Anyone else get this way?

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hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
FYI, I'm 55.

I'm tired. I just don't feel like working anymore. I go through the motions still, but my zest is gone. I'm tired of my employee (1). I'm almost getting tired of my customers.

I NEED A 3-MONTH VACATION.
 
hardworkingstiff said:
FYI, I'm 55.

I'm tired. I just don't feel like working anymore. I go through the motions still, but my zest is gone. I'm tired of my employee (1). I'm almost getting tired of my customers.

I NEED A 3-MONTH VACATION.
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Yeah, it's called getting old. Perhaps a second run on a mid-life crisis. I went thru it about 10 years ago- I am 56 now- but I got thru it. I like my work but it does get harder to stay in the field. Since I am the only employee of my own company it means I either go to work or find something else to do. Make me an offer-- I won't refuse.:grin:
 
Welcome to the club... I find that it's especially difficult scheduling around the holidays and easy to get off track. I also find that running a business well is a lifestyle and that it takes up all my time. When I get slow and can take some time off I end up worrying about more work and when I'm busy I'm wishing it were a little slower so I could take some time off.
 
fisherelectric said:
Welcome to the club... I find that it's especially difficult scheduling around the holidays and easy to get off track. I also find that running a business well is a lifestyle and that it takes up all my time. When I get slow and can take some time off I end up worrying about more work and when I'm busy I'm wishing it were a little slower so I could take some time off.
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EXACTLY!

You nailed it. 11 years of this for me and 6 years for someone else makes me think about looking for a job.
 
2008...

2008...

Its the double down of two holidays, I had a long conversation on this exact point the other day. Not that that cured it by any means, but it came down to celerbrating a great birth and a big death of the year! UGH... then reflecting on all that...

I'm right with you on the Joys of old age and good honest WORK!
 
hardworkingstiff said:
FYI, I'm 55.

I'm tired. I just don't feel like working anymore. I go through the motions still, but my zest is gone. I'm tired of my employee (1). I'm almost getting tired of my customers.
Click to expand...

Happens to everyone. When I start to get depressed I always think of my favorite Monty Python sketch. " I never wanted to do this job anyway, I wanted to be a.......Lumberjack". Then I sing a bit of the "Lumber Jack Song", the customer calls the men in the white coats, I get to spend a few weeks in a padded room and everything is better. :grin:
 
I don't need a vacation. I need a new occupation. I am currently working towards becoming a professional lottery winner. :grin:
 
hardworkingstiff said:
FYI, I'm 55.

I'm tired. I just don't feel like working anymore. I go through the motions still, but my zest is gone. I'm tired of my employee (1). I'm almost getting tired of my customers.

I NEED A 3-MONTH VACATION.
Click to expand...

You know what, hardworkingstiff, you may be bored. Give me a minute to deveop this idea...
Okay, "bored" is defined as: too many skills with too little challenge; and "frustration" is defined as: too much challenge with too few skills.
So you may not be "tired" from working, but rather "tired" of being "bored". This may have led you to "frustration" from not developing skills to meet the challenge of being bored.
So, here's your mission, should you decide to accept: Develop the skills to meet your boredom...your frustration will go away...and viola! :smile: New outlook. :smile: Works for me every time. :smile:
 
I feel like that too. A plumber told me its the money that is his reward (the greedy goat). If your not feeling the joy it might be your not getting rewarded enough for your work. Take a good look at your overhead and see what you can reduce or remove to get a better reward system for yourself. I have been only taking on the jobs that I want to lately that feel good to do. Not the be abused by an ugly contractor kinda job but the one I want to do. Telling people your too busy isn't a bad thing. Telling your helper your looking at options and he might be one of them if he doesn't step up and get busy might be a good thing.
I use the supply and demand curve to regulate the amount of work I get. The less I charge the more headaches I get. The more I charge the less headaches I get, AND I get to go "fishing" more often. Find a hook that motivates you. Incorporate it into your routine. Lay off the drinking. Maybe find a life or business coach. Ive been thinking about the last two options lately. I was also looking for seminars to go to but MR MIKE HOLT is busy gallivanting throughout the country and not in the state of Florida. How about starting a CEU course? hmmmmm....
 
I get that way from time to time, but I don't know much else to do. Maybe chuck it all and go on welfare? Live under a bridge someplace? Since those options don't really appeal to me, I pull up my bootstraps and get on with work. I think people call it "burnout", and not working past 4pm if I can at all help it and taking the weekends off at all costs really helps me out. Learning to recognize the real emergencies and crisis's from the imagined catastrophe is a skill that will lift a lot of stress off a guy. Some people might look at my reaction to certain situations and they'll believe that I just don't care. That couldn't be further from the truth. I just know what I can change and what I can't.
 
3 day work week

3 day work week

hardworkingstiff said:
FYI, I'm 55.

I'm tired. I just don't feel like working anymore. I go through the motions still, but my zest is gone. I'm tired of my employee (1). I'm almost getting tired of my customers.

I NEED A 3-MONTH VACATION.
Click to expand...
To sart just try a 3 day work week! I remember having an employer telling us we were going to work 4-10 hour days and we all told him that 3- 8 hour days sounded better!! Keep on kickin' stiff! Just look at all you have going for you and as Marc mentioned, "at least you are not living under a bridge"!!
 
When this stops being fun I will stop doing it.The biggest toy you can get is your own business.If you don't like the smell of fertilizer then don't become a gardener.I love every part of this if I did it for any other reason ,money,power, prestige,can't work with others what ever the reason other than I just love doing it then the day would come that I would no longer be happy doing it and then it would be time to move on.
 
wbalsam1 said:
You know what, hardworkingstiff, you may be bored. Give me a minute to deveop this idea...
Okay, "bored" is defined as: too many skills with too little challenge; and "frustration" is defined as: too much challenge with too few skills.
So you may not be "tired" from working, but rather "tired" of being "bored". This may have led you to "frustration" from not developing skills to meet the challenge of being bored.
So, here's your mission, should you decide to accept: Develop the skills to meet your boredom...your frustration will go away...and viola! :smile: New outlook. :smile: Works for me every time. :smile:
Click to expand...

I think this post sums it up. have you set goals? that helps sometimes. I think more people have wills than goals. I guess they are doing more planning for death than they are the next day.

I'm 28 and I feel like taken up another profession. I'm not a people person so my options are limited. However I always hear I'm good with people. Oh well. Did someone say welfare?
 
GUNNING said:
I was also looking for seminars to go to but MR MIKE HOLT is busy gallivanting throughout the country and not in the state of Florida. How about starting a CEU course? hmmmmm....
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Mike teaches in Florida as well. His reputation demands that he travel across the country, and believe me, he turns down as many engagements as he accepts.
 
I feel ya brother.

I am in exactly the same situation but am fortunate enough to have a younger business partner and 8 guys in the field.

I am 56 this month and ready to roll it up.
 
Hardworking, when I get to feeling like you are I wax up my surfboard and make a point of going surfing a whole lot , until I get to remember my business is not the primary thing in life, but a necessary supplement to the real life things. So anyway, in your case may I suggest you take three weeks and go down to San Juan and soak up some sun, roll some dice, have a rum drink or two. It will do wonders for your present mood I bet.
 
Sounds like you really need a nice vacation. I just came back from a 10 day cruise in the Caribbean and I am already planning the next one. We went with 20 other friends and family and it was a real good time. My batteries are fully charged again and I'm ready to kick some ass.
To me, time off is almost as important as working hard. But for some reason a lot of people in this country don't allow themselves time off. My wife's cousin told me that in Scotland or England most folk start out with 6 weeks vacation. Here your lucky to get two weeks paid much less the OK to actually use it. Why do we not allow ourselves time off?
Maybe Marc's right. are you charging enough money for work? Maybe you need to take a look at your pricing and scheduling. I wont take on work just for the work. If theres no money in it I dont want to be the guy lowering the market price and possibly tieing myself up with crappy work when I could be doing something else. I also feel that you really need to know your customers. Why charge $125 for a remodle hi hat when the same person would be willing to pay 200. Try taking some basic buisness courses or something.See if there are anyways to improve your profitability. I know alot of great electritians that have a lot of skill sets and could bend pipe like its no problem or have great trouble shooting skills but are terrible buissness people. Anyhow keep your chin up and take that vacation. Really sit down and see what you need to do to allow yourself a month off. Why not? Its not impossible. Its only impossible if you say so.
 
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