Case Study - Tod

I will make a cases study serie in which I wish to talk a little about some people that I met and that did stuff I find are worth of mention. Those are people that took steps of initiative to make things happen in their lives and not only wait there until retirement comes, collecting their pay check each week. Like most people I see do.

Today I will talk about a guy I knew when I started working in summer time, when I was a student.

Back then I was working in a factory. I was 18 years old when I met Tod. Tod was a nice looking guy, bodybuilding and he walked and talked with assurance. Speaking five minutes with him and you knew right away that this guy was not a shop zombie and knew where he was going. Tod had quit school early because it was "not for him" he said. Back then I thought that Tod was doomed to remain in the factory for the rest of his life if he didn't go back to school.

How wrong was I! Tod was always willing to do overtime. Lots of it. And back then there was plenty. He said he needed the money. One day I decided to go ahead and ask him why he needed the money for. "To pay off my house" he said to me. "What? You're 20 years old and you want to... pay off your house?" "Yes" He said to me without further explanation.

A few days later I went to see him again. I was puzzled by how he would atchieve his goal of paying off a house so fast at such a young age. I asked him if the over time abuse he was performing had anything to do with that? He told me that this was one solution in the equation. But he had another card in his sleeve. He turned around and presented me his neck. Then he said to me "turn my colar". I did. "Now read the company name on the colar". I was able to read "Todd inc."

"What does it mean?" I asked him.

"It means that my company is the provider of some of of this shop's required clothing."

Now what a clever move! Not only Tod was using all he could from the company, making overtime and all. But he also recognized that the company had a need in clothing suply. He then registered a company, searched clothing warehouses. He tagged his name on the clothing and sold it to the very shop that was hiring him in the first place! Clever!

And by all that Tod was able to payoff his house, in his early 20s.

Tod is a good example of

1. Not putting all your eggs in one bag: most people would have been happy with one job and one pay check and would have done what they could with what they had. Without thinking out of the box. Tod not only collected the show's pay check. But he also started a company to increase his revenues.
2. Ressourcefulness: Tod was able to put his mind together, make the researches required to create a company and provide for a need. He was able to connect a to b (a being the shop needs of clothing and b him being able to fill that need).
3. Thinking out of the box: In the 80s, the idea of being 20 years old, school drop out and buying a house with the objective of paying off the loan in just a few years was at least alien to the current mentality back then.
4. Determination: Tod did what was needed in order to succeed in his project. By abuse of overtime and money generated from his own company he was able to do it. Yes he certainly had missed some fun partys and all back then. But who's laughing last? While Tod's friend are most probably paying off their own houses at this moment, Tod could very well be on some exotic beach right now, with a Pina Colada in the hand and a babe massaging his bodybuilder's shoulders.

The morale of the case study: if you're young. Go out there and make wonders. Just go ahead. There will be tons of people criticizing you. But who cares about them? You have one great advantage. You have the energy and the fast recovery hability of the young. Use it. And if you're older. Well as long as there is air in your lung the game is on. It is not too late to kick yourself in the but, watch less TV and go out there and make wonders too. You too possess an advantage that the young don't: experience. Use it.