I cancelled clients so I could take a nap

On Mondays I work at a gym. This week when I walked in there were three people on my schedule and they were nicely spaced. I was pretty content. I was tired from a long series of events but I figured I could power through three and sleep in on Tuesday.

At the end of the first massage I went out to the front desk and told them to cancel the other two appointments. I was done for the day. I was going home to sleep.

Am I crazy?? How do you turn away scheduled (guaranteed income) clients? Especially one who made a point of booking with you that day because she was leaving on a trip the next day? Was I being indolent, lazy, unprofessional?

When I began the first appointment I realized as soon as I touched her that my fatigue was deeper than I'd realized. I was exhausted. I had trouble "reading" my hands. I had to stop (just for a moment) in the middle of the massage to remember what I was doing and why I was doing it. Shoot, I had trouble remembering what body part I was touching!

The massage went OK (believe it or not) but I knew three things:

1.  I could not give quality work to the next two clients.
2.  If I didn't go home and sleep -- a lot -- I was going to get sick.
3.  If I got sick, there was zero money coming into my practice for at least a week, if not longer.

#3 is the big one. The odds are you, like me, don't get sick leave. We don't get paid when we're home sick. If we're the only source of income our business has, that's critical.

I had to choose between cancelling two appointments or possible cancelling a week's worth of appointments (a good head/chest cold can take 3-7 days to clear enough to do massage responsibly). I'm the only real asset my practice has. Everything else -- everything else -- can be replaced. I can't.

Self-care is a critical business decision. Not just a high-sounding "we should all take care of ourselves" principle. It's how you have a profitable business. It's a business "best practices". It's the difference between short-term success and long-term failure.

You.Are.All.Your.Business.Has

The table? Replacable.
The linens? Replacable.
Your website? Replacable.

You?

When you are faced with taking care of yourself vs. seeing 1, 2, or 3 more clients, remember this: you are the only asset that can not be replaced.

p.s. I slept 11 hours Monday night and was able to resume a normal work schedule the next day.