Your Job, As It Relates To… Everything

Posted by Mike Massie on September 23, 2009

A person's level of success is often a direct correlation to their internal state

Your job (as it relates to your students) is making people feel good.

I know that some of you would disagree…

But your ability to encourage referrals and retain students is a direct result of how good you are at making people feel good.

The problem is, you can’t give someone something you don’t already have.

So, if you go into work feeling miserable – that’s what you’re giving your students.

It’s easy to dismiss this as trite psycho-babble…

And believe me, I know how hard it is to be Mr. Chipper when your inquiries and enrollments are down and you feel like you’re bleeding money everywhere.

“…your ability to ENCOURAGE REFERRALS and RETAIN STUDENTS is a direct result of how good you are at MAKING PEOPLE FEEL GOOD.”

But, choosing unhappiness is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you CHOOSE to focus on the negatives, pretty soon NEGATIVES are ALL you see.

Your internal world cannot be out of synch with your external world for long… and the other half of that equation is that the mind controls the body (thoughts control actions).

Thus, your mind soon starts to synch your actions with your thoughts and feelings. When those thoughts and feelings are negative, here’s what happens:

• You start gravitating toward negative people (and attracting them in droves).
• You start to self-sabotage (often, you can’t see this, but other people do).
• You second-guess things.
• You damage relationships.
• You give a less-than-your-best effort at work (teaching class).

…and so on.

This isn’t some feel-good-secret-law-of-attraction-mumbo-jumbo. It’s natural law, the way God wrote the rules to the universe.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

“A man reaps what he sows.”

“According to your faith will it be done to you…”

It’s inescapable… so instead of fighting universal law, abide by the rules in place and use them to your advantage.

Here’s how:

• Give 100% to your students – they deserve it.
• Be that person you’ve always looked up to and admired – deep inside, you are that person.
• Focus on the positives – it’s the only way you’ll get through challenges with your sanity intact.
• Focus first on how you can help others – your attitude is what will bring people in. People are attracted to that which makes them feel good. If you’re happy and energetic, it will really make you stand out as an instructor and people will be drawn to that.

At all times keep in mind that your job is MAKING PEOPLE FEEL GOOD.

As a prerequisite, you have to CHOOSE to feel GOOD.

Flip that internal switch, turn a corner, transform your business, and change your life.

Teaching Martial Arts is a Business Based on Relationships

Posted by Mike Massie on March 10, 2008

Teaching martial arts by its very nature requires a great deal of interaction and trust

There was a time when I had more students than I could handle, and I was miserable.

Let me explain.

As my school grew larger, it was nearly impossible to provide individual attention to each and every student. Pretty soon, I found myself filling the role of a human resources manager more than a floor instructor.

Now, that may be fine for some martial arts school owners, and I know there are several who are happy teaching the occasional class or just their black belts and spending most of their time counting bills… and I’m not knocking it if it makes them happy.

However, for me personally, I enjoy knowing every student’s name, what they like to do, how their grades are, where they work, and so on. And, it’s my experience that when you do, your school has a “personal touch” that leads to greater student satisfaction and higher retention.

(Not to mention the lower overhead due to reduced payroll… but that’s a story for another post.)

Now, there are certain things you can do to add even more of a personal touch for your students, and that includes staying in touch with them when they aren’t in class. There was a time when you pretty much had to do this manually, and I have to admit that in the past I tended to avoid writing good job notes, birthday cards, and MIA letters.

At my old school I just passed it along to my assistants, but currently I don’t have that option.

Thankfully, there are now technologies and systems you can implement in your school, very inexpensively I might add, that will allow you to automate a lot of the work that goes into keeping in touch with your students.

I have started implementing just such a system in my school, and I love it. Even with the limited time I have, I can now keep up with the “high-touch”, relationship side of running my studio.

And, that’s really what it’s all about… if you want to have a strong school, you MUST build strong relationships with your students.

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Mike Massie is the author of Small Dojo Big Profits and runs a martial arts business coaching website for new instructors and small school owners, StartingAMartialArtSchool.com.