What If... is the question for Auto Repair Shop Owners

Are You Prepared to Answer "What If?"  by Rick White, President, 180BIZ

I want you to just think about two words. What if. There has been a lot of stuff going on here personally lately. For those of you that don't know since August, I've been having back issues.  I've got disc degeneration and I have four vertebrae that have no disks. I also have two nerves that are pinched in my back. I'm not telling you this because I'm looking for sympathy. I'm not, I got this. I'm telling you this is because, (and I'm going to say this the wrong way) sh*t’s going to go sideways. Last week I ended up in the ER because the pain was so bad. The neurosurgeon is not available, and we have a business to run. We have people to serve, and that's probably the biggest part of it for us. I want to make sure that every one of my clients is still taken care of. So, my question for you is, What if?  What if you hurt yourself? What if you lose electricity? What if your computer goes down? What if the internet goes down and you lose access to your shop management system?

I'm going to ask you to step back and ask yourself this question. It's really important because if you're prepared to the best of your ability, it gives you a little peace of mind. It's amazing to me how many of us, me included, expect to get up today healthy and full of life. And I still am, but I'll tell you what, this has been a real pain in the butt. It's one of those things where it is not something we planned for. And we've had to do a lot of zigging and zagging. I've got to give my wife credit. My wife is holding the house and the animals and the business and everything else together.

And you know something, Brenda is a rock star. She is my hero. And if you see Brenda today out on social media give her a virtual hug. Give her a hug because she's holding up the world right now for us. And she's doing an amazing job. She feels like things are falling through the cracks, but she's doing a great job. And this is some of the stuff we have to deal with. Me sitting in a chair unable to help. Me sitting in a chair and letting other people help me. This is our thing to go through, but I guarantee you, there's going to be stuff that you go through. Brenda and I are really blessed.

We have three of our clients that have been not only long-term clients, but they know what I teach live it every single day. They have the businesses to prove it. They stepped up and are helping us with the coaching. I'm asking you to think through “What if.” What happens if you lose the internet? Do you have a mi-fi or a hotspot that you can tap into ready to go? What if you lose your voice over IP phone service? What happens if you lose internet, then do you have it set up so the voiceover IP goes directly to someone's cell phone, so you don't get a loss of service? Don't react to these things. You can't plan on everything, but there are so many things you can plan on. What if you lose your SMS system? Do you have paper invoices set aside ready to go just in case? These are all things that you can do that cost almost nothing. It's all about being prepared.

So, I hope you all get this today. Everything you go through, I want to tell you something it's not happening to you. It's happening for you. Even my back and the pain that I'm in and the trials and tribulations we're going through. There's a lot of lessons here. There's a lot of lessons I have had to learn to accept. There are some things that I can't control, and I have to be able to step back and learn to accept certain things. Why? Because when I can accept them, I can keep going. When I accept things, I can keep making a difference. When I accept things, I can still see the joy. Are there still challenges? Absolutely. Are there still times where the pain gets to me, or I get discouraged? Yes, but not all the time. These are things that we all battle with sometimes.

Remember, you're not alone. We're here for you. We're here to help in whatever way we possibly can. I am so blessed and thankful that I've still got my head, that I've still got my brains and my wit that I can still work and make a difference.

The first thing I want you to understand is life doesn't happen to you. It happens for you. And when you're going through these things, look for the lessons. Don't ask, “why me?” Ask, “What am I supposed to learn?” So, the two lessons for me in this are acceptance and letting other people help, which has been very, very hard for me. I am so much better at helping than being helped. That feeling of helplessness has been a real struggle for me.

So, the other thing I want to say. There are things in life I call CIA. There are things that you can control. Things you can influence and things you need to accept. And it's being able to understand what those are. You can control what you do, your actions, your intentions, your attitude, basically everything inside your skin. Number two, influence. That's the circle of people around you. That's influence and the higher the trust, the better the influence. And then the last thing is acceptance. There are just some things in life you have to accept. There's an off chance that this pain may be here forever. I don't know, but I've got to make a decision that if that's the case, I'm going to live the best life I possibly can. And I'm going to be there for my wife. I'm going to be there for my kids, my grandkids. And I want to be there for you. So, control, influence, accept.

What if.  Start asking yourself that question in different scenarios and it'll make a difference in your business today, this week, next week, next month, next year.

Thank you so much. Share this video, please. God bless, stay safe. Go make some money.