As part of my training to run a full marathon, I ran a half marathon which was 13.1 miles. It took me two hours and twenty minutes, which was just under an eleven-minute per mile pace. I believed that it was impossible to run a full marathon (26.2 miles) at this pace.
My feelings were forever changed on the morning of the full marathon. During the opening festivities, Desta Morkama, the winner of the previous week’s Marine Corps Marathon, was introduced as the guest of honor.
I was shocked to discover that he ran 26.2 miles in two hours and twenty-five minutes, a 5.5-minute mile pace! My belief about how fast a marathon could be run was proven to be wrong!
Noted author and motivational speaker Jordan Belfort defines a belief as “nothing but an idea that you are really certain about.” I was really certain about my eleven-minute mile idea, but that didn’t make it true!
Likewise, you may be really certain about the idea that your customers don’t like to be exit scheduled. You may be really certain about the idea that you can’t present a large estimate to a first-time customer. You may be really certain about the idea that the ATI program won’t work in your area.
But how can you be certain that what you believe is true?
If you want to take your shop to the next level, you have to embrace what I refer to as the open-door possibility: you must always leave the door open to the possibility that your idea may be wrong.
What’s the biggest problem at your shop right now? The most common answers are usually the following: cash flow, car count, or hiring.
Well, I have some good news. Those aren’t your real problems. The real problem is the limiting story you tell yourself to explain why you don’t have what you want in these areas.
Here are some examples of limiting stories. Cash flow: “I can’t charge more because my customers are on a fixed income.” Car count: “It’s an election year and everybody’s slow.” Hiring: “I can’t conduct interviews until I have an immediate opening.”
By embracing the open-door possibility, you will be on your way to overcoming the real problem at your shop: your limiting beliefs. Stay with me to learn one specific strategy to make this happen.
Find Living Proof
In a recent video, I shared a story about this guy, let’s call him “Mike,” who was walking down the street and fell into a hole. He was frustrated because he had no idea how to get himself out. He was starting to believe that he would always be stuck.
An hour goes by and he sees his friend “Jim” walk by and he yells out to him, “Help! Get me out of here!” Jim responds by jumping into the hole with him.
“Jim, why did you do that? Now we’re both stuck!” Here’s what Jim said back: “I’ve been stuck in this hole before. Follow me and I’ll show you how to get out.”
Luckily for Mike, he was able to find someone who had done what he believed to be impossible. Jim was living proof of what was possible.
Have you ever felt like you would always be stuck in the hole of low cash flow, low car count, or working the counter? This “feeling” that you would always be stuck is an example of a limiting belief. I challenge you to be like Mike, by finding “Living Proof” to lead you out of the hole.
“Living Proof” will be at the SuperConference after netting big profits in a small town. “Living Proof” is in your 20 Group growing their car count in a “bad local economy.”
“Living Proof” will be in your next ATI owners class after hiring their replacement, even though “you just can’t find good people anymore.”
You trying to convince one of these individuals of what can’t be done would be like me trying to convince the Marine Corps Marathon winner that it was impossible to run a marathon at an eleven-minute mile pace!
After he finished laughing at me, he would remind me that living proof is the best cure for limiting beliefs.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. Finding living proof of what’s possible will help you to overcome the real problem at your shop.
Accomplishing your goal is like running a marathon. If someone else has done it, it must be doable!
P.S. Email etwiggs@autotraining.netto receive a Limiting Beliefs Questionnaire with five questions that will challenge what you believe.