- Kendall Ficklin
Updated: Jun 17, 2019
Not too many people know how to drive a stick shift.
I remember when I was around 18 years old, my uncle Wilbert taught me how to drive a stick shift in my aunts old Nissan Datsun (I think that’s what it was). Driving a stick challenged me to think because it wasn’t something that the car did on it’s own (automatically). I had to literally learn how to put my foot on the clutch and shift the gears based on how fast or slow I was going, or whether I was going uphill or downhill. At one point during his lesson, we were going downhill and he told me I had to downshift. I was confused as hell and didn’t know what he meant or how to “downshift.” I almost crashed the car and killed both of us. Needless to say I learn the fundamentals of driving a manual transmission (the stick shift) that day and it was a major lesson for me.
I wonder how many of us are living life on an automatic transmission? Average people live on automatic. To be successful in life you’ll need to learn how to drive your life on manual transmission and “shift your life gears.” It’s up to you to learn how to drive your life as if it had a manual transmission. Learn how to shift gears based on the direction and pace your life is going, and not stop or cheat by throwing it in neutral. When my uncle was teaching me to drive the manual transmission there were times I would cheat by putting the car in neutral just to start back over. In life, sometimes you’ll need to slow down (neutral) but that does not mean you stop or stay in neutral.
Stop living your life has on an automatic transmission. Operate like your life is a manual stick shift and you have no choice but to learn how to drive it.
Key Points:
Take control of your life by learning how to drive it on manual transition.
When you’re down learn how to downshift. When things get faster learn how to kick it into 4th or 5th gear.
Challenge:
Write down one or two areas where you’re currently going through life on “automatic transmission.” Identify what gear you’re in and what gear you need to shift to.