I hope y’all had a pleasant end of 2025 and a refreshing start to 2026. My family and I got sick with the flu just after Christmas, so our start to 2026 wasn’t very refreshing! But, I’m grateful we’re all just about over with this sickness. The new year always gets me excited. I love the feeling of a fresh start, new goals, and the feeling that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. I recently heard something very inspiring from Chris Koerner, which reminded me of those new year feelings. If you don’t know who he is, seriously, go check him out! In a recent video he posted on YouTube, he shared his GRIT framework. And man, it hit me SO hard. I watched the video multiple times while using my phone as a flashlight in the early morning hours when I stumbled across it, so I could quickly write down his genius insights. Chris describes himself as a Serial Entrepreneur (he’s started like 80+ businesses over the years), so this video was aimed at entrepreneurs and business owners. However, I see the principles applying just as appropriately in the world of Automotive Service. His GRIT framework describes what it is really like to start and run a business: - G — Grind. Every day is a grind. It’s hard to be an entrepreneur! - R — Risk. Everything is risky. You risk your time, money, and there’s an opportunity cost to starting and running any kind of business. - I — Isolation. It’s lonely! Entrepreneurship can isolate you from people, safety/security, free time, etc. - T — Turbulence. There are a lot of ups and downs, and wide wide swings. Emotional, Financial, you name it, it’s turbulent being an entrepreneur. I feel that the same is true being an automotive service technician. Whether you’re a mobile tech, a one-man-band or if you’re isolated in a toxic shop where everyone is out for their own interests and pays you no attention, it’s a grind, man. It’s a grind, every day is risky, you feel isolated, and the turbulence is real. But Chris gives a matching solution or antidote to each of these problems. He explains: