quote:

Originally posted by tomgun:
I just told my wife about this thread.
She says “y’all are just crazy as hell”.
I tried to tell her doing things the right way is not crazy but I might as well bang my head on the wall, she just doesn’t get it.

Does she paint like my wife? It doesn’t matter what else gets painted as long as what she’s painting is painted.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by tomgun:
I just told my wife about this thread.
She says “y’all are just crazy as hell”.
I tried to tell her doing things the right way is not crazy but I might as well bang my head on the wall, she just doesn’t get it.

Does she paint like my wife? It doesn’t matter what else gets painted as long as what she’s painting is painted.

Yes exactly!

Funny, this subject has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks. A lady at church told me I am too hard on myself. Her comment caught me off guard and I’ve been processing it ever since. She’s right, but I don’t really know what to do about it. How are you supposed to excel and improve if you don’t have high expectations and push yourself? How much is too much?…That seems to be the question.

(laughs)

I work to maintain a healthy balance, which isn't always easy but usually works out.

A balance rooted in cultivating a high degree of self awareness, and enough self criticism to be useful without wasting time brow beating myself to no useful end.

I ended up in life as person who has ample self confidence and self esteem, with enough achievements (and losses) over the years to have earned it all.

But I actively work to regulate how much arrogance and condescension gets past my manners, as well as working to be more understanding and compassionate in general.

All while maintaining a carefree attitude, easygoing demeanor, an openness to new things, and a big "go fuck yourself" gun that's at the ready at the same time.

When I'm self critical about these or any other things it is blunt and serious to me, not brushed aside, nor belabored (ususally), and as harsh as I dish out.

I try to learn to laugh about the mistakes while also fixing them. I think it helps. I laugh at myself a lot. Seems healthy. I call myself a "dumbass" or "asshole" pretty often, too.

I’m really hard on myself too. Sometimes it is difficult for me to start a project because I am so worried it wont be perfect. I always try to remember that a brilliant coworker of mine got a less than stellar review one year because her “Quantity of work suffers due to insistence upon perfection.” In other words, sometimes you just have to dive in and do it.

Just the opposite, actually.

"Close enough for the girls I go with" is my mantra.

Depending on the situation I CAN be persistent, but it's also not unusual for me to adopt the "If at first you don't succeed, fuck it" approach for stuff that I deem unimportant.

I've been told numerous times in the last 70 years, by people in a position to know, that I haven't lived up to my potential.

Whatever. I'm happy with where I am and how I got here.

I would like to think I know my limitations. For example I am not and never will be one of those bullseye shooters. I would rather have 10 shots in a 10inch circle in a few seconds versus getting frustrated they are not all in the black ring.

when I had my company(steet sweeping) I was very had on myself. On one hand it was good as I did not have anyone complain about the work. On the other it took much more time to accomplish a task. I am till the same way with heavy equipment but time is not as much a factor.

Jim

I believe perfection is the target. Ever hitting it is impossible, but getting closer is. So with each job I do I try to do a careful, quality job. Overdoing the job, over building, spending some extra time on it - these are all things I do regularly.

As a teacher I could see where an extra hour or a little extra effort was the difference between an “A” or a “B”.

As an employee, unless told to do it differently, I believe I am employed to give my boss the best I can do. In the interview I figure I wasn’t picked because I could do a mediocre job.

In hindsight doing quality work (habitually) has resulted in several things. By overbuilding something it typically lasts longer before it needs repaired or replaced. I am living in a home my wife and I built in 1987-88. It is, and has been, a very low maintenance house. I attribute that to doing it right the first time.
Also by doing my best at something it gives me practice for future jobs when I really NEED to do the best work possible. This practice has resulted in some work where I really don’t need to do my best, but the job comes out really nice anyway.
My target is to do the best today, with the tools, materials and skills that I have. With this habit I sleep well without second guessing myself as to whether I could have done better.

quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
Harder on myself than anyone I know. I realize I can't be perfect but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try and I figure if I lower my standards for myself my results will probably reflect it. I believe that more people shouldn't just accept "good enough".

Another man like you!!! Get it done anyway possible!!

I am my own biggest critic, have been all my life. But, I am never too hard on myself. At my age, I have learned my limitations, I accept that, and live with it just fine. Plumbing for example, outside of replacing washers or O rings, I avoid those jobs like the plague. I hire that work out.

I love to tinker and fix things that I have no first hand knowledge about. Not too long ago I ran across an old manual typewriter from the 60's. The carriage return didn't work along with aa few other problems. It was so cool looking I knew I had to have it. I took that thing apart and I am telling you those old typewriters are an engineering marvel. I figured out what was wrong, found the part on Ebay and put her all back together. I was pretty damn happy with myself. If interested here is a picture.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:

Not too long ago I ran across an old manual typewriter from the 60's.

There's an antique shop here that has four or five of them, in addition to an electric probably from the 70s. These old-timers didn't even have a key for the numeral 1 or exclamation point. You typed a small L for the 1 and to make an exclamation point you typed a period, backspaced and typed an apostrophe over it. Can you still find ink ribbons?

As for the OP, yes, I can be sometimes.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:

Not too long ago I ran across an old manual typewriter from the 60's.

There's an antique shop here that has four or five of them, in addition to an electric probably from the 70s. These old-timers didn't even have a key for the numeral 1 or exclamation point. You typed a small L for the 1 and to make an exclamation point you typed a period, backspaced and typed an apostrophe over it. Can you still find ink ribbons?

As for the OP, yes, I can be sometimes.

Oh yeah...they are everywhere. Amazon and Ebay all day long. I actually use that thing from time to time. Kind of fun reliving the "old days". A while back, out of the blue, I typed and mailed a letter to my eight year old granddaughter. She was so excitied that she actually got mail...and from grandpa! Her mom called me the day she got that letter laughing so hard...she felt so important!