Those who are faithful with little, will also be faithful with much.

Me & my 2016 Nissan had a date at the car wash. When a middle-aged man pulled up next to me in his impressively big truck, about an hour went by of us both cleaning every inch of our vehicles. Finally, he grabbed his keys and walked in between his and my vehicle and says to me, “You must be an athlete.” I giggled, “yes sir, womens basketball.” He said, “are you military now?“ (a question I get surprisingly often)

I replied, “No sir—business owner, wealth management.”

He also giggled, “no surprise there. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m rarely out cleaned at this car wash. Let alone by a woman. Especially a young woman!”

I laughed, humbly, honored by the compliment. And we both went our separate ways.

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I thought for a little on our conversation together. There are two valuable lessons I’ve learned in life, that I believe to my core:

1. How you do one thing is how you do everything.

2. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. (Luke 16:10)

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I’ve had this vehicle since March of 2016, as a gift from my mom for graduating college on a full scholarship for basketball, which I was very thankful for.

This beauty is a STOCK CAR. No backup camera, no Bluetooth, no touch screen dashboard and if you don’t like rolling your own windows down, this ain’t the car for you. No automatic buttons! Adjust your own seat, roll-down windows, & manual locks!! No clicker to lock or unlock it, just a metal key.

Almost EVERY TIME someone drives in this car with me, they lightheartedly give me trouble about the roll down windows. I laugh with them, because I’m not offended. I’m proud.

I’d bet that more people would decline this car if I tried to give it to them than would accept it. It’s as simple as cars get. No bells, no whistles. Just a blue collar car.

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I spent more time detailing this car this morning than the middle aged man, with his super duty, heavy lifted, F350 with every bell and whistle available. I would guess his truck would retail at no less than $100,000 right now.

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I treat my car like it is a $150,000 vehicle. Not because of the car itself. But because of habits. This car runs through the car wash, vacuum & detail minimum 2x per month, if not once per week.

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I’m learning a lot in life. And I learned that how you do one thing is how you do everything. The way you take care of your car is likely how you take care of your house, your health, your relationship, your career, etc.

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I’m learning that having a paid off car allows me to reinvest every dollar that I make back into growing a successful financial firm.

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When I make it to where I’m going, I will be appreciative of the pivotal role this car had in the journey.

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This car was a gift to me. A gift that I could have muttered at because it wasn’t the nicest car on the lot. A gift I could trade in and upgrade tomorrow. You can mistreat something because you don’t see it’s value. Or you can increase value through superb treatment.

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Details matter. Habits matter. Sacrifice matters. I’ll look back at this car and giggle, remembering where I came from. Remembering that I rolled down my own windows for 7 years. And I’ll be proud, because I’ll know that I treated this car as good, if not better, than the nicest car I’ll ever own, which is yet to come

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Stay humble my friends. Because those who are faithful with little, will also be faithful with much.

APC.