Communicating is Stressful for Auto Repair Shop Owners

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Stress by Rick White, President 180BIZ  (Estimated Read Time 2 minutes 36 seconds)

Today’s episode is about communicating. One of the major stressors in your life is your inability to communicate properly. Most of the time you're running around the shop like a chicken with your head cut off going crazy. You don’t realize it but you’re barking. You're giving snippets. You're not giving complete thoughts. Your communication has holes in it. Your instructions aren't complete. That's because you're communicating emotionally.

Know this. The closer the relationship, the harder it is to communicate effectively. That’s because there's so much emotion involved. I can step back and talk with a client all day long and have no issues, easy peasy. And I get home with my wife and I'm a babbling idiot. I'm just a ball of emotion with her. But that will happen with the people that are closest to you. it doesn't mean it's a negative. What it means is you must get good at understanding what your emotions are. And then be able to understand what your triggers are. There are certain things that I do that trigger Brenda, and there are certain things that she does that trigger me. Being aware of those makes all the difference in the world. Now I'm using Brenda and me as an example, not because we're husband and wife, but because we're business partners. This happens at work all the time because these are probably the second closest group that you will have outside of your immediate family.

So, instead, you can be better at communicating. Please understand that communicating isn't you saying something. That’s not communicating. It's like if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Scientifically,  yes. But if there isn't anyone around to hear that sound, does it even matter? It's not about you saying something. It's about getting someone to understand what you mean. Getting someone to understand where you're at. Getting someone to understand where you want to go. Getting someone to understand how they can help. But if your focus is on what you say, then it's going to be an issue. You're not going to be as successful as you possibly could.

The first thing that I want you to do, it's actually a two-step process. The first thing I want you to do is to stop and breathe. I need to talk to a tech about doing this, and you have 9 million other things. Stop and breathe for a second, just for a second. And then ask yourself, “What's my desired outcome?” Slow down. Slow down and understand what your desired outcome is. That's what makes all the difference in the world.

As you're about to communicate, ask yourself, “Am I 100% present or is my mind somewhere else? Is your attention so diffused that you're not really there? What's my emotional state? Am I really there? What's my outcome?” If you're aware of those things, you can step back, take a breath, and understand. So, slow down, and ask yourself those three questions.

Take care. God bless, stay safe, and have fun. Go make some money.

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