Sales are slumping in the auto sector right now. The big car makers are feeling the pinch of an economic slowdown. Personally, I don’t believe that the economic slowdown is as bad as the media are making it out to be. In fact, I have yet to meet or speak with one person who has directly suffered any hardship at the hands of the economic slowdown (I’m not saying they don’t exist – I just haven’t met any of them).
Granted I live in Alberta and yes, we have a pretty strong economy still. And in the same way that you can’t run a hot engine forever without letting it cool down so you can do some repair and upkeep, we are in a cool-down period right now – as we gear up for the next rush. There are a lot of companies and organizations who are hiring right now. These are the same companies who are thriving in a “down economy.”
If you want to buy into the doom and gloom of how the media is portraying the economy right now, well then that’s your choice. Just remember, that you bring about what you think about.
Do I think you need to rush out and buy a new car to help the economy? Nope. In fact, if you don’t “need” a new car, why on earth would you saddle yourself with extra debt just because it’s on sale or the financing is cheap? I could sell you one of my speeches right now and you would be able to use it (the learning) for years to come but do you have the extra cash just lying around to pay for it?
I was walking across the parking lot of a conference facility last week on my way to my car. Now, let me tell you about my car. It’s a 2001 Hyundai Elantra with 5-speed transmission and a little rust forming around the fenders. It’s not a pretty car. It’s not an extravagant car. It’s a useful car that just happens to look a little weathered. It gets me 47 miles to the gallon on the highway and drives quite well. But it’s a little ugly.
I was asked once, as I was crossing the parking lot of a conference center, which car was mine: the BMW, the Lexus, the Mercedes? I simply said, “the Hyundai Elantra.”
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: I guess the perception is, as a professional keynote speaker, I am supposed to be driving a brand new luxury vehicle since I supposedly speak on success. Well, the truth is, I don’t speak on success. I speak on Attitude – Leadership Attitude. Leaders don’t waste their money on cars that they don’t need. Leaders don’t need to impress people – they could care less what others think of them. Leaders do what needs doing and buy what they need.
So here’s the truth of what I do with my car. My car sits for days on end in airport parking lots, hotel parking lots, conference center parking lots and rental car parking lots. The car is ignored and left alone for days on end. The doors get dinged, it’s exposed to elements and little care is given to the car because there are no parking lot attendants. It’s a surprisingly comfortable car to drive and has high reliability ratings.
Knowing that your car is going to be exposed to carelessness and weather, would you buy an expensive car that you would need to “baby” or would you buy something that thieves wouldn’t look at a second time? I still have my car because it’s never been stolen. It’s a little ugly but it’s incredibly reliable. I owe nothing to a bank because I paid cash for it. The car owes me nothing. My car and I have the perfect relationship – it gets me where I’m going safely and I don’t expend a lot of energy worrying about it. Perfect.
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