Chapter 1: Why am I doing this? A Construction Professional's Dilemma
Question: Why am I doing this? A Construction Professional’s Dilemma re: blogging.
We likely don’t know each other, but this is quite a phenomenon for me. As I reach the point in life where I am almost exactly middle aged, (43) should I live to typical male life expectancy, I have found myself asking this question about many, many things in my life. For me, this question can sound like it has a negative connotation as in ‘why am I still watching this show?’ or ‘why do I keep stubbing my toe on the same chair?’ or ‘why am I….?’ but I honestly don’t mean it that way. I mean it in an exploratory ‘why am I actually doing this?’ kind of way. When it was suggested to me that in this next chapter of my professional life (online business) I start a blog, I recoiled faster than realizing that yes, in fact the sour cream has expired and doesn’t pass the smell or taste test (like it could pass one but not the other).
Now, it’s not that I don’t like introspection or creative expression, I dearly love them both. But if I’m brutally honest, half of me wonders if I have any expertise worth sharing (I’ve been convinced I may), the other half has a very visceral distaste for the navel gazing of social media and general “oversharing,” as many have suggested it may be the single worst thing humans have ever created. While that may be a touch hyberbolic, I really don’t care for the inward centric nature of sharing the minutae of one’s day or opinions about dogs with dyed hair. I guess it’s fur. But I’ve been wrong before, like lots.
So ultimately, I return to our question: Why the hell am I doing this?
Answer: I don’t know, but I may have some ideas.
The real answer is, like most things, probably an accumulation of a whole bunch of little reasons. As a professor, designer and former project manager and estimator, I have seen the construction industry from all sides. I have seen the best sides of people and the worst. I have seen people get extraordinarily wealthy, and I’ve seen people go broke. I have seen people give others the shirt off their back, and I’ve seen people steal the livelihood away from their partner. So somewhere in there, in all that experience, I’m hoping there’s an answer. Maybe I want to help others avoid some grim fate, or take the next step in their business. Maybe I want to get really wealthy from Youtube and Blog posts, if that’s even possible. Maybe I just want to hear contractor horror stories like some form of schadenfreude, or maybe I just want to type out my own thoughts to make sense of them myself. As I’m learning that life definitely doesn’t move in straight lines, the truth is probably mixed up in there somewhere.
Either way, if you’re in or around the Design/Construction industry, take a walk with me and we’ll share some stories, maybe we’ll both learn a little along the way. Hey, maybe that’s it…