I was reading an article by Ken Keis of Consulting Resource Group on The Myth of Motivation and he made a comment I found interesting. He said:

The pursuit of our interests requires no motivation because we enjoy doing them. Interests compel us; to compel means to be pulled or attracted. That precludes the need for motivation. We require motivation only for things that do not interest us. If we need motivation, we must question why we do.

Now, I’m sure that doesn’t mean that we will love every aspect of building a successful massage business. I for one am not a big fan of bookkeeping. But I think it’s true that it is really hard to motivate yourself to do something that you just don’t enjoy.

So if you find you are having a hard time marketing your massage business, maybe take a look at what you are doing. For example, I had a client who was trying unsuccessfully to build her business by public speaking as she had heard that was a great way to get massage clients. And it is! But she hated it (and it was definitely not one of her natural talents).

But it turned out she really enjoyed writing AND she had a real knack for it. So I suggested she focus her marketing efforts on writing articles in local publications instead. And her massage business really took off.

So, if you find you are having a hard time motivating yourself as you build your business, look at what you are doing, and see if there is another approach that includes things that you really enjoy. Then motivation will no longer be an issue.