Let’s call him Mr. X.

I love talking about this guy, because he’s a prime example of why my methods make service managers irreplaceable to their teams. But rather than cover his results first, let’s start from ground zero.

THE PROBLEM

Mr. X found himself in a midlife crisis of sorts. He had his position as a manager of a dealership, and a beautiful family to boot. When you find yourself with everything, it is a state of bliss. Yet things can go south so fast.

He thought he was on the fast track to becoming everyone’s model, but in his second year at the dealership, the sales started lagging and the numbers dropped. Instead of pushing ahead toward his goal, he found himself stuck in neutral. Mr. X became unsettled, moody, and in constant dread of losing his job.

And of course, people tell you to keep business and personal life separate, but let’s be honest, your business never wants to separate from your personal life. Mr. X found himself drinking heavily, gaining weight, and dealing with marital woes. Regardless of what you do, what happens at work will follow you him, and your family can suffer from that as a result.

Now, midlife crises aren’t uncommon. Often, they’re just the result of bad circumstance. The issue is how they’re dealt with.

For a service manager, you may start worrying about performance and, about how your team views you, just as Mr. X found himself thirsting for constant approval. This is what limits people, holding them back based on third-party assessments.

THE FIRST STEP IS MAKING THE COMMITMENT.

The First Step, the most important step, is to acknowledge that there is a problem, and that you, personally, have to change. Without committing yourself to change in response to a problem, you’ll only find yourself mired in the mud longer and longer.

What I can do for you is provide a path forward. In the end, it’s up to you to make the choice to change, to challenge yourself, and break free of what’s holding you back.

That’s exactly what happened to Mr. X. I had arrive at his dealership to mentor the team while he was stuck in a rut. I gave him a challenge to better himself, and better the dealership. If he accepted, I would show him how to boost profits through the roof!

Sure he got mad, I’m not known for being subtle, but I don’t dance around. If I see an issue, I’ll make it known. And he understood that. And he understood that he had been angry at himself for his failure. He channeled that anger into motivation and made a conscious decision to change.

Change is never easy. I know. the status quo is familiar, and familiarity can breed comfort even under the worst of circumstances. For success to be an option, you can’t be afraid of change and the hardships it may bring. They’re only temporary.

Mr. X did everything and more than I asked of him, and it resulted in him achieving every goal he set. All he needed was a change in mindset.

To get out of neutral, you need to realize you have a problem, and be ready to change. Be prepared to set goals for motivation. Change the need to meet sales goals to a desire to profit. Acknowledgement of the problems that plague us is just the first and most important step toward moving past obstacles in life.