Design your Home Based Massage Biz to fit your Life

One of the unique opportunities we have as home based massage therapists is that WE can actively design our businesses to fit OUR lives.

​I highly value adventures that challenge me ... that's what I want in MY life!

​Last week my adventure included seakayaking around the Mornington Peninsula. Just to clarify, I don’t mean I kayaked ‘around the peninsula’, but rather went on day trips from a base in Balnarring.
 
The weather was unbelievably gorgeous. Hot and sunny and not very windy. Perfect for me, the beginning seakayaker. We saw dolphins, rays, seals, heaps of birds, and NO sharks, which suited me just fine thank you very much. As a Canadian import, I have to admit, I’m really nervous about sharks in the water. Our guide did say, if the baby seals are on the rocks, the great whites are around (they are probably always around but I didn’t dwell on that too much).
 
This 5 day kayak adventure was awesome. Run by a really professional company (@EastCoastKayaking if you want to check them out).

The purpose was to skill up. Every day we consulted marine charts and weather apps and tide apps and Rohan helped us make sense and prioritize the data so we could decide as a group where we would attempt to paddle.  Once we were on the water, we always scheduled time in to practice different stroke techniques and rescues.

​It was fun. Challenging physically and mentally. Exhausting and invigorating. Social. Pretty much everything that I love in an adventure.
 
I didn’t have much time or energy to think or do ‘business’ activities… which is another winning feature for me when it comes to adventuring.

​I’m feeling light and excited about my life, and my business and all the adventures yet to come. 

​So let’s talk a bit about the nitty gritty, the behind the scenes work that I do to actively design my business around my life.
 
It starts with me identifying WHAT do I want from my life.
 
Sounds so simple but like everything else in our business, it is BUT it isn’t

2 things that stop us in our tracks are:

1. Never actually pausing to think about this big question … what DO I WANT from my life?
2. Or, if we do start to engage with it, immediately piling on all the reasons why we can NOT have what we want…

 
Does any of this sound familiar?
I’d love to go on an adventure BUT

• it costs too much
• I just can’t take the time
• I can’t leave my kids/partner/pets

​Talk about getting in our own way before we even begin!

​Each of our ‘excuses’ has a solution. We know this in our hearts. We’ve made stuff we want happen before. BUT it’s so easy to pile these reasons on ourselves without a second thought.
 
And the result?
 
We don’t design for the life we want. We only design for the life we think we SHOULD have.
 
My personal challenge is to actively choose to engage with the scary thought… What do I want from my life?
 
I’m not going to pretend this is easy.
 
But it’s totally worth it. 

Here’s what I do 

​It feels so brave and empowered to actually write a list of what I want from my life. It’s a gift to myself to allow myself to even write this list. Once I started giving myself this gift, big shifts happened and my business really began to thrive.
 
I encourage you to give yourself this gift.
 
Set a timer for 5 minutes and write (do your best NOT to tamp yourself down, just write)

Once you know what you want, it’s so much easier to start taking the steps necessary to actually make it happen!

If you want a peek inside my brain to see what I do next, to make my dream business into a reality keep reading!

Here’s an example of how my brain works… so you can see HOW I approach making my goal come to life:

Let's choose my desire to have a life that includes active adventure.
 
Step 1: Start looking for opportunities for adventure using my good friend google AND asking people I know for their recommendations

• Be open when something comes up
• Pay my deposit
• Put it in the diary (and electronic diary)

 
Step 2: Work out personal details… what needs to happen, and break it down into actions

• What other people/pets am I committed to caring for and how can I call in support?
  • My kids:
    • Teach to cook nutritious meals
      • Get a cook book
      • Engage them in meal prep
      • Expect them to cook weekly
    • Find trusted people to look in on them
  • My dog:
    • Kids could care for him
      • Create a chart of who walks, feeds, picks up poo

 
Step 3: Business details… what needs to happen, and break it down into actions

• Client appointments
  • Online booking means clients can book while I’m away
  • Phone access means I can return any critical calls while I’m away
  • TAKING 5 days off means that no more than 1 week is disrupted!
• Marketing
  • Schedule marketing to run while I’m away
    • Prepare a blog and schedule
    • Prepare a facebook post and schedule
    • Take a photo and post to Instagram… get my hashtags ready and stored in ‘notes’ ahead of time

I hope my thought process makes some sense to you, and helps you get started ... but if you have any questions OR you'd like a helping hand to sort out WHAT you want and STEPS to take to get there, please be in touch. 

Click here to email me barbara@bswiatkiwskybowen.com

If you like the idea of consciously designing your business to fit your life, here's another blog post you might like.

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