What If …

By Jake Nawrocki

What if we created an entirely new way to extract meaningful amounts of revenue from recycled vehicles? …You fill in the blanks. 

At the time of this writing, I find myself sitting in a great little Airbnb, hanging out with my brother in Monterey, California. Nothing about this is so special, but the reason for the epic road trip that brought us here is a once-in-a-lifetime happening. We are entered in an endurance race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. If you are not familiar, this is a world-class racing facility and a bucket-list event for both of us. As I reflect on this, I can’t help but wonder, “How did I get here?” I’m struck by the simplicity of what led to this; it all started with a little two-word question: what if? 

It started out as a very small germ of an idea, “What if we were able to race at Laguna Seca? Wouldn’t that be great?” And of course, the answer is yes, it would be great, but there is no way we can do that. It’s 2000 miles away, there’s no way they would let a couple of nobodies just join a race at one of the country’s most prestigious racetracks, and we don’t even have a race car. And all those things were true.  

Yet here we are. So how does this happen? It all started with “what if?” What if there was a race series for nobodies that went there? What if we found the perfect car on Copart that was hail-damaged and had no title, so it would cost less? What if, what if, what if. The thing is, once we started seeking answers to these questions or answering them ourselves, it became apparent that it was, in fact, possible. Not only that, but it was also attainable. So, about a year later, here we are living out a dream come true. 

It just very well may be possible that those two little words are some of the most powerful words we could use.  

What if the Wright brothers hadn’t asked, “What if?” Or, if Bell, Edison, Ford, Bezos, and Musk all dared to say “what if?,” and the outcome was world-changing. What if that could be you? Not a single one of those individuals created something new; they took existing and made them bigger and better. They implemented changes to “the way it has always been done” and shifted everything. You can probably think of other examples of where average Joe types like you and I had the thought “what if” and took the next steps to explore and then implement.  

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON THAT IT COULD NOT BE YOU! 

This has me thinking how often we miss out on things because we fail to ask, “What if?” 

What if… 

We could find a way to increase sales by 10 percent without raising overhead? 

We added to our delivery route? 

We added a sales position? 

We found a way to lower costs without hurting sales? 

What if we created an entirely new way to extract meaningful amounts of revenue from recycled vehicles? 

You fill in the blanks.  

What if you were intentional about taking the time to ask your team, “What if?”  

In this new year, I want to encourage you to be intentional about looking ahead and then implementing some of the solutions to the “what ifs.” Break it into baby steps. Just as we didn’t decide to do this race and then just show up, a multi-step plan was written and then executed in small, easily attainable steps.  

You can do this in your business and/or your personal life, and I am convinced that even if you do not become the next overnight success story, whatever you learn from it will open up a whole new world of “what if?”