On June 12 this year Ellis Remedial will be 4 years old, yep the big 4! Wow time flies. I started this business from scratch. Nobody knew who I was, how I operated or if I was a good therapist or not. I still took a chance and threw in a good paying job to become my own boss. As we near the 4th birthday the figures tell me that I am 35 clients off reaching 500 new clients. That’s 500 different bodies that will have walked through my door to the unknown. Most of those 500 have been referrals which tells me I must be doing something right. Keeping track of this kind of stuff is important, making sure I see where my clients are coming from and what sort of advertising does and doesn’t work. Some are regular return clients on a weekly/fortnightly/monthly basis and others I don’t see for months on end sometimes years but they do come back. It would seem that word of mouth is by far the best advertising in Tasmania but we all know that already. It can make you or break you and thankfully I am currently running the former. I love what I do. My clients are my little family. I love waking up and checking the diary to see a day full of regulars and I know instantly that the day is going to be awesome. I think I might have to come up with a gift for that 500th new client. I wonder how many massages I have pumped out in those 4 years? Now that would be an interesting stat. I might just have to work that out. Believing in yourself and your ability to do anything will get you a long way in life. If you don’t like your job, find something you do like and do it. We have one life, make it count.

Nik

This week I had to turn away at least 6 clients due to being full. I squeezed in as many as I could but I just ran out of space. It’s always that little bit  harder when I have to turn 5 days into 4. I just wanted to say again how important it is to book in advance for your massage. By all means don’t be put off and not call on the day as I may have had a cancellation and you may get lucky but if you have an idea of the week ahead and you are able, please book it in to ensure you can get in and I can get you back to your best. I have a few openings next week, they are as follows.

Tues 9:15 2:45 & 4pm

Wed 9:15, 10:30 & 11:45

Thurs 10:30

Friday 9:15

Have a fantastic weekend, I will be building chicken pens, bok bok.

Nik

Well I must admit I was a little apprehensive about moving the business out of it’s original home and into Albert Road but after 6 weeks here I will be the first to admit that it was a really good move. Business is booming which is great for me but that means that you guys need to make sure you book your appointments in advance to make sure you don’t miss out. If the business keeps growing at the rate it is then I will need to put on a new therapist very soon. That will make it a little easier to get in and I promise to find someone who works similar to me so we all win. In the meantime I am managing to see you all. This is just a friendly reminder to stay on top of your diary and book your appointments early. I am down to 4 spaces next week…

Wed 10:30

Thurs 2:30

Fri 9:15 & 10:30

If these times don’t work for you call me and we will try and find something that does.

Tomorrow is Friyay woo! Have a great weekend.

Nik

I have decided in all my wisdom that the Easter Bunny is by far better than Santa because he brings (in the words of my 2 year old niece) clocklate!!! Oh and don’t we all love clocklate? Even when I’m trying to be super super good, my big fat weakness is that brown milky goodness. But, now Easter is over I need to get back on the wagon and get off the sugar again…boring! Ha, but I feel much better for it. How much clocklate did you eat over the weekend?

This week I only have one spot available at 10:30am on Friday so if you want that spot get in quick. Next week I have the following

Wed 26th 10:30

Thurs 27th 10:30, 11:45 & 4pm

Fri 9:15, 10:30 & 11:45

Make sure you are looking after yourself and enjoy a massage as much as that Chocolate.

Nik

Now I am no doctor but I know my body pretty well and I know when I have done something wrong. That was evident this weekend when I woke up Saturday with a shocking headache and muscle aches like never before. This was not a DOMS muscle ache that you get after exercise, it was a complete shutdown of my muscles wanting to do anything but rest. I was lethargic and had lost my appetite, eating and working out was the last thing on my mind. It continued through until Sunday where I certainly didn’t feel much better. I was able to be up more but struggled through the day. Come Monday I was feeling better but my leg muscles were still fatigued and I still didn’t have the energy to get through a full work day, plus my stomach was making some god awful noises that told me it really wasn’t happy. Now I could put it down to a virus, a fast virus, or I can look at what I did wrong last week and figure it out from there. I personally think I was seriously dehydrated due to the lack of care I gave to my body after a super hard workout of Friday morning. I did 10 sets of 1 minute intervals, rower, assult bike, rest. It was a killer. I finished that and immediately had to go to work. I finished the 600ml bottle of water I had with me but that’s probably about it for the day. I went to the movies after work and we had a late dinner of sushi afterwards. I had a glass of water with dinner but that was about it. It was really poor form on my behalf to deprave my body of what it needed after working so hard for me. It’s certainly a mistake I won’t make again. I’m almost back to normal, just a little bit tired but my body no longer hurts like it did and my belly has stopped talking to me. If I had of had the energy to get myself a massage over the weekend I would have, although I think for the first time ever I would have cried, I needed the release yet I was too weak to go anywhere. It is a timely reminder to me to refuel. Yes sweating it up during a session and pushing myself is an awesome feeling but if I don’t recover well then I can’t back it up. Don’t get dehydrated. Drink before and after a workout, replace the fluids you sweat out. Fuel your body with food and once you are on top of that, get yourself a massage. Roll on  pm Friday when I grace the table, Yiew!

Every year around September we are bombarded on social media and Television advertising reminding us that there is only 12 weeks until Summer and to get our Summer bodies now. Personally I hate said adverts they drive me insane! What is the perfect Summer body? Is it the skinny woman who doesn’t have any marks on her body? Is it the mum who has carried babies  and has the right to show off her tiger stripes with pride? Is it the voluptuous woman who is completely happy in her body and looks stunning in a bikini regardless of what society thinks she should or should not wear? I wore a bikini this summer for the first time ever. Strangely enough I didn’t care that I don’t have the washboard stomach and perfect definition, I was hot and I wanted a tan and strangely enough I didn’t feel judged by anyone. The biggest issue I believe when it comes to body shaming is the media. We all know how fast they are to attack the famous actor for putting on a few kg’s. When it comes down to it size shouldn’t be in the equation but more your overall health. So my question is why don’t we see in March a bombardment of ‘get your winter body’ advertising? Personally for me if I want to slim down and tone up I want it more for winter than summer. Who doesn’t want to wear layers in winter? I like to wear them without feeling like the Mischelin man so I shall tone up now. I’m going to get my winter body on so I can eat yummy hot meals over winter and drink yummy hot drinks but still feel motivated enough to exercise and look after myself. Hands down I have always loved Winter over Summer because of the fashion. I’m not one to purchase outlandish crazy price clothes, I just like to see what people wear. I appreciate good style, I love scarves and woolen jumpers, guys who wear well fitted jeans with lovely jackets, ladies who style up their jeans with a pair of winter boots and a nice cardi. Yep I could people watch all day in winter and be in my element. I  might start a trend, it’s March, 12 weeks till Winter, start your 12 week transformation now… Food for thought!

Sometimes we tell ourselves that things are impossible even though we know they aren’t. There are those people in life who have a can do attitude and those who have a can’t do attitude or it’s all too hard outlook on things. I am a mixture of those. Sometimes I decide not to do something because it’s too hard. Other times I choose to do something just because it is too hard, just to remind myself that I can. This past weekend was one of those moments where I decided I could. Last Easter I attempted to reach one of Tasmania’s most famous lakes on foot by pack hiking into the Western Arthur Range and making my way to lake Oberon. On the first attempt I failed. The weather was nothing short of atrocious and after 6 hours of hiking in mud, 2 hours of those spent climbing one of the hardest mountain terrains I have ever encountered, and an overnight sleep where the rain just kept coming down, my party turned around and went home. I stated during that walk that I would never ever ever do it again. Well guess what I did this weekend? Yep I did it again!(ooh I sound like Brittany there ha). It was just as hard as I remembered although the weather was much kinder this time around and the hike is was a lot less muddy. The 2 hour climb still killed me but the fact we made it to our camping spot at Lake Cygnus on the range was a feat in itself. The next day I would attempt to reach Oberon. It was raining and foggy and it just got scarier and scarier! The climbing involved is insane but the feeling of elation when you reach a peak is all worth it. Guess what? I didn’t make Oberon. Only because we were on a time restriction but we did get to the halfway point and only missed is by 1.5 hrs. If we had just 3 more hours to play with we would have made it. Things that went through my head during that hike were things that I don’t usually think about myself. I’m a typical woman, never happy with my body or my fitness levels etc etc. When I was out there climbing, none of this mattered. I was strong. I was conquering mountains that not many people have the strength to climb either mentally or physically. The views of mountain caps showcasing the best of Tasmania and why we love it made me feel invincible. It didn’t matter that I was soaking wet in shorts and feeling a little bit chilly, I was smashing my demons and that fear of the physical pain to put one foot in front of the other and explore this great state that we live in. The moral to the story is that I told myself I can’t when in fact I can. I wanted to give up, I wanted to at times just sit and stop but I used the power of thought to tell myself that I can do it and it would eventually be over. It was eventually over. We walked out to the car park at about midday on Monday. Blisters, sore feet, sore back and the best thing of all, memories to last me a lifetime. Will I go back? Never, ever, ever…..until next time 🙂 Don’t be afraid to do the things you think you can’t do, get out there and give it a go. No one will think less of you if you fail, at least you tried 🙂

Now to next week. I have the following available,

Monday 11:45

Tues 2:45 or 5:15

Wed 9:15, 10:30, 11:45

Thurs 12:30

Friday 9:30, 10:45

See you soon.

Nik

There comes a time when you start to feel like there is just no time for anything in the day but work, sleep and family life. The constant running around to get things done on a daily basis is draining physically and mentally. So how do we stay on top of that? I have come to the realisation that I need to find more time for exercise and training. When I am on top of my exercise and eating well I feel a million bucks and the mental strains of day to day life don’t seem so extreme. The question is, how do we find that time for training when our lives are already so busy? The real answer is that some days you just can’t. Take yesterday for example. I had my morning clients, then I had to do a tip run to remove rubbish from the old business and stuff I had used for the new place. I then returned to the old place where I had to get the rest of my stuff out that was to go home and finish washing the floor so I could hand over keys. Next, a trip home to empty the car and collect the kids from school, return down the hill where Ali had returned from school camp and ran her in to pick up her car from the mechanics. By the time I returned back to work it was 3:45 with my 4pm client 15 minutes away. 2 clients for the afternoon then straight to my mums house to see my little brother for his 21st, where I stayed until 9pm. Could I have fitted in an hour of training into that day? The answer is no. However, days like this are bound to happen but we can’t let them get in the way of the big picture. So I couldn’t train yesterday, that’s ok, ill go and do a session today. I only have a small window but that window will see me pump out a high intensity 30 minute workout. I have been off the horese for quite some time and am noticing it in my body. I don’t have high energy levels, I’m frustrated with aches that I get from time to time but I am the only one who can fix that. Last Tuesday I did a fitness test with Em, it was just 9 different exercised testing where I was at. This gives me a start, now I can set a bench mark and work towards achieving it. Today I will train, tomorrow I don’t get time again but this weekend I will be hiking in some super tough terrain so I will make up for it then. I am back on the horse, are you?

Tomorrow will be the last day I practice at the current address in Maxwell Street. It will be a sad day, I love this little place. I have worked here, I have lived here, I have made it my own. But time to move on to a different premises which is bigger and brighter and I’m sure will be just as much fun as this place was. The amazing support of my clients and followers has made my transition from employee to self employed so easy with many laughs along the way. We will continue those laughs, I will no longer have my green room of pain (my treatment room so affectionately named by my sister). Have no fear, the green will reappear, possibly just at a lower level, who knows there could be more. So tomorrow night I will pick up the truck, I will come back here, I will take away all the equipment, signs, candles etc etc and I will head on up the road for a new beginning. I can’t wait to take you all along for the ride. Even if you don’t book a massage, if you are driving past or walking, riding, running, whatever, pop your head into 59a Albert Road and say a big ole G’day!

Keep on being awesome (coz everything is awesoooome…everything is cool when you’re part of a team…) i know you all sang that!

Nik 🙂