In 1993 I was in dumps. I was working for a chiropractor and I wanted to work for myself, but I knew that I didn’t have enough massage clients to take the leap.
I was stuck and ready to give up.
But I had two people in my life who challenged me to face the things that were actually preventing me from doing what was necessary to going out on my own.
As I started to face the challenges I felt VERY uncomfortable and, OMG, did I want to go back to where I was miserable–but at least safe.
However, I didn’t and, damn, if I didn’t launch my business!
[bctt tweet=”You’re gonna be uncomfortable BUT at the end of the day you’ll be working for yourself. ” username=”Mark LiskeyMarkLiskey”]
My Pokers
When you’re feeling bad about yourself and the situation that you’re in it’s natural to move away from those uncomfortable feelings.
But a lot of the times it’s facing those uncomfortable feelings that help us grow.
Lucky for me, Lisa, my wife (girlfriend at the time), and my friend, John, a personal trainer, were good at poking me.
Every time I gave a reason as to why I couldn’t go out on my own, they countered with a question or an idea.
I Have $0 To Start a Business
My number one reason for not going out on my own was that I didn’t have enough money to rent a place.
This was absolutely true.
But when John pushed for more information, I had to admit that I hadn’t looked for alternative rent options.
John had a suggestion.
He had been referring clients to me at the chiropractor’s office for a while and he suggested that I see his client Sybil, a person I’d known for years but never seen as a client, at my apartment.
This made me uncomfortable and I initially passed on the idea.
For one, I had no idea how to make my office look like a massage room.
I had told Lisa about John’s suggestion and she torpedoed that objection by volunteering to make sure that my office would seamlessly double as a massage room.
Hmm…back to the objections drawing board.
I Don’t Want to Work for Free!
Having cleared the first objection hurdle, I was starting to feel really uncomfortable.
Lisa revved up the poking (like all good partners do) and I discovered another fear of mine: I hated setting prices and collecting money.
And this was a big.
Prior to massage I had a small gardening business.
During that time I always undervalued my service and never raised my rates.
Can you say, Markie resented his customers because he felt like they were taking advantage of him?
Oh no, I was going to be working for practically free again!
Another Solution
But when I faced this fear Lisa helped me figure out a price that seemed fair to me.
Then John told Sybil (and any future client who he would refer to me) how much the massage would cost.
Now it was less likely that I would cave and discount my massage when it came time to collecting the money.
Even with all their help, I was still uneasy when Sybil came to my home office for a massage.
But that changed when she paid me the price I was asking.
Stay On It
For most of us staying being in the discomfort zone is not our normal default state.
Even now, 20+ years into private practice, I still avoid things that make me uneasy.
For instance, I have no problem collecting money from clients, but promoting my business remains a challenge.
Here’s a fairly recent example. We officially opened our new business, PressurePerfect, about 4 years.
During the first year I had been contacting local businesses that could potentially be good business partners, like chiropractors, personal trainers and yoga studios.
And I had made contact with April, a key person in a local running store, via email.
Email was my go-to way to contact people because I was comfortable with it.
April and I had exchanged numerous emails about doing potential events together, but nothing materialized.
It was frustrating, but instead of actually going to the store and looking for another way in, something I wasn’t comfortable with, I gave up.
I Wasted Time
About a year later when I was doing demo massages at a chiropractor’s office a patient of the chiropractor told me to talk to Casey, the manager of the running store, instead of April.
I started to email Casey, but then I realized that it was time to make myself uncomfortable.
So, I walked into his store and introduced myself. We hit it off and by the time I left Casey and I had set up a massage event at his store.
Once again making myself uncomfortable paid off.
Are You Uncomfortable Enough?
If you’ve been dreaming about working for yourself but feel stuck, it might be time to get uncomfortable.
Here’s a quick way to start:
- Write down the things about starting a massage business that make you feel uncomfortable.
- Pick the top one.
- Find a person(s) who can help keep you in the discomfort zone (like Lisa and John did with me).
- Then get uncomfortable.
Tackle that number one thing and don’t give up until you’ve experienced at least one win (with me it was Sybil paying me for my first “official” private practice massage).
My bet is that once you experience a win, you won’t want to give up.
Need more help getting uncomfortable?
Check out my free how to get you massage business off the ground course: Jumpstart.
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