Kingsley Grant finds that, even though a massage is as sexy as it sounds, there are still lessons to be learned from it.
—
My son was gracious enough to purchase a massage for me as a gift. I’ve had it for a couple months having the intention of making an appointment to get it done. As it is for most of us entrepreneurs who are too busy for our own good, I kept putting it off.
I was too busy. I couldn’t make the time to do something for me. I had to be doing other things more important; taking care of others. I eventually made a decision that it was time to do something for me. What a novel idea.
I made the appointment and blocked out time to make sure I did it. It was a Friday morning. I showed up after driving around for awhile searching for the place.
I walked in and immediately knew I was in therapeutic environment. The aroma that greeted me was so refreshing. The soft music playing and the dim lights made it a welcoming environment.
“Hi’ came a voice from behind the desk. It was my masseur. He had a heavy spanish accent. He introduced himself and shook my hand. He gave me the necessary form to fill out.
I was then escorted into a room and here is where the sexiness begins. Before I describe what I mean, let me hastily say, this was not a gentleman’s club environment. Even if it was, I wouldn’t know because I’ve never been to one.
>My masseur instructed me to take off my clothes, leave on my underwear and then to lay face down under the sheets on the bed. Like a good student, I did.
This is where the analogy begins.
1. The undressing
By taking off my clothes, I felt very vulnerable. Even though I was covered around my private parts, yet I was exposed to a stranger. What was it that made me decide to do this? What is it that make your clients or customers decide to trust you?
For me, it was knowing that this was an upscale “operation.” I trusted my son to have done their research knowing his dad’s morals, to have chosen a reputable establishment.
Even though I didn’t know them, I trusted my son.
Do people know you and your company as reputable? Are you doing everything in your power to make sure you monitor what is being said about your company or about you? If you’re not following the social media footprints on your company or on yourself, you may want to begin doing so.
One quick way to do this is to set up a Google Alert to notify you when your name of your company is being used on the internet.
Doing this might not be the sexy part, but it is a necessary and important part. This is covering your “private” parts.
2. The unplugging
Having removed my clothes and placed them on the chair provided, they were out of reach. I needed to have my hands free so I could not hold my phone in my hand. Even though I had a bluetooth headset, I needed to keep everything as possible out of the way so it would not interfere with the massage.
I felt electronically naked.
As luck would have it, my phone which is on vibrate went off a few times. I wondered who was trying to reach me or what was I missing. Was I missing an alert, a message, notification or a call? I intentionally tried and blocked those thoughts out of my mind. It worked.
The massage lasted for about an hour. I survived. The world survived even though I didn’t have immediate access to my phone. As a matter of fact, it felt good not to have to be checking my phone every second to see what I missed a second ago.
This is one way to be forced to unplug from social media and the phone for an hour. >I was able to reflect and let my mind free flow in thoughts. I had some creative thoughts and found a possible solution to something that I was trying to figure out.
Maybe the sexiness of this might be for me to do this more often. What about you? When do you unplug? What if you tried it? Who knows what you might be able to come up with or what solution you might find to one of your pressing issues.
3. The Exposing
As previously stated, I was only partially exposed. This exposure was enough to serve as a reminder … I’m not fully dressed.
Sometimes we don’t know what is missing until we become aware that something is missing.
As my masseur began to use his skillful, strong and experienced hand to hit certain key spots on my body, I realize that I wasn’t in as great a condition as I thought I was.
I’m one who for the most part, take care of my body. I run and go to the gym as often as I can. I try to stretch and keep as limber as possible.
However as my masseur stretched and pulled and pushed and pressed I realized that he was awakening unused muscles and nerve endings that laid dormant.
It was painful at times but it was a good pain. I laid there thinking, I could get used to this and need to make it a regular part of my overall health maintenance.
At times I had to clench my teeth and took deep breaths to endure the deep pressure rubs. This was to stop me from making noises that could be misinterpreted by someone who might be outside the door.
Sometimes in business, your customers or clients who you are serving may press certain spots in your business that you thought was well conditioned and healthy only to find out they it’s not.
We can do one of two things: i) we could stop the process prematurely or ii) we could allow the process to go as far is possible to make sure all the “kinks” get worked out.
I could have told my masseur to stop because it was uncomfortable and somewhat painful at times, but I wouldn’t have found out all the dormant areas that needed attention.
Whether you decide to get a massage or not, let me assure you that these three lessons I learned from having one, can make your business as sexy as you need it to be.
Which of these three business lessons did you find most helpful and why? I would love to hear your feedback.
