Wealthy Salon/Spa Owners Build Their Yes Muscle!

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Copyright © 2011 Dan Lok


Struggling salon/spa owners are like a garden hose. They seem to be in chaos all the time with a hundred things going on all at once. They have no direction therefore no discipline. They spray their thoughts everywhere like a garden hose with the nozzle turned to mist. Their thoughts and actions have no focus or power as they vaporize into thin air.

I was like this at one time, thinking a hundred different things. My emotions controlled me. Every time a feeling came up that is where I went. I was spread so thin, so distracted you could see right through me.

I was ruining my life thinking about hundreds of different things a day. I had no discipline. It was like taking a thousand dollars and depositing a single dollar into a thousand different banks. Living this way is a form of being undisciplined; anything can pull your attention away. You have no power to say no to anything.

When I talk and coach struggling salon/spa owners I hear about their scattered lives. It is as if they are dying from a hundred little distractions, bleeding from a hundred little cuts. They tell me about being constantly drained by their staff, vendor's, relatives, friends and client requests. They have never learned to say no.

Creating the life you want depends on developing what one of my mentors called your "No Muscle". You have to build this muscle over time. If you don't build your "No Muscle" and you are in a tough situation your "No Muscle" will be too weak to say no.

The secret to developing your "No Muscle" is to first develop your "Yes Muscle". You first have to start saying yes to what is important to you then saying no to what is not important to you will get easier for you.

When you make appointments with yourself and more importantly keep the appointment this is a form of saying yes. For example, if you say you are going to go to an aerobics class at 6 pm and you do go to the class. In other words your list of goals and priorities is a form of saying yes.

When you build the habit of setting specific time aside to do specific tasks or activities it is easier to say no to distractions and people that may cut into your time.

I suggest you start building this habit first with activities that you love so you can build your yes muscle slowly. I love ballroom dancing. Once I book a time to go to a ballroom dance class I am there. When I book a class a week in advance it is easy for me to say no someone who wants to have a meeting at the time of the class. I just say I have a commitment or already have an appointment at that time and people understand.

I wouldn't miss that class so it is easy to say no to other people, activities or distractions that they may try to get in the way. As one of my dance teachers says, "Life is a dance. Don't skip the dance."

The challenge starts when you have no plans, commitments or goals allowing people you may not even care about are taking all your time. You can't say no to others because you haven't said yes to anything.

The greatest value of planning is that it gives you your own life to live. It puts you in charge of your own plan. It allows you to focus on what's important to you.

Start asking yourself some of these questions: What do I really want to accomplish? How much time I am willing to commit to accomplish this? Which people are most important to me? How much time do I want to give them?

We start to become what we focus our thoughts on. Change starts with a plan. The planning itself is your most important priority. Block out 15 to 20 minutes a day for just thinking and planning. It may feel weird at first, maybe like you are not doing anything.

Just remember you are doing something planning and creating your life. Soon you will start reaping benefits that will amaze you. You can't imagine ahead of time what you will discover from open creative planning time.

One reason many people don't do it is the fear of the unknown. You will discover that the unknown is on your side and will work for you. You and I know if you don't change something you will keep getting the same. Take a small risk, a chance think about the new freedom and fun you can create in your life.

Wealthy salon/spa owners use their "no muscle by first building their "yes muscle". They also block out time to plan and create their week including their priorities. Isn't it time you blocked out some time to build your "yes muscle" and to take the time to plan out your priorities and goals for the week?


About the Author:
Dan Lok was a college dropout working as a grocery bagger in a local supermarket for minimum wage when he set out to make something of himself. A true immigrant success story - Dan came to North America as a teenager with little knowledge of English and no contacts. He became a self-made millionaire by the age of twenty-seven. Dan wrote about his experience of opening a successful salon in his book Lies Salon Owners Believe And The Truth That Sets Them Free. Visit Dan at: http://www.salonbusinessexpert.com/