We are going through a time right now as a country where mental health is a topic being talked about quite often and I want to weigh in on my experience with maintaining a healthy mindset behind the chair.
I have always struggled with my mental health although I have never been properly diagnosed with a specific disease so I will reframe from using names. I am speaking from a place of love and genuinely hoping to inspire you to take a more active role in your own mental health so you can create the salon studio of your dreams despite life’s up and downs.
When I was younger I didn’t know that the way I felt was any different than anybody else. Being outspoken I think I made people uncomfortable with my openness to being sad when I was sad and happy when I was happy. I now realize that I am not different than anybody else, it’s just not something people like to face. Unfortunately, this is still a standard of living today. I like to think of working behind the chair as our own little improv show!
We have certain points we have to hit but how we do it can vary dramatically. One thing for sure though, your customers are coming in to see you because they are having trouble with their hair and they want you to make them feel better about it!
It could be someone who comes in for maintenance or someone who is in twice a year for makeovers. When people come to the salon they want to come to a happy and fun environment where they will leave feeling refreshed and excited to show the world the new them!
Now we talk about all of the hardest parts of a hairdressers job but let’s be honest, being the person that is working with a customer one on one when you are having trouble just getting out of bed in the morning can be THE MOST DIFFICULT JOB EVER! 
First of all, I want to congratulate you for doing it thus far! You have made it to today and you’re still doing the job so I want to remind you that you are obviously doing something right. Even if you’ve fallen at times, you have gotten back up. If you haven’t, there is no time like now to start again!
Take a moment and reflect on all of the hard times you’ve overcome in the past. You have a 100% success rate this far in life!
As serious as a hard moment in life feels, time does keep moving and the circumstance we are in change whether we want them to or not.
Secondly, I want you to think about the thing that’s lingering in the back of your head and forgive yourself for it.
It wasn’t your fault!
You are validated in how you feel!
Express how you feel in whatever way you want to!
Just make sure to forgive yourself or whoever needs to be forgiven for you to move forward and live your life how you want to live it.
Maybe you are not actually struggling with yourself or with an event that has happened you just have an overwhelming feeling of unhappiness that comes over your randomly. If this is the case I urge you to take about 10-15 writing about how you are feeling. Dive deep into whatever goes through your mind and see if anything comes up that feels difficult to think about or write about.
Doing this at least once a day can also help you figure out your patterns of sadness. Once you start brainstorming on this topic make sure you address whatever it is that is causing you to feel pain.
I highly recommend therapy to every single person on the planet!
I know going to a therapist can feel scary and bring up plenty of anxious feelings but they are proven to help with mental health.
Most people have someone in their lives they can think of that has seen a therapist. Ask this person in your life even if you guys aren’t close if they can give you any advice about their experience.
Anybody who has been through tough times and addressed it in a healthy way, like talking with a therapist, will be thrilled to pass along the help! We all need it at times and it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!
You could also find a therapist the good ole fashioned way…a Google search! Your local therapists will all have a listing online so give it a search and start looking up your options.
Lastly, but certainly not least, creating healthy habits throughout your day is how you will maintain strong mental health for a lifetime. I have been working on forming my healthy daily habits for years now and I know I would not be where I am with my salon studio or life in general without them!
The thing with habits is they are not something you wake up one day and have…well, actually they kind of are but not on the first day!
You see what you need to do is figure out what your current habits are. 
List out everything you do every day all day long for a few days. After a couple of days take a few minutes and determine what your current good habits are and what your current bad habits are. Then make a list of the habits you wish you were doing or better yet the things you would be doing if you already had the success you desire to have. Now, create a big master list of your current good habits and add in the habits you will be adding to your days, leaving off the habits you will be dropping.
Voila!!
Now that you have a list of the things you need to be doing every day, get yourself a daily planner (my favorite) and start scheduling in when you will be doing each habit. Update it daily. Do it whenever it works best for you but make sure you stay consistent with it and if you miss a day just start again the moment you realize it!
My favorite part of filling this out daily is that I look at yesterday as an experiment to help me figure out what works best for me! Do I want to get my workout in before work or after? Do I want to check the salon’s numbers at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day or both!
Your habits are going to change over time too. Don’t worry if you start this and realize that you actually don’t think one of your habits is as healthy as you thought. Just drop it and get back to the ones that are!
Another tip I want to give you before we go today is to dream. It doesn’t matter how big or small just dream! When you let yourself think up somewhere else you want to be in life, you open your world up to having something to work towards. Even if you don’t think its possible to reach or if your dream is so little you’ll hit it in a day. Just keep doing it until your life is somewhere you didn’t expect!
Now you may be thinking I got off topic but I assure you when you are doing these things and you hit a bump in the road and you get knocked off of your motivation train, getting back up is SO MUCH EASIER! Dragging yourself out of bed to get to work is challenging at times no matter what your industry is but that face to face can be tough. Always remember, if you need a day, take a day! If you need an hour, take an hour!
Your business will not crumble because you needed to take a day off. Nobody needs to know you spent the day laying in bed crying. Please though, at some point during that day, go through this post and follow these directions!
These 3 actions are your key to building and maintaining strong mental health behind the chair!
Let me know in the comments below, what your go-to healthy habits are when you are having trouble getting out of bed!
If you are needing help when it comes to learning how to speak to your ideal client or even if you aren’t sure who your ideal client is and creating goals for your business and actively working towards them, you should definitely check out my 5 Day Workshop, Attracting your Ideal Salon Clients and Mastering Momentum! I know this 5-day workshop will not only be used once but over and over as you and your business continue to evolve and uplevel!
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,