As A Solo Massage Therapist, Who Else Is In Your Room?
Welcome back to another Monday with the Mavens. We created the Massage Mavens blog to connect with and educate self-employed massage therapists working to grow as business owners.
It can be lonely working for yourself – and we’re here to remind you that while you’re in business for yourself, you don’t have to be in business by yourself.
While we cater our content to independent MTs, all massage therapists are welcome here; whether you run your own independent massage therapy studio, you contract in a clinic, work in spa, or you are still in school.
We are the average of the people we surround ourselves with. Who, therefore, are you? Who is in your room?
“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”
Jim Rohn may have been the first person to say this. (At this point, so many people have also said it that attributing the concept as a quote to a specific person will take more research than I want to do… So. There’s that. Let’s just go with giving credit to Jim.)
This quote highlights the idea that if you spend time with people who push themselves, solve problems, get creative, take risks, and make changes, you are more likely to do those things, too. Amazing!
Conversely, if you surround yourself with people who clock in, clock out, numb their life with 4 hours of Netflix every night, and constantly blame outside factors for their lot in life, you are more likely to do those things, too. Not-as-amazing.
The people we surround ourselves with impact our self-esteem, our values, our mindsets, and our decisions.
Therefore, the more we surround ourselves with positive people who:
- Want to succeed in life, whatever their version of success may be,
- Have positive mindsets,
- Have goals and work toward them,
- Prioritize development and improvement,
- And want/encourage us to succeed, pursue our goals, and overcome our own obstacles,
the more likely we are to see ourselves and our lives through a lens of “We Can Do This. ”
Who are the five people in your room?
And who are the five people you WANT in your room?
I encourage you to take some time today to think how you can work toward a more fulfilling and supportive room. (That doesn’t have to mean you need to start cutting people out of your current room if you’re not ready.)
Ways to grow your room:
Find a Facebook group for massage therapists and/or small business owners.
Follow your favorite thought leader on Instagram.
Join a networking group of other entrepreneurs that encourage and educate each other.
Go to therapy.
Take a class (it’s double whammy, this one, because it broadens your toolbox AND opens the opportunity to connect with new people).
It is time to tidy up your room when the person / event / group:
Fills you with a sense of contraction, deflation, or fatigue instead of joy.
I am a previous member of MANY Facebook groups that feel more like they exist for people to complain and continue the cycle of “woe is me” than to actually help us mastermind or build a community. Bye!
Meets you with limiting/discouraging feedback when you share a new goal or idea.
If someone tells you that you can’t do a thing, they’re not talking to you. They’re talking to themselves. They don’t’ think that THEY could do the thing…and they don’t want you to prove them wrong by doing it yourself. Prune that shit.
I know I know, as massage therapists, we are innately built to hold space for people. Cutting people out, or accepting that they’re not the best influence on us can be a challenge.
There is a difference, however, between holding space for someone who is usually awesome but is simply going through a hard time… and being the energetic punching bag of a Chronic Complainer, a Debbie Downer, a Negative Nancy, or even a Hardship Harold.
So I ask again: Who is in your room? Are they working, encouraging, and hoping for you (and themselves) to succeed?
Thanks for stopping by!
As always, we’d love to hear how our content has helped you improve either your studio, your mindset, or your revenue as a self-employed massage therapist.
Rachel Martin, LMT, is an independent massage therapist living in Denver Colorado. Having built her solo massage studio to capacity, she now spends her free time helping other massage therapists do the same. Check out Six Figure Studios, Queen Street Marketplace, and The Techy MT to learn more.
