To know your personal boundaries, you need to understand yourself and think about what makes you feel uncomfortable or stressed. It’s about knowing when you need to say no or when you need to compromise. Committing to your boundaries means standing up for them when they’re challenged and taking steps to make sure they’re respected.
KNOW WHAT TO SAY “YES” TO
Reflect on personal wants and needs, prioritizing them accordingly. Think about how you’re spending your time. Know what types of requests you want to say “yes” to and what you don’t have space for right now.
TRY TO SPEAK UP
Be proactive to prevent misunderstandings. Don’t wait until someone crosses a boundary to say something – that’s too late to protect yourself and can leave the other person feeling confused. Try to speak up in the moment so that the boundary is clear and not crossed in the first place.
USE SIMPLE & DIRECT LANGUAGE
Just say it. Use simple and direct language to establish a boundary. Don’t dance around what you’re trying to say or expect other people to read your mind.
GIVE SOME CONTEXT
Offer relevant explanations and solutions. You don’t owe anyone an explanation of your boundaries if you don’t want to share, but giving some context can help others better understand where you are coming from.
It’s important to understand that certain situations unique to the salon environment may challenge your boundaries in various ways.
AVOID OVERBOOKING OR OVERPROMISING
Being a stylist means having a strong desire to help people look and feel their best, and sometimes that leads to overbooking or overpromising. When you set boundaries on your time and expectations of what you’re able to realistically achieve, you and your clients will end up feeling better about the amount of attention you were able to give and the result they leave the salon with.
SAYING NO TO TOXIC PEOPLE
We’ve all encountered them – the people who walk into the salon and immediately change the energy of the room…for the worse. It’s important to identify who these people are and prepare yourself for how much energy you invest in your interactions with them. This can look like saying no to clients who make unreasonable demands or adjusting your schedule so there is minimal overlap with a coworker who stresses you out.
AVOID ENABLING TRAUMA DUMPING
Hair stylists (along with bartenders, nail technicians, and others) are often treated like life coaches or therapists by their clients. Odds are, at some point, someone has crossed the line and unloaded so much emotional baggage that you were exhausted by the time their services were finished. It’s possible to set boundaries and still be supportive. For example, you can validate your clients’ feelings about their situation but choose not to share any of your own experiences that feel similar. Or you can shift the topic of conversation if you don’t have the emotional energy to invest in the direction they are going.
The above article was first published sexyhair.com Click the link to see the original article (Setting Boundaries For Stylists – SexyHair)