To Drive A Car Before You Turn Forty Should Be A Goal
I listened to a famous gospel musician in the United States of America share his testimony of how he drove his first car at thirty seven to show how bad things had been with him. I thought to myself, wow, he owns his car at thirty seven and he is complaining about how late it came.
I read one post on Facebook where the author claimed that a car was a liability. And he was trying to force his ideas on the readers. In sub- Sahara Africa, eighty five percent of people don’t get the opportunity to drive a car in their life time. If you don’t own a car, you are part of the eighty five percent.
But here is the deal, most people who don’t drive their cars don’t not because they wouldn’t love to, but because they’ve been wired to think that a car should only be a reward meant for a class of persons.
But is it? No! This is why a man who buys his first car at thirty seven in the United States is angry that it took that long to get his first car.
We’ve grown up with the mentality that owing a car is adding liability on our heads. We’ve been fed with theories to support this belief system. But a car can only be a liability when you aren’t doing anything to fetch you an income.
At forty, a car is a necessity. Do you know how many hours you lose because you are waiting for the Keke, Bike or bus to come around? You’ve never thought about that right? Sure, Business people value time. You should have a business approach to whatever you do and you want to by all means maximize the use of time and to avoid waste as much as possible.
Several young persons have lost opportunities because they got themselves waiting forever for transport means only to arrive late at a business meeting or interview. You can imagine how frustrating that can be.
Now that you are in your twenties and thirties, with lots of goals, you ought to be able to maximize how you use your time to ensure you can do a lot with little. You shouldn’t spend two hours on transportation when you can spend only thirty minutes.
Imagine that you got to forty with your spouse and your kids heading for church or an occasion on a busy Lagos or Port Harcourt road. It's real work having to cuddle your children through the human traffic as well as vehicular traffic crisscrossing the roads. You would be safe in your car with your spouse and kids in the passenger seat.
Most families end up not sharing family moments outside their homes because they can’t imagine everyone walking to the eatery or beach or having to struggle to enter the big molues or danfo vehicle that characterizes our roads. There’s no fun about that!
I shared a conversation with a friend of mine who is major book merchant in my city. He had been comfortable supplying books hopping from one keke to another. But he realized over time hat his business had grown and he needed a better means of transport. He saw there was need to get an automobile for his business commutes so that business could run faster and more convenient.
Those days when I was still managing my Montessori school, I had to get to villages in the hinterlands of my state. The question parents asked me when I asked them to bring their children to my school was “school bus”. We didn’t have one so those parents who showed interest could not bring their wards.
While it’s true that some persons own cars just for the glory of owning one, owning a car shouldn’t be for the glory it attracts alone but for the value it’s adding to whatever you are doing.
As a matter of fact, you don’t have to own a car if you aren’t running a business that can sustain the maintenance of the vehicle and yourself. It is smart to first invest in a business that is able to get you a good source of income before considering owning your own car.
In going for a car, you have to go for one within your means whose maintenance will be cheaper too. Some persons go for luxury cars that require huge maintenance cost because they want to show off their class or promote a higher class. If you think this way, you will crash soon.
Smart people seek quality advice from auto advisers before they make a choice what automobile to buy. This matter because the type of vehicle a person buys could affect his wealth subsequently.
There are vehicles that cost only five thousand naira to maintain monthly while there are also those that cost up to a hundred thousand naira to maintain monthly. What everyone may see are cars but the users know the difference is in the maintenance cost.
I know a particular young man who sold his own inheritance from his father’s asset to buy a car. He felt on top of the world as he rode month after month. But, after six months, the vehicle was no longer on the street. He had parked it because he could not maintain it. Here’s why people think it is a liability.
But everything and anything can be a liability when you don’t use it correctly or know how to use it at all.
If you are going for a car model with prestige in mind, you have to weight your pockets to be sure you can afford the maintenance cost. But if you are looking at the essential service it will offer you, going for a car that is within your means and durable will just be perfect.
Some persons will say, not everyone was made to own a car to excuse themselves from ever owning one. But others are having more than one and still hoping to get more. If you’ve carried this mentality with you, you have to shift. If other persons are getting something good, why not you? Even if you have a driving phobia, get one and employ a chauffeur to drive you.
There’s a level of attainment you get to in life that people around you won’t expect to see you using your feet or using public transport. People are watching and they seem to know when it has become necessary for you to own your car.
I attended one church where the pastor was been elevated into the office of a bishop. One of the conditions the church was given was that their pastor must be given a new car. He would not be called a bishop and jump on motorcycles every now and then.
Owning a car can be very dignifying but don’t get too carried away, it can also attract negative attention especially when your car is costly. You have to be modest when buying your car.
It’s important that you perfect your driving skills before you step on the road. Most young people don’t get the correct training before they get on the road. Subsequently, they become victims of accidents.
Learn road signs, learn correct use of the road, drive within the speed limits, and learn the use of the mirrors. Importantly get a driver’s license after you’ve been tested.
A car shouldn’t be an award for your labour. Some persons are waiting for their retirement benefit before they consider buying a car. This means they have to wait till they are in their late fifties and sixties to ever have an opportunity to drive. This is an award mentality. Owning a car should be a trigger for you to work harder.
Some persons think about the huge cost of buying car. They can’t imagine how they’d save that much money. Apart from the fact that you can go for a car within your means, there are schemes that lets you pay part of what you earn over a period of time until you own your car. It is important that you make payment plans that favour you. Many cars on our roads are a result of this kind of payment structure.
Warning! Don’t go for complicated and costly vehicles because you think you are paying via a payment plan. You should be able to relieve yourself the debt burden as soon as possible.
Please, when you drive, don’t drink and when you drink, don’t drive. Many accidents on our roads today are as a result of drunk driving. Every time you drive, remember those you left at home. You should still return home to their happy hands.
Think safety first... always remember while you drive that everyone on the road have mental problems and that you are probably the only sane person. So you have to guard yourself against them.
Before you turn forty, master the art of driving. Own your car, drive. But don’t spend all your time driving, when you drive also stretch legs with a walk. This will enable you stay long through life. DRIVE YOUR CAR! IT MATTERS!