One of the best times of the month—for me, at least—is the one hour I can devote to getting my hair cut.
In fact, there are few monthly tasks that I look forward to more. As ridiculous as it might sound, I feel that my barber has had a tremendous impact on my life. Over my time here at The Ohio State University, I have gone to his barber shop every visit when I needed my hair cut.
Jim, the owner of the shop, is an interesting character. Hard to describe unless you meet him, but he is a genuinely nice person and has a lot of interesting stories to share.
Here are three ways everyone—including you—should strive to be more like my barber.
1. Be conversational to everyone, no matter their background.
In a hustle-bustle day-to-day society, it’s easy to get wrapped up in daily tasks, homework or the like. One thing about Jim that makes him such a great person to be around is his conversational nature—as basic as it may sound.
Converse with as many people as you can and be interested. Everyone has something to share—even the shy ones—and you never know what kinds of stories or personalities you’ll come across. If you converse with someone that you like, don’t hesitate to ask about connecting over social networking sites, as more people than you think are willing to connect over these.
2. Understand that imperfection is a beautiful thing.
No matter what kind of facade people may put up, nobody is perfect, even though many people strive for it. Today, I was a dollar short for my haircut, and Jim graciously pardoned me a dollar. Needless to say, I’ll be happily giving him more back next time.
The key to take away here is not to purposefully make or create errors, but recognizing that people don’t always get things right will take you a long way in your work or social life. When someone makes a mistake, being understanding rather than harsh or not reasonable is likely to pay big benefits in the long run.
3. Love what you do, and never work a day in your life.
Ironically, Nate Riggs said the exact same thing to me this morning in our meeting over coffee. But be passionate about what you do, and you will never have to work in your lifetime.
In fact, there are probably some people reading this post that hate what they do and always have disliked their work. Think about it—why are you doing what you do? For the money, for the fulfillment? If you’re in a job you hate, then to be blatant, my barber has already one-upped you. He loves cutting hair and his passion for it (and all of the conversation, as well) is apparent. He has not needed to work since he first started out.
Are there any everyday models that you look up to? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
(Photo Credit: Modern Process)
