Taught failure?

[kolwdwrkr]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this, or if it has been questioned before but here I am and here it goes.

Are we taught to fail? I know this has been brought up in the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (excuse me if that is wrong about the title). It seems as though we aren't taught to do anything but work. They seem to raise us with the intent to put us right to work once we get out of high school. Only the seemingly few get to move on to college and even then they are only learning how to be at the top of the job. Nobody teaches how to be motivated, how to be optimistic, how to be a leader, etc. So we work. And work. And work. Those who were brought up with little seem to stay little. They are bred to survive with little so they don't struggle to make a lot. The others who have had a good life have people around them ensuring that they keep a good life. But what happens to those people if the support goes away? Can they move forward or will they fail?

How can we correct this? I believe we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and just imagine who we are. Are we the people driving a beat up truck to a $15 an hour job? Or do we see us on a boat fishing for Marlin? When I see myself I think that I'm a worker. I don't see a boat. I don't see a mansion. I see me working, struggling for my family, and hopefully one day sitting in a rocker that I hand crafted wondering what the hell happened. I don't want to see my life that way. But I don't want to see myself in a mansion either. Maybe a very nice cabin, working in the shop in the backyard, music on, dog laying at the door, and the fresh mountain air flowing through the windows. If I feel like it I can get on my motorcycle and ride off and go fishing.
That is what I want to see. How do I see that realistically. Not a dream, but a reality.

I believe I have to change the way I think of my life. I am a woodworker. So be it. How can I make woodworking work to get me to where I want to be. Going to work for someone is not the answer. It is the $15 an hour job. Even if it was $30 it isn't enough to reach the goal, simply because I would more then likely spend more.
Just because I am a woodworker doesn't mean that everything I do has to be hands on. Maybe I can use my design skills as a woodworker to sell to other woodworkers. Maybe design a website to benefit the industry. And on and on.

The point is that we aren't taught that way. We are taught to walk in a straight line. It really has nothing to do with me, but moreso with society. In order to think past the straight line we have to imagine where we want to go, and what the best way to get there is. For me, woodworking isn't the job to reach my goal. But the woodworking industry may be. After all I know the entire industry, so now I need to know how to make it work to my advantage, with as little work from me of course.

Which is the other side of the story. We learn to work and make money. But we never make the money work for us. People are the same way. Moving forward I need to learn the basics of making people work for me with as little money as possible. That is the key. Start something and then arrange it in a way where others are managing it, making it operate, all the while bringing me income while I move on to the next thing. Entreprenuership.

We are taught to walk a straight line. What's at the end of the line? If we ad a "Y" will we make the right choice of direction? So instead of a straight line lets do this "wwwwwww" (connected of course). Forget the straight line. Go in other directions, find multiple methods of generating income, all the while being sure that it comes back together in the end. The end being financial security and the ultimate goal. Success.

You just have to remember to stay in the realm you know, or you will find yourself lost. For me it is woodworkng. It is a "huge" industry with ample oppertunity. It would be silly to try to do woodworking as one method, stocks as the next, etc. I would find myself trying to learn the other fields more then making it work to my advantage. So think about what you know, how you can make it work for you, and what directions will be best to take.
Hope this made sense and helps others. (me included, lol) It's easy to think and write, doing is a different animal. Sorry for the :blah2:

 

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[Sparlin]

Changing your view point on life is the first step to acquiring a new one.
Good Post.... Speed +

 

[Runum]

I like your stuff kolwdwrkr and I do see that you are beginning to really think this out. Good job. ++speed

 

[Elvin90]

you got to fall before you learn to walk just think of it like this there are ALOT OF People that are satisfied where they are at in life at least you have a different state of mind which is great

 

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[Russ H]

The hardest change we will ever make is to our closely held beliefs.

And the hardest of *those* to change is the first-- when you first get started.

Tony Robbins' books and workshops deal w/this.

And there are lots of other motivational speakers (Zig Zieglar, Gary Veynerchuck when he's on a roll, etc).

Here are 3 of my favorites from those folks:

(the first video is amazing. It is especially meaningful if you sit in a room, alone, and play it all the way through without distractions. Pay special attention when he talks about asking yourself "How many of you have failed to achieve something significant at some point in your life?" about 4-5 minutes in. There is a person in the audience who had a particularly devastating experience w/this.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpc-t-Uwv1I]YouTube - Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqgGlQtFkgs&feature=related[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4]YouTube - Web 2.0 Expo NY: Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library), Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape[/ame]

-Russ H.

 

[Icy]

You just have to remember to stay in the realm you know, or you will find yourself lost. For me it is woodworkng. It is a "huge" industry with ample oppertunity. It would be silly to try to do woodworking as one method, stocks as the next, etc. I would find myself trying to learn the other fields more then making it work to my advantage. So think about what you know, how you can make it work for you, and what directions will be best to take.

This is not entirely true. It is possible to delegate all the work to others (who know more than you) and they can make the vision come to. If you have the idea, and a means of creating it than others can do the true work to get it made. Granted, you will need some money for this but this is definitely an option after the start (or if you can find funding).

Delegation to people smarter than you is one common theme I've found by successful entrepreneurs (Richard Branson, Felix Dennis, etc.) and it hasn't done them wrong. Felix Dennis in his book "How to Get Rich" (good book) admits that he knew very little when he started his magazine business but getting the right people who knew more than him made it the success it is.

Also you never want to stay only in one form of business. While one type may work for 20+ years there are many more that may last only a few years, if even. The market is always changing and by believing what worked before will work now is foolish. That is why focusing only on one area because you know it isn't effective. Although, this is more to become "very" rich and you did state you don't exactly want to become excessively wealth so this may have little to do with you. Still some food for thought though.

 

[Russ H]

As a kid, I remember, vividly, meeting an out of work US Steelworker (union guy).

At that point, he'd been unemployed for 12 years (YEARS!!!), and was still waiting for his job to come back.

Left a lasting impression on me.

I'm sure there were a few guys who made horse carriages who wondered where all the work went, and others who made candles who wondered why no one was buying as many candles once the light bulb became commercially available.

kolwdwrkr, I had a friend/associate who was a bang-up cabinet maker/wood worker. Had a huge shop, a bunch of employees. Had been one of the class 1 woodworkers that George Lucas handpicked to do the woodwork at Skywalker Ranch (the turned staircase in the library alone would take *your* breath away).

Last time he did some work for me, he explained that Home Depot had pretty much put him out of business. He'd made his living for years doing high quality cabinetry for homes, and had at least half a dozen $40-60K kitchens each year.

At that point, he had NO kitchens. No one was willing to spend that kind of money when they could go to home depot and get solid wood cabinetry w/mortise joints on the doors and dovetail joints on the drawers for under $20K-- two thirds LESS than w/his custom work.

It just wasn't worth it for them, even with his extraordinary resume.

I forgot to mention when this was.

It was 1991.

Eighteen years ago.

He'd gotten to the point where he was doing any work at all, for pennies, just to survive.

Haven't talked to him in years. I'm sure he's long out of business. :smxE:

-Russ H.

PS Pics below are of George Lucas' reference library in the Main House at Skywalker Ranch.

I've spent time in this room, and can honestly say the pictures don't do it justice. Amazing place.

.

 

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[Russ H]

I suppose I should add myself to that list of buggy whip manufacturers.

In the 1980s, I put in "movie screening rooms" into people's homes.

They were expensive. So my clients were, typically, very rich.

When the home theater boom hit in the early 90s, I was considered an "old timer", and my work was featured in magazines and newspapers around the world.

I edited the first and third industry Home Theater Manuals. Wrote columns for 3 different magazines (at the same time).

My theaters had lots of custom woodwork-- so that's why I was always on the lookout for a great woodworker.

***********************

But I saw the writing on the wall.

That $65,000 projector I sold in the early 1990s, that needed 30+ hours to calibrate?

By 2000, I could get a BETTER image quality on a $5000 projector fed by a $1000 DVD player.

By 2007, I could blow that image away w/a $2000 projector and a $179 DVD player.

In 1994, a good home theater system cost over $100,000 in equipment, and another $25-30,000 in labor for design/installation/calibration.

Now, I can buy about $3500 worth of equipment, set up a microphone (comes w/the recvr), hit ONE BUTTON, and get almost the same sound and picture quality-- for pennies ($3,500 vs $135,000).

Is it exactly the same?

No.

I can tell the difference, just like you can tell the difference between bespoke cabinetry and high end stuff made at a millworks.

We can tell the difference.

But can others?

Nope.

And they're the ones paying the bills.

That's why I got out of home theater work in 2003 and into RE development.

I didn't want to be that steelworker, wondering why he had no work.

-Russ H.

 

[kolwdwrkr]

It seems as though everyone is saying to get out of the industry? I'm not saying I'm sticking with cabinetry, I'm saying I want to attack the entire construction industry. Try to get my hand on every aspect from selling tools to having guys install cabinetry. Even building fences. Have websites geared to help other woodworkers, and websites geared to help homeowners. Do anything and everything in the industry that can generate revenue. I know the business. If I get into something else, I will be lost even if someone else is doing the work. People seem to have different perspectives. Why would someone do all the work for me, when they can do all the work for themselves?

 

[Russ H]

kolwdwrkr-

As a theater designer, I was a contractor for 26 years.

When I left the home theater biz, I became an innkeeper-- but still did contracting as a RE developer.

Both my wife and I wanted to change what we were doing-- in part b/c we could see the writing on the wall for our respective careers.

And in part, b/c we both wanted to start a family, and didn't want to be "jet setters" that our children saw only occasionally. We wanted to be there when they took their first steps, said their first words-- you know, the Mom/Dad stuff.

I realize that you are hurting-- and I don't want you to think I'm heartless. I'm not.

But I've been through some serious bouts of depression myself-- and all the people that were kind to me, and consoled me-- they were wonderful.

But they didn't get me out of my depression.

I had to do that.

And I did it by getting away from all of the bad stuff.

It took time for things to heal.

And the more positive stuff I did.

The less time I spent thinking about the bad stuff.

I think that's all we're trying to let you do here.

Spend less time dwelling on the crud and the past.

Spend more time looking at the good stuff, and what you can do to make today better/happier.

-Russ H.

 

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[Runum]

It seems as though everyone is saying to get out of the industry? I'm not saying I'm sticking with cabinetry, I'm saying I want to attack the entire construction industry. Try to get my hand on every aspect from selling tools to having guys install cabinetry. Even building fences. Have websites geared to help other woodworkers, and websites geared to help homeowners. Do anything and everything in the industry that can generate revenue. I know the business. If I get into something else, I will be lost even if someone else is doing the work. People seem to have different perspectives. Why would someone do all the work for me, when they can do all the work for themselves?

It could be taken that way. I'm actually not telling you to get out of the industry. I got out of metalworking because I didn't want to hire and manage employees. I worked with them and sure knew what they thought and how they acted. I am telling you to expand on what you are already doing. If woodworking is what you are dead set on doing, then envision what it will be like in the future and get there now. I am telling you that the craft will be changing even more in the future than it is now.

Ever hear of a CMM(coordinate measuring machine)? It's a computer controlled 3 dimensional probe. They can take one of your best, finished prize pieces of art, throw it on a CMM and make massive replicas of your work in unbelievable time. They can also do this from drawings(CADCAM). If it can be measured and quantified it can be repeated faster and more efficiently by computor.

If you want to remain in the WW field then you need to lead the pack, not follow the heard. What does the WW industry need now that it doesn't already have? What will it need in 2 years that you can give it now?

But, also, be realistic about your projections. It would be a bummer to invest heavily in a dying industry if that were the case here.

 

[CoMp1eX]

Not to bring this thread off-course, but have you ever though of developing your wood designs for different demographics/markets? Maybe wooden iPod cases? Maybe develop and market them as "limited" pieces of modern art?

 

[kolwdwrkr]

Russ, I understand what you are trying to do and I appreciate it. You are right, it is up to those depressed to pull out of it.

Runum, This industry is dying to the people who don't have technology to keep up, because people are getting to cheap, and because people don't care about things anymore. The days of appreciated fine work are gone simply because people don't keep things that long any more. It's easy to buy Ikea furniture simply because in 3-5 years the decor may change, people may move, etc. I think the internet is the only way to make money through the industry. Maybe selling DIY information or something. So you may be right about staying in it being a bummer. So what else is there for someone who only has a high school diploma with experience only in one field?

CoMp1eX, That sounds like a good idea. The problem is that there has been tons of woodworkers already making these things, so I'm not quite sure who the market would be. I think there's tons of woodworkers making everything, so I need to rethink my position and think about what I need to do to move forward.

Thanks guys. Back to the drawing board.:coffee:

 

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[Icy]

So what else is there for someone who only has a high school diploma with experience only in one field?

Frankly, this is the point that I am at and I actually choose this way (dropped out of college this year). My only thing that I feel I am good enough at to make money on my own right now is computer programming. Notice I say own my own, I have plenty of other ideas that could become a reality but I am only limited to my skill if I choose to do it purely on my own.

It almost sounds as though you are trying to find one thing about you that isn't good enough for us to comfort you and say "it's alright if you don't succeed". Frankly, we could do that, but it would get you no where when honestly you haven't given us anything that is a handy cap that someone else hasn't gotten through.

You've got a high school diploma? Richard Branson doesn't even have that and he is the owner of 300+ (so I heard somewhere?) companies. Surely when he start he didn't know everything there was to each company (and probably still doesn't). The thing is though he had a vision, did he research to see if it would be profitable, and took the leap and got others to help.

Think about this also. The people that have gone to college and gotten a degee, what do they do? The get a major, they specilize in one field. If you also had a college degree you'd then be "good enough" to only do two thing (in your opinion). You need to take a leap of faith, learn on your own, and do something if you want to become wealthy.

For your woodworking where have you learned the most about it? Did school help you with that? Chances are it didn't, it probably reading, someone helping you and you repeating, and experimenting on your own.

Stop using this "I don't know enough" excuse if you want to be wealthy. If you don't then read. What do you think has the most potential for you to become successful? You mentioned the internet, then instead of posting start learning HTML, Javascript, PHP, ASP.NET, MySQL, anything. You can take the easy way out and just stop learning and "get by". Actually, there is nothing wrong with that everyone has different goals but you have to get out of this search for any excuse possible mode if you want to be rich.

Yeah, tough love here but honestly it sounds like you need it. You can easily become rich if you choose to sacrifice your time to learn. You need a more positive outlook, me dropping out of college means saving 3 extra years to learn on my own, which is what it did for you. It didn't put you at a handy cap because you didn't get a piece of paper and a ridiculous debt. Anything can be spun around into a more positive outlook and whichever way you choose to look at it is really the path it will lead you down.

How about we make a little bet. For the next 2 weeks, anything bad in your life, spin it do a positive, ok? It's amazing how quickly how you feel, and how you percieve the world around you "changes". Also, carry around a notebook and right down anything you think about negatively\bad.

I'll stop it here because I could go on for a long time. Sorry for the semi-random organization of the post. :smug2:

 

[I85]

I'm saying I want to attack the entire construction industry. Try to get my hand on every aspect from selling tools to having guys install cabinetry. Even building fences. Have websites geared to help other woodworkers, and websites geared to help homeowners. Do anything and everything in the industry that can generate revenue. I know the business. If I get into something else, I will be lost even if someone else is doing the work. People seem to have different perspectives. Why would someone do all the work for me, when they can do all the work for themselves?

What can you do to help all the other thousands of woodworkers struggling to make ends? Can you cut their time/cost or both? Instead of worrying about doing everything you can do to make yourself money, why not try to make a program/system/tool to help everyone else make more money?
If you haven't read this thread by MJ, it is a must read.

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.co...-have-successful-entrepreneurial-premise.html

 

[kolwdwrkr]

Thanks I85, That was a great link and great read. +speed

 

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[yveskleinsky]

I am a woodworker. So be it. How can I make woodworking work to get me to where I want to be.

You can be anything you want to be. ...Woodworking may not get you to where you want to be; you'll have to make that decision on your own, and potentially develop new skills.

 

[Russ H]

I am a woodworker. So be it. How can I make woodworking work to get me to where I want to be.

You can be anything you want to be. ...Woodworking may not get you to where you want to be; you'll have to make that decision on your own, and potentially develop new skills.

Bingo, Yves.

-Russ H.