For Love or Money?

Hanging on the wall at our shop.

 Every Monday morning my entire crew at National Powersports comes in early for a meeting.  We go over all types of things from procedural changes to reading letters from customers.  This last Monday we didn't have a lot to go over so I kind of jokingly said something to the tune of "ok, were done unless you guys want to hear one of my soapbox speeches about why I started the business".  It was sort of a half joke, but one of the guys encouraged me, saying that we hadn't heard it in a while.  Since I have some new employees that really hadn't heard the entire background I decided to talk about why NPS has been successful.

It is really important that everybody that works at NPS knows why I started the business.  It's important to know that we have a bigger mission than just selling motorcycles and making money.  Here is why.

NPD had very humble beginnings.  After leaving my Dads business I was working for a little Tech Startup.  It was a great company with only 7 employees.  I respected them and they respected me.  That was something that I had sorely missed working for my father.  I had been doing very well at this little company and had started investing in Mutual Funds.  Now that my salary had exceeded my living expenses I had been told by everybody that it was time to start investing for the future.  So I met with a financial planner who showed me how my $500 a month investment would turn into millions in 30 years, based on historical data.

Well after one year, and the attacks on 9/11, my mutual funds had tanked.  I realized that I have neither the patience nor the knowledge to be an "investor".  After Amy and I both came to the conclusion that there had to be a better way to make a return on our investments I decided to purchase an old motorcycle with the $500 and fix it up.  I bought a bike, cleaned it up and sold it on eBay for a few hundred dollars profit.  This made a huge impression on me.  I thought about it from the rate of return point of view and realized that the Mutual funds might give me a 10% ROI, but if I did the motorcycle thing a couple times a month in my spare time my ROI would be in the thousands per year.

In November of 2001, shortly after I started this side project, my boss called me and informed me that the tech company wasn't going to make it.  Rather than looking for another job, I decided that I was going to turn this motorcycle gig into a full time job.  I was pretty terrified.  Amy and I had $10,000 in the bank and now neither of us had a job.  Our expenses were over $3000 per month so we had about 3 months to make this thing go before we were out of money.

We lived on Ramen Pride noodles and busted our asses.  I worked from 6 in the morning placing adds, driving to look at bikes, fixing them up in the garage, listing them on eBay, and answering emails all day.  And after dinner I would do the books and work some more.  I usually finished at around 11pm.  My best friend Jeremy would come over after he got done with work and help me with the mechanical things that I couldn't do.  It was a huge amount of stress, but not the type of stress that I had been under working for dad.  It was good stress, if that makes any sense.  It was also a lot of fun.

I was fortunate enough to do well from the very beginning.  We made money and I had a real business!  I could have kept going at the level I was for years to come, but soon something very special happened.  Without going into a lot of detail (maybe the topic of another blog post in the future) I figured out what my "Primary Aim" was for my life.  After much thought about the life I left behind working for my Dad I realized that no matter what I do I always wanted one thing.  The courage to tell the truth.  Once I figured that out my business took on a completely different meaning.

Suddenly selling motorcycles was about a lot more than just making a profit.  I had an obligation to tell the truth to my customers.  I had always been truthful with my customers, but now what it meant was that I needed to find out everything about the motorcycles that I was selling so my customers knew before they made a decision.  I developed a process to uncover the things that were NOT perfect with the bikes as well as marketing what was good about them.  I decided that my commitment was to be my customers advocate.  Telling the truth means being thorough.  Telling the truth often meant that I actually prevented a sale because I was honest with the customer.  For me, that was and is still way more important than putting somebody on the wrong bike. 

When it came time to hire employees the most important thing was that they felt the same way about the importance of telling the truth.  No matter what we did or do now, we can always find a guiding principal with that concept.  My employees aren't on commission and feel zero pressure to "sell" somebody a motorcycle.  They do feel pressure to always tell the truth.  They are allowed to make mistakes, but they all know that the one thing that will get you fired is lying.

Once I made this change the business went nuts.  It sounds so simple, but it is not the norm for most business's.  Many start with good intentions, but get completely off track when they adopt making money as the number one reason for all their decisions.  I don't look at my industry to see what others are doing, I simply follow the rule of telling the truth and providing for others.

This has taught me that if you do things for others, rather than for your own selfish reasons, the money, success and prosperity follows.  It is the natural way of things.   My best success has come when I focused on others as the reason for doing something.  When I focus only on me I am sure to be denied the object of my desire.

Do it for the love.  The money will follow.

Obligatory "Year in Review" for 2011

You know what?  I've started to write about what happened in 2011 many times now.  The reality is that, who cares?  I've written about all of it throughout the year here on my blog, so why bother recap it?  If I did bother to write one up, it would all boil down to this:

2011 was awesome.

I ran 3500 miles.  I won a 100 mile race. I spent more time with Amy and the kids.  National Powersports had a great year, blah blah blah.

The reality is that I feel like every day is New Years day.  Every single day that I wake up I spend a few minutes thinking about how fortunate I am and how much I love being alive. And then I think hard about what I want to happen today and what I will do to make sure that it does. I don't make New Years resolutions because every single day we have the opportunity to change the direction of our lives.

I truly believe that every single person alive has the ability to lead whatever type of life they want.   I'm proof.  Many think that there are people who live "charmed" lives.  You know the old saying, "you could fall into a bucket of shit and come out smelling like roses".  I am guessing that many people that know me think I might be that guy.  But that's not always how it has been.  Like it or not, the life that we are living today is a result of the thoughts and choices we made yesterday. I'm not charmed, I'm living my life concisely.

When I worked for my father I might have been the most miserable person on the face of the earth. The amount of stress that I felt was unbearable.  It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.  Anxiety to the point of panic was normal.  The worst part was that I thought that I had no options.  I felt completely trapped in a situation that I had no control over.  Helpless is the best word that describes how I felt.

But eventually I left.  I walked away from my family's business that I was supposedly supposed to inherit. I left with nothing.  No pension, not much money in the bank and a family to support.  The frustration of the situation had finally outweighed the terror of stepping outside of it.  And you know what?  I didn't die.  The world didn't collapse.  As a matter of fact things started to get better once I took control over my life.  I am not a helpless spectator in what happens to me and what I get out of life.  And neither is anybody else, but most of us just don't know it yet.

So where am I going with this?  I think that a better topic for my first post of the New Year is to share how I did it and hope that somebody reading this who is unhappy might start to move in the same direction.  It all starts with an open mind and a willingness to re-consider many of the things we were taught growing up.  Here's the secret.  Your thoughts control everything you do and everything you get out of this life.  Most of us don't think of reality that way.  Our thoughts ebb and flow like the tides, and most of us think of ourselves as passengers along for a ride.  Its not true.  But it takes a phenomenal amount of practice and work to take control over them. 

I am still working hard to understand it all, but the more I practice the better I'm getting.  For those of you still with me here, yes, I am referring to what most call the Law of Attraction.  I'm not going to try to explain it all here.  I'm not an expert, nor would I position myself as a teacher.  What I will do, for those who are interested, is post some of the books I am studying and have found influential.

1. If you have never heard about the Law of Attraction (LOA) I would suggest "The Secret", by Rhonda Byrne.  Warning: This is the hokiest, over-commercialized, bastardized explanation of the LOA.  BUT, it will open you to the concept, which seems over the top unbelievable.  The best and most inspirational parts are the stories of people who have overcome incredible odds to achieve great things with their lives.  It will most likely raise more questions and a lot of skepticism. Again, keep an open mind to the idea, not the method in which the message is being delivered.  There is also a movie, which is even more goofy.

2. A book that will absolutely change your life (If your open to it) is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.  If you study the CEO's of a TON of successful businesses you will find this book referenced to over and over again.  This book was written in the 1920's and the message and lessons are timeless and have been proven over and over.

3.  If you read "The Secret" and want to understand the LOA in much better detail read "The Master Key System" by Charles Haanel.  I am still working on it, but have found answers to many of my questions.  It was originally meant to be a weekly study course, so you work through the book chapter at a time.  It is the most comprehensive explanation of how the LOA (and many other laws of nature) work.

I don't discuss the LOA with many people.  Frankly, I'm a bit hesitant to even publish this post.  But this is the direction I have gone with my thoughts and beliefs.  It has given me the vision to create National Powersports, it has allowed me to achieve physical achievements that I never would have thought possible, it has allowed me to be financially comfortable.  Most of all, I don't worry much anymore.  It has allowed me to eliminate a huge amount of stress in my life.  It has allowed me to have light where there used to be dark.

My hope for everybody for 2012 is to have an incredible year full of light and happiness.