (35:48)
I love that. my question for this category is what are you anticipating this year instead of fearing?

Speaker 1 (36:00)
What are you anticipating this year instead of fearing?

Speaker 2 (36:03)
So challenges, not working, failure. What if you anticipated and were actually looking forward to excited about failure?

Speaker 1 (36:05)
Yeah.

huh. You get to learn things.

Speaker 2 (36:15)
This

is curious, isn't it? Like, it's just like a different way to look at it. Okay. Next one. this goes along with this idea of the journey is you're not behind because you are building. You are building. So there's no shame in any type of progress. Okay. People are going to go into categorize themselves as slow progress or fast progress or whatever. Most people would

wish they were further ahead, right? So they'll put themselves in the slow progress category. But that if you're on the journey, then you're just on the journey. I mean, it's just takes what it takes. You know, if you're going to drive from Pittsburgh to Charlotte, which I have done to visit you, it just takes what it takes. I mean, that's part of like, okay. So some days you're going a little faster. Some days you're going a little bit slower, but it's just the journey is the journey. So if you start to get caught up in negativity around

the swiftness or lack thereof of your progress, you're just putting yourself in a trap you can't get out of. It's just not helpful, is what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (37:23)
What if part of the journey was actually like a, when the journey goes awry and you're like, this is a problem. What if it was actually not a problem? What if it was just part of the journey? What if something unexpected came out of it? speaking of like the driving from Pittsburgh to Charlotte, like, my mom's friend was driving down and he drove down on bridge day for West Virginia, new river Gorge.

It's when they close the bridge over the gorge. Oops. face jump off of it all day. so what should be literally a 90 second drive ends up being over an hour going down the gorge across the valley and up the other side. Which can be pretty frustrating. Or, I mean, what are you going to do? Unless you're going to jump off the bridge and climb up the other side, which

probably would still take just as long. Like you're going to have to do it or you stop or you turn around or whatever. But what if something like that actually leads to like, maybe I get to experience this beautiful drive was beautiful. It's, know, that part of West Virginia is gorgeous. Or maybe you find like, maybe I'll stop for lunch here instead of eating at some fast food place along the way. Like what if there was unexpected joy in the challenges?

Speaker 2 (38:38)
I love that. And you know, I'm very familiar with that route that you speak of and I have no clue how to detour around that bridge.

Speaker 1 (38:47)
Well, they showed you, mean, they detoured you around, but it was an hour.

Speaker 2 (38:51)
my gosh, I'm actually surprised it was only an hour to tell you the truth because that is a pretty crazy area. So yeah, I would be mad. I got to tell you if I...

Speaker 1 (39:01)
Yeah, yeah, but like especially if you're like me you're in the car and it's for a trip you're like, all right GPS says four hours and three minutes. Yeah, race.

Speaker 2 (39:08)
Yes,

I gotta beat the GPS.

Speaker 1 (39:12)
If somebody

is my cards like I have to stop using bathroom like we left half an hour ago now No, no, we go to the bathroom. We get food and we get gas but that is probably not that is probably not the way that I should be looking at it because instead like all right, maybe maybe there's some unexpected joy That I could find along the way if I wasn't so fixated on the endgame. Yeah

Speaker 2 (39:34)
No, that's fair. I would get fixated on my disappointment instead of being open to the joy. You're right. Yeah. So, you know, this idea of like, I'm behind or on my head or this is where I should or shouldn't be. It's just nonsense. This just you're just always refining as you are on this journey. So the question is, where can you give yourself credit for how far you've already come?

Speaker 1 (39:40)
All I mean is human nature.

We hate to do that.

Speaker 2 (40:02)
Yeah, remember that you and I have talked, I think we did on the podcast, did we? The gap in the game?

Speaker 1 (40:07)
We did that and we talked about non revenue victories.

Speaker 2 (40:09)
Yes.

Yes. So I would really recommend, I mean, think of it this way. You could start the new year by saying, man, I better, I better hit the gas because I am so far behind and I should be doing this and I'm going to set these goals. And you might even think you're coming at it from a good place, right? But it's going to make you feel a certain way that will not be useful versus where can I give myself credit? look how far I've come.

This is so exciting. This is so fun. I can't even imagine how amazing this year's going to be because what I've already built, not about what's missing, but what I've already done.

Speaker 1 (40:44)
Yeah, I mean, if you can drop back into that version of you that just picked up a camera, just started their business, just, you know, whatever in the past and would look at today and be like, wait, what? We did all that? You know, there's there's like a little inner child piece of you that's pretty hyped with how things have turned out. Even if you're still like in a challenging point in your life, I feel like that is even more important to find the things where you're like,

Look how far I've come here. Like even though something might not be working out as expected or it's really challenging, like look at what I have accomplished.

Speaker 2 (41:20)
Yeah, that's just a basic gratitude practice. You know, if you think about it, it's like you can choose to focus on what's missing and feel like garbage about it, or you can choose to be grateful for what you already know.

Speaker 1 (41:32)
But it also ties into identity because you all used to always say like the girl that could build this homestead can do anything. ⁓

Speaker 2 (41:38)
favorite,

that is my favorite like mantras. Like if I could build a homestead in the middle of the woods where they said it could not be done. And by the way, the Department of Environmental Protection denied our permits at first, you know, like, so people said it couldn't be done. The government tried to tell me it couldn't be done.

I had a mortgage broker tell me it couldn't be done. I'd never get a loan because I was self-employed. Everybody said it couldn't be done. And Heather just sat back and said, watch me. And I did it. I did it. I'm so proud of that. And when I really think about that, when I look at this property and I think we did this, how in the world? Yeah, because a girl who can do that can do anything. So yeah, I'll figure out how to go get clients or

you know, mess around with my pricing. That's easy.

Speaker 1 (42:28)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2 (42:31)
Okay, I want to please, if I may recap these four questions to ask yourself going into 2026. The first one is what's one area where you want to feel differently this year? The second one is what would it look like if you had the year of your dreams without burning out? And what had we added to that in alignment and?

easy and fun and light. forget we had a whole discussion.

Speaker 1 (43:01)
Yeah, go back and listen. My ADHD brain has already gone bad as...

Speaker 2 (43:06)
The third one is what are you anticipating this year instead of fearing? guess what could you anticipate, look forward to, get excited about this year instead of

Speaker 1 (43:17)
Yes, that's a good way to ask that one. I like that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:20)
And then lastly, where can you give yourself credit for how far you've already come?

Speaker 1 (43:25)
I love it. Permission to woo.

Speaker 2 (43:27)
Yeah, permission granted.

Speaker 1 (43:31)
2025 to 2026 is like a year of massive conscious change. And also with like 2025, think of the year of the snake and like this, it's like, there's just so much energy shifting that like the past couple of years have been very difficult for a lot of people. And it's been this change that is like ready for 2026, like starts off the next set of nine for the next nine years.

So like this is the best time to just be like, let's get clear on that vision. Who do I want to be? Let's take steps into it and go. Cause we've got nine years of growth, baby.

Speaker 2 (44:10)
okay. I received that. I love that because this year, the past several, but this year in particular was hard for, you're right. A lot of people self included and I am ready and excited for the growth. But like you said earlier, the dip and the growth, that's all part of it. It's all necessary. right. It's good.

Speaker 1 (44:30)
And often before there ends up being some growth, has to be, I mean, this is part of manifesting too, like there has to be a period where things make space, like things kind of fall apart. And then it's like, things are just resettling, reshifting to make space for the new thing. which also comes to our business too, of just like, you know, we're in, in a major period of like re reorganizing. I've talked about it to my,

my students, but not publicly on the podcast yet, that we are kind of moving all of our courses into like one home, streamlining everything, relooking at like, how do you flow through the content? How do we support it? How do we have the submissions help with asynchronous coaching to help all the time? So it's all the people with all the schedules, like rebuilding this entire kind of system. Cause it's been 10 years of selling online courses. And so it's gotten bloated and crazy. So like before

Like to have room for that regrowth is like, all right, we've got to like clear some things away and just like really ask like, what is important here? because back in the day when we started and I was like, this has 5 million videos. People are like, yeah.

videos and now I'd be like, no one has time for that. So, so like, it's just like, yeah, things have to kind of shift and, and then then look out. anyway, we're in a very, very exciting, internal point of, of restructuring at the moment. It's going to be very exciting.

Speaker 2 (45:59)
That is so fun. Congratulations. I know you're going to kill it. It's going to be fantastic. New era, all of the things. I had posted a few days ago a video of you and I from 10 years ago when we first announced one of the courses. You were still in Pittsburgh, so you were here at my home. And my gosh, I just laughed watching us talk and how far we've come. I'm still very proud. know, I'm not like, there's no like embarrassment. You know, I think

I think, we were doing great. We were really ahead of our time, you know, putting that stuff together. And so you're right. Then it was more is more.

Speaker 1 (46:38)
Uh-huh. And now it's like, how can I just get results the fastest with like, yeah, the less is more in the support piece? Cause I think that is also the piece, you know, going into AI has been helpful for so many ways, but it's also like, it is, I'm sure you guys have experienced this where you're like asking and asking. And it's just like, you're going around in circles and then finally you find the answer and you're like, I just didn't ask it right. Like,

Speaker 2 (47:05)
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:05)
Yeah,

it's like can be really, really frustrating. yeah, I feel like the there is always in that this is still from the past. Like it has always been having some sort of direct support to like move forward is always going to be the fastest way. So we're getting all the fluff out of the way to like just zero in on that.

Speaker 2 (47:28)
Yeah, that reminds me of, actually think we heard this from James way back in the day. He said, if you could go to a dentist and the dentist said, I can do this root canal and it'll take an hour, you know, but I could charge you, you know, $5,000 more and it will take five minutes.

Speaker 1 (47:45)
Yeah, uh-huh

Speaker 2 (47:46)
the five-minute option sir please

Speaker 1 (47:48)
Uh huh. Yes. Yeah, actually I did this when I went to the eye doctor. Um, I hadn't been so long. Like my vision's still great other than I need readers on occasion guys, like I'm 50 of these happen. Um, but my, my far vision is still good. Like, so I really just never went because when they would dilate your eyes would make me really nauseous and like just horrific. And then somebody is like, Oh no, they have a new thing. Sometimes you have to pay extra, but it's just like a

Like they do it without dilating your eyes. I'm like, great, I'll go. And they're like, insurance doesn't always pay for it. And I'm like, I don't care what it costs. I do not want to my eyes dilated.

Speaker 2 (48:26)
That actually, I forgot about that. You're right. Because they offered me that a few years ago and said, we can do it faster with this thing. But and she's like leaning down, she's like, but it's going to be extra. And I can't remember how much. I was like, are you?

Speaker 1 (48:40)
For mine it was like $30, so it wasn't that.

Speaker 2 (48:42)
was going say it was 20. Yeah, yeah. She's like, it's going to be an extra. And she hesitated as if she was about to tell me, know, thousands. And she's like, an extra $20. Are you sure that's OK? I said.

Speaker 1 (48:57)
Yes. What?

Speaker 2 (48:58)
That option.

Of course. That's great. my gosh.

Speaker 1 (49:03)
All

right, well, this has been one heck of a podcast to kick off the new year. So fun. wait, hold on.

stop. My phone's ringing like a spam call. Okay. No more spam in the new year, please. Anyway, has been one heck of a podcast to kick off the new year and I am very excited for what's in store and yeah, whether you guys are in Elevate yet or going to be joining Elevate or in any of my programs or just whatever you are in our community, even if you're

Speaker 2 (49:23)
Lee.

Speaker 1 (49:41)
New to the podcast. are so excited you're here and we can't wait to go on this journey with you. So here's to 2026. Let's go. See you guys next week.

Speaker 2 (49:49)
Let's go!