Life Of An Electrical Contractor Podcast

The Importance of Taking Vacations

On episode 18 of Life of an Electrical Contractor, I explore the importance of taking vacations. I am fortunate to have the kind of job that I love. But I work very hard at that job, and it’s important to take time out away from your work to refresh yourself. Recently, I went on a two week vacation with my family to France. There are many lessons from this experience. As an entrepreneur, all that hard work you are doing is in service of buying freedom. If you ever lose sight of that, your job becomes your jail. Take advantage of the benefits of the hard work you’ve put into your business by taking time out every once in a while to be physically and mentally present to somewhere other than work. Many of the things that happened started out as bad experiences, then quickly turned into memorable moments that became the highlights of the trip. These moments are a good reminder of the importance of staying flexible rather than being attached to an outcome. The point is to have a good time, however that happens. Watch the full episode to learn more about the funny stories on my vacation, and what lessons I learned and you can learn from them.

 

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How to avoid tying your hands when you should be reaching for opportunities

On this episode of Life of an Electrical Contractor, the subject is “Are your hands tied?” Whether you are an electrician or in any area of your life, you may have someone tie your hands or even unintentionally be tying your own hands. On this episode, I explain what it means to have your hands tied, because you may even have your hands tied and not realize it because you’re so used to it! I also give 5 strategies on how to untie your hands both in the moment and long-term. Your habits every day will keep your hands free to do everything that you need to do to be successful, not just in business but in everyday life.

How to Overcome Adversity in your Electrical Contracting Business

On this episode of Life of an Electric Contractor, I tell you what to do when things go wrong. Things will not go according to plan, and you can decide if you want to take failure as a learning experience or as a personal failing. If you want to learn from failure, you need to ask yourself three questions when things are going wrong: What is the real problem, who do I need to become, when must I execute the solution? If you can successfully figure out those questions, then every loss today can be a win tomorrow.

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What are you going to do with the rest of the year?

On the day I made this video, there were 44 days left in 2021. As you watch this, the end of the year will be even closer. Instead of waiting until January 1st to make a new year’s resolution, start working now to close the year strong. Review the last year, see what worked and what didn’t. See where you can tie up loose ends and where you can double down on what’s working. You should be reviewing your life often, not just once a year. If you want to have a good year in 2022, you need to start now.

 

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How do you find success?

This episode of Life of an Electrical Contractor is about success. As you go through school and in your first few years of your career, you might think that success means having a nice car, or a big house, but as you mature, you realize that success means different things to different people, at different times of your life. For me, the freedom to spend time with my children. But getting to success is never easy; there are no shortcuts. Having a schedule, which has specific, achievable goals, will help develop the discipline to work hard every day. Ultimately, success is a feeling more than a finish line. Don’t define your success as making a certain amount of money or having a certain amount of business, but find joy in the journey. Your success will continue as long as you define success in your life in a way that is achievable.

 

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The importance of getting paid

This episode of Life of an Electrical Contractor is about how to get paid. As a contractor, you may not be used to the idea of having to bill your client and fight to get your money, because when you’re an hourly wage worker you never have to think about it. This episode details all the different ways you have to have your own books in order and the ways to bill your client and follow through with them in a professional manner. Unfortunately, not every bill will get paid, and you may have to take some legal action, or even take a loss and end your professional relationship with that client. This episode will teach you what you need to know to get the money that’s owed to you throughout your career.

 

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What to know as an employee

This episode of Life of an Electrical Contractor is about Intrapreneurship. Intrapreneurship can be summed up as being an entrepreneur within a company. That is, taking ownership of your situation rather than do the minimum to get by, to look for opportunities to expand either your own responsibilities or the company itself, and being able to think independently. The term may sound new, but it actually dates back to 1978, and came into common usage in the 1980s. In this episode, I detail the kind of person you need to be to be an Intrapreneur. You need to be able to fix things in the company that you see can be improved, you have to give it your all, you have to be willing to bring and give value to others, and be of strong character. If you have the mindset of doing just enough to get by and then finding other things that make you happy, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you want to take ownership and take a step closer to being an entrepreneur, being an intrapreneur will give you a chance to learn many soft skills it takes to be a successful entrepreneur before you run with your big idea and start your own business.

 

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How to safely use ladders and scissor lifts

This episode of Life of an Electrical Contractor is all about ladders and scissor lifts. If you want to get to a high place, these are the tools you’ll use to do it. And that’s what they are: tools. Any tool can be used safely or unsafely, and if you use any tool in an unsafe way, accidents are more likely to occur. In this episode, I explain when you would want to use either a ladder or scissor lift, and how to do it safely. More importantly, I warn against common mistakes and unsafe ways of doing things with these tools. The safety features of scissor lifts are designed to mitigate damage, but they can’t protect you completely. Sure, falling 10 feet and being caught by a harness is better than dropping 50 feet, but you still might hit something that’s around you. If you are aware of the risks of using these tools, and take those precautions, your chances of an accident are much lower.

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How to Bounce Back From Adversity

This episode of Life of an Electrical Contractor is more on mindset and life tips than about specifically working as an electrical contractor. Life is going to punch you in the face. That is as certain as death and taxes. The question is what you do about it. Although you might think the best thing to do is to get right back up and go into the fight, often the right move is to slow down and reflect as to why you got knocked down. Those steps in between getting knocked down and getting back up will have a huge impact on whether you have better results the next time or you keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Is your company running “Fine” or the way it's supposed to?

This episode is all about the dangers of accepting “good enough.” Many of us just keep going about our day thinking that because something works fine, that means it works. But when I come over, I sometimes see lights that are too dim to see properly, equipment that isn’t properly maintained, and dangerous conditions. In addition, I also have found that some organizations don’t have properly trained personnel for the job. And we’re talking about equipment that costs 6 figures, and personnel that require many hours of training and have years of experience in other areas. So having equipment or people that are “good enough” can actually be costing you money every day. It really does pay to invest in quality.