Expecting the worst stifles success

This month’s article was written with the help of ATI Coach Geoff Berman.

Over my past 40 plus years helping shop owners grow their business, I’ve found one thing that will never change. That one thing is your beliefs based on the experiences you have witnessed or heard of in business. The problem with belief systems is you might have developed a belief that a certain strategy doesn’t work because you tried to implement it at the wrong time or simply incorrectly. Actually, you might have never tried it because you heard from someone you respect that it didn’t work. The fear of something bad happening to you might keep you from implementing the one thing you really need to improve your and your family’s life. I overheard Coach Geoff Berman explaining to a shop owner how to overcome this obstacle, and his advice may help you try new strategies.

Geoff began by saying: Can you remember a time when you were a child and something bad happened? You were scared to death that your parents would find out about it, because you knew the consequences would be bad. You imagined the absolute worst. Images of punishments, loss of toys and possibly beatings were going through your head. You were scared, and watching this horror movie playing over and over in your mind exacerbated your fear. You prayed this would never come to light, but somehow it did. Oh no, they found out. What happened? Was it as bad as you imagined? I’m betting it wasn’t. What does that tell you about this horror movie we a play in our minds? It’s fiction. That’s right — fiction! Recognizing it is fiction is the key to ignoring it. You will never get where you want to go if you don’t recognize this; and worse than that, the fiction is just not true. Stop listening to untruths. Here is a quote to help you remember to ignore the fiction: “The devil in your mind is always worse than the devil you actually face!”

I can’t do that. It won’t work here!
While on the phone with a client one day I was asked this question, “Geoff, the shop seems to consistently have busy days followed by slow days. What can I do to fix that?” This is a great question and one a lot of shops struggle with. I replied, “One of the best ways to improve that situation is to schedule the customer’s next appointment as they are leaving today’s visit.” “That won’t work here. My customers won’t like that!” he tells me. What is his devil telling him? “I’ll upset customers if I do that and they won’t come back.” Fiction, right? It is very easy to react to our horror movie and say “I can’t!” But what if you took the “How can I do it?” approach instead. The conversation might go something like this. “Geoff, I’ve tried that before. It didn’t work out so well. If you think this will help regulate our day, maybe you can help me see what I did wrong? I really need to do a better job controlling the violent ups and downs of our days.” Which shop owner is going to see more success?

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The fact is many shop owners do schedule the next appointment as the customer is leaving, and are very successful. What if your customers come to enjoy the convenience and peace of mind knowing they don’t have to worry about getting their next service done on time, because they know you’re on top of it for them? This happens all the time in the shops that get it right. Why not yours?

What other ways does the devil in your head hold you back?
Have you ever had an employee you held onto longer than you should have (maybe years longer) because your devil told you that if you lost him all kinds of bad things would happen. Then all of a sudden he was gone and life actually got better, and you asked yourself why you didn’t let him go sooner.

How about your pricing policy? Your devil tells you, “You can’t charge that! If you do you will lose business!” Yet the guy down the street is and he has been in business longer than you have.

What about selling maintenance? There was a time that your devil told you, “You can’t do that because people only want what they came in for. You don’t want to be one of those shops that flush customer’s wallets. You’ll lose business.” But if you have made the transition, you have come to realize that not only can you sell those services, but people actually want them.

These are things that rob your shop of its productivity. They hurt you and more important, they hurt your staff.

I could go on and on illustrating ways your devil holds you back. My hope is that, whether or not any of these examples are ones you can relate to, you will take the time to recognize how dangerous your devil is and when he rears his ugly head. When you are able to do that, you will stop saying “I can’t” and start asking “How can I?” a whole lot more.

What can or can’t you control?
Now let’s take this a step further. Things come at you a million miles an hour and from a thousand different directions. It is very difficult to control what you see and hear while the hustle and bustle of your day is happening. It is also difficult to control how these things make you feel as they enter your brain. Maybe it would be healthier to accept some of the things you can’t control and put your focus on changing the things that you can. What is 100 percent in your control is how you respond or react to what is coming in. If you know that saying “I can’t” is cancer and the cure for that cancer is to think differently, then what is the logical choice? Choose to change the thought that “I can’t.” This simple thing will be hard at first; but if you practice, not only will YOU respond to things in a more positive way, the people around you will too. You may have heard this before, but — the only person you can change is you.

Overcome your productivity robbers
If you can embrace the idea that there are no bad ideas? If you can become curious about solving problems and ask, “How can I”? If you can learn to ignore the devil in your mind and not be afraid of what might happen? Because you realize that it is never as bad as you expect. The first step is to identify what these “Productivity Robbers” are. Then you can start facing them, one at a time. It’s easier to start the journey with the single step. If you can practice these changes in yourself, the world around you will open to opportunities you have only imagined possible. If you would like a “Self Check” of the Productivity Robbers that may be getting in your way, you can get it for a limited time at www.ationlinetraining.com/2017-03.