Finding your niche
In a world of so many different things the best thing for you to be able to shine is to fine your niche. This means honing whatever craft it is you do and finding a way to make it yours. Everyone is always looking at others business models, setups, creativity, brilliance and trying to mimic it. I’ll explain with my whole gamut.
I started as a massage therapist about 9 years ago and my first job was at a resort until I moved to buffalo and worked at a massage envy. For the first 4 years of my career I did deep tissue spa massage that was cookie cutter and at the time had no idea what it was I was even feeling. Once I decided to work for myself about 5 1/2 years ago I slowly gained a semblance of what it is I wanted to do.
5 years into my career and I finally understood adhesions, touch, and that changed my whole perspective. From there I changed locations and that place became a way to find my true niche as a massage therapist. Now I classify myself as a muscle rehabilitation artist because I sculpt bodies. I realign structure and try to adapt the muscles to this. My technique is unique and very detailed, and most times I don’t always do full body.
So how did I find my niche?
By practicing everyday. (10,000 hour rule.)
Trusting my instincts.
Educating myself on general knowledge along with specific techniques.
Experiment.
Be open to new possibilities.
These 5 things allowed me to find my niche because the more I practiced the more I felt. That led me to trust my instincts and finally allow my intuition to guide me. I never settled for where I was at so I always continued my education in fields that interested me, even if those things were not even connected to my career. Once I learned new things, and became confident in my abilities I would experiment. Maybe I come up with something I didn’t do before by applying my knowledge and intuition. That led me to more possibilities. See how they all intermingle?
The way you can do this for yourself is to figure out what it is you want to do. This doesn’t always have to be a career, it can be relationships, hobbies, crafts, cooking, anything. Then put those 5 steps into place, while remembering that TIME is the biggest component to anything. While you may work at something hard for a few days, mastery and precision takes years and dedication. So if you aren’t willing to put in the work for the long haul then don’t expect to go where you want to go.
I put in 9 years to this career of mine and I am still not where I want to be by any means but in those 9 years I found the type of massage that I became known for. Will my technique change in years to come? You bet it will. Because another thing about finding your niche, as you grow as a person the thing you do will also grow and change as well. You may learn you actually are ready to let it go and move to something else, or you may find that you grow to love it even more.
Just because you are doing one thing doesn’t mean you can’t up and change everything. Life is always changing around us, look at your local neighborhoods from childhood to now. The stores, the people, the area may have subtle changes or huge changes. That is why it is a good idea to always evaluate yourself and where you are at every time you start to lose that joy. Because even finding my niche doesn’t mean I am always 100% been in love with it. So you may find that you too may not always be happy as well.
This can mean that maybe it’s time for a switch, or go and revamp your niche into something different. Those 5 steps have helped me time and time again fall back in love with massage when it has become mind numbing. Besides those steps another great way to revamp your love is to take a vacation and get away. By taking a break for a short period of time it may be the boost you need to realize how much you love it and just needed some time away to recharge.
If you don’t know what it is you want to do then try everything. Learn all sorts of different things, work different jobs, take different classes, just keep trying things until one of them is like huh I want to try that again. You may be going to school to be a lawyer and find that 1/2 way in you truly want to write time travel sci-fi romance detective novels. (Is this even a thing?) Just know if you change your mind it is okay. I know the judgement from others can feel like a good reason to stay but fuck them. I don’t care if they are family, friends, colleagues, or whatever you live with you for the rest of your life, you chose what it is you want. No one else. So choose for you.
Today was a 7. Bittersweet.