5 minute read
7 Steps To Sharpen Your
7 steps to sharpen your business focus during challenging times
BY ADRIENNE VARGA
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The year 2020 has delivered incredible challenges to salon owners. Are you wondering if you’ll be forever overwhelmed, frustrated and confused? Unsure how to keep your business alive in these challenging times?
I have great news. You have a CHOICE. Choosing to find opportunities when the going’s tough is hard. But choosing to give up and let things go is also hard.
Choose your HARD wisely.
I’m here to tell you that you CAN keep going. You CAN hang onto the hope that got you into business in the first place.
Follow my 7 tips to help sharpen your business focus and harness the staying power you need to come out of the other side with a thriving salon business.
Are you with me?
STEP 1: EMPTY YOUR CUP AND WRITE A RELEASE LIST
Imagine yourself sitting in a café. Your coffee arrives and it’s way too hot to drink. You have two choices: you can wait until it cools down (you may run out of time) or you can ask for some cold milk and an extra cup.
Why the extra cup?
Your first cup’s full. Before you can add cold milk, you need to empty a little coffee out.
It’s the same when you feel overwhelmed. There’s no room left for fresh ideas. You’re too busy with whatever your reality is right now.
So, how do you empty your mind?
Grab a piece of paper, find a quiet place and write down everything you feel, think and fear. Note down the hurts, the anger, the frustration. Don’t judge, just write.
Once it’s down, take that paper, tear it into tiny pieces and either bury, burn or flush it.
Release all those negative thoughts and feelings that are blocking you from finding your solution.
You might need to do this exercise a couple of times to get where you need to, to be ready to receive information and create solutions.
STEP 2: WRITE A GRATITUDE LIST
It’s time to see the positive things that are already in your life. They’re still there … you’ve just lost sight of them.
Grab another piece of paper and write a gratitude list. Begin with basics. Don’t pressure yourself. Some examples: - I am grateful for my healthy body - I am grateful for my family - I am grateful for my morning coffee - I am grateful for my sunshiny day - I am grateful for the people around me who I can trust - I am grateful that I always find the best solution to solve my challenges - I am grateful that things always work out for me
Your list is a work in progress and will grow longer and longer over time.
Read your gratitude list before you go to sleep or first thing in the morning. Acknowledging these positive aspects of your life will help you focus on ideas and solutions.
STEP 3: CHANGE YOUR WORDS
Everything is energy and everything is vibrating. When we’re experiencing guilt, powerlessness, insecurity, hatred and anger, we’re connected to lower vibrations can only experience or attract certain things.
When we’re experiencing positivity, contentment, belief, happiness, eagerness, love and joy, we’re connected to higher vibrations and our experience is very different.
As you know, the same thing can happen to two different people and one will make the best of it and the other will only find excuses why it didn’t work. It’s like tuning a TV/radio channel to different frequencies to find the music, movies, news or documentaries you prefer.
You get to choose the channel.
STEP 4: CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK
When it comes to challenges in business, salon owners often say to me: I can’t do that It’s impossible Not in my salon Not with my team
When you say to yourself that something can’t be done, you’re telling your brain to stop thinking of it as possible.
Instead, when something is challenging you, ask yourself:
How can I do it? How can I solve this problem?
These simple questions command your brain to start working on the solution. You’re in problem-solving mode and you’ll find solutions.
STEP 5: GET USED TO STEPPING BEYOND YOUR COMFORT ZONE
If you never step out of your comfort zone, your business will plateau. You’ll keep doing the same things and creating the same results.
There’s no growth without pushing your usual boundaries. Stepping out takes courage and a strong vision. You can do it!
Take your first step into ‘fear’ zone. It’s the unknown, the uncomfortable. I call it the muddy water. Don’t look back, take the leap of faith and keep moving.
Next step is the ‘learning’ zone where the water’s clearer. Here, you’ll find solutions and through experiences, you’ll learn.
Next you arrive at the ‘growth’ zone. Stop and celebrate, enjoy and rest for a while. You’ve DONE IT.
Welcome to your new ‘comfort’ zone. You’ll notice it’s very different from where you started. You’re stronger and wiser.
You’ve done a cycle and now you need to keep stepping out and up. Keep repeating the cycle and your business will thrive.
Step 6: Align with people who are solution focused
The people at the same stage you are have the same challenges and have not yet found solutions.
In contrast, people who’ve already done what you want to do will help you grow. They can share their path and show you new ways of thinking.
Find your tribe.
STEP 7: FEED YOUR MIND WITH POSITIVE INPUTS
You choose what you feed into your mind. Think carefully about the books you read, what you watch on TV. The social media you digest.
Monitor your emotions. If you feel uncomfortable watching certain things, stop watching them.
Your gut feeling will tell you what’s right for you.
When you focus on good information inputs, you’ll feel motivated, happy, encouraged and uplifted.
Now, keep going! Build on these 7 steps to focus your salon business smarts on what matters. Soon you’ll find yourself on the other side looking back at 2020 as a distant blip on the radar
