Only the Best Auto Repair Shop Owners Stop Avoiding Challenges

Stop Avoiding Challenges by Rick White, President 180BIZ

The reality is we all have challenges. The problem is too many of us try to avoid them. And that's a mistake. I want you to stop avoiding the challenges. That's where growth comes from. Your challenges are what caused you to grow. Yes, they can hurt. Yes, they're uncomfortable. But you will end up being so much better on the other side. Where do your challenges come from? Honestly, most of the time they come from your actions and decisions built up over time. Most of our challenges, even our health challenges, most of the time are due to us making a decision over time that affects us one way or the other.

 Here's what I want you to think about. You basically have three things that you can do when you get a challenge.

1.  Wait for it to go away. You can wait for it to get better. And the issue is it will not get better by itself. Your challenge has been put there by whatever deity you believe in. I truly believe that everything happens for us not to us. So, every challenge has a reason behind it, a purpose for it, and a lesson within it. You have a choice. You can wait for it to get better. And it doesn't.
2. You can complain about the challenge. You can complain about how it's not fair. You can complain about how you're the victim. Or you can take control and make it better. When you're complaining about your challenge, that’s victim mentality. You get to be a victim or a victor, a champion, or a chump. Which are you going to be?
3. You can step back, look at your challenge, see what it is, and deal with it. Take control. Your challenge could be another person, it could be an event, a circumstance, a situation. Recognize that you can only control what is within your skin. Yourself. Your response. Don't do nothing. Take action. Respond. Don't react. You can either create a better future or you can complain. You can take control, take action, and make a better outcome.

 Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer in the great book called Success Principles came up with this mathematical equation, which is E + R = O. I've talked about it before.  E is the event, plus R is your response or your reaction, create your O or your outcome.  There are shops and businesses out of business today because of the pandemic. The event was the pandemic. Some businesses reacted, they withdrew, they laid people off.  They stopped marketing. They believed erroneously that people wouldn't buy. And now they're out of business. There were other shops that responded with, “Wow, this is amazing.  I get to be still working and I can go after these cars. I can go and pick them up. I can bring them back a week and sanitize them and that will make people feel safe.” They zig-zagged and had the best years ever. The difference was a response versus a reaction each of which had totally different outcomes.

 Challenges are going to be there all the time. When you feel like one is challenge settled, there's another one coming on its heels. It feels like wave after wave after wave. But I promise that if you deal with them one at a time, it will make all the difference in the world.  If it's a business issue, ask yourself what's real and then deal with what really is going on. Not what it feels like, but what really is going on.  If it's a health issue, don't just take it, go get some help. And if you can't get the help you need, keep looking until you find someone that can give you the best medical care possible.

 This is super important. So, when a challenge comes up, you can:

1. Wait for it to get better.
2. Complain about it
3. Create something from it. You can step up.

 In the end, you become a better version of yourself. Embrace your challenges. Don't avoid them. Step up, control your response, and create a better life through your challenges. Not by avoiding them.

God, bless. Take care. Go make some money.