Confessions of an Ex-Carsalesman

When I was in auto sales,all too often customers did not want to hear the truth but would rather be sold.  A customer would come in and say I want to lower my car payment and drive something more conservative. After showing them the inventory for less expensive vehicles and how they were not as visually stimulating to the customer, they opted for plan B.

Plan B was a higher payment for a longer term meaning they would be in debt much longer than the previous loan they were originally paying.  This was a mystery to me at first. Other sales people would look at my sales and marvel. How is it you are able to pull this off Kai. We try convincing people to buy what they say they want but you always end up selling customers something flashier and more expensive.How do you do it?

My response to the othersales people was simple. People say things and do another. Never listen to what people tell you they want. People will lie to themselves. The bigger the ego,the easier it is for them to lie to themselves. People want to feel good about their self-image and would rather risk going broke than to live practical and below their means. It is extremely hard for people to live outside of social pressure. A car is an extension of people’s beauty. It is the chariot they spend most of their time in. The ego will rather kill that person than bear the responsibility of living authentically and pragmatically.

I’ve had couples fight tothe point where I would ask the husband, “are you really going to let her force you into that minivan when you and I both know when you pull up to your construction site, you will be the laughingstock of the entire crew”? This customer made his wife walk home with their small child approximately 3 miles from our dealership. He stayed until after midnight and bought the truck he wanted.

I was really good at playing to peoples egos. It didn’t matter if you were black, white, racist orgay; everyone is vulnerable to what the ego wants. Cars are one of the worst financial investments anyone can make. If a vehicle can drive you from A to B with minimal problems, it’s done its job. You don’t need to spend 10, 20, or 30 thousand dollars to accomplish this feat.

Today I apply the same perspective when observing society at large. We’re all full of crap listening to this political banter or that talking head saying Obama is the worst president to walk the earth. Knowing full well there is no way this country would elect a black president unless the powerful corporations we all purchase from wanted him there. Few people seem to question the power of the corporate elite. Instead they question the politicians. How foolish! Don’t you realize that there are powerful people beyond the white house controlling policy? To own up to this reality would mean taking responsibility and compromising ourdaily comforts starting with boycotting some of these companies to put them out of business. But we as a society won’t do that. We want to look cool and blame others for our misfortunes.

Support our troops! (Who we fully know are protecting Dick Cheney and Halliburton). What about the war on terror? Yes there are Muslims living in caves planning a multibillion dollar operation to blow up America’s prime real estate in the heart of NY. Come on…..! Our troops are protecting drugs in the Middle East. Now many troops are unaware of this and some are. I'm not passing judgement on them. Many of us are aware of this but will we won't voice this? They won’t take our guns from us! You fool;don’t you realize a drone can drop a bomb on you faster than you can load your mag with nonpolitical backlash? We don’t want to focus on the real issuesbecause that would require getting dirty and losing our quality of life.

How did I get from cars to politics? Because at the root lies the problem. The root is we don’t want to change. We would rather have someone else lie to us and make us feel likethings are changing. As long as people follow this line of thinking, carsalesmen and politicians will always have a lucrative job.

Weeds

This week, for some reason, I attracted some weeds. When you are outgrowing people and circumstances, you will find the weeds trying to grow in your garden. Your garden is your life and it has a cycle just like everything nature. The weeds will grow with no effort or maintenance required.  This inevitable ability to grow with no effort is what I call, life’s inevitable reality.

In the pursuit of becoming a mixed martial arts champion, I trained at a school with some elite wrestlers who received much more attention than I did. For three years I experienced new faces coming in and getting coaching attention, when I was shoved to the side. The new faces were neither elite wrestlers nor were they better athletes than me; they simply fit the social demographic easier than I did. Not fitting in was my crime and reason for being alienated, not a lack of talent or skill.

Now, my schedule has opened up and I’ve started fighting. I’m knocking people out and promoters are taking notice. When I attributed some credit to one of the coaches at my former gym, who is also, not on the inside, the gym went on the defensive and verbally attacked me on Facebook. The gym (which will remain nameless) is run by uneducated individuals lacking moral sophistication and common sense with regards to treating the public with equal respect. The individuals running this gym are weeds and sooner or later, they will be plucked out of existence by the natural course of life. You can’t mistreat the public and get away with it forever. Sooner or later Karma has a swift and hard blow.

The hardest part of the journey is maintaining focus on continuing to water my garden as opposed to watching the weeds grow. The weeds are a constant distraction and when your journey involves overcoming odds and digging into your personal reservoir of discipline to calm your ego and behave in a professional manner, retaliation is always making a legitimate argument at your door. I wrestle internally with wanting to publically call these people out. But I won’t, instead they will remain nameless and I must focus on winning with the strategies that are fit for consistent success.

When you have to overcome insurmountable odds, being your personal doubt, logic, the closest people to you, your co-workers and society at large, mental toughness and hope or faith are all that you can rely on. If the path still says go, then go. If the path temporarily says stop, push beyond it. Tell life no, this is really what I want. Not with some emotional push but with subtle persistence. Subtle persistence is the most valuable assets you can acquire in pursuit of a long term goal.

When I started on my journey, I was told by people in the UFC, it would take me 5-7 years and that I would have to retain my athletic ability well into my 40’s. Imagine wanting to start training to be a fighter at age 32 and having to mentally wait 7 years until you are 39 just to start. It’s crazy! But yes I am crazy. I’ve got nothing better to do and I would rather die trying than work a boring job or live a life incongruent with which God created me to be.

Never give up when the weeds pop up, never! They are as I said before the inevitable. Focus on your goal and how it will make you feel. My goal includes my family so there is more to share and enjoy than my own personal gratification. If your goal is to lose weight or retire early….whatever, it helps to benefit someone else. It’s a law that nature rewards more than an individual victory.