First of all Happy New Year 2016!
Now after the Christmas holidays comes the time to reflect upon the past year, and above all, on what we can do better this year in order to be happier and healthier in all aspects. Here I put together some thoughts that I call New Years Resolutions for massage therapists, that I felt could help anyone working as a LMT, Bodyworker, RMT, Physical therapist, etc. But I will need some help in completing the list, so feel free to add your own resolutions to the comments below. Let´s start the year in the best possible way!
- Listen to yourself: this is something that is often said, but also often underrated. Paying attention to the signals your own body sends you, and really listening to your inner voice, will allow you to live in harmony with yourself and your surroundings, and avoid exhaustion and burn-outs. This will also make you a better massage therapist, because only if you are well, you will have the ability to heal others.
- Stay true to yourself: try to do what makes you happy, what makes you feel good. Don´t live according to what other people expect from you or want for you, live to make your own dreams come true. This does naturally not mean that you always can or should do what you want, without taking into consideration other people´s feelings, it simply means that you ought to reflect upon what really makes you happy in your personal as well as professional life and try to keep doing it! As a massage therapist, this means that you ought to concentrate on working with the modalities you like, using the approach that feels true to your identity, etc.
- Keep developing: professionally, try to keep learning new massage modalities, new customer care skills, new marketing and business tools, etc., anything that will make you a better professional. For this you have the Continuing Education classes, workshops, online courses, seminars, as well as any other trainings, books, e-books, etc. Personally, try to be a better person each day, try to be a better mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, cousin. This will make you feel better with yourself and it will also improve your relationships with others.
- Take your time: both in your personal as well as professional life. Take the time to truly listen to your clients, really try to help them and give them the best of you, instead of hurrying through your appointments waiting for the day to come to its end. Also take some time for yourself, to just be, or to spend time with your hobbies. Time is one of the most valuable things we have, so use it wisely, be it in your massage practice, your physiotherapy center, or in your home.
- Give them a WOW-experience: as a massage therapist or bodyworker, try to really amaze your clients! Not only with your hands, or the modality that you practice on them, but also with how you treat them. Going that extra mile, surprising them with your attentiveness, going beyond their expectations, will pay off for sure! Do the same with your family and friends, try to do that extra bit that you know will make them just a bit more happy, that will make them feel truly loved and cherished.
I hope you will be motivated to make these tiny changes into your life, or at least take 15min to reflect upon them, to think about how you could make 2016 even better than 2015!
If you have made your own resolutions that you want to share with us, or this post made you think of more tips for this year, please post them in the comments below!
Wishing you a beautiful day, and a wonderful start of 2016!
Cesar Tejedor
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