True story… (excuse the graphic details) One day I was sitting in the bathroom thinking about what makes some therapists really successful. (Yes, my mind is always pretty active, especially when I have nothing to do but sit.)

It was about 9am in the morning, give or take a few minutes. I know what time it was because that’s the time I always go to the bathroom. I’m as regular as a clock. (I’ll tie all this bathroom activity into a business lesson in a moment.)

So I was thinking about success factors. The business research literature is pretty clear: The number on success secret is…

ACTION!

The key factor that is going to determine your success is your ability to take action.

The need to take action is the one characteristic that sets all successful business owners apart from the crowd. The most successful entrepreneurs can’t help themselves. They have to do something… try something… take action.

And I started asking myself, “How is it that some people always seem to get things done, whereas other therapists just seem paralyzed to do even the smallest tasks to build their business?”

Those successful therapists aren’t afraid of taking action.

They don’t seem to have any issues doing the things that support their business, whether that’s asking a customer to rebook, promoting gift certificates while out and about, attending a networking meeting, jumping into their website editor, knocking on a physician’s door.

Not only are they fearless, but it also all seems so super easy for them.

Why?

Because taking action has become a habit. They just do it because that’s just the thing you do.

It’s a habit

It’s like going to the bathroom each morning…

• You don’t sit and visualize yourself doing it.
• You don’t get yourself into a bathroom “state”.
• You don’t have to do positive self-talk to do it.
• You don’t let yourself think of all the things that could go wrong if you go to the bathroom.
• You don’t need a guarantee that you are going to be successful when you go.
• You don’t put off doing it tomorrow or the next day.
• You don’t make excuses so that you won’t have to go.

You just wake up. And you go.

It’s a habit

That’s how taking action in your practice has got to be.

Don’t talk yourself into doing it. Don’t roll all the worst-case scenarios in your head over and over again. Don’t feel the need to have a guarantee that everything is going to work out as planned. Don’t make up excuses as to why it would be better to do later.

Just do it.

You have to take action over and over again until you stop thinking about taking action. It has to become an automatic reflex. It has to become an unconscious practice.

When you do something, one of two things will happen:

1) You’re successful

Or

2) You fail

If you’re successful, you’ll do more of the same thing and improve it. If you fail, you learn from your mistakes and you go on to try it differently or to try something else.

It’s really that simple. You can’t go wrong.

I know it may feel uncomfortable for you at first, but that’s OK. Taking action is not a habit for you yet. You have to practice it. You have to do it over and over. Then it starts feeling natural, comfortable.

Be an action hero

One of my favorite “action stories” comes from Albert Ellis. He is a psychologist and probably one of the most influential figures in modern behavioral psychology. I recall an interview of him talking about dating and I thought of how closely this relates to the massage professionals who I communicate with through BodyworkBiz.

In Albert Ellis’ own words:

“I was scared shitless of approaching women. I flirted with them in Bronx Botanical Garden near my home, but I never approached them, made up all kinds of excuses. So I gave myself a brilliant homework assignment at the age of 19 when I was off from college, to go to Bronx Botanical Garden every day that month, and whenever I saw a woman sitting alone on a park bench, I would sit immediately next to her – not in her lap – which I wouldn’t dare do before, and give myself one lousy minute to talk to her. If I die, I die, screw it so I die. And I did that. I found 130 women sitting alone that month on the park bench. I sat next to all of them, whereupon 30 got up and walked away, but that left me an even sample of 100 good for research purposes. I spoke to the whole hundred for the first time in my life about the birds and the bees, the flowers, their reading.”

And do you know what happened?

Take a guess at how many dates he got from that exercise.

One? Three? Five? Seventeen? Twenty-three?

Actually, he only got one date…

…and she didn’t show up!

But that’s not the point.

The important point is that he realized that he was still alive and well after the experience. No one attacked him. Nobody vomited and ran away. Nobody called the police. He had a hundred pleasant conversations. And the second hundred were even more enjoyable and he made a few dates.

And you’ll find exactly the same thing happening to you.

Just do something. Even if it takes you out of your comfort zone a little. And what you’ll find is that it’s not so bad. It actually feels good to be doing something that is taking you somewhere – anywhere. After awhile, you’ll find that it gets easier, more pleasant and…

…you’ll start seeing little successes happening.

So for today, you are going to commit to doing one thing. Just one. It doesn’t have to be earth shattering or big. In fact, make it small.

Just make one follow up call. Just write one thank you note. Just ask one client to rebook. Just suggest that one client book a one and a half hour appointment next visit instead of their usual hour.

You decide what action it is that you are going to take today. Write it down on a Post-It note and put it somewhere (like the handset for your phone) so it can’t be ignored,.

Then do the same thing tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that. Commit to taking some small action every day for the next month.

I’m here to help…

I’ve been very successful in my career as a massage therapist which has lasted over two decades. But I’m ready to kick it up a notch. I’m committed to making 2011 my best year ever and I hope you’ll join me and do the same.

To support you, I’m going to offer a different resource on the BodyworkBiz site for sale each week over the next six weeks so you can start the year off right. So be sure to check your inbox every Monday morning to find out what’s available.

Think about what you want to accomplish this year and start writing down your goals for 2011 before I drop into your inbox next Monday.

After having spent the past week doing a complete office reorganization, I’m super-psyched and ready to go. I’ve got my 2011 business plan ready and I’ve just started taking an online program myself to help me more clearly define my goals.

It’s the 100 Day Challenge by Gary Blair, the Goal Guy. The program came highly recommended to me by one of my mentors. If you want to check it out and follow along with me, check it out here:

The 100 Day Challenge: Start Fast, Finish Strong (use discount code: group97 to get $50 off)

What do I think of the program personally? I don’t know yet. I’ve just started. But it’s only $99 for the three month program. I’ll get lessons daily and you can be sure that I’m going to take action on each of those lessons.

Okay, enough about me. Go do your stuff.

Remember to keep an eye out for the next BodyworkBiz email on Monday.