how should i style my medium length hair

[bach]

i have thick, non-pliable, wavy hair and it pisses me off. it's a pain ********** to get it to look right from coming out of the shower. i could vigorously dry my hair with a towel (although this is supposed to cause split ends or **** up your hair... ?), or blow dry it. i could comb it or not comb it. i could add some sort of product or not. i haven't found any combination that works. eventually i want it to look something like this:

i don't have a picture of my current hair length, but here are a couple of old pictures. right now, my hair is longer than in the pictures below, but not as long as in the picture above.

in the meantime, would you recommend to get a haircut to shape/ thin out my hair or would it be best to wait longer? it's sort of oddly proportioned now because i haven't gotten a haircut in so long. any other tips whether they be on type of shampoo/conditioner, which products, what to tell to the stylist, etc, would be appreciated. i'm clueless when it comes to hair. thanks.

 

[adamsnez]

if im going for a drastic change i wait it out and sculp it all at once. if you can still manage to maintain/still/bare your hair in the "growing out phase", do it!

then go in to the snipper with pictures and a verbal explanation of exactly how you want it. tell them; cut longer initially, can always recut shorter "Measure twice, cut once" - Woodworking class