Just ONE Thing
Do vs. Done: Why Action Is the Only Thing That Moves Your Shop Forward
Episode 239
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just ONE Thing.
What I want to talk about is the word “Do.” I think that is such a cool word.
The word “do” has so many variations.
See, if you think about it, the word “do” is declarative. What does that mean? I’m going to do something, or I do this. It’s an identity thing. This is something that’s super, super important to understand because there are other iterations.
Think about this for one second. When you say you’re going to do something, it doesn’t mean you’ve done it. You’re declaring that you will. I’ll do this. I’ll pick up my room. I’ll make more money. I’ll add more hours to a ticket. I’ll get more cars in.
It’s something you will do. You’re declaring it. But the thing is, there’s also “done.” What have I done? That’s past tense, and the problem with done is there are too many people stuck in done. I’ve done this. I’ve accomplished this.
So I think if you can step back and look at this a little bit, too many people get stuck in the past, where their best days are behind them. And I am 63 years old, and I believe that my best days are still ahead of me. I’m still moving forward. I think that’s super important to really embrace and understand because I don’t care what you’ve done.
It’s great. You’ve accomplished stuff, or you’ve learned stuff. Because sometimes stuff you’ve done is not what you’ve accomplished. It’s what you’ve gone through. What you’ve survived. Those are the lessons. Everything you’ve done should be a lesson, but especially your failures, your setbacks. Don’t look at those and carry them into the future as baggage.
Learn the lesson. Let it go. What you’ve gotta do is—I don’t care what you’ve done. I care about what you’re going to do. I think that’s super important. And here’s the thing. It’s not about what you’re going to do. What we wanna talk about is, what are you doing?
What are you doing right now? What are you doing right now? We’re at the first of the year. What are you doing right now to create the year that you want? Not, what are you going to do, because that’s too easy to put off. I’ll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow and later are not your friends.
What I want you to think about instead is, what am I doing right now to create the year that I want? You don’t have to spend your entire day, your entire life, concentrating on this. You’ve gotta pick two or three things that you are going to work on actively every single day to move your needle forward to where you want to go.
Okay. You gotta remember that. Listen to this carefully. You gotta remember that momentum doesn’t come from memories. It comes from motion. Write that down. Momentum doesn’t come from memories; it comes from motion. That’s the thing you’ve gotta understand.
I love the wins. I think if you’ve—you know—we never had a month this great. This was the best month we ever had. That’s awesome. Celebrate it, and then start at zero again. What are you gonna do?
Okay. Past history, right? Your past performance is a history. It is not a strategy. And you can’t lead a thriving shop replaying highlight reels. The whole idea is to make today tomorrow’s highlight reel. That’s what this is all about.
So by being in the doing mode, it’s number one forward-focused. It’s active when you’re doing, and it’s uncomfortable. That’s okay. Don’t be declarative. Be active. That’s the difference between do and doing.
Because leadership isn’t about potential. It’s about consistent action that proves your belief in a better tomorrow. That’s what’s so amazing about this.
When I hired somebody, I would sit them down, and if it was an advisor or a tech, it didn’t matter. I would say, “Listen, I want you to do me a favor first thing. Really excited you’re here. Thank you so much. Gosh, I’m so excited, but I need you to do me a favor.”
And they’d say, “What?”
I’d say, “I need you to forget everything you’ve ever learned about what you know.”
And they would go, “What? Isn’t that what you hired me for?”
And I would say, “No. I didn’t hire you for what you can do today. I hired you for what I believe you’re gonna do tomorrow,” right? Because we have a certain way of doing things. I want you to learn those.
So this is what you’ve gotta recognize. Here’s the head fake here, right? You ready? This applies to you today. You’re not there in the shop as an owner for what you can do today. You’re in the shop for what you believe you can do tomorrow.
So this is about constant growth, constantly getting better. So here’s my action challenge for you.
Originally, I was gonna ask, “What will you do today that your future self is gonna thank you for?” I wanna change it to, “What are you doing today that your future self will thank you for?”
What are you doing this week that proves your commitment to growth and goal achievement? Those two questions are awesome, and they’re great to ask every single day.
If you found this helpful, please share this video. We need your help to get the word out.
We have our Shop Owners Roundtable this Thursday night, 7:00 PM Eastern. Would love to see you in there.
We also have a great webinar this Thursday at 1:00 PM called The Language of Leadership.
It’s all gonna be at 1:00 PM this Thursday.
I want to say God bless. I want you to stay safe, have fun, and go make some money. But here’s what I want you to remember. Today’s games aren’t won with yesterday’s home runs. I want you to remember that.
Have a great week, and I’ll see you next week. Take care, everybody. Bye-bye.
