Auto Repair Shop Owners Know that Success Doesn't Just Happen

Success Doesn't Just Happen by Rick White, President 180BIZ

One of the things that I see all the time is a mistake in creating success. The definition of growth is what I call gap management. You are in one place, which is your current condition.  You have a desired outcome, a goal that you want and that is in a different place.  There’s a gap between the now and the goal. Growth and success are all about closing that gap and getting closer to where we want to be. But we mostly make a mistake by saying, “I want."  That’s not necessarily the mistake.  The fact that you stop there is the mistake.

I want to lose weight. I want more sales. I want more car count. I want a better culture, a better environment in my shop for my team. That's all great. But the number one mistake that's keeping you from success is you think it's going to happen in the future. You think by saying, “I want,” it's going to happen tomorrow or next week, next month, next year. And it doesn't happen that way. That's not how it works. There's a disconnect between what I want and what I get.  We think that success happens in the future. Success doesn't happen. Success is created. Success is created by the actions you take today. That's right! The success you want in the future is created by the actions you take today.

I've wanted to lose weight forever and ever, and ever, and I keep waiting for it to happen. I'll do it later. I'll do it tomorrow.  Those statements are not your friends. That is what's holding you back. You need to figure out a couple of things. Are you ready for this? Here it goes.

1. Saying, “I want” is perfectly fine, but make sure you can quantify it. I want to weigh 240 pounds by June 30th.  I quantified that statement and gave it a deadline. I don't want a better culture. I don't want more cars. I don't want more sales.  I want $50,000 in sales. I want a hundred thousand dollars in sales per month.
   
   
2. And then you're going to add what you’ll do to move you toward that want. It's the actions you take today. What are you going to do today to move you forward toward your goal?  I call it the five to thrive. Pick five things every day to move closer to the goals and the success that you want.
   
   On 12/23//19, I started at 329 pounds, full disclosure. I wanted to get to 240. Some stuff got in the way. It shouldn't have stopped me, but it did. I had some knee issues and some other things.  I got down to 282, which was pretty cool. 'm going to be down to 240 by June 30^th of this year. And I'm taking active steps today to make it happen. Success doesn't just show up on your doorstep. You must make it happen. And the easiest way to do that is to determine the five things you're going to do every day to make that success a reality.
   
   
3. And then you want to systematize it. See the best. You know what happens is we come up to a situation and we just say, we're going to make a decision.  And what I've learned is the best decisions are made in advance.
   
   So the other night I was going food shopping. I had to pick up some things for my wife and I was really hungry and I love jelly beans. And you know, one of the things I said I was going to was I'm going to get some jelly beans. You know that inner voice, you can get some jelly beans. Rick, you've been really good. You've been doing everything. You deserve some jelly beans. But what happened was I made a decision at the beginning of this year that said no. Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels. Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels. So when that came up, the decision was already made. There was no decision to make then.

So, tell me what you want, quantify it, put a deadline on it, and then decide on the things you're going to do right now today to make that a reality. Don't put it off. If you put off, it could be another day, week, or six months for you to realize your goals, your dreams. That's the biggest disconnect. What are you going to do today to see the life you want tomorrow?

Take care, God bless, and go make some money.