New Years Advice

      Well... it’s that time of year, time for the New Year’s posts. You know the ones, top 10 things to do for the New Year, New Year new you blah, blah, blah.  New Year’s resolutions are blasted on TV, in social media and magazines. While I am usually on board with this thinking this year it has an even greater meaning for me. You see this year our dear friend and nail guru Vicki Peters will not be joining us in 2015. Our friend Vicki passed away on New Year’s Eve, an event I still cannot quite fully grasp. I spent some time with her last in Orlando, solving all the world’s problems, well at least the nail world. How can it be I will not have her advice, her humor and her guidance anymore? Well the truth is, I will. So much of who I am as a beauty professional came at this sage’s wisdom. So I am taking Vicki with me, in my heart for the rest of my journey. What would her advice be for this New Year? Well I can only speculate, but I’ll tell you mine.

   Quit dreaming and start doing. You want to open your own place, just do it. Not carelessly, do it thoughtfully. Chances are you have already thought about it in your head for years. Put that thought and research on paper and take the steps you need to take to make it happen. Whatever your project is, start small if you must but start. Don’t let fear hold you back. Fear has been given the acronym of False Evidence Appearing Real. Are there obstacles? I’m sure. How can you tackle these? One at a time, a small chunk at a time to make these obstacles manageable? Do your research, do your homework and get the knowledge you need to face that fear for good.

     Live your own dream, no one else’s.  Where your mind goes is usually where your heart is. Do you have a desire for something that’s your own and no one else’s? You will never work as long or hard on any one else’s dream more than your own. I remember my sister Connie asking me why I worked so many hours, ran in circles raising a family, building a business, surviving on minimum sleep. I told her because at the end of the day it’s for me and my family, no one else. The losses are mine but the victories are mine alone. I read a comment by a friend on Vicki’s wall who was no longer in the nail industry; she was now in the faux finishing business.  Vicki told her she was very good at it and she should pursue her passion.  What a gift that was to this young woman.

    Learn to take constructive criticism for what it is, constructive. Don’t let your feelings or ego get in the way of wisdom. Vicki’s words to me were sometimes harsh, but she had my best interest in mind. She had a way of cutting through all the hype and bs. She called it like it was, and I am so grateful for her candor. She told me things I might not want to hear, but needed to hear.  She was clear in her observations that were usually spot on and she did it out of the genuine desire to make me grow, to push me to that next level I couldn’t quite figure out how to get to on my own. She had vision like that, I think that is what I will miss most. When I was down on myself or let insecurities creep into my head she would say I wish you could see yourself as others do, then you’d knock of all this crappy thinking.  

 

     Unfortunately we all learned this past week a lesson in our books we don’t reflect on very often. We all think we have all the time in the world. We don’t.  So in true Vicki fashion I encourage each one of you listening to quit your bitchin, and get on with it, whatever your it is. We owe it to ourselves; we owe it to Vicki to carry on brighter than ever.  Pursuing our true passion with an eye on others to help them along the way as she did for so many of us. So make this year, truly your best ever.