Ready and Waiting According to Jade Simmons , opportunity is never very far away . But being near an opportunity is not enough . Opportunities — and the personal and professional breakthroughs they give rise to — must be seized and acted upon .

To do so , Simmons explained , we must recognize that any breakthrough we experience will likely be accompanied by other breaks — breaks with old mindsets , old ways of doing and old ways of thinking . Leaving the comforts of old habits can , of course , be difficult , but we can make the process easier by cultivating an outlook built on two particular elements . The first is curiosity . “ In order to have a mindset of breakthrough , what you ’ re going to have to really develop is a state of curiosity ,” Simmons said . “ And what I mean by that is you ’ re going to have to get curious about all the possibilities that are around . You ’ re going to have to begin to believe that there are new opportunities around every corner .” In addition to curiosity , Simmons argued that developing a “ state of expectancy ” is equally critical . As she put it , “ Breakthroughs need you to be in a persistent state of expecting something powerful .”

Purpose Shouldn ’ t Be Exhausting For some in the audience , the prospect of adding anything — even a potentially great opportunity — to their to-do lists may have seemed too overwhelming to contemplate . After all , spa leaders these days often find themselves wearing multiple hats and striving for perfection . Simmons

shared that she had found herself in a similar position as a young artist , when the pressure of succeeding in a crowded field left her exhausted .

Things only changed , Simmons explained , when she recognized a truth that has guided so much of her life since then : “ Your purpose is not the thing you do . Your purpose is the thing that happens in others when you do what you do .”

The difference may seem minor at first , but the distinction is profound . Simmons continued , “ When I thought that my purpose was to play the piano … every wrong note , every misstep in my head was magnified by 100 . When I would mess up , I would then think I was a mess up . But when I understood that my purpose was not to play the piano to impress audiences but to create experiences that moved audiences … I stopped worrying so much about the wrong notes .” Her point wasn ’ t simply that spa leaders should care less about making mistakes . As Simmons made clear , she still strived for excellence and expected those listening to do the same . But by focusing on the effect her efforts had on others rather than obsessing about her own technical proficiency , she was more forgiving of herself and stopped feeling burned out as a result of her work — all while still delivering an unforgettable experience for her audiences .

Spa leaders , noted Simmons , are in an ideal position to adopt the same kind of thinking ( leading to the same kind of results ). Just as she faced a discerning audience with built-in expectations of her performances , so too do spa leaders face discerning guests with built-in expectation for what the spa experience will be . They also face teams with built-in expectations for their work life . Worry about not measuring up may be natural , but by emphasizing the effect your work has on others rather than insisting on perfection from themselves , spa leaders can harness a much more fulfilling outlook and save themselves from exhaustion in the process . As she said from the stage , “ You should now start to think of yourselves as encounters . Those of you who are leading teams , your team is having an encounter with you .”

An Invitation to Change Simmons acknowledged that rewiring one ’ s brain to think differently about purpose requires something that many people are hesitant to embrace : change . “ People don ’ t like that word ,” she said . “ We ’ ve been wrongly taught to mistrust change , that change is bad . I believe change is the most organic thing we can do .” She went on to explain that this mistrust of change can often lead us to bottle up our most innovative , interesting ideas because they might contradict what we think of as accepted wisdom . But “ that ’ s the way things have always been ” is not a good reason to shy away from change , especially when it ’ s born from an idea or practice that invigorates and excites us .

Using her own experience to illustrate the point , Simmons shared that she was toying around with adding hip-hop and rock elements to her performance of classical pieces for a long time before she tried it out in front of

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