Credit: www.savagechickens.com

Wow. In the blink of an eye it seems, it’s already been 4+ days since my last post! It’s been a busy time, split between work and play. I guess it’s hard to complain much about life when you’re getting your chance to play. I try to make time for that as often as possible, but that isn’t always as often as I’d like.

Work is a mix of freelance consulting in the IT world and building Living Intentionally. Recent days have seen an upturn in the amount of healing work I’ve been doing, with some days having sessions starting as early as 5 a.m. and ending as late as 10:30 p.m. With IT-related client visits in the middle of all that, it can make for a long, long day.

Despite the long days, however, I find myself excited about the prospects for growing Living Intentionally. That excitement intensified last night as my wife and I saw what could turn out to be the perfect office space, literally just a couple of minutes on foot from the local train station. As the mantra goes, Location, Location, Location! Being so close to the train station would be a blessing. The rent is reasonable, so it may be just what we need to set up a real brick-and-mortar presence.

I’ve been wanting an office space near the apartment in Tokyo, but well-placed near the station so as to not scare off potential clients. It seems that Source may have heard and heeded the call. We’ll know after we’ve taken a look whether this is the place we want to call our corporate home.

One of the things that a dedicated space would provide me is a “no-cost” space for holding healing workshops. It also gives me a space to do face-to-face wellness coaching, which is an aspect of business I’ve yet to develop. The opportunity here seems perfectly placed and perfectly timed.

Talk about exciting!

Update: 2011-03-07 18:30 JST (+0900)

Well, so much for that particular place. Not quiet. Old. Dirty. No worries, though; the look for an office space has officially begun! 🙂

10 Comments
  1. Hi Trane,

    I have similar situation recently;
    I have asked for place to do healing work, near home, nice &new& empty form furniture;
    And I have received these offers during one month:
    1. offering to share half of a space that I use to have rented for workshops – but part I like less – too costly and not suitable for one on one work;
    2. nice & empty space – but too far and not well connected, noisy surrounding also not suitable for one on one work;
    3. nice& empty & new& near, but I have discovered the building was empty because worker fell of the building.

    Each time at the instant I was hearing about the offer I felt my hearth was shrinking.
    I doubt that was because I did something wrong – either has made incomplete “request” or that maybe that there is something not quite right about my ideas about what I want and why I need space in the first place.
    After I discovered actual details and more info about how those places – that kind of confirmed my “shrinking” feeling. Yet I’m still in doubt – because I think that place should arrive easily, effortlessly (or anything else required), so why then those “not quite” places pop up? I admit that slight hint of disappointment creep in me.
    How do you interpret why such “not suitable” places arrive?

    • Hiya, J.

      My first thought when this happens is that we haven’t clearly defined what we want. We may have created a list of what we don’t want along with what we want. That creates confusion in manifesting because we put energy into both aspects of the vision.

      Another significant aspect of this is a sense of worth. Do we really feel worthy to receive exactly what we want or do we have some beliefs that suggest we shouldn’t have exactly what we need/want in order to be successful? It’s possible that there is a kernel of doubt inside of us that gets in the way.

      The last thing is to look at the circumstances. For example, you shy away from the last building seemingly because an accident took place there. Are you sure this is a valid reason to not take that space? Your loving energy could be exactly what that building needs to heal from whatever created the accident in the first place. If we find ourselves always finding fault in something and, therefore, avoiding it, it can be that our subconscious is sabotaging our conscious goals.

      Right now, I’m facing the challenge of believing that we can find the perfect spot at the perfect price. I continue to work with it. Practice is a good thing and even if we don’t quite get it right, it’ll constantly help us to get closer to what we want. 🙂

      • Hi,
        I have being thinking weather that accident was real reason;
        I was looking for an explanation of why I had such shrinking feeling BEFORE I have heard about it; I took it as a sign that I would wasted my energy there, and that future events would not be to my benefit.
        When I heard that info I sensed kind of relief, kind of reassurance that I can believe my feelings. And when I decided not to go there I felt real relief. Sure building needs healing, but I do not need to reside in it to do it, if I can choose it.

        When you said worth… I wonder why I didn’t asked for all off mentioned above + free of charge? When luxury come into equation?

        • It’s an interesting thing to think about how the accident may or may not have affected your decision. The one thing is certain, though; when you feel relief at not going there, it’s obviously not the place you should be.

          The question of value is also interesting. Do you want a place at no charge? Do you think you can get one at no charge? Luxury comes into the equation when you make it a part of the equation. It’s about what you create.

  2. Hi, Trane.

    Yes. Location, Location, Location! Early last year i finally braced myself to pursue my dream of owning a Spa (starting with a small one) so off i went hunting for a Location. I either found something too expensive or undesirable. I finally sat in my office one afternoon (i have a regular job) and drew a picture of how i wanted the inside of the Spa to look , together with my partitionning style. Next day, I went hunting. My first stop was at a lovely mall, i went in to ask the property manager if they had space, sure! and he took me to see a space that was exactly what i drew on paper the previous day, i also didn’t need to do any partitioning, it had already been done according to my specification, i couldn’t believe my eyes. In the euphoria i agreed to pay a years rent the next week. That done, i set out to order a Spa (steam) capsule, facial equipment etc. on the internet, from China. The prices were quite low compared to what i would pay for already imported ones here, or so i thought.

    All this has turned out to be a blunder. After setting up the “VICNTORIA SPA” and starting the salon, massage & detox part of it, while waiting for the other items to arrive. I have realised this is not the right LOCATION for this businness. I drew the inside as i wanted it, but didn’t think of the outside. In this Country you have to be seen to be patronised, not just your business sign. The Spa is almost on the wing behind the mall, they don’t see us, Trane. We have few clients. Worse still, my “low priced” items have been stuck with Customs for 6 months. I had a bill of Lading with a different Port listed on it, while my goods arrived at another Port, very complicated. Can you imagine the demurrage. I am wondering if God didn’t want me to do this business. How did i get it all wrong?

    • Hi, Gloria.

      One thing I know without reservation is that your success and happiness benefit all of creation. So, please don’t worry about whether God wants you to do the business. Your “job” here is to learn to live in happiness and well-being. As such, it’s best to evaluate your current situation in terms of what you can learn from it and, therefore, steer your business in the direction in which you wish it to go.

      Blunder is just another word for learning opportunity. In your case, your location is locked in for a year and you’re struggling to drive traffic to your storefront. The best solution to that is to work the traffic from a different perspective. Rather than relying on physical visibility, focus for now on an internet presence.

      Do you have a website? If not, create one, replete with a blog on which you discuss spa-relevant topics. Regular updates get Google and other search engines visiting your site often and increase your page rank. That’s the first step.

      The second step is to join social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Posts on these networks should be done from a spa-only account (not your private one) and always put forth your professional “face”. All posts should be intended to drive traffic back to the web site.

      The use of social networks is all about creating a web of trust. You gain visibility on these networks from your likes, groups and communities you join. You participate in them and add value, but always in a fashion that drives traffic back to your web site. Your web site, in turn, draws people into your storefront. It’s the whole Location, Location, Location thing, but from the virtual perspective.

      If you combine this with a strong flyer campaign, you can get the foot traffic coming to your store because people will already be aware of the value you offer. You don’t need to sit and wait in hope that people will give you a try; be an expert in your field and offer your insights freely as a means of generating interest in your services.

      It has all worked for me, so far. Last time I checked, a Google search for Living Intentionally put me 9th on the search results. Since my posting has fallen off in recent days, no doubt my ranking has also fallen (which is why regular updates are so important).

      In the end, we draw to us that which we think combined with our (lack of) preparation. If we haven’t thought things through, we can push forth with something that doesn’t match what we really want. Don’t get upset about it, though; it’s not the end of the world. Much like a sailor dealing with a change in the wind, simply alter your course. Your current situation has given you better understanding of what you want. If you rise to the challenge of keeping the business going in a less-than-ideal location, all you do will benefit you greatly when you move the business to that perfect location later.

      In the end, you’ll succeed brilliantly!

    • Hi gloria,

      You’ve said something interesting in your post:” that you couldn’t believe your eyes”…. although this is kind of figure of speech, it is interesting that you written it about good stuff that happened to you.

      This phrases in languague do have an unspoken tails attached to it: “I couldn’t beleive my eyes”. F.e.:
      … that all can be as I imagine
      …..that all that good is coming my way
      …. that I deserved so much nice & beautiful stuff…

      But, when you do discover what particular tail in your case is, I guess that all what happened afterward won’t be mystery to you any more.

      Also, is that typo in the name of your spa?
      On that particular place in the whole text?

      Surely you don’t like to have your business in some hidden and forgotten corner of town, but how about being in your own center with yourself? Have you placed relationship with yourself in such place until you solve your business problems?
      You do ask yourself about location of the spa, but in your shoes I would pay more attention to my own location, that is: am I where I would like to be ( and feel like I would like to feel)?
      and only in accordance to that answer I would make changes.

      All the best,
      J.

  3. Hi, Trane.

    Thanks for all the advice. I will surely implement them.

    We have been doing flyer campaigns as well as offers for free treatments to sales persons in beauty shops that would send us a certain number of clients. The only thing that has stopped me short of advertising on radio and television is waiting for so long for the arrival of some of the equipments we need to do business, this has been a real handicap. You don’t want to advertise and be unable to offer some of the services as clients arrive.

    Thanks for the advice to join the social networks. I hadn’t thought of that yet. This will surely create awareness. I will get on that immediately, afterall some other businesses in the mall are doing excellently well and some others are not, so, they must be doing something others are not doing.

    Thanks again for the free advice.

  4. Hi, J.

    Thanks for reading between the lines.

    I name of the business is Victor and Victoria (VICN’TORIA) the names of the twins i hope to have. It’s not a typo.

    Your last paragraph is deep. You must have the ability to sense issues, your antennas must be really up. I believe we are no longer talking about the Spa, we are now talking about me, right?. You are right, am not where i would love to be and don’t feel the way i would love to feel, and in my culture, you are stuck with it. You have to live with it. Little wonder things get warped. But, gratitute for dramatic changes in recent times in the way the excruciating pain of it has mostly been taken away from me (thanks to Trane) i don’t know how he does it. I am in West Africa he is in Japan, …. wonder!

    • “and in my culture, you are stuck with it”

      That’s what you’ve been taught to believe within the accepted confines of your culture. The reality is somewhat different: Regardless of the culture we’re born into and regardless of what we’ve been taught, our thoughts create our experience. To put this into firm perspective, because you _believe_ you’re stuck with it, you are. If you were to suddenly believe you had freedom of choice to feel and be what you wish, you’d experience that, too.

      Remember, Gloria, Love is the key. Love frees us from our shackles and enables us to create anything in life. The more we can relax and trust that the Universe/Source/God will take care of us and our needs, the better life gets!

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