At the age of 13, I purchased my first automobile. A navy blue 1972 Camaro.
It took three summers working at my dad’s gas station, sweeping the pavement, cleaning tools and pumping gas, to save the $1,200.00 required to make the deal.
The ’72 was part of a well developed plan to earn enough to acquire my dream ride. Every autumn dad would pack up the Suburban, load a trailer with car parts for sale and head west with our entire family of five to Carlise, Pennsylvania. Carlise hosts one of the largest classic car flea markets on the east coast and with acres of fair grounds, there are hundreds of cars to choose from. In the fall of 1983, after days of trekking through mud, searching for just the right car for just the right price, the ’72 was mine.
We brought the ’72 back to NJ and I spent the next few weeks scrubbing every inch of it. I meticulously detailed each bolt with polish or new paint. With a fresh coat of wax, it looked better than it did the day it rolled off the assembly line. I popped a “For Sale” sign on the windshield and parked it in front of the gas station. One week later the ’72 had a new owner and I had doubled my money.
Throughout the next three years, I had purchased and sold about a dozen more vehicles, each time earning a significant profit. I was 16 years old and a few months from obtaining my drivers license; at that point in my life, “the most important day of my life”. It was time to find my “keeper”.
I learned so may lessons working with my dad. He owned his own business, collected classic Corvettes and earned enough for amazing memory-filled family vacations surrounded with boats, snowmobiles and other things that go fast. Even today, loving retirement, he is still an entrepreneur wheeling and dealing his vacation rental properties on a daily basis.
The most valuable business lesson Dad taught me was how small victories will add up to major rewards. I must admit that as I swept the dusty parking lot under the hot sun, I was unaware of the lesson he was teaching. Saving my meager “paycheck” each week quickly added up to some serious cash and “flipping” cheap reliable classics, one small victory at a time, soon earned me enough to buy the black 1969 Camaro Rally Sport I still enjoy driving today.
When Annmarie and I launched Fivecat Studio in 1999, we started from scratch with no money and no clients. One small project led to another, each building a business and earning a reputation. We enjoy the success we do today as a result of many small victories.
Every day we are presented with choices. Some are major and others are so small that they appear to be insignificant. Our future though, is the result of every choice we make today. Small victories lead to major reward.
I never sold that 1969 Camaro, though there has been so many times of struggle when we could have used the cash. I think that reward, which I earned almost 30 years ago, has over time become a symbol, a reminder to the power of small victories.
Have you enjoyed the power of small victories? Please share your own story in the comments below.
Mark, your recent NASCAR Tweets were a curiosity to me. What would a high-end Architect and businessman in Chappaqua (home to Horace Greeley and Hillary Clinton) know or care about a sport rooted in southern moonshine running? But now I see – you’ve been a gearhead all your life. Pretty cool.
Yes. High octane fuel is in my blood. Dad’s a mechanic and my older brother was a NASCAR crew chief, now a motorsports photographer. I can’t help myself 🙂
I was just about to chastise you for selling that 72 Camaro when I see that ultimately you ended up with the 69 RS! Very nice choice.
And thank you for the inspirational post today. I’ve been looking for a new job in a different city for a VERY long time with not even a call for an interview, and now and then I need a little inspiration to keep me going.
Well then you might like today’s episode of the podcast. Thanks for the support and encouragement. I am happy that I may be of service.
I treated my design solutions like the way you treated your buying and selling cars when you were very young. I do not give up easily on an idea I considered worthy for me to keep, like your 1969 car, however, I had to sell my Hartsdale house for 32 years when I got so old that I could not find employment any more. I guessed I never learned a lesson from my college friend Steven Jacobs who went on his own even before we were eligible to take the Architectural registration exams ! He told me, when he took me out to an exclusive French restaurant on 56th street for lunch one day in 1968, ” I will never want to work for somebody else again ! ” Today, he is one of most successful architect in New York City ! And I am only an old and poor architect ! George Wu, A.I.A. 2014-9-7
Too old??? I’m an 84-year-old architect and still working (although much tapered off) And I’m a woman, which here in RSA makes it quite a bit harder.
The best of good luck to you!
Before I came to New York to join my father after my Chinese Middle school, I went to learn English from an English teacher in St. Teresa Church, Kowloon. He talked about going to the States to be an auto mechanic in every class for one semester. I always thought being a mechanic is making a lucrative living. Here you are, with the mechanic background, but learned the business aspect of the auto industry and use it in architecture. I was a full time waiter in New York before I worked only week ends and summers to be an architect. The only difference is that, even I hand my restaurant, I never could succeed to learn a bit of the business yet ! Shame on me ! I begin to think, at my 77 years of age, that I could never learn the business forever ! George Wu, A.I.A. 2014-9-7
I like this article. Sort of reminds me of all the little things I did growing up.
After a little thought, it hit me. Whether we realize it or not everything we do is a series of small victories (and sometimes defeats) that end up becoming something larger.
Each line you draw ends up becoming a plan for a potential building
Each item added to the plan ends up becoming a BIM
Each item estimated ends up becoming a total project cost
Each board and brick that gets installed ends up becoming a building
Each phone call made puts us one step closer to developing a relationship
Each relationship nourished builds a long list of friends
Each Blog article written adds up to a content rich website
Each marketing piece put into the marketplace works to build awareness and a brand
Each book read and seminar attended adds more to our knowledge base
Each dollar saved starts to add up over time
To me the bottom line is everything we do, every minute of our lives is a bunch of small things that have to potential of adding up to something major. Having the awareness to be proactive with what small things we regularly do could potentially be what sets average and successful people apart.
The list goes on. Got anything you can add?
Those that do what they love never work a day in their lives.
PS: 1968 SS396 (red) is in Yorktown, PA
1968 RS convertible (blue) was bought by brothers in PA and is now in Chicago
Both are in shows and were sold to wonderful people.