Learning Skills vs. Living the Lessons

Learning Skills vs. Living the Lessons

Posted June 5th, 2024

In the ever-changing world of Aesthetics, acquiring technical skills is often viewed as the proverbial “golden ticket” to success. There are countless courses, “boot camps”, online tutorials, YouTube videos, and Zoom “certifications” one can invest in. These courses and certifications promise to equip us with knowledge and sell us the tools “needed” to thrive in our careers.

However, with many of these learning experiences occurring online, a significant gap has developed between learning these skills, putting them into hands-on action, and truly living the lessons learned. The struggle in this is what may be holding many aestheticians from success as envisioned. Sadly, many of the certification companies do not revisit their students to check on their progress, post-class, and students fail to prosper as they envisioned before partaking in the education. This gap has become the difference between success and failure in our professional journeys.

The Enthusiasm of Learning

There’s a unique thrill in the learning process. After the first time you successfully “fire” a laser, perform a Dermalplaning session without scratching or nicking someone, write a Spa-Scription for your client, or sugar a Brazilian, there's a rush of accomplishment. This initial enthusiasm can be incredibly motivating, pushing you to dive deeper into the subject matter. Structured learning environments provide a clear path, with milestones and rewards that keep you engaged.

Unfortunately, an illusionary mindset sometimes exists that completing a course or earning a product certification without practice is “mastery” of the skill. It’s easy to equate the accumulation of knowledge with being ready to face real-world skincare challenges. However, skills learned in controlled environments often offer predefined problems. Sometimes, though, these predefined scenarios don’t always translate into unpredictable outcomes that an aesthetician has to occasionally encounter while in treatment.


The Reality Check: Applying Skills
The true test of any skill, no matter HOW you learn it, is HOW one applies it in real-time situations. This is where the stumbling can begin. The scenarios we face in our treatment spaces are rarely as straightforward as the examples in Milady textbooks or Zoom tutorials. They require problem-solving & critical thinking. Add to that, ones prowess to being an Aesthetician as well. You may learn a skill according to a certain curriculum, but not every client situation is in line with the curricula.

Living the Lessons

Living the lessons learned means going beyond a treatment protocol for application of skills. It involves mentally internalizing the lesson’s principles and adapting them to the context of your work.

Below is a checklist to ensure you are living the lessons:

  1. Continuous Learning and Adaptation:
    Stay curious and vigilant to learning opportunities. Keep up with new trends, tools, and methodologies. Tradeshows, product lines, industry publications and Apprenticeship are affordable tools to keep you in the know.
  2. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving:
    Don’t just perform treatments robotically or use product because it’s the trend. Understand the WHY you’re using certain ingredients or performing specific treatments and learn to think critically about how they apply to your specific client and his/her situation. Approach problems with a mindset geared towards finding the most effective solution, not just the most obvious or affordable one.
  3. Practical Experience:
    Seek out real-world opportunities to intern/extern, or collaborative opportunities with other professionals. Practical experience is invaluable, bar none! It exposes you to challenges you might not be able to see and helps you develop resilience and resourcefulness. Practical experience will also help with wasteful spending on product or tools you don’t necessarily need.
  4. Reflective Practice:
    Are you writing S.O.A.P. notes? This will help to recall your experiences. What worked well? What didn’t? Reflection helps solidify learning and turns mistakes into valuable lessons.
  5. Soft Skills:
    Technical skills are just one part of the equation. Other skills that are important include communication, and client input. Soft skills help you navigate through difficulties of real-world experiences and work environments.

The Cost of Not Living the Lessons

Failing to live the lessons learned can lead to significant setbacks. Here are some common pitfalls:

  • Overconfidence:
    Believing that only theoretical knowledge alone is the solution is dangerous because it can lead to an over-estimation of your capabilities and under-estimating the challenges. In some cases, overestimation can lead to performance out of your scope.
  • Stagnation:
    Without the mindset of continuing education and adaptation of your skills, your skills AND practice can become outdated. In a rapidly changing and competitive field, such as aesthetics, this can be a major drawback for you and your bottom line.
  • Burnout:
    If you are constantly facing unexpected challenges without a way to remedy the challenge, stress and burnout are the probable outcome. Properly internalized lessons help to handle pressure on your feet and will help with maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
  • Career Stagnation:
    Remember, it is not just hands on abilities that employers value. Learn lesson in problem-solving abilities, adaptability, and practical experience. Those are skills not commonly taught in a curriculum but are certainly important in real-life scenario.

Conclusion

Learning theoretic technical skills are an essential part of building a successful career in Aesthetic, or any industry for that matter. To truly succeed on your journey, you must live lessons learned, applying them with critical thinking, adaptability, and continue to improve! Bridging the gaps between knowledge and practice will help you to embrace your journey. Learning the skills listed above you will also find greater fulfillment and develop confidence in the face of challenges.

Embrace your journey, and let every lesson learned become a steppingstone to your success!! 

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