Appearances, Appearances

I consider it a priority in my line of work to look tidy and smell clean.

If you're as busy as I am, you may have shortcuts like I do. For example, I keep little teeth flossers and gum in my car...can you guess why? If I have no time to brush my teeth, I'll rinse with my water bottle, floss, then chew gum for a few minutes - but not too long because my TMJ with start bothering me.

Deodorant has been a problem. I always want to go with healthy and natural but no matter what they say, it doesn't work! I broke down and bought three antiperspirant deodorants. Now I smell fabulous all the time - if I don't forget it! That's why I bought three: one in my purse, one in my bathroom and one in my gym bag so that if I forget, it'll be on hand somewhere.

Unfortunately, I have problems with gas and it's too much work to try to figure out why and to change it. I just do my best to balance unhealthy food with healthy food. Sooo yeeaahh.

I have allergies so my nose is usually a little stuffy. Thanks to my family for making me self-conscious about my breathing. Plus apparently there's a sexual connotation to deep breathing, even though it's actually very good for you and everyone should be doing it all the time!

So let's just say I'm really insecure about my clients hearing me breath. I know, it's a silly phobia - I'm working on it. BUT I just got a new cd player that won't skip and leave us in awkward silence, plus I got a little fan for white noise to fill in the gaps.

So these are the little things that make my life interesting.

What is it like for you as a massage therapist trying to juggle all the important stuff?

Waiting for License to be Established

So I've been laid off for 3 weeks while the gym I work at gets a new massage establishment license.  An establishment license is a license that allows an establishment or business to provide massage therapy services.

 I thank the Lord because I have barely felt the loss. All I had to do was talk to some friends in my church and now people are letting me do odd jobs here and there, plus chair massages. One friend found me a consistent and very good cleaning job.  I'm so grateful for community and for God. He provides for my every need.

My Lotion, My Love

I didn't know how attached I was to my lotion dispenser filled with Bon Vital Original creme with jojoba. I'd been using the Massage oil at my new job because I had lost my dispenser.

 The oil was so messy! I find it hard to control when you're dispensing something so liquid. It was a nightmare. Also, the only oil we had was this sort strong oil with, like, five different essential oils in it. It was too much!

Finally I found out my lotion dispenser was in the gym's lost and found. Now we are reunited and I feel like I can get back to doing massages my way. :).

Later we ordered a gallon of the massage creme I like and we got more dispenser bottles.

No Regret in Organization

"Lets decide to do the things we know we will not regret." 

 

Ahhh tax time!   This is new for me. It is my first year of paying taxes and I'll tell you what, nothing has made me want to get more organized than this very new-to-me task of filing taxes.

Most of my stuff was in order, thankfully, but some information that would have been helpful is just obscure or not there.  

So I am inspired again to get organized.   I have a lot going on as I will be starting work at a new location soon and I want to start '16 with organization!

As a tip, you and I will never regret being more organized!  We will regret not being organized and at that point, it will be too late.  Wouldn't you rather take a little extra time here and there throughout the year to get your ducks in a row before tax time, instead of frantically trying to figure it out at the end of the year with little record to go off of?

I am using TurboTax to file taxes and it's very nice.  I didn't realize how detailed it would be.  

For example, I expected to simply put in a total amount of money for business expenses but they ask specifically what each expense was:  what your travel expenses were, what your office supplies cost, what advertisement and insurance cost.  They wanted to know what my odometer read at the beginning and end of the year and even how much I drove for personal stuff too.  

I'll tell you what, I pay very little attention to my odometer.

I have always felt that I should keep better record of money because I'm a visual person and I often have to see it to believe it.  I need quantitative evidence with money.  If it's gone, I like to know exactly where it went.  Granted, my bank account keeps track, but it helps me to do it myself.  Plus, my mom would tell me that the bank could make a mistake or a charge could come through that I didn't do. 

SO!  For 2016 I started a notebook (Yayy! New notebook! I love new notebooks.) and I have about a million little tabs that have every category I could remember from TurboTax's site.  

All my income and all the things I pay for - business or personal.  

I am determined to take it everywhere I go and write everything down!  

My notebook with all the pink tabs for all the things.

Facebook Post: The Hips

Post from Tree of Life Massage Facebook page:

How are your hips doing? Are you experiencing stiffness or pain when walking? Low back pain from too much sitting? There are two major muscle group that move the hip: the anterior or front muscle group and the posterior back muscle group (your butt).

The front group flexes your leg in front and the back group extends your leg back. These muscles are very important and do a lot of work. Sitting can cause the muscles to "shorten" and tighten up causing stiffness and/or a pain in the butt! Massage, stretching and walking can all help to relieve this uncomfortable condition. 

One more thing, did you know cats have an anatomy very similar to humans? What if we took some cues from them? They are always exercising and taking regular naps. What's the first thing they do when they wake up? Stretch! They stretch their hips out briefly through lunges and extension. They look like ballerinas. I've started imitating cats and it really does help my hips! ‪#‎hips‬ ‪#‎massagetherapy‬ ‪#‎stretching‬ ‪#‎cats‬‪#‎lessonsfromcats‬ ‪#‎whoknew‬ ‪#‎glutes‬ ‪#‎gluteusmaximus‬ ‪#‎piriformis‬

A CRAPPY Entry

It has been nearly two years since I started my business Tree of Life Massage.  I have learned a lot since then and I still have countless things yet to learn.

Sometimes I look back on the emails I wrote and the things I've done to get started and I feel so foolish.  The reason is CRAP:   Chronic Recurring Attempts to Appear Professional.

When emailing health professionals to introduce myself and when communicating with the Doctor I eventually began working with, sometimes I would word things in a way so that I would sound like I was totally serious about work and very professional.

Often when I tried to sound a certain way, I came across as arrogant...I can think of no better word.  In one instance I made it sound like I was putting down another's profession.

The Doctor and I were emailing about what type of services I would be using.  He explained that this setting would not be the kind of setting for spa-type massage but the more medical side of things.  I wanted to assure him that I understood and I wanted to recommend myself for the Chiropractor establishment. I told the Doctor that I wasn't the sort of massage therapist that does "Floo-floo" stuff.  This was the word my teachers at school had used to describe spa-type modalities in comparison to therapeutic modalities.

The way I said this made it sound like a put-down to those who did spa stuff.
I don't mind spa stuff, I think it's fun, but I pretended to despise it in order to appear serious about the job I was applying for.  My behavior was a load of CRAP.

Another story:   A friend of mine, Kat, is a professional actress and has been for several years.
She is a bubbly, friendly gal and is always smiling.  She's a good actress and loves to portray, serious, dramatic roles.
Her agent finds jobs for her. One in particular was a short film and seemed like a promising gig.   Throughout the first few interviews and rehearsals with the director, Kat told me about how arrogant his attitude seemed.  He would talk down to her and tell her that his studio was a "very professional" one and you "have to be professional" as if she was some kid being too immature.  She hadn't done anything unprofessional, she had only been herself.

The director was bossy and controlling.  Kat said he was probably the worst director she had worked with.  Kat looked him up online and found videos he had done and his website.
What we found out in his videos explained everything.  I recognized it because of how I had been in the past.  It really does "take one, to know one".

Kat's director was 18 years old.  Kat was 23.  He was suffering from Chronic Recurring Attempts to Appear Professional.  His behavior was a load of CRAP.

He was trying to "make it" in show business by being a bull, by putting off a persona of false confidence and false leadership.

I have often been annoyed by how much we misunderstand the meanings of maturity and professionalism.  I almost despise these terms.  I've had people look at me in disgust because they thought they were "more mature" than me.  Maybe they were, but I got the impression that maturity meant being serious, judge-mental and rude.

A very good book called "How to Win Friends and Influence People" has wise words that seem to contradict most of our ideas of "professionalism" and "maturity".

I've drawn my own conclusion.  I believe that when people have spoken on maturity and professionalism, it has been feeble attempts to a different end.  They want to be successful and they're going about it the wrong way.

I believe that in order to achieve what you really want you have to respect and genuinely care about others and give little thought to what they think about you.  Do what you love and always stay teachable:  no matter what you know, always be open to input even from someone you consider to be on a "lower level" of achievement than you.  Be honest about your shortcomings but don't let them stop you from moving forward.  And please, don't be like me, don't be full of CRAP.

Planning a Tree

Well it has taken me a year to realize the meaning of the phrase
"Lack of planning is the number one reason businesses fail."
I have been hurting for money from the beginning.  I realized the "planning" part meant planning on not having money and what you're going to do in the meantime.

If I had known this before, I would have started small.  I would have kept a part-time job somewhere else and worked a few days a week as a Massage Therapist until I was slamming on those couple of days.  I would include another day or two until eventually, I would quit the other job and go full-time as a Therapist if I flourished enough.

I didn't realize how much I did NOT plan.

So now I'm in a hole and I need to get out.  I am looking for another job to do part-time and will go part-time in the office I'm in now.

Don't do what I did.  If you are starting your own business, plan on not having money.  Start small and build from there, like growing a tree.