Josh Turley failed the fleet manager certification exam by two points after five years of procrastination, then passed on his second try. He argues that "just do it" means pushing past fear and self-sabotage. Fleet managers who applied for the 100 Best Fleets list despite doubts saw real results, like one landing at number 86.
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Hey, welcome back for another episode of the Fleet Success Show. I'm your host, Josh Turley, and as you can see, I'm running solo today. So I think this is going to be a quick episode. Of course, every time I say that, it turns into like a 30 or 40 minute episode. So with this time, I'm trying to commit to it. I had some thoughts recently. So we've, you know, we've been interviewing a couple of different fleet managers around NAFSA, you know, the top 100 fleets. And there's been kind of this constant recurring theme of hesitation, of not wanting to do it, you know, fear of failure kind of coming into play. And I had an experience last week, I guess it was 2 weeks ago, where I was kind of, you know, as you know, I'm trying to pursue my CA-FM and I have not taken a test yet. I've been enrolled for probably 5 years. And haven't taken a single exam. That tells you what kind of procrastinator I've been on this. And most of it has been centered around this idea of like, well, I don't know what's all involved in the virtual proctoring, as it were, where they watch your screen while you're taking the test and I gotta go clear my desk and make sure that everything's set up the right way. And I had all these excuses, these mind traps that were keeping me from just trying it, just getting in and doing it. I was like, I'm going to need to study. You know, I don't know what's on the test. I don't know how it's going to work. And what is that, right? That's just me telling myself I'm afraid of failure. And so I don't want to do it. So here's my message for today. This is my theme of the podcast, right? Just do it. Just go out and do it. Make it happen. With the, the top 100 fleets, the theme that I'd heard was, well, we weren't sure if we're going to get it and we didn't know how we would place. 'You know, how intense was the wording and the questions? I don't know if I can get it down to 400 characters.' Just do it, right? Even if you're not ready, especially if you're not ready, just go and do it. Just try it. See what happens, right? We heard that from Las Vegas. They just tried it. And, you know, Brenton kind of pushed and says, 'Well, let's just try it. Let's see what happens,' right? They don't want to fail, but They also like, let's see, you know, where we go. And they ended up number 86 on the list right now. You could say, well, well, they were 14 away from not qualifying, right? Okay. Then maybe they would have gotten an honorable mention. That's way better than where they had been before, which is not on the list at all. Right. So just do it. Go out and go download the template and just look at the questions and just try it out. Right. Use ChatGPT if you want to help you create your story really quick. And then have it slice and dice into 400 characters if you need it. Just do it. Just try it. So I'm doing the CAFM thing, right? And I've been stuck. So over the holidays, I told myself, I'm like, I'm just going to do it. I just want to get over the mental hurdle and whatever it is I'm telling myself that I'm not good enough, that I'm not ready for this, that I'm not able to perform. I'm so afraid. Like, I don't want to fail. I don't want to waste the money on the test. I just said, you know what? I just need to do it. So I did. I set aside some time, I closed the door, I logged in. Yeah, it was a little bit like, okay, you know, am I doing this right? And all this stuff. Um, I ended up failing the test. Yes, I failed the test. It is, this is the Fleet Information Management System test, right? And that somehow I failed. Now I'll tell you is you need a 70% to pass and I got a 68. So I was really bummed about that, that I was off by like one question. Um, and now I've got to wait 30 days to retake it. So I'm a little bit mad about that. And I'm not, I'm not bitter, but I'm just. Disappointed, uh, but now I know exactly what's involved. And I'm like, you know what? Okay, well, I just did one, so I'm going to go ahead and try to take a second one. And so I did. So, but now I know what's involved in it. And that whole fear of failure, the fear of the unknown, the uncertainty of like, okay, what is this going to be like? What are the tests like? Well, now it's, it's completely shaped how I'm going to go study because I understand what the questions, how they're worded, what the question, what the answer bank looks like. Right. I understand how similar some of the answers are. This isn't an easy test just to walk in and ballpark it. And now I know too, as I'm watching the study guides, the study videos and things like that, I know where as they're saying things, I'm like, "Oh, that was on the exam." And I know how to better take notes so I can prepare for next time. Now, next time the exam will look different because just the way that the exam works is that every time you take it, they give you a new question bank and they've got 270-some-odd questions. Now that they rotate through, but I understand the format and now I understand, you know, how it's going to be graded. And I know how quickly I'm going to have to wait to get a response back. Just do it, right? Go out and apply for the 100 Best Fleets. Worst case scenario is you don't make the list. Guess what happens if you don't apply? You don't make the list, right? I don't remember who I was listening to. Gosh, I wish I could remember this right now, but It was this concept of, you know, Nike's slogan is "Just do it," right? But the most important words— a lot of people focus on the words "do it" in that group, and that's not the most important word in the phrase. The most important word is "just," because every time we need to go do something, we have these obstacles, these barriers, as it were, to accomplishing it, right? And we have all these little mental traps, these mental games we play where we justify why we don't want to do it, right? We excuse our way out of it. And that's what the word just is. It's getting over all that crap. It's getting over all those objections. It's getting over all of the, you know, the self-sabotage that we do. And it just says, doesn't matter, just do it, right? Oh, it's too cold outside. Doesn't matter, just do it, right? And I think sometimes we get, you know, we are our own worst enemy. We get in our own way. We focus on the things that why we shouldn't do it. We focus on the reasons why this is going to be too hard, right? Just do it. Just do it. Just jump. Make the change. Do what you need to do, right? This is a new year. I love New Year's resolutions. I also hate them at the same time. But half the time it's just do it. There's another great video. This is what I'm going to leave you with. If you go out to YouTube, just search for Art Williams. At the EntreLeadership Summit. You could even try like Art Williams' "Do It," right? And he has a terrific passionate speech. He's an old football coach, used to sell insurance. And it's this whole concept of just do it, right? Don't talk about doing it. Don't think about doing it. Don't promise to do it. Don't talk yourself out of doing it, right? Don't say the words, "I can't." That's a 4-letter word. Don't do that one. Just do it, right? Whatever it is, just do it. Whatever decision you need to make, just do it. Whatever, you know, if you need to go have a hard conversation with somebody, stop thinking about it and just do it, right? That's my message for today. Just do it. Go out, apply for that 100 Best Fleets. Go out, apply for CAFM. Uh, you know, whatever's on your list that you've been too afraid to try, that you've been too afraid of failure. 'Cause honestly, the only person you're gonna disappoint is yourself. Just do it. Just get over it and do it. Embrace the learn. I learned so much. Just do it. All right. That's all I got for you guys. I hope you have a wonderful— hope you had a wonderful new year. And, uh, you know, again, if you have any questions, we'd love to hear from you. podcast@rtafleet.com. I've got an amazing guest lined up for next week, somebody near and dear to my heart. Again, I always love those interviews. They're so awesome. Can't wait for you guys to meet this individual as a new member of our team. But yeah, until then, just do it.
