Did you know that, according to studies, 80 percent of adults admit to checking their phones within 15 minutes of getting up every morning—overwhelmingly to catch up on messages they might have missed during the night?
And, if you’ll bear with me for a moment, did you also know that doing so messes with our biological sleep-wake cycle, skipping what’s known as the “theta and alpha stages,” which just so happen to be the time when we’re best able to tap into our subconscious minds to visualize what we want and help our brains drive actions toward achieving that vision?
Instead, we jolt our brains into a wave of high stress from the moment we wake up, priming ourselves for distraction and stress throughout the rest of the day.
If you’ve ever felt that sinking feeling of knowing how full your day is going to be right after you wake up, that might be why: You’ve already fallen into the trap of monitoring your work outside of work hours.
So is it any wonder that 41 percent of shop owners selected “direct involvement: I get my hands dirty on the shop floor and lead by example” on our 2021 FenderBender Industry Survey? In this day and age, we can get our hands dirty while literally still in bed!
That’s the premise we started with to craft this month’s feature story, “A Visionary Approach” (p. XX): How do the best visionary leaders in our industry go through their days?
As you’ll read in the story, it’s likely not a coincidence that they all have specific rituals first thing in the morning. From working out to praying to relaxing in the Jacuzzi (yes, really), you’ll note that not one of them starts his day by going through his inbox.
It’s a small shift, but one that all the owners interviewed emphasized sets the tone for their days. It allows them to decompress, to get centered, and to make sure their priorities for the day are in line.
It’s not easy to up and change your approach to leadership—that’s covered in the story, too—but those simple, intentional changes are how to do just that. And I hope that’s what you’ll take away from this month’s issue; that your day is far more in your control than you might think.
