How Do You Stay Motivated ?

[Mojo]

Mike: Oh Man does that make me want to get out on the water and do some fishing. :)

Scotty: My wife cannot be right. I have never met an Aussie that's right.  8)

Chris

[mike802]

Chris:  I have to agree with the price hike.  I remember reading some where if you get the majority of jobs coming into your shop your prices are way to low.  You can always reduce prices if work drops off to much, at some point you should be able to find a balance between pricing and work flow.  Burn out in our profession can be personally dangerous, because we offer a creative product that demands a great deal of ourselves goes into each item.  I once had a brochure with a quote on the front that I was famous for saying to my employees  "When we deliver handcrafted, or reupholstered furniture we are delivering part of ourselves."  This quote came out of the anguish I used to put myself through every time I made a delivery. I would like to say I have risen above that today, but on occasion I still get the jitters and would rather my sons do the delivery when they can.  Sometimes I like to ponder the question, why am I doing this?  The answer is so I can earn enough money to enjoy time with my family and that helps put things into prospective.

I was once so burnt that it took three years to get over it, during that time I took a full time job managing an upholstery and seat weaving dept. of a large handcrafted furniture maker.  Yea I was basically doing the same thing, but I did not have to deal with the business end of things and it was a whole different ball game.  During this time I also keep my shop open part time, maybe that's why it took so long to over come the burn out, but I just didn't feel secure having all my eggs in one basket.  Today I do not work weekends, I close the office door on Friday and the phone can ring off the hook for all I care, also I do not answer the thing during the week unless it is during business hours, I do not answer the door unless its during business hours, this last one is much harder for me than not answering the phone, but if I let someone slid soon my home would be filled with people wandering around the property at all hours, I know because I have lived through it before I made up the rules, people think  "Oh, he lives right their he wont mind."

Since my business is located on my personal property it is difficult to make the separation from work time to home time, for that I wear a work uniform, nothing special just dickeys and a sweat shirt, or a tee shirt with my company name on it, but changing brings about the mental shift from work to home and it makes a big difference.  I hope my ramblings help in some way Chris, stay healthy buddy.

[Mike]

I was thinking it over adter i slept. You sound like s guy chris who is a perfectionist who like to succede at what you try.  And  it sounds like you have.   And  to quit now would be eould be loke failure. 
Perhap tou should try to slow it  down with a price hike and try somting new to perfect maybe to tour bost up sweet snd give bowts a try it would be somthing new. Perfect. And use your bost as sn example to get started  oviously you enjoy seeing  and it might just be the motivstion in your life you are looking for  gouce perfected the RV  buisness. Maby furniture or your old car?
Well i have to get up off my lanis and go get more boat seats of a boat.

[sofadoc]

I think the others have the right idea about raising your prices. I know that for me, there's no greater motivation than more money for less work. ;)

[lc]

See Chris
Easy peasy !!!   we all agree !
if your in that much demand you'll have no problem even when you raise your prices ., you sound like you have a great reputation so aim high with the price and hopefully you can slow down and enjoy life a bit more .
We're all unanimous on this with mega support behind you.

[scottymc]

Mike: Oh Man does that make me want to get out on the water and do some fishing. :)

Scotty: My wife cannot be right. I have never met an Aussie that's right.  8)

Chris

Mate your livin on the edge, I hope you haven't told her that or she can't read this.

Let the urge to go fishing take over, be addicted to the hunt.
Your making money that you say you don't need, making products for people you don't know.
I know that the measure of success is how busy you are and the money you are turning over, but at some stage the measure of success changes and if a buddy calls you up and says let's go fishing/surfing/golfing 9 out of 10 times you will say yes.
I wish I could retire , but I have been semi retired since I was 23, meaning 8 out of 10 times I would pick surfing. I clean the park of all the litter at daybreak every morning for $20 an hr, the dog loves it.
The beauty about earning minimum wage or below, is that your not really losing that much financially when you play hookey, so sometimes you have to ask "what is success?"

[scottymc]

Mike: Oh Man does that make me want to get out on the water and do some fishing. :)

Scotty: My wife cannot be right. I have never met an Aussie that's right.  8)

Chris

Mate your livin on the edge, I hope you haven't told her that or she can't read this.

Let the urge to go fishing take over, be addicted to the hunt.
Your making money that you say you don't need, making products for people you don't know.
I know that the measure of success is how busy you are and the money you are turning over, but at some stage the measure of success changes and if a buddy calls you up and says let's go fishing/surfing/golfing 9 out of 10 times you will say yes.
I wish I could retire , but I have been semi retired since I was 23, meaning 8 out of 10 times I would pick surfing. I clean the park of all the litter at daybreak every morning for $20 an hr, the dog loves it.
The beauty about earning minimum wage or below, is that your not really losing that much financially when you play hookey, so sometimes you have to ask "what is success?"
So maybe forget about the money.

[kodydog]

Mojo you absolutely need to take some time off for your self. When you worked in corporate, didn't they demand you take time off once or twice a year. Gotta unwind, I can hear it in your words.

I'm not sure but isn't awning work pretty much the same thing day in and day out. I think your forte is in sales and marketing. No wonder your bored to tears sewing. I know this has come up before but how about hiring someone to do the labor so you can get out there and do what you love and do best.

And remember, a bad day of fishing is always better than a good day of work. Last weekend I set out in my kayak. 20 mins later it started pouring rain. I didn't care, I was having a ball. And after it stoped raining the fish started biting.

How do I stay motivated? Make reservations for a week of camping in the Ga. mountains. Work like hell and the whole week is paid for before I leave. Nothing like sitting around the campfire at 11:00 at night, quite, just watching the flames, unwinding.

Gotta have goals to keep motivated.

[timtheboatguy]

MOJO,

Thanks for starting this thread. I am going to try to take in and apply the advice offered here and i hope you do too.

Tim

[scottymc]

There you go Chris, you won't be able to talk to us about it shortly cause were all going fishing, if your the last one to leave turn the lights out will ya. :D

[Mojo]

I really appreciate everyone's input. It has given me a lot to think about. My wife has been screaming about me increasing my prices so maybe now is the time. I do know that I need to slow down and smell the roses but that is easier said then done. You just do not turn off that workaholic mentality overnight. I have been like this since I was a kid.

I have days I need to kick myself in my fat butt to get me into the shop and other days I love going out there and getting lost in work. Yes, you are right Ed, the same damn slide toppers and awnings every single day. Dang it gets boring and monotonous. I do have some different kind of work coming up. I have some mirror covers to make as well as some prayer cushions.

Anyone ever seen a prayer cushion ? I make them for mechanics and RV'ers and car / motorcycle guys. I use scrap foam and vinyl and make cushions which measure 1 ft x 3 ft. You place your knees on them while working on something. When your done working and squatting on your knees you " PRAY " that you can get back up again. Thus - Prayer Cushions. :)

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Chris

[sofadoc]

I've been approached a few times about doing some monotonous mass-produced things. The pay they offered was OK, and it wouldn't take up a lot of my time. But if I wanted to work on an assembly line, I'd go get one of those jobs.
It's true that with furniture, you're not doing the same mundane thing all day long. But even so, all couches start looking the same after awhile.
Much the same way that travelers will pick a chain restaurant because they know what to expect, my customers tend to "play it safe". So there isn't always a whole lot of creativity going on around here.
And frankly, the creative ones tend to be PITA's, so I'd just as soon prefer that my customers be conservative.
But I think that if I were just sewing plain panels together all day long, I'd go crazy (even crazier than Chris already is ;D).

[JuneC]

Same here, Sofa.  A company wanted me to sew patio cushions - en masse.  No thanks.  I could have hired a seamstress to do it, but I wasn't really interested in having an employee either.  I referred them to Guatemala or the SE Asia.  Much better labor rates for them there. 

June

[kodydog]

You just do not turn off that workaholic mentality overnight. I have been like this since I was a kid.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Chris

That's what I like about fishing. You can stay as busy as you want. I'm not one to just throw a line in and watch the bobber. When Kayaking there's always something to do. When I'm paddling I always have a line out back trawling. Last weekend I caught a flounder on the trawling line and when I was reeling in my casting line I caught a sea trout. Two fish at once. That's the kind of busy I like. And relaxing at the same time.

[lc]

This may sound odd yet maybe not , when I do contract work with mass repeated production it's nice for the final end for pay which we have to wait for most times.
I leave good customers behind on hold that will give my names to friends and their friends and so on..which is where my livelyhood comes from   not many contract people refer us and I so much agree the job can get very unstimulating. I like variety and change,