It's a Rush

I have now been selling cars for a bit over three weeks. At this point I'm not the best car salesman that walked on this life supporting sphere that flies through a vacuum around a gaseous ball of fire but, I'm doing ok. With each deal I make, I learn a bit more. However, I must admit, I get a rush when I'm doing a deal.

I like the feeling I get when I close a deal.

I'm not going to lie, sales is a tough racket. You get what you put into it and not everyone has the intestinal fortitude to deal with all the rejection but if you are willing to slug it out, you can can get a really good feeling from selling cars.

There are a lot of unscrupulous people in the car business. Some of the people I've met are not worth my time. However, if you do this for any amount of time, you can sell cars. It may be the only thing you are good at, but you can get really good at it.

Most of my friends thought I was crazy to sell cars for a living. As I write this I don't know if I will do this for a long time but I know that when I'm doing a deal, I get a rush. I get excited. I get caught up in the moment and I like that feeling. I can see how people end up doing this for a long time. You have a lot of control over your performance. You have direct control over what you take home and, if you are like me, you get a big rush from selling cars.

If I do a deal in the evening, I will have trouble sleeping at night. I'll be buzzing for hours from a rush. Living life hopped up on adrenaline is a good way to be and I'm doing it.

If the rush starts to disappear, I will have to move on because I'm not going to live a mediocre life, but as it goes for now, I will live a life full of rushes from selling.

Scandal!

Canada does not have a huge population and we are generally seen by the rest of the world as very polite. We say please and thank-you. We hold the door for you. We try are best to not rock the boat.

However, all of a sudden we seem to be up to our eyeballs in scandals.

The headline that is most prominent is Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto admitted to smoking crack cocaine. He isn't the first North American mayor to smoke crack and I doubt he will be the last. 

On the same day, the Canadian Senate has suspended three, yes the number that lies between two and four, of its own members without pay because of improperly filed expense claims. If you are reading this and you are not familiar with Canadian Parliamentary rules, Senators are appointed and may serve continuously until the age of seventy-five. It used to be for life but they changed it a while back. The Senate generally stays out of the spotlight and you can quietly go about your daily life without scrutiny. Before this the Senate had never suspended anyone without pay. This is a big leap.

In Montreal, the mayor stepped down amongst corruption allegations and soon after his appointed replacement was arrested.

In Winnipeg, there are projects that were not tendered according to the rules, a shady looking land swap deal and even a City Hall Christmas party grabbing headlines. Everyone is pointing to the mayor on that one as well.

What happened?

In my mind there are two possibilities. Either Canadian forgot how to keep their secrets or we have have developed an edge we never had.

With the absolute ease to record and share information it is a lot easier to track what people say and do. It is very hard to deny a statement or limit it's exposure. Once something is on the internet and interesting it can go viral and it becomes part of the collective consciousness, at least for a while. Secrets are not as prevalent as they used to be.

However, I think Canadians are becoming bolder. I think we are willing to take more chances for the big payoff, leaving us exposed to big failure. Our politicians may not have the public's interest at the heart of everything they do. Everyone, including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, want to be seen as an outsider who is fighting the establishment. If  the Prime Minister doesn't se himself as the establishment, who is?

We need to shake the establishment from time to time. We need to hold people accountable for the responsibilities bestowed upon them. We don't need this much scandal. Too much time and effort is being put into fixing the problems and not improving the lives of Canadians.

So, to all the people in charge of anything established by the people for the people, get your house in order, right now. We don't need this. There are real problems that need to be solved and let's be honest, Canadians are better than this.

No Coke for 150 Days

Yesterday was my one-hundred fiftieth day without drinking any Coca-Cola. I am so happy I have made this change in my life. There is no other way to describe that stuff other than pure evil. I don't think there is a beverage on this planet that tastes that good but is so unbelievably bad for you.

Here are the facts.

With no other significant change in my life I have lost twenty-four pounds. I will admit I have been running a bit but it averages less than 5 kilometres per week so I truly doubt it has any real impact on my weight. Since changing jobs I don't walk over five kilometres each workday to get to work and back but, I am on my feet a lot more at my new job than I was at the old one. So, I have to postulate that my change from two-hundred twenty-one pounds to one-hundred ninety-seven pounds is directly related to cutting Coke out of my life.

When I was drinking Coke, pants with a 36 waist fit properly. Since then I needed to buy smaller pants so I went down to 34 waist pants. Now those are starting to be a bit loose. I don't think I'm there yet but I may even have to step down to 32 waist pants. There are two factors at play here. First, if you lose twenty-four pounds, your waist will inevitably get smaller. The weight has to come from somewhere and if we have extra weight, it tends to collect around your waist. Secondly, I don't feel bloated from the carbonation anymore and I think my waist is smaller because of it.

As we get deeper in the fall in Eastern Ontario, I am feeling the cool days more than I used to. I'm sure this is because I'm a lot leaner than I've been for most of my adult life. 

A lot of people, and I mean a lot, have commented. I look noticeably different. It's a good feeling to receive so much positive feedback. It usually takes a significant change for most people to say something so there must be a big difference.

I have a lot more energy. My body is no longer relying on the sugar and caffeine to run so I don't get crashes like I used to. I don't get a headache if my routine is upset and I can adapt a lot better to change. I also sleep a lot better as my system isn't full of garbage that is trying to keep me awake.

Overall, I am very happy that I quit drinking Coke. I'm not going to lie, there are days I miss the taste but that feeling always passes and when I step on the scale, look in the mirror, or wake up from a good sleep I always think it's worth not tasting it for that momentary enjoyment.

Feeling Free

I've been selling cars for a couple of weeks now. Some of the job I really like, some of it I'm really not a fan of. The job is pretty much as I expected it to be. This post isn't about selling cars, it's about what the world feels like now.

I worked in the same program for the same organization for a long time. I'll be honest, some of it was very comfortable. I knew what to do, and who to talk to. However, I also felt really trapped. Based on sheer numbers promotion was unlikely for a long time. A lateral transfer was also not in the cards for the foreseeable future, not because I couldn't do another job but because everyone else I could switch with didn't have the technical skills and knowledge to do my job. It's not their fault, what I was doing was very specialized.

Since switching jobs, I feel free. 

When talking to various people about how it's going, I have come to realize the world is once again open to me. In the long term, I may not like selling cars, it's too early to judge. However, I feel like if I don't I will find something I do like. I have a lot of skills and knowledge. I am adding some new experience and I believe it will be compliment my current skills. All of this gives me a feeling of freedom.

I feel like I can live wherever I want. Right now I want to live in Ottawa. So, I can work at something I like in this city. If an opportunity elsewhere interests me, I can make a switch. I feel I can have a balance between my work and my my out of work life.

I feel like I can do whatever I want. If I choose to change occupations it may take some time but I can find what I want to do. I can find an organization that closely aligns with how I feel business is to be conducted. I feel I can find an organization that values my inputs and bring value to them. I was bogging down in the churn in my old job. That is gone and I hope to never experience it again.

There was a time in my life when I used to seek out adventure. That diminished in recent years and I am getting it back. It's invigorating. I feel a lot more alive and I'm viewing the world with excitement and optimism. I feel more creative and I'm learning everyday. I'm returning to the person I like and want to be.

I have no regrets with my old job. I thoroughly enjoyed it most of the time. I grew as a person and I had some amazing experiences but it was time for the next chapter in my life and since I've done what some people think is crazy, I feel I have put my life on a great course to something big in the future. That's what I'm most excited about.

Broad Strokes

Having a university degree is extremely valuable. Not only does it give you skills, knowledge, and ability it also gives you access to other educated people. When you basically live amongst educated people you can forget that not everyone lives the same life.

My recent job change to has re-opened my eyes to the value of education.

This is not a criticism of the people I work with or the customers I serve. It is a comment on how we can forget that not everyone lives the same life, which is a good thing.

Educated people are generally not drawn to sell cars. The pay is not guaranteed, the hours can be long, especially in the beginning, and it can be frustrating. However, those who sell cars for a long time get very good at it. Admittedly, there are some traits that most people successful in car sales possess. They like to talk. They are not shy. They like to hunt and chase. They have thick skin.

For all the good qualities they have, they don't generally have a lot of education. Car salesmen do not sit around and discuss the impact of population density on public transport and retail economic activity.

That conversation would have happened at lunch in the old job, not in the new one. There have already been several comments on the 'big words' that I often use. I don't think my language is too complex but I have to consider the audience. It isn't normal for them to hear so it is unique to them. This is ok, and sometimes refreshing. I do admit that I like to be accurate and efficient when I communicate. A larger vocabulary will help with that. If you can say more with fewer words, you can get more done.

An expanded vocabulary come from education. The same education also provides insight and context in many situations The more you know about how the world interacts with itself, the more you can predict how things will happen and control the situation. If you understand what it takes to get something done, you can adapt the situation to have things set up so it seems to move naturally.

I am currently in learning mode, trying to figure out a new work environment, in a new industry, with a new organization. Once I know how things really work, I should be able to use my education and previous experience to perform at a very high level. it will take time, it will take hard work, but most of all it will take the ability to see the world through educated eyes.

There are a a lot of great people in this world. Some went to university, some learned through experience, and some a combination of the two. I hope to be the one of the guys with the combination of experience and education, because that's when you can really make a difference.

The New Job

As I had mentioned earlier, I have ended my full time employment within the Cadet Program. For me, it's time to get back to the parts of the program where the good is actually happening. However, I am not independently wealthy so I need a way to make money to buy food and shelter. So, I have started a sales position with Southbank Dodge in Ottawa.

I'm really new to selling cars and I haven't been working in a for profit organization for over a decade, so far, it's going ok.

I'm not going to sugar coat this is any way. Selling cars is pretty much what it seems. I really can't comment too much on it yet, I haven't learned enough to do that. What I can tell you is this is not for everyone. It is a performance based job, it is all about dealing with people, and not everyone is going to do well at it. For me it's way too early to determine if I have what it takes. I understand sales and I know how to communicate, that still doesn't mean I'm going to be successful. What I've figured out so far is like most things you will get out of it what you put into it. If you put in the effort and don't make too many mistakes, you should be ok. There must be a living to be made selling cars or people wouldn't do it for years.

After doing some training most of my first day on Friday I somehow managed to sell 3 cars on Saturday. There was a lot of help from the sales managers but I think they see I'm serious and will take the time with me now. At least I hope that's the case. However, I've only sold 3 cars so I haven't proven anything yet. I need to drive my own customer traffic, I need to do a good job of finding the right vehicle for each customer, but most of all I need to learn a lot.

This is a big change from what I've been doing for the last 11 1/2 years. I'm not even sure if there is a procedures manual for this job, never mind the myriad of rules that go with military life.

I don't know if this is for me but I know it's different and that should keep me going until I do know. If nothing else, at least I wasn't scared to make a change.

30 House Parties in 30 Days

I was at The Laff on Saturday for The Lucky Ron Show, those who know me are not surprised by this at all. Lucky announced they are firing up the '30 House Parties in 30 Days' which hasn't been done since 1999. I thought since I had no work commitments on Wednesday it would be perfect to get in on this, so I booked it.

It was so much fun.

I rounded up some friends, picked up some beer and Lucky Ron showed up and played in my living room. It was The Lucky Ron Show, he told the same jokes, sang the same songs, we yelled "Number Four!" after the third song, and threw cigarettes into his guitar during Tilsonburg. 

I wouldn't do it every night but it is something unique to do once a decade, if for no other reason that you can. There wasn't too much foot stomping, my downstairs neighbour didn't complain but there was a lot of singing along, clapping, laughing, and a good old time. There were two people who had never seen the show before and somehow it still worked out to 86% new people.

As I move on in life and get older the one thing that seems to keep happening is I find unique adventures, having the Rocky Horror Pictures Show of One Man Country acts play in your living room qualifies as unique. 

If you are in the Ottawa area I suggest if you have never seen The Lucky Ron Show head down to The Laff and check it out. If you are a fan of Lucky Ron I suggest you get ahold of him and have him play one of these thirty house parties at your place, it's one of the few things you know will be fun every time even if it is the same show every week, nothing new or different.