By Scott Nichols, salon GM and consultant

December, 19, 2009, a mother is praising her neighbor and calling him “Superman” after he lifted a car high enough for her daughter to escape after being trapped under it. In 2012, a 22-year old woman found the strength to lift a BMW off of her father after a mishap with a flat tire. In 2016, a 19-year old daughter receives a Citizen Lifesaving Award for lifting a burning vehicle off of her dad. These are amazing stories that show what humans can do. I am pretty certain most of these heroes didn’t think it was possible to lift a vehicle ever in their life. But, I believe we all posses these surges of strength, and more importantly, I believe we can possess certain strengths and other abilities each day.

What is the difference between someone having the ability to lift a car during an emergency but not being able to any other day? They had no choice! If they didn’t lift the car, each of these victims could of died. Their mindset of lifting the car gave them no choice but to do it. Their arms and legs listened to what the brain was saying and did the task at hand. What if we create the same intense mindset but instead of lifting cars we use it to become the person we only dream of?

Many of us wouldn’t think it’s possible! And, for the most part, I would agree with you. We have way too much “junk” in our lives and don’t have the time or energy. In a past article, I had mentioned that we make over 35,000 decisions a day. It’s impossible to have an intense mindset on everything we do.  But, I believe what comes next might just help.

Warren Buffet, according to Forbes, is the third wealthiest American. He is worth $82.5 billion. Buffet has a simple method I believe will help achieve an intense mindset. Simplifying your life is a must.  You need to get rid of the “junk” and stop giving it any attention. When you spend time on “junk,” you are stealing valuable time and energy from more important things. In an article from Inc.com, Buffet had a conversation with his long-term pilot about priorities. Here is how he helped him:

1. The first is that you write down your top 25 goals you want to accomplish.
2. The second is to circle your top five most important priorities.
3. These five priorities are all that you work on. All the rest you forget.

This is some scary advice but pretty powerful. When you write down 25 priorities and you’re supposed to forget about 20 of them, it can make your head spin. How are you supposed to get through life without paying attention to these 20 other priorities? I think the answer lies in the top five priorities.

When you concentrate on your top five priorities, you are giving more time and attention to them. You will start seeing growth, and this growth becomes addicting. The other 20 priorities in your life don’t matter as much as they used to. So, how does this all relate to tanning and working in a tanning salon?

Your job should be one of your five top priorities. If it’s not, then this might be the answer to why you’re not liking your job, have poor performance, talk negative about anything and everything, and get passed up on any promotion. This reminds me of something I call survival mode. Survival mode is when you do just enough work so you don’t get fired.  Who’s having a moment right now and realizing that I am talking about them? I want you to honestly answer this question: Is your job in your top five priorities?  What would happen if it was? I think it could change your attitude and would improve what’s happening at work.

There isn’t a job that I ever had where I didn’t learn something. I had some jobs that were great and some that weren’t the best, but I always tried my best. Wherever I worked (including today), I have created an intense mindset – a mindset that we must do our best every day. All these past jobs I had made me who I am today.  In other words, every job I had, I learned something and today it’s still paying off. Here is what I learned from my experiences.

The first, I think, is simple: Make the decision to win every day.

This has to be an everyday battle. When you make it an everyday battle, you will get stronger. You will be training your mindset, and the more you train your mindset, the more victories you will have. Of course there will be days that you lose, but what counts is what happens the next day. You get back up off the ground and knock the crap out of tomorrow!

Last month’s article, I talked about five easy solutions to help you win (see below). Meeting these five solutions can help you succeed when selling behind the desk.

1. Your voice and tone are appropriate.
2. Body language is showing you being friendly and helpful.
3. You are educating the customer on how to meet their goals and continuing to learn and stay up-to-date on new products.
4. Dress appropriately along with hair and makeup (if you wear makeup) done.
5. You want to be there! You actually want to be at work versus somewhere else.

Now imagine, for a moment, the opposite – if you were to come into work with flip-flops, hooded sweatshirt and no makeup on. Before you even step foot in the store your mindset is on defeat instead of victory. You might argue with me and say that isn’t true, but I have experienced it way too many times to believe any different. It’s no different than a professional athlete getting suited up for the big game. Or how about an actor? When the makeup is on and the lights are shining down on them, they perform their best. Their mindset is intense, and it’s set to victory!

The second is: Always continue to learn and take on more responsibility. 

This is what you can control – nobody else! My first job in the tanning industry, we had minimal training, but training didn’t matter because we would see an enormous amount of people a day. What we did in volume made up for what a good seller could do. I would look at the numbers and see the only reason someone did better than another employee was because they saw 50 more customers. Their sales average was lower but, due to the number of customers, they made more money. That just didn’t sit right with me, and I decided to learn how to sell.

As I continued to learn, my sales increased. The fastest way (in my experience) to find growth in a company is by increasing your sales – it’s the fastest way to get noticed. Once my sales increased, I was asked to help out with training. So, I created my first training program and started to take on more responsibility. I then was able to share this knowledge with my co-workers, and it worked. I wasn’t their boss, nor did I get a raise immediately but they let me take more responsibility on and that started a fire inside me.

I wanted more. I wanted to keep learning and do more in the company. I didn’t wait for my turn. I instead jumped to the front of the line and made it my turn.

The third is: Look to perform at your best…always!

If you are following the first and second tips I am giving, then you will realize all eyes are on you. When you are the person that is showing up to work willing to win every day, learning and taking on more responsibilities, your co-workers will be watching you. These are the moments where you need to shine.  You need to be your best. These are opportunities that can bring you to the next level. You worked so hard for these opportunities, and upper management is waiting to see what you can do. Step up to the challenge and do your best!

Working on your top five priorities probably won’t allow you to lift cars, but it will allow you to become better than you are today. During the interview with the neighbor that was called “Superman,” he tried later in the day to lift the car once more, and he couldn’t. What changed? In my opinion, his mindset, because he had self-doubt about being able to do it again. You need to make your job a top priority, and you must continue to work on it every day. I understand this job might not be what you want to do for the rest of your life, but it can be something you want to do right now. I ask that you keep on learning, you take on responsibilities, always perform and, most importantly, fight the battles every day for that win. When you do so, you will see yourself rise to a level you never thought possible before.