Sat, July 24, 2010 - 10:41:49

From Old Phone to New Porsche

By now, we all know that it’s not safe to have one hand on the phone while your other’s on the wheel, but what if we told you that a California 17 year-old traded a cell phone in order to get his hands on a new set of wheels? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Steven Ortiz who, through a series of Craigslist trades found himself as the only teenage owner of a Porsche in his high school.

Steven’s story may remind you of another Craigslist phenom, Kyle MacDonald, whose famed One Red Paperclip Project in took him from humble paperclip owner to proud home owner in just one year. And although both Ortiz and MacDonald’s stories are uncommon to say the least, they both illustrate the SMALL truth that anything is possible when you take advantage of even the littlest of opportunities.

For most people the idea of turning an old cell phone into a Porsche Boxter or using a tiny paperclip to finance the purchase of a new home would sound laughable, but both Ortiz and MacDonald recognized the role their small acts could play in helping them reach their big goals. Neither tried to reach their final destination with one giant leap; instead, they each got their one little trade at a time, finding small opportunities and seizing them in order to advance little by little.

So if you’re having trouble reaching your big goals—whether it’s a new house, a new job, or a new car—maybe you should start with a new outlook. When you shift your attention from the big picture (i.e. your end goal) and focus on the smaller steps that help you get there, your goals become much more attainable. By concentrating on the so-called small stuff, you’ll see the small magic that others overlook every day. And when you discover it, you never know what could happen. 

Posted by Linda and Robin