Airbag Pixie Dust

May 8, 2012
Sedona, Arizona
Sunny 39 degrees

I still remember the day pretty well…

I was living in Scottsdale Arizona and I was going north towards Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

At the time, I lived just a few minutes from my job, which was pounding the pavement at a Chevrolet dealer.

Yes, I sold cars.

What’s sad about the car lot is that it could be a very reputable business. If I had known then what I know now about marketing, I might have actually seen some success.

According to my friend, Ryan, Joe Girard sent as many as 13,000 cards per month to create relationships and bring in the customers. Those mailings helped make him the most successful car salesman in the world.

That’s the type of thing I would do if I ever went back. Not that there’s a chance in h*ll of that ever happening 🙂

I do believe it’s possible to sell things (a lot of things) without actually lying to people. Duh. For some reason, some of the guys at the car lot I worked at never got that memo.

Instead, I saw another breed of human.

One that made it clear they would do anything and everything in their power to make the sale.

It was disgusting really. But I didn’t even really get it at the time because I was too scared and green to really pay attention. When you’re that intimidated, your interest in calling out people goes underground and hides. At least mine did at the time.

So back to my drive to work:

Some lady was coming south and I was going north. She turned in front of me and WHAMO…

The smell of airbag filled the car. The car was totalled.

I wasn’t hurt, but I do remember that I was shaking for quite some time after that.

It was that day that set things in motion for me to quit that job and never look back.

I remember thinking that there’s no way I’m going to exit from this planet on my way to a job that I hate. On my way to a job that takes me away from my kids all day long… almost every day. On my way to a job where I’m working with jerks.

I don’t know what chemicals I ingested that morning, but apparently, airbags are filled with some life changing pixie dust type of substance. Because it’s that event that caused me to make a decision to chart my own course.

At any rate, the road from there wasn’t easy.

And I made a ton of expensive mistakes along the way.

But it was all worth it.

What’s the reason you’re doing what you’re doing? Don’t forget to remember that reason on a daily basis. It keeps you going when things get bumpy.

See you next time,

Jason Leister
Editor, The Client Letter
Creating Success for Independent Professionals
ClientsSuck.net