Better than Before



“I love color,” she shared.
“Mmhmmm.” I said.
“So why did you change your mind?,” she asked.
“I just am not sure if I want that color. What if it’s too bright.” I said.
She continued to massage my scalp and let the warm water run through my curly hair.
“Well you know we could gradually lighten you up.” She said.
“Mmhmmm.” I responded.
“I could do gradual," I thought. I was and am still determined to color my hair, but I’m still amidst finding the right hue. This is my head we are talking about. I don’t want to look like a clown and I don’t want to gradually go bald by making it too light.
“What I love most about coloring hair is it’s one thing but it can completely change a person. It can give them a new sense of who they are. So many women come in here to color their hair after a break up, or losing their job, or something else. They want a fresh start, you know, they want things to be better than before,” she said.
I wasn’t sure how a box of Clairol was supposed to erase the past, but there was something to what she said about things being better than before.
As I continue to learn and grow as an entrepreneur I am continuing to learn that the goal is always to be better than before. Whatever changes are made, new contracts drawn, staff hired, printers selected, designs drafted, colors chosen, it must be better than before. And they mustn’t be better than before for the sake of being different. You can be different without being better. Heck you can be different and actually be worse. No, the choices, decisions, alterations, and changes must demonstrate forward movement. It must demonstrate the active usage of potential to create, do, and be better than before.
In his book “Repositioning Yourself”, New York Times bestselling author TD Jakes talks about those rubber clear glitter super balls that you can get for $.50 (they used to be $.25)in the little machines. You know the ones that if you bounce it really hard it always bounces way higher than the original point from which you dropped it. He talks about how in order to move forward, or reposition yourself, you must not stop when you are dropped and just hit the ground and roll upon whatever surface you find yourself. Instead you must bounce back and you must bounce higher than the point of origin.
Whatever decisions you are making in your life now, personal or professional, must be ones that will change your life for the better. They must be decisions to start to move you forward, add highlights, bounce you higher. If it means finding a mentor, by all means find some people you want to emulate, put the designated “happy hour “money into the designated “coffee and conversation with the perspective mentor” fund. If it means setting a date to quit the full time job to pursue the dream, then set the date and tell someone who can hold you accountable. If it means skipping girls or guys night out in order to attend a networking function that you would normally shy away from but you are curious about a different or new market, by all means, skip on. If you need a new tagline for your business, play around with a few and print sample business cards, circulate them, and see what the feedback is.
Just know that the one decision you make today can be the decision that gives you the fresh start. The one decision to not only bounce back, but bounce higher, can be the decision that takes you to the next level.
And no you don’t have to rush or make brash decisions. But I bet as you are reading this a few decisions that you have yet to make have come to mind. So revisit them, just make sure whatever you choose it will be better than before. Go ahead. You are totally phree to go blonde, black, or red, short or bald, heels or wedges, call her under 48 hours or at 48 hours, use some of your 401 K or extend the quitting date so you feel more secure, turn down the fourth freelance photographer you met with today or take the first one you meet tomorrow. As always the choice is yours. Just ask yourself is it for the better.

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