Spa, Massage Therapy, Beauty and Wellness Quotes

Spa, Massage Therapy, Beauty and Wellness Quotes

He who stops learning stops being better and he who stops being better stops being good. - yunesa

I would like to give credit to a great political leader in England, Oliver Cromwell, who coined the quote, "He who stops being better stops being good." May I add to that quote, and he who stops being better stops being good.

I thought college was the end of it, but commencement exercises - says otherwise. Commencement literally means- the beginning, tha start even if it is the final step of getting our college degree. Commencement is the beginning of another chapter of our lives, away from the boundaries of the university. It opens up another chapter of learning and lessons that we will not be able to learn from school. All the quizes, examinations, tests are just a stepping stone for a higher level of learning. After school, we learnined more than paperwork, we learned more than the academics, we learned more than classroom participation- we learned more about life and what it has to offer including adding our piece into the puzzle of life. And what does it have to do with Spa, Massage, Beauty and Wellness? It has something to do with wellness from within.

Learning as I have discovered does not take a lot of knowledge on massage techniques but takes time and maturity. It takes people to help us and from whom we learn from. People whom we meet become friends and colleagues with. People who lets us learn and be better. I remember a few of my mentors as I  also remember Japan. What do you think was Japan's secret to emerge as one of the most powerful and richest nation in the world? A country that has experienced two atomic bombs but barely a generation later has recovered from World War II?  Here is their secret- Japanese managers devote 20-30 percent of their time to personally develop and mentor their staff. For them, it is a part of their duty and mutual obligation to help their subordinates. Yes, they sacrifice their time and money to teach and share their knowledge and skills to their subordinates. They extend their helping hand to people beneath them so their staff can learn and be promoted.

Managers and supervisors are not selected based on their grades and achievements in school, nor are they selected based on their work experience or abilities but the ability to develop their staff and their subordinates.

What about us, what is our criteria when choosing our people? Observe a few of our classified ads below:

Looking for people who would like to work for a new spa in the metropolis: College graduates, well-experienced, talented, ambitious....
Wanted Massage Therapist: Licensed by the Department of Health with good oral communication skills, knows how to perform Swedish and Shiatsu, goal oriented, self motivated with drive to succeed.....
We are in need of Spa Staff in our company with above average scholastic records, with 2-3 years experience in a prestigious spa, etc.

I will not argue that these character traits and qualifications are important but as we can notice, that companies does not emphasize how these people will relate with other people. They have neglected the need to look into the applicants passion to train their staff- which is a must for long term growth and development of both the company and the individual.

So what is the effect? We get people on board that are bright, well-experienced BUT individualistic and unable or unwilling to be a team player, unteachable- and thus lacking the enthusiasm to share their knowledge with people. On contemplation, we got what we asked for!

The Japanese, on the other hand, have a different philosophy, their managers and superiors are capable of sharing their knowledge and have been able to train their subordinates to become well-rounded workers. The height of success and achievement for a supervisor or manager in Japan is not his or her own promotion to a higher position but the promotion of his staff to a position HIGHER THAN HIS. Yes, a supervisor or a manager's aim is to get his staff promoted to a higher position than his. There is even a ceremony to honor not the newly promoted BUT the mentor and person who has made the promotion possible. A spirit of self-sacrifice at work because the ultimate leader is the one who is willing to develop their people to the point that they eventually surpass them in knowledge and ability.

We do not realize that whenever we hoard something within us and it does not get shared or we are focusing on saying negative things to another person (even if it's true)- we are also preventing ourselves from receiveing more blessings from above. I have painfully experienced back biting and slandering from former trainers I have been under with, I have heard trainers putting down each other, saying bad things about another person in front of the class- something I am guilty of being quiet about whereas I can raise my hand and stop my instructors and ask them to refrain from saying something bad about another person- but alas, I kept quiet but realized that I should not have. I am guilty of violating Edmund Burke's quote "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" I did nothing in defense of people being slandered without them knowing. Now, I have vowed to myself to speak up and assert myself if I see something wrong or someone is being violated from their rights. Teachers, trainers, workers- be careful of what you share and whom you also learn it from. Let us continue to let our life shine and not put off another person's light.

Let's not just stop in learning but in gaining more learning and with the higher learning and position, do good as well because in the end, God knows what we are doing and He is in control.