What do you value?
What do you value?
Did you know my first profession is as a Hairdresser and Master Barber? I started at 13 years old as a Saturday Girl in the village salon. By the time I was 16 I had pretty much done an apprenticeship.
Although this was never my intended profession, it gifted me so much learning about people, life and myself.
You see, you don’t really get much choice on who comes into a village salon.
Anyone and everyone used it.
Which meant I had access to all flavours of people. Listening to their stories, holding space for their struggles and celebrating their successes.
It taught me that underneath it all people just want to be loved and feel safe. Now, how they ask for and offer these two things are as multifarious as people themselves. The desire for love and safety is at the core of all humans.
There was one client many years ago who asked to go from a blonde to redhead. She initially bounced out the salon feeling on top of the world… only to come back the next day in tears. Her initial delight evaporated with each reaction from her loved ones. After a couple of hours in the chair she was back to being blonde, and again went away happy.
Moral of the story?
Sometimes we really want to make changes in our lives for our own happiness. However, the hardest part of any change is managing others reactions.
And this is also true for making life shifts to help us live a more frictionless life, and in line with our neurodivergent needs.
There is nothing wrong with going from blonde to red-head. Some of us revel in this dramatic change… heck… I am all up for radical change (err… hello… have you seen my rainbow of hair colours?).
For some of you… who are already navigating the fringes of burnout most of the time… this would be a road too far.
And I am here to tell you… that it is possible to make radical change over time. Tiny incremental shifts in behaviour and thinking… and that can create monumental change.
Someone once gave me a saying that has stayed with me for many years…
“It’s all about geology… with the right amount of time and pressure you can achieve anything”
And it’s true.
Just as you can wear away a mountain with a nail file… it is also true you can design a life free of burnout one tiny action at a time.
And it doesn’t even matter what the first action is. It may, in hindsight be the most ridiculous place to start… There may be a million options that feel overwhelming… What is more important is that you start. Somewhere. Anywhere… choose one action… and do it…
And if you need external accountability or validation… Reply to this email and lemme know what your starting point is
Have an awesome day.
I believe in you.
