Ongoing self doubt/fear

Njdelaney said:
Internalized capitalism is a real motherfucker
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Especially when your boss buys into it hardcore. Lately, now that I am the boss and am running my own crew rather than being a contract climber most of the time, I am trying to tell myself the same thing all day every day. “I am out here having a good time with my friends.” If I am not out doing an activity that I want to do and doing it with people who I want to do it with then what am I doing with my life? Work is a huge percentage of our life and I want to spend my days with people who I like, I can have good conversations with, and who I want to help succeed, and who want to help me succeed. Since changing my attitude to “I am out here having a good time with my friends” rather than focusing on how much our crew is making per day or per man hour, I am enjoying my work days far more. Our company will be profitable on a quarterly and annual basis but on a daily basis it might not always pencil out. Focusing on capitalism on the micro level will drive a person insane and will drive your staff away over time. Focus on the relationships with your team, your customers, and with your family and you will succeed.

And if you are having fear and self doubt, make sure you are working for people who value you and value what you bring to their team rather than pushing the economics of every day or every hour. Your fears will lessen because you aren’t being pressured to do things you aren’t comfortable with or at a pace you aren’t comfortable with.
 
RyanCafferky said:
Especially when your boss buys into it hardcore. Lately, now that I am the boss and am running my own crew rather than being a contract climber most of the time, I am trying to tell myself the same thing all day every day. “I am out here having a good time with my friends.” If I am not out doing an activity that I want to do and doing it with people who I want to do it with then what am I doing with my life? Work is a huge percentage of our life and I want to spend my days with people who I like, I can have good conversations with, and who I want to help succeed, and who want to help me succeed. Since changing my attitude to “I am out here having a good time with my friends” rather than focusing on how much our crew is making per day or per man hour, I am enjoying my work days far more. Our company will be profitable on a quarterly and annual basis but on a daily basis it might not always pencil out. Focusing on capitalism on the micro level will drive a person insane and will drive your staff away over time. Focus on the relationships with your team, your customers, and with your family and you will succeed.

And if you are having fear and self doubt, make sure you are working for people who value you and value what you bring to their team rather than pushing the economics of every day or every hour. Your fears will lessen because you aren’t being pressured to do things you aren’t comfortable with or at a pace you aren’t comfortable with.
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One of the reasons I've almost entirely been self employed and have only worked for a few contractors since my 20s, the guy I contract out to right now is great we get along well and I'm fast enough to make us solid money 95% of the time, he respects my decisions and doesn't push for anything I feel may be even slightly unsafe.
 
Parks said:
This is something I'm going through right now which I find to be just the hardest thing to get past right now. It's comforting to read other people who deal with fear/tension as well. Lots of doubts in my mind about this path in my life due to it but is good to see your guys posts.
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I went thru it at times in my first years. And to me first years means the first 5. Two things that helped me : finding opportunities to watch someone more experienced (like good experience, not someone who never died doing it wrong for 20 years), and slowly, tree by tree, safely pushing back my comfort level.
The original poster touched on the most dangerous part of being a climber in their early years : employers or crew managers not scaling the expectations for someone's experience. This leads to this unnecessary pressure on a learning and less experienced climber, who has plenty else to be paying attention to. This was my experience
 
Conversely, now I am a company owner with a guy who has half a year's climber experience working for me. It has been a challenge to find times on jobs where I can stand and not do other job tasks, while the slowest climber in our group of 3 climbers does something I'd do in 1/3 of the time. But it's necessary and I refuse to create the learning environment I started with.
 
CutHighnLetFly said:
Conversely, now I am a company owner with a guy who has half a year's climber experience working for me. It has been a challenge to find times on jobs where I can stand and not do other job tasks, while the slowest climber in our group of 3 climbers does something I'd do in 1/3 of the time. But it's necessary and I refuse to create the learning environment I started with.
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Being the mentors we all wish we had is the key to making good future employees and company owners. Changing this industry to a respectable trade happens very slowly at the personal level. Trade organizations can make all the regulations and rules they want but it is the personal interactions between company owners, crew leads, and crew members of all levels and the in house learning moments and how those are handled that shape and mold the future of the trade.
 
CutHighnLetFly said:
Conversely, now I am a company owner with a guy who has half a year's climber experience working for me. It has been a challenge to find times on jobs where I can stand and not do other job tasks, while the slowest climber in our group of 3 climbers does something I'd do in 1/3 of the time. But it's necessary and I refuse to create the learning environment I started with.
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Damn I have a guy that has been climbing for 7 years. I taught him and he hung around 6 months then went to work for my friend who taught him all the wrong things to do for 5 years +. Dude comes back and is so damn slow. He mainly grounds unless it is a straight up easy job. Small stuff. He watches me everyday and nothing sinks in.... I mean nothing. He is slow as lava going uphill. Not the future for me at all.
 
Fuck I pay the bills with one groundie and a truckman as a helper....no hydraulics except when using a knuckleboom crane. on big jobs I am known to bring in labor....labor is like hydraulics in the island. Shit disappears fast like having a magic wand. How the hell ya think the pyramids were built. Yup bumper stickers it is......
 
islandarb said:
Damn I have a guy that has been climbing for 7 years. I taught him and he hung around 6 months then went to work for my friend who taught him all the wrong things to do for 5 years +. Dude comes back and is so damn slow. He mainly grounds unless it is a straight up easy job. Small stuff. He watches me everyday and nothing sinks in.... I mean nothing. He is slow as lava going uphill. Not the future for me at all.
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Sounds like what my friend Tom calls a relearner. They have to re learn what they are shown every day.
 
southsoundtree said:
Tell me... I'll forget.
Show me...I might remember.
Involve me... I'll understand.
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3rd line down, been involving him daily for many years. Dude just lacks knowledge retention. He cannot grasp concepts or refuses to do so. Something as simple as a cowhitch for a black or porty he can never tie the same way. Always some weird setup. Uses his lanyard like he is going to drop out the tree at any second which makes it hard to actually climb and move around. I could go on. The one handing because he has poor work positioning. Even on the ground. Should get him a rear handle for the ground. He cannot touch my large saws. Do you want me to go on. Cannot choose a high TIP. Even though he sees me find them daily.
 
The U.S. military enlistment requirements eliminate about the bottom 10% of the population with regards to intelligence. They have absolutely no job that segment is capable of performing.

@islandarb, sounds like your understudy doesn't have the capacity to independently perform the work in a proficient manner. I'd have to find someone more capable. Life is too short for that kind of aggravation.
 
Dan Cobb said:
The U.S. military enlistment requirements eliminate about the bottom 10% of the population with regards to intelligence. They have absolutely no job that segment is capable of performing.

@islandarb, sounds like your understudy doesn't have the capacity to independently perform the work in a proficient manner. I'd have to find someone more capable. Life is too short for that kind of aggravation.
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He was my first employee, it is sentimental. and he can work very hard on the ground cleaning up. It is quite frustrating that he simply cannot grasp concepts that are pretty easy. How many times have I explained lowering of big wood. I have shown him when he is in the tree and I am lowering. Not as big as I take but same principles apply. When he does it especially over targets he freezes up and just makes a muddle. He does get it sometimes, when I coach him through it, then I forget and not coach thinking he has got it and bammmmm back to the freezing up.....just another of many of his lack of understanding simple physics. Lets not get into him in a tree trying to set up rigging.
 
L3VI said:
I've been working in that mode for a long time, many years. It's peaceful. I went to work with some machine crews this summer, it was super loud and hectic. We got a lot of material processed in a day that's for sure but in the end we made the same amount of money.
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So very true. Plus those notes cause stress and sleep deprevation.
 
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