Friday, May 07, 2010

What Does Your Car Say About You?

I recently finished a book about personal branding, my first on this subject, and it was an interesting read. I've been thinking since then about how I present myself at work and how other things, like my cubicle, reflect on me as well. My desk, what I wear, how my hair is, things like that are pretty obvious indicators of your image or "personal brand." One section also mentions your car, and the author asks the question, "What does your car say about you?"

That got me thinking, and I decided that my car was saying I'm a North Carolina resident (car tag), a reader (a number of library books in the backseat area), a runner (some race numbers and safety pins still in the car), practical (based on it being a 4-door Honda Accord), yet umkempt (all those books in the back seat area!) and  dirty (it had been a while since I've been to the carwash).  So Sunday afternoon, I went by the carwash, where I vacuumed and cleaned my car, then went by the gas station nearby and topped of the gas tank. Well, I must admit that it was a treat to start the work week with my car in order! Does anyone else besides me feel like their car drives better when it's newly clean? There's an added sense of safety and confidence in driving a clean car, I think.

And then this morning, on my way of the gym before work, I didn't recognize my car at first, because it still looked clean! (I did have the chance to rinse the pollen off again yesterday, which helped.)

This was just the first on the list of things I've been thinking about working on, partly because it's pretty quick and inexpensive to wash my car, but it's a nice start.

Now my car says I'm still a practical North Carolina reader, but now I'm organized and clean too! :>

So what does your car say about you?

3 comments:

Christina said...

My car is a mess right now and it is a source of low-level, unconscious (well maybe conscious) stress. I need to wash it, take the papers out from the back seat and vacuum it. I'm not sure what it says about me but I too feel so much better when my car is clean.

Ginger Smith said...

I love parking next to the unkept car that is full of library or school books and I like to stand there trying to read the covers and determine if they are an avid reader or a student!

Lesley Looper said...

@Christina, after I cleaned my car this past Sunday, we got some much needed rain! :)

@Ginger, I love seeing books in other people's cars too! It's a little hard for me not to linger and stare into a car that has lots of books in the back seat! :>