Do you feel that you are holding yourself back from taking steps to take your spa or massage practice to the next level? You may not even be able to identify what’s getting in your way, but for some reason, you feel that you can’t make a move from where you are to where you want to be. In fact, the changes may not only involve your business; they may involve aspects of your personal life, as well.
The longer you delay, the more anxious you may be about making change. The obstacles, some of them deeply rooted, may have to do with lack of confidence, fear of the unknown, or maybe even complacency. If you’ve been in your comfort zone for a long time, you may lack the motivation to move on, especially where risk is involved.
Still, if you want to move your spa or massage practice along to reap more financial as well as professional gain – whether it requires building out your practice with more services such as adding spa treatments to massage, expanding retail sales, extending your services to corporations or identifying a new target audience – you need to get over personal barriers and take the necessary steps.
In “How to Let Go of What’s Holding You Back,” in Psychology Today, Amy Morin recommends “get unstuck.” Morin likens getting stuck to a “hamster in a wheel.” You pile more items onto your to-do list and so don’t deal with the habits you keep stuck.
Let it go is Morin’s other piece of advice. Some things you may be aware of – such as a bad relationship. But there are less obvious things, such as a lack of confidence in your abilities. She says, “Commit to letting go of the thoughts, behaviors, and feelings that keep you from being your best.” Here are some other things you can do to overcome thoughts, concerns, and actions that are holding you back:
Get direction or know-how
You may not know what steps to take to make the changes you want. If so, talk to other professionals, find a mentor, and engage the career coach's services or an expert in the field of specialty you want to pursue. You don’t have to have all the answers.
Stop making excuses
Whatever the excuses – the time isn’t right, too many competitions, fear of failing – put them behind you. Sometimes developing a plan of action helps you get over the hurdles.
Fear of failure
Even if you fail – and there’s a good chance you won’t – consider failure as a learning experience.
Fear of success
Even worse than fear of failure is the fear of success. Maybe you are concerned success will take you away from other obligations to friends and family, or the demands will be so great, you won’t be able to keep up. Being successful will mean more management of your time and resources, which you’ll soon figure out.
Everyone who goes into business has dreams. Don’t hold yourself back from fulfilling all of them.