What does the word “success” mean to you? Do you see it as something far away that you hope you’ll achieve some day even though you’ve never defined it and you don’t really know how to get there?
Or do you see success as a specific goal that motivates you to consistently learn and grow to be the best version of yourself?
Or do you fall somewhere in between? No doubt about it, success looks different to everyone.
And I bet every hairstylist who graduates from beauty school desires to achieve success. It wouldn’t make sense to go through the time and expensive of beauty school if you didn’t want to succeed, right?
But there are stylists who graduate and within six months to a few years, they end up burnt out and ready to leave the profession. What happened to their goal of success?
What I’ve been hearing from new and frustrated stylists is that it’s because of self-doubt, lack of confidence and feelings of overwhelm that cause them to walk away from the industry and search for another career.
That breaks my heart, but I get it. When you first start out it takes hard work and dedication. It also takes humility and plenty of determination to succeed.
Is it worth it? You bet it is! This is an awesome industry so I encourage you to dig in and learn what it takes to become the success you’ve always dreamed of becoming.
Here are seven steps to help you achieve SUCCESS:
1. Set your goals.
This means setting a goal for yourself for today and beyond. First, set a three-month goal. Where do you want to be in three months? Continuing thinking about where you want to be and then set goals for six months, one year, three years and even five to ten years out.
Where do you want to be in your hairstyling business? Get really specific about where you want to be working. What kind of clients will you be working on? How much money will you be making? What does your wardrobe look like? What kind of car will you be driving? Set your goals and write them down with dates of when you want to achieve them.
2. Understand the obstacles.
With every goal you set there's going to be obstacles. Guaranteed, there will be situations that come up that will set you back. For instance, at some point in your career, you will mostly like make a mistake on a haircut or a color service. You’ll probably experience a client asking you for a redo. Or maybe you’ll get a bad review.
Things like this can be very disheartening and make you doubt yourself. But understanding that this is an obstacle that you're going to face and preparing your mind to look at it as a learning experience instead of a failure will keep you on the right track.
3. Create a positive mental picture.
Creating a positive mental picture means taking time to envision yourself as the hairstylist you want to be. Take some time to review your goals every day. See yourself as if you’ve already accomplished them. Feel all the good feelings associated with success. You’re confident. Your schedule is fully booked. You’re giving beautiful haircuts and color services. You’re charging what you’re worth. Relish those feelings, whatever they are.
Your mental picture will be uniquely yours. Prioritize spending time every day visualizing yourself in that positive space and living your best life.
4. Clear your mind of self-doubt.
Self-doubt will raise its ugly head many times as you’re learning and growing in your business. Everybody struggles with it at some point in their career. Don't let yourself go down that rabbit hole of thinking negatively. If you catch yourself self-doubting, go back to #3 and envision yourself in that positive place. This really helps to rid yourself of self-doubt.
From time to time, you might find yourself working on something that just feels too hard or you're really frustrated. That’s okay. We all go through it. Ask for help or simply step away for a moment. Allow yourself a little mental break. Take some deep breaths, and then go back to work. You’ve got this!
5. Embrace the challenge.
Building a successful business behind the chair can sometimes be challenging. Embrace it! At the end of each work day, take some time to reflect on your accomplishments. It helps to journal your victories so you can look back on them when you’re having a rough day that leaves you feeling weary.
Embrace the challenge! Power through it! Tomorrow is another day to conquer the challenges. And each day brings you one step closer to achieving your goals.
6. Stay on track.
At the end of each week, take some time to look back over the week and make sure that you’re doing what needs to be done to keep your business heading in the direction of your goals. Some examples are keeping track of your daily numbers, keeping track of your clients. Pay attention to who's returning and who's not returning.
Monitoring your business will help you stay on track for your goals. You’ll be able to spot areas of your business that need more attention so you can tend to them quickly before they become obstacles and slow down your momentum.
7. Show the world you can do it.
This is the most important one of all! Celebrate your victories! You’ve earned it!
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On Point Hair Academy and my Own Your Chair program were created for stylists like you who need just a little help (or a lot of help) in different areas of their hairstyling business. You don’t have to take this hairstyling journey alone.
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Remember, your work is not about you. Your work is about how you make your clients feel.