Follow Your Path

This October was my businesses 1-year birthday.  What a ride it has been!  I had ups and downs, times where I felt on top of the world and times where I was close to throwing my hands up in the air and becoming an employee again (thank God I didn’t, lo).  I never threw in the towel though because of the huge amount of support I had from my loved ones AND deep down I knew this was my path. 

Following your path is harder than it sounds.  Many times, you have to go against the grain, against everything you were told as a child, against ‘the correct way’ (this is the way I did it, so you have to do it this way too).  As a child, it was all about following the right path; school, good grades, don’t question the teacher, college, career; and if you follow ‘the path’ you will make money and be happy.  I never heard a teacher talk about what it takes to be an entrepreneur or that it was even an option.  In massage school, a teacher told the class that going off on your own was so hard that it’s not worth the hassle.  Fast forward to having that job that was supposed to make me money and make me happy… I was making ok money and not happy.  I had multiple clients tell me that I was good enough to go off on my own, but I always shook it off because I believed everything I learned (or didn’t learn) in school was Truth.

For 11 years, I kept my nose down and worked for a company.  Deep down I knew the massage field was where I was supposed be, but half the time I was dragging myself to work and exhausted all day.  Only to get energy when I was walking out the door.  I would dream about having my own business, setting my own schedule, working from home, but the thought terrified me.  How the hell do I do that with no idea what the process was let alone the first step.

Long story short, over about a 6-month time frame in 2017 I went from an unhappy employee to a terrified but excited therapist going off on her own.  I realized that following my dream, my path, was scarier than staying an employee and I took the leap.

I put my 2 weeks in September 2017 and October 1st I took my first client as an entrepreneur.  The road has been hilly, mountainous at times, but I have enjoyed every moment.  When you are on YOUR path the downs are not really downs, they are challenges to overcome.  I am busier now with more hats to wear but it’s not exhausting, it’s fulfilling.  I am doing things that make me uncomfortable on a weekly basis but all that tells me is that I am growing as a person and as a business owner.  I am constantly brainstorming new ideas, new things to bring to the table, which allows my creative side to come out and control my overly analytical side. 

I now wake up looking forward to the day, not counting the hours until I have to go into work.

I am telling you this story to show you that what you believe to be Truth, what you learned earlier in life is not set in stone.  It is just someone else’s perspective, someone else’s path.  If you are battling with the same feelings of hopelessness, exhaustion, and monotony in your job as I did, look deep within and ask yourself, “Am I following MY path or someone else’s?”, and know that no matter how scary it may seem to leap, the other side is SOOOO worth it ;D

OM SHANTI,

Katie