I recently had the opportunity to achieve a personal goal. I am into cars: new, old, collectable, muscle cars, classics, race cars, complex, simplistic…… you name it. Going back to my youth, I’ve had an affection for late ‘60s Dodge Chargers. I got one that was “mostly” restored about six years ago. I started “fixing it up.” I entered it into an Antique Auto Club of America (AACA) regional show and won a First Junior Award. Later, I received a First Junior Award at an AACA national event. I set a goal for myself to improve the car further and win a First Senior Award. Then, a few years ago, when it was announced that the AACA Annual Grand National event would be in my home state of Minnesota in 2021, I set a goal to be able to participate, which includes having won a First Senior Award at a previous national event.
AACA judging is very structured. It prioritizes authenticity, followed by restoration quality and cleanliness. The standard is the state of the car when it was purchased from the dealer. There were challenges in locating and purchasing parts, as well as delays from COVID, and many hours of research and labor. For reasons of cost, personal challenge, and self-satisfaction, I set the goal of doing most of the work myself. I even learned to straighten and polish stainless steel moldings, repair and dye trim panels, and restore vacuum-operated headlamp doors. I purchased an enclosed trailer and towed to Auburn, Ind., where I won the Senior Award. It felt awesome when I achieved my goal and pulled into the show grounds at the Grand National event. I was surrounded by cars restored to the highest standards of authenticity and quality, mostly the best of the best. And I exceeded my goal when I learned at the awards banquet that my car scored well enough to win a First Place Grand National Award in my class!
It seems that in today’s business world, we don’t hear as much about goals, whether they are personal, professional, business, or whatever. There is so much uncertainty and fear in today’s world that it is of little surprise that people and businesses aren’t setting as many goals. Regulatory changes, politics polarized to the extreme, COVID fears and uncertainty, economic issues changing the landscape, determining winners and losers, shortages of materials, high demand of some services like home improvement and vehicles (causing highly inflationary trends in used vehicles) and many types of materials, changing staffing trends, and so many more variables. It is hard to recognize the current economy and trends, and it’s difficult to know what direction things will go next. It feels like we have much less control. Speaking as an MSO collision repairer, is it even possible to set goals in this environment? Out of necessity, we’ve become quite reactionary. We seem to be paying close attention to trends, make our best assessment, then move cautiously forward.
The dictionary defines goal as, “The end toward which effort is directed. Aim, ambition, aspiration, objective.”
So……are goals an outdated concept? Impossible in our changing landscape?
My answer to that question is an adamant “NO!” Goals are a way we can put more control into our future. While we recognize the landscape may be changing, we also realize our destination doesn’t have to change. The path may have to be adjusted for the landscape, but we can still get there. Or at worst, we may have to adjust the goal accordingly. A goal can give us a higher level of drive and perseverance. We are more inclined to not “allow” our changing environment to control us. Instead, we are taking more control. We must not lose our sense of direction and drive.
One of the issues many people are facing in our environment is a sense of hopelessness. An immense amount of change and reduced level of control are obvious causes. I believe there is a significant element of hope required to set goals. It requires self-discipline and belief to replace hopelessness with hope. Self-determination, kind of a “damn the torpedoes” attitude, moving forward and overcoming issues.
More advancement happens in challenging times than in calm times. As collision repair industry leaders and managers, let’s set goals and move forward. Personal, professional, and business. Let’s not become as subject to the turmoil around us, but instead take more control, seize opportunities, and strive for greatness.