One of the first steps in creating a business plan has to do with knowing your intention. Some may think it has to do with creating a vision. There are some good things about creating a vision, but sometimes you don’t really know where you are going until you get to a certain point…more on this later.
What do you intend to create? What do you intend to do? For what purpose do you want that?
Most people reply with things like -

• I want to help others through massage and make a living.
• I want to make a lot of money.

Everything we do is to fill a need that we have.

What is the intention behind the need to help? Why do you really want to help others? What do you get out of helping others? When you can come to understand more about your personal reasons for helping - what needs of yours does it fill? then you can learn to get these needs met outside of your practice which will help you be more present with your clients.

I have a few sections on helping and learning about helping. I have been exploring my own for the past 4 years and have been reading and studying everything I can on the topic. it has more or less become my hobby - which is just a nice word for obsession!
The call to help.

Highly recommended reading list

Knowing yourself is one of the most important things in this business or any business for that matter. It is a continual process of uncovering the unconscious parts of ourselves- I know it is kind of a mind game - how can one become aware of the things we are not aware of?

But when we are able to discover the answer to “for what purpose” are we doing something, getting what we want will become so much easier.

For what purpose do you want to go into business or to find a job in massage?

What need does it fill? Some needs (from Marshall Rosenbergs book “Non-violent Communication“) are things like having a meaningful life, wanting to contribute to others wellbeing, the need to be heard and seen, the need for recognition and the need to be loved.
It is a hard one to get to because it usually involves being vulnerable. What is the true underlying motivating factor?

I write on these websites because I have a great need to be seen and heard. I want to be loved and accepted. I want to be influential in making people think differently about what the massage profession.

Once you state your intention, you can see all of the things that come in the way of getting what you want. All of your objections become clear - “I am not good enough, I am not smart enough to start and run a business, I don’t want to put myself out there, I don’t want to bother people”. All of these objections are self-judgments and criticisms. They come from our unconscious mind. The biggest thing I discovered is that they are not true! We have just been programmed to think that they are true! They are based on false beliefs that were created in our early life.
As you take steps to change your programming by setting obtainable and reasonable goals and being impeccable with your word, you start to build self esteem and self confidence. What you thought was impossible may fall into your lap!

What is your intention for becoming a massage therapist? Why do you want to become a massage therapist? For what purpose do you want to become a massage therapist?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006 at 9:34 am and is filed under Building Your Practice, Peer Supervision, Recommended Reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.