Auto Repair Shop Owners Need to Tune Out External Noise

Amongst the Noise by Rick White, President 180BIZ

 What I want to talk to you today is about noise. There's so much noise going on in our lives. There are two mistakes we all make when it comes to noise.  They are (1) waiting for the noise to go away and (2) focusing on the wrong kind of noise.

1. Waiting for the absence of noise. The first mistake we make is we wait for the absence of noise before we start to enjoy life before we start to build the life that we want for ourselves, our family, and our business or team.  But I want to tell you something that noise doesn't ever go away. So, stop waiting for it to go away.  A great life is not created in the absence of noise. It is created amongst the noise. It is created within the noise. There's always going to be noise. There's a really great book by Andy Andrews called The Noticer. If you ever get a chance, read it, or listen to it. The main character, Jones, at one point said that in life we are either heading out of a crisis, we're in a crisis or heading to a crisis. When I read that I thought it was so negative and pessimistic. But then I thought about it for a while and decided that it really is true. Our ability to have a great life, to be able to get to the end of our days worn out, not rusted out, is only going to happen if we can do it amongst the crisis. My wife and I have seven kids and seven grandchildren. Let me tell you something, there's always someone in crisis.  But we still must create a life. You do too. The first mistake is waiting for the absence of noise.
2. Focus on the wrong kind of noise. The second mistake I see people make with noise is they concentrate on the wrong kind of noise. There are two kinds. There's external noise and there's internal noise.
   
   Let's talk about external noise. Let's face it, 2020 is the greatest example of external noise. Would you agree between the pandemic, the racial tensions, and the divisiveness going on between political parties is just crazy? This is one of those elections where there are very few people that don't care. There are a lot of people either over way over on the left and way over on the right. And it's really an issue for them. But why is this the wrong noise to listen to?  That’s because you can't do anything about it. If you're waiting for someone in the White House to make your business better, you're in trouble. One of the seven great lies is, “Hey, I'm here from the government and I'm here to help.” That's right up there with, The check’s in the mail.” We can't depend on the government to create our economy. That person in the White House, whoever they are, can’t create your economy. You must create your economy.  Your economy has six inches of real estate. It's between your ears. This is where your economy is.
   
   So instead of concentrating on the external noise, I want you to work on the internal noise. The internal noise is self-doubt. The internal noise is lack of clarity. The internal noise is no destination. The internal noise is frustration. The internal noise is desperation, lack of focus, and distractions. It's all this stuff inside that tears us down and keeps us from moving forward.

Be aware of the noise. Be aware of that little voice inside telling you, you can't do it, that you don't deserve it, that it isn't possible because other people have done what you're attempting to do.  Other people have gone bigger and better than what you want. Stop living smaller and deal with the noise that's on the inside. Deal with the noise you can control Deal with that noise that you can overcome at least for a short time. Understand that the noise inside never goes away. When you overcome that noise, it gets better and more elegant and knows how to push your buttons a little bit better. And now it's time to do it. Deal with that noise every single day. Be prepared to do battle every day and you can win the battle. You'll never win the war. The noise will never go away.

My goal in life is at the end when I get up to the pearly gates, God looks at me and says, “Well done, my son.  Well done. Good job. Well lived life. You made a difference. You helped others.” That's my goal.

Here's what I want f for you to do. I want you to stop focusing on the external noise. You can't control it. There's nothing you can do about it. Other people are going to decide who's in that White House right now. It's out of our hands. What you need to do is concentrate on your economy and deal with the noise inside so that you can achieve it.

God bless and go make some money. Let's make a difference this week.