Stress - Is It Required For Success?

I couldn't tell you how often I've been asked the question, "Don't you think you need to be stressed and harried to be successful?" I've yet to meet a massage therapist (or anyone else) who can convince me that the answer to this question is "Yes."

Many therapists assume that stress and success are linked in the same way that your hands touch your client's body! The assumption is, "There's a huge price to pay in order to achieve my dreams, and enormous stress is an inevitable and essential part of the process."

Most think of their stress as a source of motivation. Consequently, therapists are not only looking for verification of stress in their massage businesses, but even more to the point, they begin to assume that stress is a valuable emotion to have, something they actually need to stay motivated and to keep their edge.

Has this ever occured to you?

• You begin to look and behave in very stressful ways

• Become short-tempered

• Poor listening skills are developed

• You don't allow adequate time between appointments therefore assuring the need to scramble and feel rushed

• You become nervous and agitated

• You lose your perspective, techniques and wisdom

• You rush out the door in the morning and complain about how busy you are and when you finally return home after a long day of (what's supposed to be) relaxation and health giving you're beat.

The problem is, if you assume that stress is a positive and necessary factor, you're going to create – knowingly or unknowingly – a great deal more of it.

If, however, you can begin to think of stress as a distraction that is actually interfering with your goals and dreams, you can begin to rid yourself of a great deal of it.

Stress is, in fact, a distraction. It interferes with clear and logical thinking. It makes wisdom, insights, and creativity more difficult to bring forth. (For further information on stress, Click Here.)

Stress is also exhausting, robbing you of valuable and precious energy – both physical and emotional. It's an enormous source of relationship problems. The more stressed-out you are, the more quick-tempered you become. You lose your ability to stay focused, and your listening skills are affected. You lose your compassion and sense of humor.

I acknowledge that some degree of stress is inevitable. And certainly, becoming successful in your massage business can be difficult, demanding and a lot of hard work.

However, thinking of stress as valuable makes matters worse, not better!

Looked at in this way, it's easy to see that stress isn't something you want to think of in a positive light. Far from being your primary source of motivation, stress has a way of defeating your spirit and energy. And contrary to the notion that stress helps you keep your edge, it actually gives that edge to your massage therapist competitors!

My suggestion is this: When you begin to feel stressed-out, gently remind yourself that, while your massage business may be difficult, the stressful feelings you are experiencing aren't helping and certainly aren't worth defending. In doing so, you may begin to notice that some of the stress that you’ve always assumed was necessary will begin to fade away.

If so, you'll experience the success that comes from seeing stress as a distraction, instead of as an ally!