68b2b8a38a51e210de96 creativity

In preparation for a show launch for COLOR.ME by KEVIN.MURPHY for 800+ attendees; working alongside a a team of geniuses, including Toni Ricci, 6 time Canadian Hairdresser of the Year, I found myself nervously asking the question “what do I bring to the table”?

It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be that ultimately effects your head space. It causes you to question your abilities. Working in a highly creative industry for 18 years, I set out on a journey of limitless possibility. What happened to my dream of limitless possibilities?

Somewhere stuck between confidence and motivation lives self-doubt, full of insecurities. Nestled deep within, doubt surfaces in moments of weakness. As a creative professional, doubt hurts emotionally, both at home and in the hair that I touch.

We all deal with self-doubt differently. Some of us bury it so deep that it almost never comes out. Others have to wage regular wars with self-confidence to get through the day. I find half the battle turning up.

Why is it the more we know, the more fearful we become? Asking ourselves:
• What is possible and can I actually do that?
• What if they don’t like what I create?
• What if I bore them?
• Do you think they know this?
• Have they seen it before?
• What if they don’t like me? 
• Do I look fat in this? 

Keeping my fundamental beliefs as the core principle is essential. Both for me, and for my team at KEVIN.MURPHY for all models and shows.  It should look high quality/expensive, fashionable, wearable, enhancing the beauty with an editorial feel. Worries are just possibilities you haven’t decided to face! When you don’t face them, they win and you don’t grow.

5 Tips to Overcome Insecurities and Embrace your Creativity

1. Be INSPIRED:Spend time with a person who is very successful. It doesn’t matter what they do, have a mentor. Ideally this person is in a different industry. They will help you to see things differently.

Success doesn’t require a high intelligent quotient or some special intangible quality that you don’t have. Successful people only become the “special one” after they succeed. Before they put in all that time and effort, they were just like everyone else. Spend time with a few successful people and you will realize you are just as capable of achieving great things as they are.

2. Surrender Control and Power: Our instinctual need of feeling in control, I don’t find its where  the magic happens. The less power we have as individuals, the more we doubt ourselves. In fact, much of the reason why we all seek power is because we’re told it’s essential to success. I totally disagree. Power and control can limit your ability to see a new road or opportunity you were not planning on going down. Stay open-minded with your eyes wide open.

3. Set Impossible Goals: Set your goals and ask yourself: what do I want? Even if its sounds stupid to everyone else, be honest with yourself. It’s not their dream, so don’t worry about what the people around you think. Don’t limit your success by not pushing yourself to strive to achieve what may seem impossible. Make small steps so it’s not so overwhelming and don’t forget to reward yourself and celebrate the wins along the way.

4. Don’t COMPARE: Doubt forces us to compare our accomplishments and skills. We are more motivated in the workplace by our ambivalent relationships more than we are by our friends or enemies. Measuring ourselves against those we see as our competition serves as a metric by which we calculate our self-worth. I really dislike this. When we see others reaching milestones, we react in fear, become disheartened and begin to question our goals and if we are capable of achieving them. Worry about yourself and where you are, only gauging yourself against yourself and how far you have come.

5. Don’t Overthink it and Map it Out: You heard it a million times, the 5 P’s: Prior Preparation prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Check out more blog posts by Kate Reid like How to Get the Hair Color you Desire

Images, Trifecta Seattle for Kevin Murphy & Salon Services
Hair by Kate Reid & Tim McClean

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