Auto Repair Shop Owner's Daily Dose 31: Actions Part 2

Actions Part 2 by Rick White, President 180BIZ

What are we going to talk about today? That is a great question. I'm actually going to continue a talk that I had from two days ago. If you'll remember, we talked about actions. When I talked to you the other day about action, I asked you to step back and realize where the decisions and the need for action were coming from.  In other words, was it coming from a place of fear, scarcity, a loss, or was it coming from a place of growth moving forward?

It's important that you don't make decisions and take action when you're in a valley. Remember, that's what I said. When you're in a valley, don't take action. When you're in a valley, your job is to get out of the valley. Don’t make decisions emotionally. The easiest way to tell whether you are making a decision or looking to take action from an emotional place or a logical place from your heart is the number of options you have. Remember this.

• If you only have one option, that's a problem.
• If you have two options, it's a dilemma.
• If you have three options, now that's a choice.

Choice is what we're looking for. But here's what happens all too often. Something like this virus that’s outside our control or something that gets a little squirrely where the ground is not as solid under our feet. And the go-to reaction is “Let's step back, wait and see what happens.”   That is the absolute worst thing you can do because that grows. If you wait and it gets worse, then you want to wait a little more and see what happens and wait a little more and see what happens. And let me tell you something. When something doesn't go your way, you can't blame anything else.

Before you take action, make sure the decision is coming from the right place That it's coming from your heart and not fear. You must be 100% certain that you're going to be able to make a difference, that you're going to be able to move the needle and get where you want to go.

Nelson Mandela once said, “One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.” I'm going to say that again. “One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing that it will not happen.” You must be 100% certain when you're going into something that is only one way it's going to happen. There's only one result you're going to get. You must have that level of certainty. Then it's time to take action.

Action is where the rubber of your beliefs hits the road. People get too stuck in the planning stage. They want to make sure they’re confident and this is a lack of certainty. So, when there’s a lack of certainty, what do we do? We go to learn more; we go to understand more. We want to broaden our horizons and get better before we take action. And we do that for a couple of reasons.

1. Number one, it protects us from making a mistake. That's what we're doing unconsciously.
2. And the other thing it does is unconsciously it makes us feel good because we feel like we're making movement, we're making progress. I have to tell you that's not true.

Once you have made a decision, you have the belief where it's 100% certain, now it's time to come up with a quick strategy and then act on that strategy. Go 100% out, foot on the floor, moving like you cannot fail. And one of two things will happen. It's either going to be the right action or the wrong action. Either one is great because if I'm watching and paying attention to the feedback, I'm going to know what to do.

So, take massive action. Make sure your decisions are coming from the right place. Make sure you're 100% certain that this can work. If you don't have that belief, don't do anything else until you fix that. Then you can smash your foot on the pedal and take massive action.

There are only three types of action you can take.

1. The right action
2. The wrong action
3. No action

When you pull back to see what's going on, when you take zero action, you're going backward. passivity leads to futility. When you're passive, you end up with really bad stuff going on. Why? Because great stuff doesn't happen. Yeah. There are events and surprises that come up in our life that are amazing, but I hope you'll agree with me that if you're waiting for that to turn your business around, to get your life better, to get your relationship better, you are in a boatload of trouble. You have to take action.  Even if you make the wrong action, it doesn't move you closer to your goal. It is wisdom in development because if you're paying attention to the feedback, you can pivot. You can turn around, do something different.

I want you to hear this. Jim Roan said, “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”  You have to be 100% determined to make it better. It's the only way it will work. Be sure you know where your decisions are coming from. Are they based on fear, shrinkage, and a scarcity mindset? Those aren't decisions we want to make. Those aren't actions we want to take on those decisions because they always are emotional decisions.

Get yourself in a good place where you can see the possibility. And then have 100% belief in your ability to make a difference. You're the captain of your ship, whether it be business, personal relationship, whatever it is, you can make this better. If you are down in revenue, do different things. If you're not getting your ROI and you're not getting the appointments, do different things.

What worked yesterday doesn't work today. One of my favorite quotes from Babe Ruth is “You don't win today's games with yesterday's home runs. When you see these changes coming on, adapt. You must be able to pivot to overcome. That's what this is about. Doing the same thing over and over again is like slamming your head against the door that's closed and it won't open again. It doesn't do anything but give you a headache.

If you're having trouble, you should reach out to somebody. You should reach out to a coach or a mentor or somebody that helped you in the past and helped you get better. So that is my thing for today.

Tip for the Day. I'm really big on using Facebook and Instagram right now. If you don't have much of a Facebook following, that's okay. And this idea came from my beautiful wife, Brenda. Go out to your friends. Ask them to like your page. Go to your existing customers, ask them to like your page. Ask them to share it. Ask them to invite their friends to like it. That is the first step in growing your audience. Now is not the time for bashful. Now is the time for action. Now is the time for determining consistent action.

And that's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Consistency with your action is key. Commitment and consistency. Be committed to the action. Be committed to the result. And be consistent. It’s something you do every day. Success is not an event. Success is a series of actions.

It’s the same with failure. Failure is not an event. Failure is

• an inconsistency in action or
• consistency in inaction

So, be consistent. It’s something you must do every day. It's not something where you do once and you get busy and you stop. Don't ever think that way again. Do something every day to get in front of people. Make a difference. Show them that you're there to serve them, and then get them in as a customer.

Have a great day. Take care. God bless.