I Want a Porsche!

My husband takes his Porsche out on the Royu Driveway a few times a month. One day, a young man who was visiting the lookout point apparently asked him:

I want a Porsche too. What do I need to do to be able to buy one?

That sort of thing.

It’s a fascinating question—and one I’d like to know the answer to myself, since I’m still working toward buying a Porsche of my own! So I asked my husband, “What does it take to be able to buy a Porsche?” This was his reply:

Well, I think the most important thing is how strongly you want to buy a Porsche.

“How strongly you want it,” huh… (-_-)

It reminded me of a story I once heard about Konosuke Matsushita, the legendary Japanese business leader known as the “god of management.” At a lecture, someone asked him how to achieve “dam management”—a business philosophy of building up reserves like a dam stores water. He reportedly replied, “You have to be determined to practice dam management.” Maybe it’s like that. (It feels presumptuous to put my husband in the same league as the great Konosuke Matsushita!)

Still, if that young man went out of his way to ask how to buy a Porsche, he must really want one. So I asked my husband: “But surely someone who asks you that really wants a Porsche, right? Doesn’t that mean he’s serious about buying one?”

My husband replied:

I don’t think so. When people ask, “How can I buy a Porsche?” I tell them, “If you want one, buy one now.” They were all driving pretty nice cars already. But then they’d say things like, “Well, I don’t have the money…” or “My wife wouldn’t be happy about it…” They didn’t seem like they were actually going to try.
If you really want a Porsche, you’ll naturally start taking action to make it happen. You might change jobs, start a business, buy an affordable used Porsche, or persuade your wife. You’d take concrete steps. If you don’t, maybe you don’t really want it that badly. In my book, if you’re holding back because you’re worried about what other people think or what’s considered normal, that’s proof you don’t want it badly enough.

I see… Put that way, he might have a point. (-_-)

I’d always decided, “One day, I’m definitely going to buy a Porsche.” So when I was at university, I deliberately rented an apartment with parking, even though it was far from campus, and worked hard at my part-time job to cover the rent. I filled my bookshelf with magazines featuring Porsches and was always thinking about them. When I’d just started working and wasn’t earning much, I took the plunge and bought an Audi TT because “its shape looks like a 911.” Later, I left my job and started my own business.
When I went to Germany, I rented a Porsche and drove it. After I got home, I made a photo of the key my phone wallpaper. I spent my days feeling as if I were already a Porsche owner.
I really wanted a Porsche, so I think I was always doing something to get a little closer to that goal.

That makes sense.

Looking back at my own life, I think he may be right. When I decided, “I’m going to be the top salesperson,” at my previous job, I could think of nothing but reaching the top—and I worked relentlessly until I did. But when it comes to losing weight, my wish is more like, “It’d be nice to slim down… I’d like to lose a little weight…” It’s not a strong enough desire to stop me reaching for chocolate and potato chips, so I never seem to lose the weight. (Yikes!)

Dreams Don’t Come True Easily

When I said, “That makes sense—I think I get it,” my husband continued:

You hear successful people say, “If you don’t give up, your dreams will come true.” But I think “dreams don’t come true that easily.” You have to think about it all the time, take action, and, in a sense, become so obsessed with it that you’re almost crazy. And even then, your efforts have to be aimed in the right direction. Making a dream come true isn’t as easy as people make it sound.

I really do think that’s true. I spent nearly ten years throwing myself into my current work, believing that “if you don’t give up, your dreams will come true” and “if you keep going until you succeed, you’ll succeed.” But in the end, my dream didn’t come true. Maybe my resolve wasn’t strong enough if I was willing to give up after ten years.

“So maybe I think I want a Porsche, but deep down I don’t want one badly enough—and that’s why it hasn’t happened?” I asked. My husband said:

Yeah. Or maybe, without realizing it, you’ve convinced yourself that “buying a Porsche is impossible for someone like me.” When I think about it, ever since I started working, I could picture myself buying a Porsche really clearly. I could vividly imagine taking a road trip with a friend in a Porsche, cruising along a winding road in the lovely autumn breeze. People say that what you can imagine, you can make happen. Maybe that’s why I was able to buy a Porsche.

“Then does that mean I’ll be able to make my own dream come true? I can vividly picture this blog reaching readers all over the world, and my husband and me spending each year traveling to circuit races around the globe, writing and sharing posts from local cafés and Apple Stores,” I asked.

I have no idea about that. (-_-)

He dismissed the idea without a second thought. My husband is honest, for better or worse. (Yikes!)

Well, if you want to feel more strongly about buying a Porsche, maybe you should change your surroundings. Spend time with Porsche owners, or ask them to take you for a ride. That makes the experience feel more real, so it’s easier to picture yourself in a Porsche. And, in the first place, you can learn a lot from the way those people think and live.
Also, it’s important to trick yourself—in a good way—into feeling as if you already own a Porsche and remove that psychological barrier. If you do that, your motivation should grow, and little by little, the way you act and earn money will change too.

I see.

My husband wrapped up his answer with these words:

Well, to put it in the words of Yoshida Shōin:
“Everyone, go mad!”
That’s about it. (My husband is a big fan of Yoshida Shōin.)

If you could get as fired up as Yoshida Shōin, you could probably buy a Porsche in no time. Maybe I need to become a “21-times-daring warrior” too. (Laughs.)