How a canceled photo session gave me abundance
My photography client didn’t show up for their session - and I’m NOT mad about it.
WHAT? Not mad?? Shouldn’t you be livid??? 👀😰
No. And here’s why:
This rarely happens
I learned from this experience (and actually created ABUNDANCE!)
I was able to get some movement in for the day
Five years ago I would have been livid because this session was scheduled last minute and then it was rescheduled because the client thought it might rain.
But today, I saw this as a gift. A bonus of abundance and wealth. You see, wealth doesn’t always show up in the form of physical dollars. Wealth can be whatever you want it to be.
Have you ever thought of money as an exchange of energy?
The only reason money is valuable is because we give it that value. We have an assumed value of the “dollar”. Someone tells us that it’s worth a certain amount. So why not apply that to other aspects - more specifically your time. Your time is your most valuable asset. Getting that 20 minutes back was an unexpected refreshing break in my weekend. It was like finding a $100 dollar bill on the ground. Now don’t get me wrong - I absolutely love photography and being able to connect with clients. I also love connecting with coaching clients each week. But I also rejuvenate myself by being active and being outside. And sometimes the rejuvenation of myself takes a back seat (and maybe it does for you too 🤷♀️).
So when this beacon of wealth showed up, I jumped at the chance to take it. And I encourage you to take things like this too! Sometimes wealth shows up as an opportunity to do something that you might not have had time for before. Or something that you’ve been putting off because “there’s too much other stuff to be doing”.
About half way into town I was at a stop light and checked my email to make sure I knew the location. There the email was, “Going to miss out on photos. My friend is leaving and I want to say goodbye. Sorry about that. Was looking forward to photos.”
That’s it. Those four lines. That email landed in my inbox just 45 minutes prior to the start of the session. And here I was nearly to the location.
I’ll admit, my itty bitty shitty committee showed up right away. Grumbling and saying things like, “why didn’t you check your email before you left home? You would have known they weren’t coming.” and “you could be writing your blog for the week and getting social posts ready to go, instead you’re driving into town for no reason.” and “now what are you going to do?!” All the things I could or should have done.
I closed my email app and took a deep breath in. Yes, indeed, now what am i going to do?!
And then, my magic brain showed up and offered this thought: “You need time for movement and time to think. You don’t have a topic for this week’s blog and you always have great ideas when you can move your body. This is a great opportunity to grab a coffee, take a walk and clear your mind. You have the time, take it. This is a gift from the universe.”
So I turned right, stopped to grab a coffee, and then I went for a walk. The day was perfect for it - mid 70’s and sunny with a breeze. I was in one of my favorite parts of town and knew that the walking loop I wanted to take would take me through a fun wooded ravine, through a small neighborhood and back.
And I’m sure you might be thinking, “you spent money getting the coffee and driving to town. How is this getting you any further ahead?! WHERE’S THE ABUNDANCE? AND HOW DID YOU MAKE MONEY?”
While yes, I spent money getting a coffee. Did I need it? No, probably not. But I knew that giving myself a “treat” would help the burn of the canceled session 🤣
As I walked I thought about the following things (here’s where the ABUNDANCE and ROI comes in!):
How I wanted or intended the situation to go (the ideal way the situation could have played out).
I let my brain play out how I wanted the session to go.
Meet the family on the beach. They are lovely, the sky is just right with a bit of cloud cover for the 20 minutes of photos so that no one is squinting, they pay, we both go our separate ways. I go home and edit the photos, upload them and email them. They love the photos.
WHY did I do that? Because your brain loves to have finality. It loves it when there is a beginning, middle and end. Had I let myself fester on the fact that they just canceled it would have continued to drive me nuts. So I played it out with the very best outcome.
After I did that I stopped walking, closed my eyes, took a deep breath in and when I exhaled I let all of that go. It’s in the past and I can’t change it.
What did I learn from how the situation actually went?
I learned that I need to update some of the terms and agreements in my photography contracts and invoices. I’ve been lax on this because quite honestly this has only happened to me TWICE in 15 years. Only 2 times have clients canceled at the very last minute or not shown up at all.
I also learned that even though this didn’t go the way that I thought it would, I still got some valuable things from it. I got to move my body by going for a walk (mental health ✅), content for a blog post and social media posts (coaching business copy ✅) and I got to have more coffee (caffeinated ✅✅). I also got about 2 hours of editing time back in my day to work on other things - like this blog!
How I can change/shift things for the future?
How can I change for the future? I’ve updated my terms in my photo contracts and have all of my emails updated for that as well making things more clear around my cancellation policies. Is this strict? No, not at all. This is to ensure that everyone is on the same page. When you know better, you do better. I know that when I am upfront with my clients - whether that’s coaching or photography - they don’t have to wonder about things.
Now this is all well and good if you’re a photographer or if you have a photography business.
But how does this relate to coaching? And how can you relate it to YOUR business?
The three questions that I asked myself are something that my coach had me do when I first started coaching with her. As a way for me to see that there is a lot to be learned in the “failures” of business. And more importantly that a failure can still be a win.
This is something I pass on to my clients as well! It’s been really helpful for a number of my clients - one of my clients used this when she was rearranging classes at her yoga studio. Her “failure” was that she was going to have to cancel some of her classes because she didn’t have a teacher. But the win?! The win was that she opened up a whole new time slot that wound up being much more popular. She almost didn’t rearrange her schedule because it was kind of working and she was stuck in the thought of, “what if no one shows up and I don’t make any more money?!”
So how was this a failure? My client canceled at the last minute.
How was it a win? I updated my verbiage in my contracts and invoices. That is something my future self will thank me for because this situation won’t happen again.
Leave me some big wins of yours below! If you fill out the freebie, send me an email! I want to know how it goes!
I want you to have huge abundant wins like this too! I turned these questions into a handy download for you!
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