By now you’re probably aware that the massage therapy industry is booming. This is true in the United States, and it’s true in many other parts of the world as well. As more and more people become attuned to the benefits of professional massage therapy, the industry naturally grows larger. The opportunities become bigger. Schools and academies multiply, and the number of people training to work as massage therapist increases.

As you can imagine, the results for these new therapists run the spectrum. Some new therapists are able to build a clientele and find success right away. Others have a slower start, but with hard work and persistence, they’re able to break through to a new level of success and career satisfaction.

There are, of course, those massage therapists who simply can’t make it work. There could be many reasons for this. Let’s take a closer look at some of those reasons:

The work is too physically demanding

Let’s be honest: Performing massage therapy for 8+ hours per day can be taxing, and it requires a greater awareness of one’s own health and wellness. Therapists have to look after themselves and be able to read their own bodies very skillfully, so as not to push themselves too hard.

The schedule is too sporadic

There are certainly massage therapy jobs out there that are contained within a 9-5 setting. Also, as a freelancer or independent therapist, you have the option to constrain your own hours as you like – provided you’re able to maintain a sufficient number of clients within those hours. But a lot of massage therapy clients are people who have 9-5 jobs themselves (especially office workers, who often develop chronic stiffness in the back and shoulders). That means it’s often necessary – especially when your career is first starting out – to work evenings and/or weekends.

The passion isn’t there

Like any profession, it helps to be passionate about what you do. If massage therapy is “just another job” and a therapist ends up “going through the motions” with clients, neither the therapist nor the client will find the treatment to be as worthwhile as it could be. This will eventually affect the therapist’s ability to attract and maintain new clients. On the other hand, when a new therapist is passionate about their work and feels that they’re on the right path, this shines through in the treatments, and translates to greater amounts of success in the business – as well as personal success and fulfillment.

Setting yourself up for success

The massage therapy school or academy you choose is another big factor in determining how successful you’ll be as a massage therapist. This has a lot to do with the skillset you receive as a student of a given school – without the right skillset and guidance from experienced therapists, it’s very hard to be successful. The best school also provide their students with the practical business skills, and personal wellbeing techniques, to make sure they avoid common pitfalls and find lasting success in this booming industry.