The Massage Pundit

If you are nationally certified, you have just a short time to vote for the two positions that are open on the Board of Directors for the NCBTMB.  Please do not let your right to vote pass you by.

I am supporting Nathan Nordstrom and Pua Gillespie for the open seats.  Nordstrom is the only one of the candidates who said a word in his candidate statement about all the fractures and dissent within the NCBTMB.  Someone should certainly address that issue.  I support Pua Gillespie because she practices and lives by the spirit of ”Aloha”, with respect for all persons, forgiveness, and non-judgment handed down from her Hawaiiaan elders.  As the current chair of the government relations committee since May, she is already at work with the 30 states who have joined the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, and I believe she will work with that organization instead of against it.

Candidates are forbidden from campaigning, other than their candidate statements.  I urge you to read each one’s statement carefully and follow your conscience. 

The present administration has accomplished a lot, as far as revamping the website and stepping up public relations efforts.  So far it’s been window-dressing; approved provider approvals and renewals are running way behind, as usual, and I personally would rather see good service to stakeholders instead of a snazzy website.  And as I’ve stated here many times before, I wholeheartedly disapprove of the NCBTMB fighting against the FSMTB and the MBLEx, and think they would do well to keep their nose out of state governance.  That isn’t their job, and they haven’t made any friends on account of it.

Donna Feely’s term is up December 31, and I wait with bated breath to see if we’re in for another winter (or two, since his term won’t end until 2010) of discontent under the leadership of Mr. Delaporta.  Hopefully not. 

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

Thanksgiving is coming up and the holiday season is about to begin.  In my North Carolina town, recent plant closings and job layoffs are going to mean a lot of people are struggling to meet their everyday needs, and it’s hard to get in that merry mood when you’re worried about providing for your family.

My husband is a builder, and he, along with the other folks in the construction trade and the real estate business around here have had a bad year.  Still, our needs are met, our home is secure, and we’re not going hungry.  Our practice hasn’t suffered; my staff members are all still busy.  It may be a sign of the times that even when money is short, or maybe more so, stress levels are high and people still need their massage.

Now that the election is over (thank God), I’m waiting to see what the new president is going to do for small business people and middle-class America.  Even though the unemployment rate is at an all-time high and there’s a lot of craziness going on in the financial markets, I feel hopeful that things are turning around.  I filled up my car a few minutes ago with gas that was 1.86 a gallon, and just a month or so ago, it was almost 5.00 a gallon. That’s got to be a good sign.

My Christmas list this year is a long one.  I want Peace on Earth.  I want our soldiers to come home.  I want the government to quit bailing out gazillion-dollar corporations and do something for all the hard-working people who are facing foreclosure on their homes.  I want everybody who wants one to have a job.  I want all the unwanted children in America to be adopted into homes where they’ll be loved and cared for.  I want the hungry to be fed, and I don’t want any homeless people freezing to death because they don’t have a roof over their head.  I want elderly people to have enough so that they don’t have to choose between paying for their medicine or buying food. 

AMTA was able to give the Massage Therapy Foundation a very impressive gift of over $400,000 this year, and part of that came from a donation based on a dollar per member.  If all the massage therapists reading this give up one dollar per massage between now and Christmas, that’s probably a substantial amount of money.  Even in these hard times, most people can give up a dollar.  I’m putting a donation box in the lobby, and maybe our clients will give a dollar, too.  I challenge all of you to do the same, and give it to the charity of your choice.  Someone’s life will be better for it, and so will yours.  Massage therapists are compassionate, giving people, and there are a lot of us.  We can make a difference.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

I’ll probably catch a lot of flak for this post, because it seems like everybody and his brother is holding himself out to be a “personal coach” or “life coach” these days.  Coaching is big business, and there seems to be a trend among some massage therapists and others in the holistic arts to add this to their menu of services.

I suppose mentor and coach could be interchangeable terms, if it weren’t for the money.  I have mentored a lot of students, and never charged them a dime.  Maybe I should start calling it coaching and charge them 200.00 an hour.  I’ve had at least a couple of mentors continuously during my career, and they haven’t ever charged me a penny for the moral support and advice they’ve graciously imparted.  They should be calling it coaching and charging me big bucks, if they want to go with the flow.

I frequently act as a consultant to massage schools and other practitioners.  I do charge for that service, and I have in the past paid someone to consult with me on business matters that I wanted another perspective on.  Maybe I just like the word “consultant”.  I might be a coach in sheep’s clothing.

When it comes to coaching, I think I just have a mental block on the word itself, due to some of the people I’ve met who are in the coaching business.  For instance, a relationship coach.  I can’t picture myself taking relationship advice from someone who’s always on the outs with her own family, and who can’t hold a relationship together longer than six months, but I am acquainted with several such people.  A client of mine told me just yesterday that her parents were celebrating their 71st wedding anniversary today.  Now, that’s the kind of person I’d like for a relationship coach–someone who’s been able to hold it together for 71 years.

Then there’s financial coaching.  I would like for my financial coach to be a millionaire, preferably self-made before the age of 50.  If they inherited it, that’s okay, as long as they’ve managed to hang on to it and make it grow, instead of blowing it all on one long spending spree.  I want my financial coach to be a prosperous person, not just someone who talks about prosperity.  I’m still old-fashioned enough to think that most prosperity comes through hard work.  As someone has said, the easiest way to double your money is to fold it up and put it in your pocket. 

I want a business expert who’s really been in business.  While I appreciate the effort that goes into earning an MBA from Harvard, when it comes to a business coach, I want someone who has actually been through the blood, sweat, and tears of running a business, and lived to tell the tale. 

I know some coaches who fit that description. They’re out there performing a valuable service, giving advice and encouragement to people who need it and have the money to pay.  If you’re considering hiring a coach, check into their qualifications, over and beyond some certificate they might possess that says they’re a coach.  Ask them about their real life experience.  Find out what really qualifies them to be a coach, what experiences they’re bringing to the table, and what successes they have had in whatever field they’re holding themselves out to be an expert in.  Some of the people in the self-help field seem to base their expertise on all the failures they’ve had, not the successes they’ve had. Know who your coach is. And that’s your coaching for today, absolutely free.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen