I know this may come across as pollyannaish, and I’m not usually spewing psychological mumbo jumbo, but I just read something I think you’ll appreciate.  

 

Here goes. 

 

If you are committed to focusing on what is good in your life and business, it will lead to better experiences in the future.  

 

And the more you practice focusing on the good, the better your life will get. 

 

What we choose to give our attention to and what we choose to ignore plays into defining the quality of our lives. 

 

While most of us, me included, put a lot of emphasis on what’s going on around us at the moment, our circumstances don’t really hold that much power over us.  

 

When we say that because X happened, I can’t be happy, we’re actually choosing not to be happy. 

 

Decades of research have shown that if you focus on negative things, your life will be more miserable.  

 

But if you focus on what’s good in your life and what you enjoy about it, you’ll be much happier. 

 

And on average, as we age, we get better at filtering out the negativity. 

 

This isn’t just hyperbole.  

 

Studies have found that younger adults have a tendency to process negative information more thoroughly than positive information.  

 

They give negative stuff too much attention. 

 

And it impacts their decision-making ability.  

 

What researchers did was they showed both negative and positive images to two groups of people. Young adults and older adults. 

 

And in the process, they observed their amygdala (a part of the brain that processes emotion). 

 

They found that young people’s amygdalas fired with activity for both types of images, positive and negative. 

 

But with older people, the amygdala fired only for the positive images. 

 

The researchers concluded that the elderly had trained their brains to ignore negative stimuli. 

 

Over time, they have rewired their brains to focus on positivity and ignore negative things. 

 

Isn’t that fascinating? 

 

Just thinking about this study makes me more positive about the future. 

 

By managing what we pay attention to, we can change our world. 

 

So rather than engaging with toxic people and replaying what was said and what you should have said, repeatedly in your head…  

 

Let it go. 

 

No one needs that type of doom-loop hamster-wheeling through their heads. 

 

I know it can be hard to filter out the negative when you’re dealing with people who don’t understand the nature of your business and that your expenses dictate your pricing structure. 

 

But the faster you can put these instances behind you, the faster you can rewire your brain to see more of the good things in life. 

 

One way of ensuring that you see more of the good is to ensure that all your people are on the same sheet of music. 

 

What I’m talking about here again is a Policies and Procedures Manual. 

 

A handbook that details exactly what you expect from your employees and what they can expect from you.  

 

What a handbook does for your business is it clarifies what your people are supposed to do when certain instances arise, giving them boundaries and guidelines.  

 

For example, an Outside Employment Policy could prohibit employees from providing services to your customers during non-working hours. 

 

Helping you avoid awkward conversations that may result in their termination.  

 

It’s sad when good people make bad decisions and refuse to see the error of their ways. But instead, double down and must be let go.  

 

Or simply providing a Bereavement Leave Policy for when an employee’s loved one passes away.  

 

These are difficult moments that can make or break a relationship with an employee. So, having a policy that addresses it beforehand is invaluable.  

 

Over the last eight years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve seen towing companies come and go. And most of the problems are employee-related.  

 

So, do yourself a favor and create an employee handbook.  

 

We have a template you can purchase and modify to your specific needs.  You can get it at this link here. 

 

https://thetowacademy.com/policy-procedures-manual-for-the-towing-business/ 

 

Or you can contact a local attorney and get one created. Whatever you do, do yourself a favor and get a company handbook.