“OH $$$$! What Did I Do?!?!”
Ever had that moment?
You get a haircut. You take a chance. You try a new style.
Then, you look in the mirror…”Oh no!!!” Horror sets in. You start sweating.
…all while trying to keep your composure as you pay for services rendered.
Then you get to your car where the REAL freak-out begins.
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That happened to me at the beginning of this year, January 20th, 2023.
First, let me describe my barber. His name is Steve, but everyone knows him as “Pep”.
Pep’s a big scary dude. He stands about 6’5”, 235lbs. Long black beard, man-bun, heavily tattooed. The creases in his face tell you he’s been through and seen some stuff in his day.
But besides our similar heights we couldn’t be more polar-opposite in ways, yet simultaneously similar in others. More on that later, but seriously, he’s one of my favorite people on Earth and definitely a “brother from another mother”.
Back to January 20th. I was LONG overdue for a haircut and feeling a little edgy since it was the beginning of new year.
As they say, “New year, new me.” Right?
I got the usual cut - pretty conservative, typical fade, nothing crazy.
Pep finished and said, “What do you think?”
“Mmmm, looks great.”, I said, “But, can we go a little more ...aggressive?”
WARNING: Use caution whenever using words like “aggressive” to artsy, eclectic people that have power over how you look in their hands.
“Aggressive” was music to Pep’s ears.
Pep replied, “Heck yeah! But, I’m turning you around so you can’t watch me on this one.”
WARNING: Whenever your barber turns the chair away from the mirror so you can’t watch…BUCKLE UP!
Pep got right to it. There was lots of cutting, snipping and shaving. Way more than usual.
I could tell something radical was happening on top of my head, but I kept quiet.
Pep wouldn’t do anything stupid, would he?
When Pep turned me around and I saw myself for the first time, my initial thought was…
“OH $$$$!”
First of all, I had NO hair on the bottom half of my head.
I had a fade, some shaved lines and swoops going all over the place.
I played it cool, but on the inside I was panicking!
When I got into my car to leave the shop, I looked in the rearview mirror and started pulling on what hair I had left hoping it would magically grow back.
It didn’t.
Now what?!?
I’m 44 years old, what am I gonna do? What’s my wife going to think? How will I face my co-workers?
By the way, I work in the financial industry.
FYI: You’re not supposed to have lines shaved in your head in the financial industry!
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Once the initial “shock and awe” wore off, something strange started to happen in the days ahead.
I began to like it.
I liked how it made me feel.
Most importantly, I began to remember things about myself.
Things I forgot or discovered.
I'm cool
I’m a bada$$
I’m a winner
I’m a leader
I’m a warrior
I’m fierce
I’m unique
I’m worth it
I have what it takes
Yeah I may live a quiet life in rural mid-America, but I’m STILL all of these!
It was invigorating and exciting. It gave me confidence.
My swagger started coming back.
My edge returned.
My mojo reappeared.
I started rediscovering myself.
I eventually even bought new clothes that were more… “me”.
Tighter jeans, some dope high-top tennis shoes, flashy sport-jackets.
These were styles I used to make of others my age for wearing, ironically.
Mainly because it didn’t follow the template I had succumbed to.
You see, the world wants you to follow the template.
It has a crafty way of slowly beating you into submission…
To make you think, act, look and behave a certain way.
To make you believe things, even about yourself that are not true.
To live a life that’s not authentically you.
Many don’t see it. Others fight it but eventually surrender to the matrix.
Living an inauthentic life is exhausting.
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Looking back, 2023 has been the most-epic year of my life, seriously…
I’ve taken chances,
I’ve invested in myself
I’ve said “yes” to experiences and opportunities...
When I have always said “no”
I’ve started a business
I’ve increased my income
I have a new baby
I’ve continued to overcome fear
I’ve developed better connections with my wife and kids
I’m in the best shape of my life at 45 years-old.
So, why was 2023 so epic?
Many reasons, but one MAJOR catalyst was “the haircut”.
That haircut was so outside of my comfort-zone it helped me see my own authenticity.
It was a pattern-disrupt.
It was exactly what I needed.
Thanks, Steve Peppin.
P.S. I ended 2023 the same way it started; with a Pep haircut.
This time a little less….aggressive.
See pic.
