When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Healed

by Coach Cary Bayer

Whenever I teach my 6-CE workshop, "Build a $100,000 a Year Healing Arts Business in Just 1 Hour a Day," I take two hours to awaken prosperity and success thinking in the facilitators in my classroom. I do that because the overwhelming majority of healers I've come across-now numbering in the thousands-do not think this way naturally. I often say that a slowed down economy is not a problem for such therapists. The problem is how a healer thinks, speaks, and acts about it.

The movie business thrived during the Great Depression because Hollywood offered relief from daily worries. If your healing modality doesn't offer that-then I'll eat my hat-and I'm not a "hatatarian."

I'm well aware that some healers-from massage therapists to hypnotherapists-- have seen their numbers drop. The facilitator who understands when her client says he needs to cut down or cut out an adjustment, a massage or hypnosis, for example, is an facilitator who might soon need a job. The therapist who makes her client understand that, in a recession, where stress and fear are rampant, one must spend money on staying empowered and motivated-or else fears will pull one into a deeper spiral. The therapist in this economy must be a lighthouse illuminating the way for those in darkness around her.

In AARP Bulletin's May issue, a reporter cites a massage therapist in Boulder and another in Chicago whose practices are up. I see it in my coaching work, too. Heather Kading, who owns Hands On Massage and Wellness in Poughkeepsie, NY, recently wrote me, "In March 2009, during a deep recession, I enjoyed the busiest month I ever had in my six years as a massage therapist! With the economy the way it is, people are more stressed than ever. Maintaining their health and wellness so that they feel good and enjoy life is still a priority."

The Chinese ideogram for disaster is the same as the one for opportunity. If a healer sees this economy as a disaster, she'll likely find her business dropping. The one who sees it as an opportunity will likely succeed. Thank goodness we have the choice to choose.

Cary Bayer (www.carybayer.com) was keynote speaker at the 2006 American Massage Therapy Association national convention. Widely known as The Business Coach for Massage Therapists, Cary is a Life Coach; CE provider licensed by NCBTMB and Florida Dept. of Health's Board of Massage Therapy; and faculty member of Massage Business University, he writes for Massage Today, massage publications in 14 states, and a syndicated column, "Life 101," that runs in wellness publications. His 27 publications include 11 specifically for massage therapists. He's coached some 150 LMTs and dozens of alternative healers. His CE seminars, "Build a $100,000 a Year Massage Business" and "Healer, Heal Thyself," are very popular among alternative facilitators.