www.thebodyworker.com

What will become your fate for 2007?

Becoming conscious of my thoughts is my intention for 2007.

I hope to become more aware of what I am thinking by paying more attention to how I am feeling and letting my feelings drive me forward in my life and work.

For me right now this means doing less massage and more writing. I am so excited about creating websites and helping people to learn how to make money online.

I just saw the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” and ” The Secret”. Very inspirational and appropriate for bringing in the new year.

“The Pursuit of Happyness” really shows that anything can be done if you think it is possible and you are willing to do whatever it takes to get that. Are you willing to sleep in a homeless shelter? Are you willing to give your last $5 to your boss you are trying to impress so you will get a big break? Are you willing to work your absolute hardest at what you love most to make you life happen? Are you willing to dream big and take responsibility?

What do you dream for yourself in 2007? What is your intention? What do you intend?

Watch the whole movie -” The Secret” online and also “What the bleep do we know“

Popularity: 1% [?]

No Comments »

I am really excited about the arrival of the new year. I have been doing a lot of planning and writing and am cutting back on my massage practice even further (down to 2 days a week) to be able to focus on peer supervision groups, teleclasses and writing.

Some of the things that I have been doing that have allowed me to do that which I find to be important for any business adventure are:

1. Taking the time to plan. Planning is really what will take your business the farthest the fastest. It requires thorough introspection and goal setting and then taking the time to break those things down into concrete action steps. Set up your office or house to create a planning or brainstorming room and set up a specific time where you know you won’t be bothered so you can focus on what needs to be done. I started doing this myself about a year ago and spend my mornings writing and planning while sitting at my kitchen table with a pot of green tea. It took me a year or so to actually get the hang of it and be able to really see what it is that I want to be focusing on and how am I going to do that. Until then I felt like I was just spinning my wheels and just doing whatever came up which is easy to get caught up in because of the internet and the nature of websites.
2. Being self employed it is also easy to play in your free time rather than really working to develop and market your business. I am always amazed at the number of errands I seem to have to run. Setting a regular writing and work schedule even though I don’t have actual massage clients was necessary to keep me motivated and working. If you are trying to start a business or build your business you should set aside time each day where all you do is work on doing that. It is time not doing massage or billing or bookkeeping. Spend the time actually doing things - contacting people, writing letters, developing your website and other marketing materials. Spend your time thinking and doing those things that will take your business the farthest the fastest which brings me to the next point
3. Doing what is hard. So often we just stick with doing the things that is easy. Writing and making websites for me is easy and very enjoyable but it isn’t really getting me as far as I would like. Doing what is hard is setting up teleclasses and other groups. For a massage therapist building a business doing what is hard may be things like marketing which is really just telling people what you do and when and how you do it. Each week if you do something that is hard which really just means that it is out of your comfort zone, pretty soon you will be ready for something that really takes you far - that big opportunity will come to you when you are ready.
4. Take the time to educate yourself. I read each morning about business concepts and internet marketing ideas. I am constantly reading about how to improve my writing, my websites and myself. You can visit the amazon.com bookstore to get an idea of some of the things I am reading or have read. The other place I visit is the Sitebuildit! reference center that is full of free ebooks on writing for the web and basically everything you need to know to build a successful business using a website whether it is for your massage business or some other business you are wanting to start.
5. Find a support group or start a support group. I participate regularly in peer supervision meeting once every three weeks with a few friends of mine to talk about our practices and issues we are faced with. I also participate in regular teleclasses with my coach and I have a coaching partner that I talk with weekly. The more support and feedback I get the more I can see how it is building my self confidence to do those hard things and it is helping me to become more aware that I have some dreams and I can make them happen. Participating with others has really taken me farther than any of the other things because I am able to learn and grow from my interactions. I am going to be offering peer supervision group facilitation and an inner circle coaching group starting in Jan 07. I don’t have all of the details worked out but you can find out more on the website www.massagepracticebuilder.com

Hope your 2007 is the best yet!

Popularity: 1% [?]

4 Comments »

The Law of Attraction is simply the idea that what we think and believe we create.

There are many who speak of it from Wallace Wattles - the early 1900 writer who wrote the Science of Getting Rich which is now in e-book format from scienceofgettingrich.net

Carl Jung also talked about it in his statement:

Whatever is not conscious will become your fate.

We create that which we need to learn from to become more conscious. What we are unconscious of is the beliefs we hold that are just not true.

Esther and Jerry Hicks talk about it in their book “The Law of Attraction” and Joe Vitale talks about it in his book “The Attractor Factor” and in the movie “The Secret“.

I think the basic message everyone is saying is that it is your emotions that will inform you as to whether you are in sync with your inner self and what you want. It is your emotions that can help you to become more aware of what it is that you are actually thinking.

Our unconscious thought rule most of our lives. They are the thoughts we are not even aware of because they are so ingrained in our self. It is the thoughts and beliefs we adapted in order to take care of ourselves at an early age when we were handed criticisms, abuse or other negative feedback. We somehow started believing that we were not good enough, not smart enough or unlovable so we did what we had to do to protect ourselves.

Becoming more aware of what you think or believe is a process that takes time and lots of compassion and nurturing. One of the things you can do through the process is to get support from others who are interested in knowing more about themselves. In the massage profession starting or joining a peer supervision group and/or a coaching group can help you to uncover what it is that you believe.

Starting in Jan 07, I will be starting a forum for doing just that. I will be holding regular teleclasses or tele-meetings I guess I should say to facilitate the process. You can find out more at www.massagepracticebuilder.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

No Comments »

So often massage therapists do not know much about marketing and they are turned off by the fact that they have to market their practice. You have to be willing to spend money on getting the word out about what you do or else no one will know what you are offering.

Most people are not looking for you - they are looking for a solution to their problem. The thing is you don’t really know what a person is needing at any one given time. They want to deal with their health issue, their pain, their stress. But how are you going to convey to them that what you can do for them.

In a Website you do this through developing high quality content about what you do and what. Your message must address your potential clients needs.

It may be hard to spend money on marketing and it is hard to know where to start. Marketing your massage practice to get the word out about what you do is not an expense. When you invest in your practice, the returns outweigh the expense.

Part of the problem in marketing a massage practice is that we often think that we want to work on everyone so our target is everyone. This just isn’t possible or feasible. Narrowing down your market allows you to create a specific message that connects to the target you are marketing to.

Marketing is really about building relationships.

Who do you want to work with? Sometimes we don’t know until we work with people who show us that we don’t want to work with. I for one don’t want to work with people who don’t want to pay me full price. That is not saying that I won’t take on a client in a hardship situation. I want to work with people who value massage and my service. Since my office is in downtown Seattle, I want to attract people in the downtown area as it is really convenient.

Ok I want people who can afford my services so I can keep my business running. This isn’t being superficial or uncaring. It is wanting to take care of myself and my business. I want to be successful so that I can continue working with my clients.

What would you pay to double your income? How serious are you about building a business? How motivated are you?

I heard this example about just this issue:

Write a check for $5000 (or some amount that you choose that will cause you pain if you didn’t have that money) to your favorite charity and give it to someone you trust. Â Write it out for a certain date that you can choose. Instruct the person to send it to your charity on the date that you determine. So if you don’t do it - you will be in debt for $5000.

Popularity: 1% [?]

No Comments »

I recently had the experience of trying to do business with someone who is lacking clear boundaries around her business. It has been the most exasperating experience of my life. Everytime I try to use her service I try to follow the guidelines and rules that have been outlined only to find out there is small print that isn’t even written anywhere so I am not able to get the service I need. She somehow thinks I can read her mind and will know that I have to do xxyy before I can use her service. I am not sure if that is clear as I am trying not to give the details.
Being clear about your business and what services you offer will help you to create a strong framework for your business to grow from. The deeper and wider the foundation the more room for growth and expansion because of the strong base to hold and support the growth.

The framework of a massage business is built on establishing and maintaining boundaries. Boundaries are what allow a client/patient space to heal. This healing container is kept safe and secure by each party knowing their responsibilities and needs.
Boundaries are things like:

• office hours
• fees for services
• policies and procedures
• scope of practice

along with boundaries such as those regarding physical space and the type of relationship you have with the client.
Your boundaries are basically the things that define you - your thoughts, beliefs and your needs. Boundaries are physical and mental/emotional. They are formed early in life in childhood through family and social interaction. By increasing your awareness of your boundaries (thoughts, beliefs and needs) you can improve the therapeutic relationship and your chances for having a successful AND rewarding practice.

Because of the personal nature of our work (clients coming to us and undressing to a certain level and us touching their bodies), boundaries can become confusing to clients (and to us).

Learning more about ourselves can help us maintain our boundaries and develop a professional healing relationship with clients.

The best way to learn about yourself is in group interactions such as peer supervision groups, which help you to see yourself more clearly.

There are many resources for learning more about boundaries:

Online Articles:

In the Service of Life by Rachel Remen

Caretaking - a hidden addiction by Jack Blackburn www.presencingsource.com

Books:

How can I help? by Ram Dass

The Educated Heart by Nina McIntosh

The Ethics of Touch by Cherie Sohnen- Moe

Setting your boundaries through creating your policies and procedures and a personal and professional code of ethics can help educate people as to what you do and don’t do and what rules there are around getting your service - like your hours and how much you charge etc.

Popularity: 1% [?]

No Comments »