By archelys3@gmail.com Your Enthusiasm Will Make A Difference
Some years ago I sent my sixteen-year-old daughter on a mission. The mission was this: to purchase a new vehicle for our family at auction.
Now after our research, we had discovered that we were able to purchase a top of the range vehicle with all the latest gadgets and gizmos, for thousands of dollars less than the current market value if we were simply willing to step outside the norm and do something different.
Winning Preparation
So for a whole month before the event we researched. We scanned the papers, we contacted dealers, and we checked out some auction websites and the websites of companies and government departments that auctioned vehicles.
Then we turned up at an auction with no intention of bidding, but to simply get a feel for the auction, to gather information and to get an idea as to what people were paying.
We then outlined the exact make and colour of the vehicle that we would purchase. The following week we decided which auction we would attend, and then got a hold of the current catalogue. We then narrowed down our list of possible vehicles, based on features and mileage, and we came up with four.
The week previous we had established contact with a local mechanic who lived near the auction site. And the day before the auction we met with him on site, and through his inspection we were able to narrow the four vehicles down to just one.
Opportunity Lost?
Then came the day of the auction, and lo and behold I had double booked myself and neither my wife nor I could be there. What would we do? So here we were with every bit of research done and the vehicle chosen and we couldn’t be at the event.
That’s when my sixteen-year-old daughter piped up and said, ‘I’ll go’.
So at 7.00am on Friday morning I delivered my eldest daughter with her younger sister on a train that would take over an hour and a half trip to get to the auction site.
The plan was this. Armed with a mobile phone, my daughter would contact me on my mobile phone and I would guide her through the bidding process until we won. Was there ever a doubt that we wouldn’t get the vehicle? Never.
Why?
Because we had done all the necessary research, had gained expert insight into the product we were purchasing by hiring a mechanic, had settled on a price that we would pay and were walking into the auction with a plan in place.
Add enthusiasm to all those ingredients and we knew that we would win.
The Day Of The Auction
And so the time finally came. It just so happened that the vehicle we were to bid for was the very first vehicle of the morning session. So from the very beginning it was go, go, go.
From within the crowd of over fifty people at the auction there was only one other bidder, and as I guided my daughter with her bids I could sense the excitement and the enthusiasm in her voice. I could imagine her jumping up and into the face of the auctioneer to make sure that she was noticed as she held the mobile phone firmly to her ear.
The event was short, and swift and before we knew it we had placed our last and final bid to hear ‘Going once, going twice’ and then the auctioneer’s hammer hit hard as he yelled, ‘Sold’.
The vehicle was ours. The work had paid off. The research had won. The mechanic had revealed to us some inside information, and we were now the owners of a new vehicle at a bargain price.
But what was the major ingredient behind such a successful venture? Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the fire that ignites success.
Yes, enthusiasm always makes the difference. It is what gets results time and time again.
Examples Of Enthusiasm
Henry Ford had a burning enthusiasm for the motor vehicle and the object of his enthusiasm took shape and reshaped history.
Thomas Edison was enthusiastic about electric light and the machine that talked and many other inventions and it was because of his enthusiasm that they became a reality.
The Wright brothers were enthusiastic about creating a machine that could fly, and they flew.
And all throughout the ages it is enthusiasm that has time and time again been the driving force that has created the world, as we know it today.
Enthusiasm…
- Is the factor that separates winners from losers.
- Separates overachievers from underachievers.
- Enables individuals to face risk and conquer it.
- Turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.
- Transforms the impossible into the possible.
So what did Norman Vincent Peale say about how to get enthusiasm and keep it?
He said this: ‘Set yourself a goal that you’ve just got to reach. Then build under it the fire of anticipation and keep it burning – you will acquire enthusiasm and never lose it…New goals, fresh objectives – these are the self-perpetuating motivators of enthusiasm.’
Enthusiasm is the essential ingredient if greatness is ever to be achieved.
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