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As a massage therapist, do you have a job or a career? What is the difference?
Well, as for me, I have a career – a lifestyle designed by me. It isn’t “ideal” yet, but it is getting closer every day. That was the draw to starting a career in massage. I am working, but I am doing something I am passionate about, something I thoroughly enjoy. Are you doing the same?
Many of my former massage classmates graduated, got their licenses, and then proceeded to take the first “job” they could obtain. Some are happy, others are very disenchanted. Why the difference?
I think as massage therapists we enter our careers with so much hope and optimism. But if we go to work for someone else…well, it isn’t much different than any other job – except we enjoy the work much more. But it is still a job; working for someone else, holding onto those same expectations that we had in previous careers, feelings of entitlement, the need to be “taken care of” and then the resentment about what is expected of us, how much we are being compensated and other expectations put upon us. Is that reasonable? Probably not, but it is real, and very common.
The point for me in starting a new career was to do something I was passionate about, but also do it in a way I want. Not just to work for myself, but to create a lifestyle designed around work, one in which I can enjoy going to my “job” everyday. That’s not to say you can’t create that lifestyle while working for someone else – it is possible, but much more challenging.
I personally look forward to going to work. I love what I do, and I have created a place that meets my needs. It isn’t perfect, and probably never will be, but it is much closer to what I want than I have ever had.
Are you doing the things necessary to move forward in creating the lifestyle design you want? If you can’t answer an emphatic yes, or if you just want a little more help in moving forward, consider becoming a part of the Massage MasterMind. In a community of like-minded massage therapists we can all benefit from the knowledge, encouragement and successes of each other to move a little closer to a lifestyle that we can be proud of and that will bring balance and harmony to our lives.
