Busting Burnout (part 1)

There was a time certain hair types (along with the requested look) used to

intimidate me. We're talking super thick, extra long (or both!), prone to tangle and "you want a color melt?!"... I’d spend so much time working through All. That. Hair. with color, foils, lightener, etc. and get to the end knowing I had something pretty good, but now I have to dry it? And you want it smooth and styled, too?! Arrgh. I didn’t plan my service time well and I was EXHAUSTED at the end of it all! And by this point two other guests were waiting to get their time with me, too. Spending day after day in the same pattern, what do you think that amounts to?

BURNOUT. Y’all I was so wiped doing something I LOVE and there was little relief in view. A great problem to have, right? I thought it was fantastic that my business was booming and I always had a waitlist. More education and a ton of practice got me to a point where doing an in depth color service on massive hair didn't totally drain me, but even then, I had failed to really plan around what else was expected of me in that day. Read, I can't pull it off twice back to back, let alone throw in a third! Regardless of what kind of craziness I let onto my books -- without a planned lunch most days -- I was basically living to serve my business, rather than building a business that served me. I mean, the reason anyone becomes an entrepreneur is to run their own life, isn’t it?

There is an all too common trap that gets us stuck in a cycle of demand-response. It’s only natural that one should take the popularity bestowed upon them and jump at every opportunity to grow and scale, thus proving their awesomeness to all in the land! This is what I thought more or less.

I didn’t know the beauty in the “white space”. A place where you purposely decide not to pack in #allthethings for the sake of true rest and recreation, both on your own and with your people. I wasn’t good for myself or my family when I relentlessly stuffed my calendar with hair appointments, business tasks and household duties. I would reason that it's all important, vital, necessary!

In her book, “The Joy of Missing Out”, Tonya Dalton says “If everything is a priority, nothing is.” We MUST choose our priorities and then keep choosing them, over the things that “pop up”, demand our focus, energy and time without our permission, and we must stay fixed on our True North if we are going to live a life with meaning. Let's continue this conversation in Part 2 of “Busting Burnout”.

But for now, I'd love to know if any of this is resonating with you. If you are a driven woman with people in your life, I'm betting it has to be striking a cord...let me know in the comments if you know your True North and if the activities you find yourself in most of your day are pointing toward that all-important direction in your life. Please, share with a girlfriend, a sister, a mama you know needs this today.

your friend,

Mags