QUITTER!!! ..are there any head shrinks on here???

Mike-
I can seriously relate.....
I'm now in my 30th year of this bussiness and it can very easily overwhelm a man.
I have very little good advice I can impart ,but here are a few noteworth tidbits.....

KEEP A PERSONAL LIFE ASIDE FROM CARS.

Be able to "shut it off" as soon as you leave the shop.

When you are working you must be able to concentrate 100% on the job at hand and IGNORE the other 15 in the wings.

Maintain control of YOUR BUSSINESS- the customer is only right 49% of the time.......
AND most important:Learn to be happy with who you are and where you are in life.
best O luck to ya, friend.....

 

Really, there is nothing wrong with taking a break. I do it all the time. DO Go Fishing, mountain biking, camping, hunting, frisbee golfing, spend time with the family, shy dive a couple of times, do some fun stuff.

OH yeah, thin the heard a little so you dont feel overwhealmed.

If you quit, in a couple of years, youll really, really, really regret it!!!!!
You will have to learn to cook, take up shopping, get your hair highlighted, dress nice, learn Fueng Shuea (SP?), take up walking the dog and tea time at noon, you know.......... all the metrosexual closet homo activities.

 

Damn Mike,
Snap out of it boy get something goin for this year......
If ya start sellin keep the one that means the most at least and stick with it till she's done.......

Also if ya got to much on your plate I know a certain someone who can take a certain project of your hands if ya need me too......


Heres something to cheer you up....................................................



Now get you ass to work ...............................


Shoe

 

I know first hand that Kustombuilder is a good artist. And that he has been doing some writing for magazine articles. Maybe you could work on that stuff for a little while and then we could finish the chop on my truck.

 

Don't quit- like the rest have said- take a break.... wait three months before making any rash decisions.....

I recently had to sell off ALOT of parts and a nice deuce frame and 3 motors AND my 72 Hearse..... I am poor as hell, had to move into a ghetto, and am trying to get out of debt..... I live on cheap pizza and PB+J's and work 55-60 hours a week and beer is now a luxery.... gotta love that ex......

But my point is, despite all the hardship, I still have my 67 Poncho which I could "pretty-up" and make some nice coin with and just about get out of debt, and I refuse to give up on my 28 T although it is causing me nothing but headaches and heartbreaks......

I keep at it because everytime I doubt my sanity, I go and sit in the Poncho and take a deep smell and think about the first time I had the speedometer pegged flying down Wisconsin 32, and the sound of those headers..... it took me two years and alot of beer to get that thing running the way I wanted....... and it was the greatest feeling I ever had--- all the hard work- MY hard work- and I had one bad assed ride......

And while sometimes I get frustrated and mad, I just walk away and let the shit sit for a week or a month and go play my guitar instead...... And then I'll see something inspiring, or learn something new and/or another angle (usually on here) and go MAKE THAT IRON MY BITCH........

Simplify, man, simplify...... For Instance, I can't afford the 800 bucks to get my tooth fixed but I can easily come up with 800 bucks to get that bullet-proof racing tranny and posi-rear for the 28........ I don't have to try and spread that 800 bucks around between 3-4 cars.......

Dig?

 

Two things I have learned that make an overwhelming project more digestible:

1) PLAN what you are going to do. Be realistic. If you think something will take 2 hours, add two more. If you get more done than you anticipate, then so much the better. Stick with it till it's done. If you're a pen & paper type who makes lists, it sure is nice to mark a big 'ol check mark next to a "done" item. Gives a sense of accomplishment. I don't subscribe to this all the time, I usually keep them in my head...but I do know when significant progress gets made, which makes me want to continue.

2) Have a friend help you. It gets monotonus and time consuming to be running around your ride, fetching tools or having to jerry-rig something as a third hand by yourself. Projects seem to get done MUCH faster with another set of hands around.

Stickylifter & I were co-miserating today about my firewall taking 3 full Saturdays of work to be all tacked in...it would have taken me 6+ Saturdays working alone...and while he was working on that, I was assembling the engine tidbits and coming up with a new way to suck fuel from my (now non-efi) tank. We got a lot done, in only 7+ hours time...easily 3 times as much as if I'd been working out there alone. That lets you see real progress, and keeps you going. When I work alone, the progress isn't so evident, and it is daunting at times. Especially if you spend a lot of time on something, and the next time you walk into the garage it looks like nothing has changed.

Stop by anytime! Maybe my project can light a fire under your ass! That always works for me. I'm under the gun to have my car to Billetproof...if you saw it now, you might think, "no way" but I have a goal that I am shooting for, so it keeps me going.

Mercman

 

..then next tuesday i'm gonna go buy the new TOOL CD when it goes on sale, put it in the cd player in the garage and CRANK IT till the cops show up. DAMN this shit ROCKS!!!! (they are playing the new stuff on the radio right now).[/quote]

yes and rock it does. I got a bootleg copy last week and it is all I have been listening too. Don't worry, I'm going to be in line to buy in on Tuesday as well...I had ti cranked the other night and almost got finished with my first custom frame bicycle project...I get frustrated with my caddy sometimes and just take a break...and work on my bikes or my welding skills.

bryan

 

I just wanted to add a little bit to MercMans comment above.

I too am guilty of taking on too many projects at once. I have found that I need to set realistic goals for myself EVERY TIME I go into the garage. If I don't do this, I feel very overwhelmed by the many things that need to get done. By setting these goals, I have no grounds for feeling like I should have gotten more done than I did or wanted to.

I go so far as to plan out my entire day (as much as is realisticly possible). Every morning I get up and think about what my goals are for the day, even if they include just going to the grocery store. Doing this takes so much pressure off of my mind. All I have to worry about is what I have planned.

The hardest thing of all is if some of these goals are not met or completed. This is why I try to only plan one day at a time. That way, it's easy to add an uncompleted goal to the next day. No pressure.

Good luck!

 

It's really simple ,,it is your form of self expression,and being passonate takes it to art. This can bring perfection into the picture and this will always complicate things..Mind you doing it right the first time is the only way to go,,but when trying to have everything be perfect what is really simple in mind and principal,can become very time consuming leading one to feel as thought they are getting nowhere..then frustration kicks in and yer screwed,,you second guess ,you find everything wrong etc..OR if trying to do something and you keep hitting walls the same thing,,,enjoy another passion for a bit ,,a lil time away and you'll be back at it

 

Dude, Let the shit Sit!!! Go play a round of frisbee golf, or go fishing (me, my daughter, and two friends, brought home 36 crappie last Saturday). Really, go fuck off. Take a break, youll be so glad you did.

 

Sometimes hiding under the covers with a bottle of barbiturates, a jug of Red Mountain and a loaded Colt revolver is enough.

Do not love something that cannot love you in return.

 

You picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue.

 

Lie down...close your eyes and relax. Just clear your mind and don't think about anything. When you feel relaxed lets talk.

You said your car projects are making you feel "frustrated." Tell me what you mean by frustrated...................

I am a counselor....this is where you start. Try to understand what it is about your car projects that is making you feel "frustrated." If it is...for instance...that you feel that you have too many unfinished projects...then maybe the answer is to focus on just one. Put the others on a back burner and do the do with one.

Make a list of what needs to be done. Put them in order and start with smaller tasks that you can finish...and get that sense of completion and movement on your deal. If it is another problem...put another $90 in the slot and pull down on the handle.................................................