How To Maintain Your Momentum

How To Maintain Your Momentum

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“Nothing fails like success. Because when you are at the top, it’s so easy to stop doing the very things that brought you to the top” Robin Sharma

Imagine for a moment that you’re a NASA astronaut.  Just being selected makes you a success, considering they only pick one person for every six hundred applications received.  The years of study, service, and sacrifice have finally paid off, and now it’s time for your mission. 

You strap into your seat, adjust your gauges and prepare for take-off.   In your headset, you hear “five, four, three, two, one, liftoff!”

The rocket shoots in the air and you are headed for the skies!   Before you reach outer space, you make a fateful decision.   You decide to take your finger off the jets and start coasting, believing you have already made it to the next level. 

Sadly, your miscalculation of the how much momentum you needed, would cause you to come crashing back to earth.   You may be thinking: “Cute story Coach, but what does this have to do with me?”

Like the astronaut, you’ve invested years of study, service and sacrifice, to get where you are.  You have profit in your pocket, and making payroll is no longer a problem. 

According to a recent Forbes Magazine study, 67% of small business owners are either breaking even or losing money so like the astronaut, you’ve beaten the odds.    As a shop owner, you are flying higher than you ever thought possible.  

Here’s the big takeaway from the rocket illustration:  You’re either pressing forward or plunging backwards.  Therefore, bad things happen when you take your finger off the jets.  So, what can you do to maintain your momentum?  Don’t take-off before I explain! 

Play The “What If” Game

Back when I was a district manager, I recall experiencing a period of success that caused me to ease up.   I was winning awards because of our KPI rankings, and was fully staffed in each location. Since I had the right people in place, I put my habits of running ads and visiting competitors on hold.

But everything changed when my best manager, who was running my most difficult location, handed me his resignation letter.   Since I had stopped searching and sourcing, it took six months to find a qualified replacement. 

Thus, I had to spend more time at this location, which caused me to lose focus on the bigger picture.  Since I stopped pressing forward, the district started plunging backwards.  This experience taught me to always play “the what if” game.

On a weekly basis, I asked myself the following question: “What if I lost my best manager tomorrow? Answering this question every week, kept me from getting comfortable and forced me to prepare for the worst-case scenario. 

Here are some “what if” questions for you: “What if your best technician never comes back from his lunch break today?” “What if you experienced an emergency that forced you to be away from your shop for thirty days?” “What if you lost your best and biggest fleet account?” 

Playing the weekly "what if" game will motivate you to keep your finger on the jets!

Set 90 Day Stretch Goals

We use the benchmarks in the ATI portal to establish stretch goals. Every 90 days we review your performance in comparison to these benchmarks.  I once had a client named “Kim” and every quarter, she was either meeting or exceeding her sales target. 

I would suggest that we increase the goal, and she would always push back, saying the new target was too aggressive.  After five minutes of debate, she would give in and I would “raise the bar.” 

We engaged in this healthy debate every quarter for two years until one day we realized she had doubled her weekly sales volume!  The debates ended as she looked at her completely green portal screen.    Having the stretch goal motivated Kim to keep reaching for the next level. 

What are you reaching for?  I challenge you to establish at least three specific & measurable goals you expect to accomplish within the next 90 days.   If you’re struggling to come up with goals, try beginning with the end in mind. 

Here’s how it works: Imagine that it’s February 16^th 2017, and you’re bragging about having the best quarter in the history of your business.  What three things would need to happen for you to feel this way?

Summary

So, there you have it.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that playing the what if game, and setting 90 day stretch goals will help you to maintain your momentum.      I challenge you to keep reaching for the next level.  You may not get to the moon, but you will be surrounded by stars!

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS. Looking to set 90 day goals but don’t know where to begin?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send you a goal setting tool to help you analyze the eight key areas of your life.