Your Strongest “Hidden” Obstacle Uncovered…

    It’s early in 2013 and I want to talk to you about something a little different today.  What I’m about to share with you can have a profound impact on not just your salon business…but all areas of your life.

It’s one of those things that we all would like to believe has been dormant and somehow “we grew out of it a long time ago”.   Or maybe even “sure that affects other people but not me.”

But guess what?  We all pay a steep price for ignoring it.

I see it with salon owners all the time.  They look at their salon performance and can’t understand why they’re always struggling.  They have no idea what’s really holding them back.

Yet it’s obvious to me.  It’s the same thing that holds all of us back in all aspects of our lives.

I’m taking about fear.

We all suffer from it.  The only difference is that business owners that master it…are successful…and those that don’t struggle.

Know this.  Fear is the oldest and strongest emotion that we all share.  It’s hardwired into our subconscious.  And it creates it’s own self-fulfilling prophecy when you give into it.

Are you a salon owner that’s afraid of offending others, afraid of stirring up conflict, or afraid of standing up or out from the crowd?  Are you afraid of taking bold action for fear of what could go wrong?

When you do that…you lose energy, momentum, and any confidence in making decisions that are really pretty obvious to your long-term success.

This inaction actually leads you to have less and less confidence over time.  Procrastination is truly the thief of your future.

Again, this is natural.  Everyone is born with it.  Successful people just master it.

Believe me, I know, that today…you’re being hit from all sides on the fear index.  I call it the “Scaring of America” and the media loves it.

Our character is being assaulted and at the end of the day it’s tempting to want to “escape” into reality TV or fall asleep to a movie.

I see people every day glued to their smart phones.  They won’t even look up to see the train of reality that will be hitting them in the face.  It’s sad that people cannot go an hour without checking to see if someone commented on their Facebook post.

Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have done insurmountable damage to America’s youth.  They truly have made society less productive and less socially confident.

Oops sorry…a bit of a tangent there.  Back to fear…

Remember, you have layers of fear that you are neurologically hardwired for.  So, your natural tendency is to interpret any minor setback or temporary obstacle as something much larger…a crisis.

So what happens?  You do nothing.  And the trend continues.

Do yourself a favor…buck the trend.

Know that things will happen every time that you try and move forward.  It’s your mind that will choose to interpret them as either positive or negative.  If you can see things as a challenge (a positive) – it will help your combat that fear.

Instead of being discouraged and depressed by any obstacle…see it as a wakeup call.  As a small challenge that will ultimately transform you into a better, more successful person.  When that happens your energy rises, you get more aggressive in your business and you win more often.

You’re now able to surprise your competitors and ultimately, you care less about what people think and paradoxically this causes them to admire you more.

It’s starts with a choice:  Decide to NOT live in fear.  Suddenly all those obstacles won’t be so insurmountable.

As always, aim high…and dream even higher…

Steve Sampson