Auto Repair Shop Owner's Daily Dose 5: We Will Overcome

We Will Overcome! By Rick White, President 180BIZ

Over the last couple of days, I've been talking about the three questions we ask ourselves all the time. What am I focused on? And then I talked about the three preferences. I talked about whether I'm focused on what I have vs. what I don't have, what I can control vs. what I can't control, and am I focused on the past, the present, or the future? And we've talked about what the best way to do that is or the best preferences to have. If you haven't heard that, I'm going to ask you to go back and watch the first four episodes. All the daily doses can be found on my BLOG https://www.180biz.com/blog.

In Episode 4, I talked about once we focus on something, we give it meaning. When we give it a meaning, immediately comes an emotion attached to that meaning and words that we use to describe that meaning.

What I want to talk about now is the third question we ask ourselves.  What am I going to do about it? What actions am I going to take? This really is important. If you're focused on what you don't have, focused on what you can't control, and focused on the past or the future, you’re doomed. Like the situation right now, everyone is focused on the future and only the future.  What do you think the meaning we give it is? It’s a really negative meaning, which now has bad emotions, bad wording. Isn’t it? And because of that, we take little to no action.

The biggest thing you can be fighting right now, your biggest enemy, is not this virus. Your biggest enemy is the feeling that you want to retreat; you are going to step back, withdraw, and wait this out. Don’t do that. When we’re focused on what we don’t have, when we’re focused on what we can’t control, we become victims in our own story. And when you're a victim, you have to wait for somebody to save you. I’m here to tell you that you have to save yourself. You can fix this.

Now, what is this whole pandemic thing doing? It's making us aware that we are not as in control as think we are. We must face the reality that we do not control a whole bunch of our lives. And I talked about this in a previous episode. The only thing we can control in our circle of control is us, our attention, our mindset, our actions, our reactions, our focus, and our discipline.

Then we can influence other people. That’s what I am doing right now. I am here to influence you and I'm hoping that I have enough trust with you through the years of content, morning moments, and classes that I can sit down and talk with you right now and touch your heart. I believe in what I'm saying right here so passionately. I see a better life for all of us on the other side of this and there will be another side, but we need to deal with this right now.

This pandemic is making us aware. It's bringing a spotlight to the fact that we're not really in control. There are so many things that are outside of our control. No matter how hard we push, no matter how hard we squeeze, no matter how hard we try to force something, we can't always make it happen. And I think there's a lesson here. I think there's a lesson where we spend so much time outside of ourselves focusing on stuff we can't control. We're missing out on the opportunities to deal with what's on our inside. And instead of getting outside of ourselves, we need to focus on controlling ourselves to becoming a bigger, better leader, to becoming a better spouse, a better parent, a better child, a better community member. You know, there are so many different roles that we play. Now is the time to step back and figure that out. Now is the time to ask, “How can I improve? How can I make a difference?” Decide to stay calm. Decide to believe in a better future. John Maxwell said, “If there's hope in the future, there's power in the present.” Where you can really work right now is to change your focus to you what you can control.  You.

When you don't believe there's a better future, you take no action. You become the victim. You sit there and wait for something to change.  But this is the time to better yourself.  We're working so hard to improve our lives. I think we're missing the point. In order to improve our lives, we have to improve ourselves. We must be able to take control of what is going on inside of us. There's the storm outside and it let it rage. It's okay. We can't control it. Let it rage. Don't let the storm get to your inside. A boat will never sink if it never lets the water inside. It can go through the roughest storm. Don't let the storm get inside. Control what you focus on. You control the meaning that you give it and you control your actions.  I'm going to beg you today, beg you to please #NoRetreat, #NoExcuses. Please. I want to start that up.

California just closed down the state. I heard it on the news this morning. I know there are people out there freaking out and thinking, “What is that going to happen to me?” It might happen, but here's the great news. If you're in the auto repair industry, in California, auto repair is considered an essential service. You're still in business, you're still there. You can still make a difference.

What are you doing to get out in front of people? Stop banging on your existing customers. You can let them know you're still there but go after new people. Let other people know that you're there and your entire focus is to help and serve them and to do anything you can. Call your older (in age) customers. See if they need help. See if they need groceries. Do what you can to help. This is bigger than business right now. This is bigger than ourselves. Focus on others and your whole life will start to come into focus. 

The best thing to do is to double down on discipline and focus. With all the uncertainty in the world, you need to focus on your habits, your rituals. If you have kids in school that are home right now, one of the things they're telling you is to keep the habits up. Get up at the same time, have breakfast at the same time. Why? Because those habits ground us. Those habits keep us focused. #NoExcuses #NoRetreat

An excuse is a story that you tell yourself to make it okay to do nothing. There is no excuse. There is always something you can do. If you don't have work and you're closing up your shop, you can be working on your processes. You can be working on better communication. You can be working on your profit models, you can be working on training and getting better as an owner and a leader. You can do this.

There is always something you can do to grow. What are the five things you're going to do today to grow your business, grow your team, and grow yourself. So that's technically like 15 things. Five to grow your business, five to grow yourself, and five to grow your team. So, what I want you to do. It’s really put this into play.

If you're in trouble and you need help and you don't know what to do reach out to me. I will coach you. No charge. I don't expect a dime. I want to help as many people as I possibly can get through this crisis. I want all of us to get on the other side of this bigger and stronger than we were before this thing started. I believe in you and I know you can do this.

Here's how I do deal with focus and meaning.  If I'm in a bad mood, if something's bothering me, I step back and pause. The first thing I ask myself is, “What's bothering me? What am I focused on?” Then next, I ask myself, “What's the meaning I'm giving to it?” And finally, I ask, “What else can this mean?” Those three questions are going to change your life. If you're in a bad mood, if things aren't going well, if you're feeling down, ask (1) What am I focused on? (2) What is the meaning I'm giving to it? (3)What else can it mean?

Please share this video. I want to change as many people's lives as I possibly can. People are drowning right now. We got to give them some life rafts. We can give them some flotation devices. I believe this Daily Dose is one of those flotation devices. Please share this as many times as you possibly can. Let's get the word out. Let’s do this as a village, as a community. This is not a time to stand alone. This is a time to band together. Together we are unstoppable. That's what I want. Unstoppable.

Here's the tip for the day with your shop. Recognize your focus. Ask yourself, what else can this mean? You've got to slow down. What else can this mean? How else can I step up? What else can I do? The quality of your life is going to be directly related to the quality of the questions you ask yourself.

For years I asked myself, why am I fat? And the little voice inside my head said, “Because you're a pig.” But no. The better question to ask was, “How can I get healthier and enjoy the process?” This is a totally different question. I still want to get better, but because of the question, now I'm looking for solutions. I'm looking for how am I going to do it and how am I going to have fun at the same time?

This is the last tip. I call these task enhancers. There are going to be things you don't want to do and, perhaps, are overwhelming. So, what I'm going to tell you to do is ask yourself, “What could I add to this that will make it better?” For example, Brenda and I, before this had been traveling nonstop. Then, she had extensive shoulder surgery and was laid up recovering. So, between our travel and Brenda’s surgery, the house kind of fell apart as far as the upkeep. One Sunday morning, I got up and decided to clean the house.  But it was so overwhelming that I didn’t even know where to start. I’m sure that a lot of people reading this have felt the same.  So, I asked myself, “What can I do to get this better for both of us?” So, I played an old vinyl Journey record.  Within minutes the two of us were dancing around the house and cleaning up. It was fun. So, when you must do something that's a little onerous, a little overwhelming, ask yourself, “What can I add to this to make it better? How can I see it differently? What can I add to it?” That’s a task enhancer

Remember to ask yourself:

• What are you focused on?
• What meaning are you giving it?
• What actions are you taking from it? Recognize that your actions are going to be directly related to the focus and the meaning.

God Bless.