Jeff & Cars
My Dad got us bikes when we were 4-5. I remember the purple bikes distinctly. Me and my brother were super excited to learn. We both still had training wheels on, and we slowly developed the balance. My Dad took off one training wheel for both of us and pretty soon he took both of them off for Jeff. My Dad was proud. I was pissed but I eventually got it. My brother still has better balance on a bike and can drive cars better.
That’s when I first realized that Jeff had an edge.
Jeff was in love with cars and so was my Dad. When we were 10-12, my brother would shift gears, and even take the wheel from the side, while my dad drinked water, both privileges I never had. I sucked at driving and I wanted to care but I just couldn’t. Jeff only needed to be shown something once about a car and he could do it. I thought it was because he was just “better” , but Jeff had probably watched my Dad shift a 1000 times. I didn’t even know there was a shifter until my Dad pointed it out
When we were 13, 14 my Dad taught us how to drive manual and my brother picked it up immediately. I started learning how to drive at 13, but my brother started the second he got into a car.
Jeff worked at a car dealership, no one would describe him as a salesman. He was shy growing up but still personable, but Jeff would never leave an impression that he was a talker. He is reserved to himself, a natural introvert.
However, Jeff is crazy at selling cars, better than me for sure, and the best at his dealership.Jeff took some time before he sold his first car, but after that he was off to the races.
I always wondered why Jeff was better at selling cars. I was the more outgoing one growing up. People could easily see me as a salesman.
The reason Jeff was better than everyone at selling cars is because Jeff loves cars, more than any one. The reason he couldn’t sell initially is because he was getting out of his shell.
When a customer asks me a question about a car, I have it memorized, and I don’t know much if its not a Nissan or Ford. If you ask Jeff he’ll break it down from first principles, since he knows at a very deep level what he is talking about.
During our computer time I would watch Naruto and Jeff would watch car fixing video. I would play fighting games and Jeff would play racing games. I saw Jeff playing a parallel parking game, who plays games like that? Someone that loves cars.
Would you rather buy from me or Jeff? I’d trust Jeff wayyy more, cuz he actually knows what he is talking about. Confidence comes from competence and as much as I wanted to seem like a car enthusiast/expert I am not. I just don’t care.
This is not advice to follow your dreams to the very end, and sometimes you do need to hunker down and get it done, but I do believe in resonance. Jeff still had to learn sales and how to talk to people, but the unfair advantage he had is that the work was fulfilling because it involved cars, that being said I believe that anyone can do anything with time + effort, but the real question is, “Is that your unfair advantage?”.