Auto Repair Shop Owner's Daily Dose 65: Stop Blaming the Virus

Stop Blaming the Virus by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I'm going to say something a little controversial. That's right. And if you want to get some people ramped up today, share this video. Stop blaming the virus for your situation. I want you to stop. It is not events that cause problems in our business. It's our habits. And here's what the event of this virus has done. It has magnified your habits, whether good or bad. There are shops out there right now that are having the best year they've ever had. That’s because they had the right habits in place. They had the right focus; they saw things changing and adjusted. It served them very well.

There are others that don't have great habits. This event magnified those poor habits causing problems. That's the difference. It's not the event that's causing your problem. The event is magnifying your habits. So let me ask you a question. What habits do you need to work on to get your business to the next level? Success is not an event. Failure is not an event. It's a series of actions or inactions that create that end result. No one is ever an overnight success. It takes years and years to become an overnight success. People don't see what you practice in private before you get rewarded for what you do in public.

If you weren't doing a great job at marketing before the virus, if you weren't doing a great job of getting cars in, if you weren't doing a great job at converting people from inquiry to an appointment, then it's a lot worse now.  Now you're scrambling to make a difference. It's just a fact. I’m suggesting that you step back and own it.  Ask yourself what new habits you need to get what you want. Let me give you an example.

Let’s say I got a donut this morning for breakfast.  The donut is about 300 calories.  That donut is not going to kill me. That donut is not going to affect me. That one event is not going to hurt me. That's not the problem. The problem is the habit of having a donut every day. Here’s where the math comes in. I have a 300-calorie donut, five days a week, 250 days a year. 300 times 250 is 75,000 additional calories. If I divide that by 3,500, which is how many calories it takes to gain a pound of fat. I'm going to end up with 21 pounds gained at the end of the year.

You see, it is not the event that causes problems. It is the habit. What habits do you need to improve or adopt? Ask yourself that question. Remember, you can’t stop a habit. You replace it. So, I'm going to ask one more time. What habits do you need to replace? For me, I need to get in front of more people. I need to get my message in front of more people. I want to have a global voice. I want to be able to impact so many different lives and help them to recognize the businesses that they could and should have. That’s what I'm working on.

So, what are you doing right now as a habit that's hurting you? Let me give you an example. You start to get stressed out and what do you do? You start watching cat videos on YouTube. Is that a good habit? No. Could you get stuck in learning mode? Is that a bad habit? Yes. In other words, you think that you don’t know enough about a subject, so you don’t act.  You are in perpetual research mode. The answer is to start doing something. That's where real learning happens. It’s where the rubber meets the road. So, step back and look at things that you're doing that aren't serving you and then look to replace them.

Since this all started, I've made a decision on December 23rd to lose weight and get down to 240 pounds.  I've lost 42 pounds so far and I'm not saying that to pat myself on the back. I'm saying it because you can do anything you put your mind to. You just need to get sure about what you want. Have a plan and then work the plan. That's all there is. Look at your habits. It's going to be the habits that you do unconsciously that are either going to move you towards where you want to go, or away. You and I can make a difference in our worlds, in our community, all of it. So, go out there and make a difference today. Review your habits and then get busy. Do something better.

Take care. Have an amazing day. God bless.