What's Your Plan? by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I'm bringing this topic up because I'm seeing this in a lot of different places and from a lot of different people. I'm talking both personally and professionally. I'm going to ask you a very simple question. What's your plan? I think 2020 was really a good jumping point. It's a new decade and it was going to be the roaring twenties. Then things happened this year with the pandemic and the racial incidences and the presidential race. It's really messed us up. So many people went into “react” mode instead of “create” mode.

Your future is not going to just happen. It amazes me how people are going into work every day, doing the same thing and expecting it to be better or dealing with the overflow that they have right now. But there's no thought to growth. There's no fat to destination. It's completely react mode. Now I'm going to ask you as we're coming into the last quarter of 2020, not to give up on your...

Playing Hurt by Rick White, President 180BIZ

What I want to talk to you about what I'm calling, “Playing Hurt.” I want you to play hurt. Here's why. I guarantee you are not putting your full effort into what you're doing right now. There is something holding you back like your list, you need a tech, you need an advisor,  you’re behind on your bookkeeping or you’re this, or you’re that, or you don't feel good. Whatever the case is, stop waiting for the perfect storm before you start moving forward. I know, life happens. Here’s my story. We (my wife and I) left our home in Virginia about three weeks ago in a hurry. We had a family emergency up in New Hampshire. We got up there in one day and got things taken care of.

Not long after we arrived in New Hampshire, we find there's a family emergency in Virginia. So, we drove through the night last Wednesday night and got back to Virginia to taken care of things. They were painful situations....

Appreciation by Rick White, President 180BIZ

 Today is Labor Day and is all about appreciation. Why do I want to bring that up? Now, if you do a little bit of studying on where Labor Day comes from, it's actually pretty horrific. Labor Day comes from one of the darkest times in labor history, where people were working 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and barely getting by. There were all kinds of demonstrations and sit out strikes to try to get better conditions. Five and six-year olds were working on assembly lines that were poorly lit, not ventilated. There was sickness everywhere.  I believe it was in 1894 after some States had passed a day to celebrate workers. That's where Labor Day came from. The federal government made it a federal holiday.

The reason why I'm bringing that up now is because I want you to step back. I know, since the pandemic and everything, a lot of shops have been stressed out and booking too far and people not happy. It's easy to get hung...

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I want to talk to you today about the concept of two steps forward, one step back. We've all heard that. And we say it from a perspective of negativity which concerns me. Two steps forward, one step back shouldn't be a surprise. They are lessons. When you're doing something new, this is where you get to learn. This is where you say, “Whoop. I didn't get what I wanted. It didn't go the way it should have.” That's why we have the one step back. You get two steps forward, one step back, and then two steps forward, one step back. That's the way life should be when we are in growth mode.

The problem I have is when it's one step forward, two steps back. Have you ever felt like that in your life before? I know I have.  That's when it's scary. And I'm going to tell you why that's happening.  It's happening because of (1) FALSE EXPECTATIONS. That's the first thing. False expectations are causing the...

Teachers by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I want to talk about the fact that we are all teachers. That everyone in your life as a teacher. I want you to think about yourself. As a teacher, you have two options. You're either going to come in as an example, or you're going to come in as a warning. Be aware of what kind of lessons are coming into you so that you learn from them, not react to them.

If you're not careful, you will project outward what coming in. If you allow a lot of negativity, warnings, people that aren't doing the right things to come in you’ll do the same. If you're surrounding yourself with negativity, you’ll project negativity. Be aware of the input. What kind of lessons are coming at you warnings or examples? That's the first thing.

The second thing I want you to be aware of is the lessons you’re putting out. I want you to know what lessons you're putting out intentionally because everybody's a teacher.  They are either a warning or an...

Can't See Your Way by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I'm driving over to see my son today, which I'm excited about. One of roads is over this mountain.  It’s amazing most of the time. Along the freeway there are warnings about fog. I must tell you something, this fog can get intense up here when it's bad.

I think this is an important lesson in business as well. What do I mean by that? Sometimes it's easy to know where we're going and how to get there. Where we know the direction and we're sure of the path. And there are other times when you're driving your business forward and you can’t always see the next step. You're not always going to know for sure. You're not always going to know for sure that where you're going is the right way.  I'm driving down this road and I can see clearly where I'm going. But then it gets crazy in here with fog and suddenly you can't see too well.  Too many times people stop moving. Because they're scared or they're blind and...

Judging Yourself by Rick White, President 180BIZ

 Yesterday, I heard something that was eye-opening for me. I had a couple of trainers and speakers come into my virtual summit this past weekend. And Debbie, one of the speakers, said something to the effect that judging yourself, doesn't help you grow. I thought about that. When I start reviewing how I'm doing, I usually jump right into judging mode. Do you feel the same way? Do you do the same thing where you just start immediately judging yourself when you don't get the results you wanted. You immediately think you’re not good enough. You’re not smart enough. A

All this stuff is a ridiculous thing to say to ourselves. You need to stop judging yourself. Judging yourself, kills momentum. And I love the law of momentum. Momentum simply states that in the beginning, it's four units of effort to get one unit a result. But then as I get going, it actually flips to the point where it's one unit of effort for four units of...

Decisions by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I want to talk about your decisions.  Specifically, four important things. One of them I was dealing with, myself.

• First, when it comes to making a decision, MAKE ONE. When you're approaching two paths you can go down, until you decide on which path to go you're stuck. Which way should I go? This is where indecision kills you. It kills momentum. When you feel like you're taking one step forward and to step back. Make a decision. Don't worry about being the wrong one, make the best choice you possibly can with the information that you have. So, that's number one.
• The second thing NEVER MAKE A DECISION EMOTIONALLY. Whenever you make a decision emotionally, it's not really a decision. It's a reaction. So, you want to step back away from the emotion. There's this great book called Peaks and Valleys. And I think it's by Ken Blanchard. The one thing that I learned from the book that still resonates with me is never make a decision in a...

Perfection by Rick White, President 180BIZ

My Just One Thing for this week is all about perfection. You have this mindset or expectation or standard that you have set for yourself in your business, where it should be a certain way. And I want you to underline that word in your mind “should.” Anytime you're using the word “should” there's going to be pain. You're comparing where you're at to where you think it ought to be. And it's not there. I want you to understand that is perfection. Perfection is an illusion created by the devil to rob men and women of their dreams. Why? Because we set such a high standard that we know, intellectually, that it's impossible to hit. 

But we still set it there for ourselves. We still set it for our business. So, in the beginning, we really strive and push for that perfection. But then we get disappointed, disillusioned, and discouraged because we're not where we should be. I am saying this right now. Stop with the...

I Don't Know by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I'm going to talk to you about is the dreaded “I don't know.” I want you to write that down. Yes, I know you've heard it a million times. You probably have said it a million times, but that's not what I'm talking about. I want you to write this down. You can't grow your business with “I don't knows”. I'm going to give you a tip to help you work through this and get it so that you can overcome saying, I don’t know. Now this works at home for you that are raising children as well as at work.

The first thing is to stop saying I don't know when someone asks you a question. They don't expect the exact accurate answer. That's what your team thinks, though. When you're asking a team member what is going on here? Or what happened here? Or what do you think we can do? They’re going to come back with I don't know. And it's because they're worried about giving an answer that is not correct. But, who expects the...