Just ONE Thing
Don’t Confuse Better with Good: The Danger of Situational Comfort
Episode 203
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just ONE Thing.
So we're going to talk about COMFORT today. And there's two kinds of comfort: situational comfort and strategic comfort. I want to help you understand the difference between the two and recognize which one you're working with if you have a comfort zone.
Situational comfort is when things are getting better. Okay, you mistake better for good. Okay, let me explain what I mean. When you go through and all of a sudden your cash flow gets better, that’s amazing. Or you finally get fully staffed, and things are starting to roll. That is amazing. But I want to warn you that that is situational comfort.
What does that mean? Because it's very, very dependent upon the situation. So if you're fully staffed and all of a sudden your top tech leaves, what happens? So step back and think this through. How uncomfortable—how fast would you go from being comfortable to being extremely uncomfortable? If your top advisor left, if your bookkeeper left, if your technician left—that stuff's gonna happen. Okay?
I want to make sure you're not mistaking situational comfort for strategic comfort.
Or here's another situation where situational comfort comes in. Let's say things have been really tight in the shop. You've been slow, whatever the case is, and money's been tight. And then all of a sudden it opens up. Thank God, right? It works. You're working. There's money there, there's money coming in, and all of a sudden you feel really good.
Why? Because the pressure's off. And what you do is you start thinking—or subconsciously thinking—it's going to be like this forever, and it's not going to be. That's the issue.
This is where situational comfort kills you. Okay? Because you get into this mindset: I'm fully staffed. It's working great. Or Hey man, I'm finally making cash again. This is awesome. And then what do you do? You start spending like a drunken sailor.
Does that make sense?
So what I want you to be able to do is step back and recognize situational comfort. Situational comfort is when things get better, okay, but it doesn't mean they're good. So what you want to do is start thinking with strategic comfort.
So, improved cash flow? That is not comfort—that's breathing space. Six months of your expenses saved—that is strategic comfort. That is when you can start to breathe and realize, Okay, I'm good. You still gotta watch it. You gotta watch your performance. You gotta watch what's going on so that you can adjust, so that if you're starting to trend down, you can change it, right? You can—you know, can? You can put some more wood on the fire, get it going. But you've got to be able to see what's happening.
So, you know that cash flow gets better? That's awesome. Pay some bills, but build cash. You know, all the time I see shop owners that are behind on their bills and whatever from getting slow, and they use every bit of that cash to get caught back up. And then they slow down again—and they’ve got nothing in the tank.
You've got to be able to be smart about this. Pay your bills off, get them paid, but make sure you're squirreling money away every single week and building up that cash reserve in your checking account. Go from where zero in your bank account is normal—or that's where your threshold for pain is—we want to get that raised to $5,000, and then $10,000. And then you're going to start to feel more strategic comfort. That's what I want you to see. Okay?
Now, strategic comfort with help and your staffing is making sure you have a bench, right? Where you are constantly looking for new help—not to replace people—but to have them there, ready to go when it's time to replace.
Okay, so this is what we've gotta look at. This is where you've gotta step it up.
How many of you are stuck in situational comfort? Y’all get what I'm saying here? Do you get what I'm saying? Just because things are getting better, it doesn't mean they're good.
Don't mistake getting better for being good.
So I want you to step back and say, Where am I? Where am I comfortable? Right?
And please understand "comfortable"—when we talk "comfort zone"—remember, a lot of times I don't like the word comfort zone, because a lot of times it's not comfortable. It's familiar.
Your comfort zone—if you're not liking where it's at—that's not a comfort zone. It's a familiar zone. All it means is you can deal with it. You're comfortable because you can deal with that situation. I've been here. I know how to handle this. I can do this. I can get through this. I can manage this. I can deal with it.
I don't want you in that kind of comfort zone. Right?
I want you to step back, and I want you to do a really honest assessment. Where are you comfortable when you shouldn’t be? Right?
It’s okay to see the progress. It’s okay to get some breathing room. But don’t take your foot off the gas pedal. Right?
If you're getting cash flow, you know, for the first time in a while and there’s money in the bank, and you know, checks aren't bouncing—whatever the case is—that's great. That’s awesome. But do not take your foot off that gas pedal.
Because your goal is not breathing room. Your goal is a safety net. Okay?
Feel the progress. Feel good about the progress. But stay uncomfortable.
That's probably the best information I can give you this morning—I want you to stay uncomfortable. Okay?
I want you to step back and I want you to start asking “What if?” questions.
What if one of my techs leaves? What if one of my advisors leaves? What if business slows down? What if electricity goes out? What if...
And just—not to, you know, get you all ramped up and worried—but once you come into your day with this mindset, you're going to be able to be more proactive. Right?
I love—Zig Ziglar once said, “You hope for the best, you plan for the worst, and you deal with what comes.”
Too many of you are allowing your current situation, circumstances, and events to dictate what you believe is possible.
Okay, I want you to get strategically comfortable. Do you hear what I'm saying? Strategically comfortable.
This is really important, and I hope this is making sense.
If it is, please share this video. There are too many people walking around carrying a grenade in their hands, and they don't even know it. Okay?
Please, let's serve other people. Let's share this as many times as we possibly can. Let’s get people uncomfortable again—recognizing that, “Hey man, I’ve been feeling pretty good about my staff. They've been here for 15 years, 20 years.”
I talked to one shop owner once, when he joined our group, and I said, “Hey, how you doing with your staff?” He goes, “Man, my staff's been with me for a really long time.”
One of them had been with him for 40-something years at the shop. And I'm like, “Holy crap!” You know, that's great. That’s awesome. But that's also very, very scary.
“Your guys have got to be in their 60s.” And he goes, “Yeah, they are.” I said, “Well, what are you going to do when they leave? You've got two guys, two techs, both in their 60s. What are you going to do?” He had never even thought about it.
I'll see y’all later. Go have some fun. Go make some money, and have a great week, guys.
Take care. Stay uncomfortable. Share this, and I’ll see y’all next week. Bye-bye.
