Tomorrow you're dead

Live life every day instead of waiting for exactly the right moment. Travelling in California in 2011, we visited Martin and Jane, who ran All German Auto. A story from the visit stayed with me.

Live life every day, even while working

Martin had both his workshop and his passion for motorsport. I was impressed that he found time for both and had a large team around his racing.

He talked about his father, who was also a mechanic. His father had worked and saved all his life, looking forward to retirement, travelling and pleasant times with the family in California.

But he died shortly after retiring. That experience made Martin and Jane think differently about how they spent their days.

The workshop needed to make room for motorsport

Martin decided to close at weekends so he could race. If a race took longer, it would take the time it needed. That might affect turnover, but it was a choice he’d made.

That was his story and his priority. What I took away was the thought that life happens every day. It doesn’t only begin when the children are older or you can retire.

Move on from what’s already happened

He also shared a crude American expression about accepting what goes wrong and moving on. If you spill oil on the floor, it needs wiping up. Continuing to regret it achieves nothing.

I’d recorded a longer interview for Amino, but this was the thought about life I wanted to share immediately: Make room for some of what matters while you’re here.

On the journey, I also met a fishing guide who got me thinking about making your hobby your livelihood.

Remember to follow my journey around the world meeting Danish entrepreneurs – Click here

Live life every day: What I took from All German Auto

I’m sitting in the car on the family’s road trip. We’ve travelled from Florida to California, visiting Danish entrepreneurs who’ve settled and built businesses abroad. We’ve just left San Diego and Martin and Jane, who run All German Auto.

As the name suggests, it’s a garage for German cars: Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and the like. But Martin is also very passionate about motor racing.

I describe the powerful off-road racing cars he drives in the Mexican desert. In my account, it’s around 1,700 kilometres taking between 24 and 36 hours. Two drivers take turns, and the car has something like 700 horsepower. Those are the approximate figures I mention after the visit. It’s an intense sport.

He’d also just given us a ride in his BMW M5. Although I like driving fast, my heart was in my mouth several times as he raced through bends. It was seriously wild.

Both a business and a passion needing a big team

What impressed me was that he found time for both the workshop and motorsport. Almost 50 people are on the racing team, many of them volunteers. So it’s not just a little hobby he handles alone in the evening.

I call him one of the world’s best drivers and say he’s won the Baja race twice. I also describe it as a very big and prestigious motorsport event in the USA that Danish viewers might not know. That’s my enthusiastic description of him and the sport after the visit.

His father’s retirement wasn’t the life he’d waited for

The turning point for Martin’s prioritising the sport came when his father died. Sadly, that was what it took.

His father was a mechanic like him. He’d spent his whole life working every day and saving. He looked forward to retiring, travelling, experiencing lots of things and finally really living.

He’d also looked forward to visiting Martin and Jane, helping in the workshop and pottering around in the good weather. It was supposed to be a pleasant, exciting old age. But after just a month, his heart put a stop to it.

Once Martin and Jane had worked through their grief, they realised life is every day. It isn’t something that only begins when your child stops wearing nappies, gets a driving licence or you retire. Life is what’s happening now. Also read Skab din egen succes about finding your own path and making room for what matters to you.

Weekends were for racing

Martin said that was when he decided to stop saving in the same way. He still needed to work, yes. But the workshop would close at weekends so he could race.

If a race took more than a weekend, it would take as long as it needed. Then turnover would have to suffer. That was the priority he chose after the experience with his father. I thought those were incredibly wise words.

"Bite the shit sandwich" – and move on

He also had an expression I initially couldn’t quite remember in the car. I fumbled with the words until my helpful prompter beside me supplied the wording: "Bite the shit sandwich."

As I understood his use of the expression, it meant something like "you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs". Don’t keep regretting things that have already happened and that you can’t change.

If you spill oil on the floor, it’s spilled. Wipe it up and move on. That’s his simple way of putting it, and I liked the thought.

A longer interview was on its way to Amino

At the time of this video, I had an interview of around an hour and a half coming to Amino. I asked people to keep an eye on Amino and the newsletter. There they could see the workshop and hear more of his wise words about life.

We’d also filmed my son Mads in a Baja racer, getting a ride around the car park. There was plenty to look forward to. But right here in the car, it was mainly the story about not postponing life I wanted to share.

De bedste hilsner

Martin