Be Your Own Boss

I’m going to start digging deeper in the upcoming weeks to what makes a successful businessman. I say businessman because I am a man who is in business. I’m sure it will be appropriate for the ladies, but I’m the least politically correct person you’ll ever meet. I only know life from my perspective.

The biggest reason I have been successful has not been education (I was in the bottom 10% of my high school class and dropped out of college). It has not been due to brilliance (I’m intelligent but by no means smart). It has not been due to nepotism or a studious attitude or responsibility or wealth or luck or even drive. I firmly believe that I have been successful because I was confident.

Confidence will be my regular Thursday topic — it is that complex that I could write about it for 2 years and still not cover the topic properly.

Confidence comes from acting confident — living a lie that turns into the truth. Acting confident eventually molds your brain into actually being confident.

While I’ll get into the best ways to get confident soon enough, I’ve found that the biggest deterrent to acting confident is usually physical. We feel too ugly, or too short, or too fat, or too young, or too old, or we talk to nasally or we’re too shy or we’re too scared of people. All of these issues can be overcome merely by thought process, but it is a hard process to think through.

I like to deal with the physical problems we can deal with. Many of you are young, but a good portion of you are my age — late 20s to late 30s. We’re starting to see our bodies change — wrinkles, a little pudge at the belly, maybe a second chin is starting to show itself. Yet the biggest physical problem I hear about when it comes to unconfident friends is one that comes with age and is an easy thing to fix — grey hairs.

Yes, gentlemen (and ladies), those grey hairs you refuse to notice are a huge deterrent to you feeling confident. I’ve interviewed the opposite sex about it, and grey hair is actually attractive to many women. But we men try to ignore them, and as they start to spring up in great quantity, it puts a damper on us. We feel like age has robbed us of the opportunity to go off on our own. It is also something that can be solved in 10 minutes for under $15.

This isn’t a metrosexual pansy answer to a problem, this is the real deal. I had grey hairs at 15 and I never went about fixing them. I was confident by 18 and ultraconfident by 21, so I love my greys. They’re really coming out lately and I find they give me a air of intellect to those around me. But you may not feel that way. If you found a grey hair, admit that you’re down about it. Then go out this weekend and fix it.

Many salons, including the ultra-budget Hair Cuttery, now offer quick and inexpensive hair color treatments for guys (and gals) without covering all your hair with color. The treatments are meant to cover grey with a LITTLE additional color, but not so much that you change your entire head. Most people will never notice this color job, as your greys just take on a darker tint — still visible to some, but completely covered to you.

I’ve recommended this color job to every guy I know with grey hair who has mentioned they’ve noticed it (and to some who haven’t noticed it). The short term reaction is a huge build up of confidence.

Hit a Hair Cuttery. Tell the salon you want to cover your grey. Don’t worry, most successful guys you know are doing it. You’ll pay US$10-$15 for the job, it takes 10 minutes, and you’ll be amazed at the results. You might have to do 2-3 more treatments over the coming months as we attack the other issues making you feel less than 100% confident, but it is a great way to start on the path to being a confident, successful businessman.

Go do it. You’ll thank me on Monday.