“A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question.

Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.” Remember to put the glass down.” Author unknown.

Used cars are the same way. The longer you hold them the more stress they create. Even your worst decision becomes lighter when you unload it early.

There are dealers around the country with a lot of stress in their used car department. Either the Dealer, the GM, the General Sales Manager or Used Car Manager has decided they can deal with the stress. Maybe they can “deal with it.” But, dealing with it at what cost?

How much money is it costing them? If you extracted the water out of your inventory and subtracted it from your bottom line, how good would you really look?

Some of you are sitting there kinda smug thinking, “Not a problem at my store, we don’t have aged units.” You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking you are darn smart and I’m really, really proud of you.

For those who aren’t feeling all smug. Enjoy your stress. You earn it one day at a time. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs