Fish!ing for an Excellent Massage Therapy Career

FISH!ing for an Excellent Massage Therapy Career

Can you imagine a workplace full of energy that is inhabited by employees who are joyful and completely passionate about their jobs? This kind of atmosphere has the potential to be anywhere we choose it to be as massage therapists. These ideas and so much more are presented in FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results written by Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul, and John Christensen. Several of the key principles described in this powerful and inspiring book will aid with making a business as a massage therapist one of a kind. FISH! explains how to incorporate excellent interpersonal communication, develop effective teamwork skills, and help others develop and grow through being positive and having fun into a successful business, all of which are staples for a career in massage therapy.

"...people prefer to communicate with a positive person." (Dubrin, pp. 49, 2003) FISH! possesses much of this concept as well. Mary Jane, a supervisor with a great reputation at her job at First Guarantee Financial, is very much a positive person. But as Mary Jane gets moved to work in the toxic energy dump, (the third floor of First Guarantee Financial that all of the employees loathed) she is trifled by her co-workers feelings about their jobs, and finds out quickly that they possess no motivation about what they do there everyday. Their mundane and careless attitudes affect the others that work around them, and Mary Jane is confused about how to make changes and make them actually enjoy work. Little did she know, a stroll down Pike Place was about to

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enlighten her. As she stumbled upon The Pike Place Fish market, she was surprised by all the commotion occurring there. Customers on the street were having tons of fun and laughing. What surprised Mary Jane the most, however, was that the workers appeared to be having a better time than the customers. She thought if she could bring half as much positive energy and enthusiasm into the toxic energy dump the employees might actually be able to enjoy working there. (Lundin, Stephen, Christensen, 2000) This positive energy and enthusiasm is what any massage therapist needs to bring to their career every day to make it a place clients will want to come back to. By having this attitude and loving what you do, you have the power to transform people's lives everyday for the better. This theory is applied as Mary Jane takes the first steps in making some huge changes to better her staff on the third floor.

Developing excellent teamwork skills and having the ability to get along well with others is highly important for creating an effective massage therapy practice. The Pike Place Fish market definitely worked together as a team to produce excitement and their collaboration proved to be very effective and successful. As Mary Jane visited The Pike Place Fish market more and more, and payed close attention to the tactics used by its staff, especially from Lonnie (one of the fish market's team members who gives her insightful information about his energetic and fun philosophies), she began to collect ideas about making her own staff into a team. (Lundin, Stephen, Christensen, pp.54-66, 2000) "Developing ideas is one of the most exciting and creative aspects of any business. Always be open to new opportunities." (Sohnen-Moe, pp. 36, 2005) Massage

therapy is an ever-changing career that puts a therapist in contact with many people

everyday, requiring them to get along well with others, and work as a team with other health care providers and therapists.

Mary Jane continued to gain helpful concepts to turn the toxic energy dump at First