Posts Tagged ‘Tidycar’

One of my favourite stories on inspiration comes from public speaking Hall of famer, Jim Cathcart. Jim is a world renowned speaker and author who has written best sellers in the personal development genre.

Back in 1979, He spoke for a franchise outfit by the name of Tidy Car which empowered individuals by giving them the opportunity to have their own auto detailing (Vehicle valeting business for us Brits) business. On this faithful occurrence, one of the audience members was a young man named Tim Seward. Tim was a 19 year old business rookie who had no real experience in the world of business or entrepreneurship and was only armed with enthusiasm and work ethic.

During lunch, he asked Jim if he could give him a motivational quote or phrase that he could use on a daily basis to help motivate him. Mulling this over for a moment, Jim replied, “Tim, I’ll do better then that, I’m going to give you a question you can ask yourself… How will the person you want to become do what you’re about to do!”.

Tim went back home and took Jim’s advice to heart. Although he was just a small outfit, He decided to ask himself the question with everything he did. He decided that the Tim Seward he wanted to be wouldn’t wear jeans and a Tee shirt to work so he made himself a uniform. Eventually, He needed bigger premises and more staff. Tim was doing well for himself.

He even went to a local Chevrolet dealership, get a photograph taken of him in a Corvette and put it around his home and his office.

A few years later on, Jim was invited back to speak to the Tidy Car corporation and to their franchisees. The company ran an incentive that year that the top sales person of the year would win a brand spanking new Chevrolet Corvette.

After his speech, Jim handed over to the Tidy Car president who announced the results of the sales competition. The results were amazing and it was a tight competition. Number 2 beat 3 by one point and numbers 3 to 6 all beat each other by the narrowest of margins with no more than 3 or 4 points between them but what was amazing was the difference between first place and second. The president announced, “Leading number 2 by a staggering 300 points, from Bay City Michigan…. Tim Seward!”

Everyone started cheering and clapping for Tim who went to the stage and started admiring the same car which he had been picturing himself driving for some time!

Jim asked Tim what he had done to achieve such massive growth to which Tim replied, Everyday, I asked myself what would the international sales leader of Tidy Car do what I was about to do. Without knowledge of winning, Tim even announced he had travelled first class one way!

As you can see, this question has some profound effects and when you are striving towards a goal, it is a great idea to ask yourself on a daily basis, “How would the person I am about to become, do what I am about to do”

For more information on Jim Cathcart, Please visit his website.

Until next time,

Keep shining!

Fahad x