19 Aug Aug 19th: Gina Rivera
Is there something in life that you have been striving for? My ideology is don’t just strive for it, be the very best you can be at it. Set your standards high and become excellent. I believe every one of us is born to stand out in some way with the gifts that we are given.
I repeatedly say “be open to change” and this applies directly to becoming excellent. I am never above being taught new strategies for business and techniques for improving my game. This means I must be humble and open to learning new things. Some people say to me “why bother, you have been around the industry since you were born?” and trust me, that’s a long time! However,I remain excited when it comes to learning new information and improving myself.
For example, as the Founder and President of a multi-national company, I am open daily to learning new ideas from my executive team. I realize that they have had their own experiences in the business world and I have surrounded myself with them because they each possess specific skills that I can utilize to grow our brand and I can personally learn from them. I also strive daily to learn from the amazing Salon Professionals in our organization. They are the backbone of my company and are highly talented professionals. Being exposed to all their creativity, feedback and new ideas keeps me fresh and striving for excellence. Even my own children play a role in my pursuit of excellence as I strive to be the best example possible to them. Some of life’s lessons my children have taught me are invaluable.I know one thing for certain, the more information that I gain, the more I become an expert and the closer I am to achieving excellence.
Remember, you never know who or what may contribute to you performing at a higher level. I realize that I can learn from anyone. I don’t care if you have been at something for 50 years, you might be surprised at how much you don’t know, and what a young person just starting out may bring to the table for you.
Achieving excellence requires you to be a student of your trade as well. Studying your craft keeps you inspired, it makes it fun and interesting, and equally important; it keeps you out of those dreadful ruts.There are so many resources you can gain knowledge from such as publications, websites and industry periodicals. But, you must seek these items out if excellence is your goal.
Studying will present new techniques and strategies for you to master which brings me to my next point. Once you have identified something new that you feel would be valuable to learn, challenge yourself not just to learn it, but to perfect it. Challenges can be difficult, they require you to learn,grow and be diligent. Further, challenges are a very important step on the road to excellence and you will feel very accomplished once you have met them and surpassed them.
So don’t forget my three rules; learn as much as you can from others; become a student of your trade and inspire yourself through learning, and finally; set challenges for yourself. and as always… be open to change!