Construction Curiosities #52
Lessons Learned from Year 1
Hey! Happy HAPPY Saturday! Matt here.
Welcome to the Construction Curiosities newsletter.
This is #52! One whole year of Newsletters! wowzers
Welcome to the 162 subscribers new this week, and as always thank you to everyone for your support and love over the last year!
We did it y’all! We hit 1000 subscribers! Blew past it actually!
Sorry, some of y’all didn’t end up in the First 1000 club. But that’s our little secret. I’ll never tell🤐
Thank you to everyone who shared the newsletter and my social media posts with friends!
This weekly Newsletter explores my Curiosities about the Construction Industry. It's meant to make you think, smile, and become a better, more thoughtful Construction Professional.
Summary
This week we will look at:
One Musing: Lessons Learned from Year 1
One Survey: Let’s make it better!
One Article: ENR 400
One YouTube Video: No Brown M&Ms
One Meme: Calibrated Eyeballing it
One Musing
When I started this Newsletter last June, I was terrified. What would people think? Why would they care what I have to say? I had full-blown imposter syndrome.
For a long time, I lived in the Comfort & Fear Zones. I would have an idea but the fear of taking that next step would creep in and I would make an excuse an never move forward. By putting myself out there and taking this risk, I’m living in the Learning and Growth Zones. (Don’t worry, I still fall back into the Fear Zone from time to time)
A year ago, I told myself no matter what, I’d do it for a year to see what happened. I didn’t want to give up too soon. The last year has been nothing short of amazing. I’ve learned a ton, did a lot of self-reflection, and met a TON of truly awesome folks.
This week I wanted to share a few lessons I learned in the last year. They aren’t necessarily Construction based but I think would apply to anyone looking to take a chance and do something new.
Don’t wait until things are perfect. There is no perfect time to do anything. Just start.
Just start. You will learn as you go. If you wait to learn it all you’ll never start. When we launched the podcast I had no clue how to even do a podcast. The first few episodes didn’t even go on Apple or Spotify, etc. They were just being emailed out to the Substack list until I figured it out.
As soon as you think you know what you were doing, you don’t. Stay curious and keep learning.
The greatest factor in success is always consistency.
Don’t give up. Someone is always watching and using your efforts as their own motivation.
Being vulnerable and putting your thoughts out on the Internet is the fastest way to test your opinions and ideas. People will happily tell you where you’re wrong so have thick skin.
Putting your thoughts on the Internet will open doors and allow you to meet people you never in your wildest dreams thought you would meet.
Constantly test, iterate, improve, and test again. Your “best” idea will suck. Your “worst” idea will be wildly successful. Keep putting ideas out there and let the market decide. Keep tinkering and experimenting.
Have a goal and work towards it. The substack growth chart tells a story of when I had growth goals. And when I didn’t.
It’s not IF but WHEN someone will take your creative and publish it as their own. How you handle the situation will be seen by many.
Be authentic and yourself in everything you do. The internet is smart and can see through a front.
Take your shot. You won’t regret it.
One Survey
I’ve been going mostly by gut feeling over the last year, so I’d LOVE to get your real feedback on how we can improve the Construction Yeti Substack (newsletter & podcast).
I know most people won’t bother doing it but there’s >1000 folks here now, so it would be awesome if we could get >250 responses. At the end of the day, I want this to be the absolute best it can be for you all!
Take the 5 minute survey here: Construction Yeti Year 1 Survey
One Article
In honor of the Construction Curiosities 1 Year Event, ENR rolled out their annual Top 400 Contractors list and this article about market uncertainty.
ENR's 2023 Top 400 Contractors: Uncertainty Looms Over Market
Contractor revenue grows despite rising costs as firms say owner confidence waning in an increasingly cloudy market.
One YouTube Video
As the 25 Hacks list has been making the rounds, I’ve noticed so many folks have commented in agreement with Hack #1- RTFC (Read the F’n Contract).
I did an expanded version with a few stories in a LinkedIn post but perhaps one of the most hilariously genius stories about reading a contract is from David Lee Roth and Van Halen.
Cheers to Scott Hogan for reminding me of this story I had heard about years ago and forgot.
Enjoy!
Don’t forget to read ALL of your contract kids!
One Meme
Who needs Apple Vision Pros, when you got these bad boys.
If you dig what we’re doing and want to support, you can do that in 2 ways:
The next goal is to hit 2000 subscribers on the Substack and go on Tats Nakagawa’s Specified Growth Podcast! A little while back, Tats threw down a challenge to get to 2000 subscribers and then come on his show.
We only have 970 to go in the next week. 🤪
Now if everyone just shares with 2 friends and they share with 2 friends…. We will be there by Tuesday!
Consider upgrading to support Construction Yeti and get added perks.
After switching podcast recording platforms, I’ve figured out how to do the premium supporter audience link again. Be on the lookout for links and schedule of upcoming guests. I’m pumped about who we have coming up!
Thanks again as always for your support by giving me your most precious resource. Your time and attention.
Now y’all don’t Party too hard this week Celebrating 1 year of Construction Curiosities!
Or do! I’m not your mom. Do what you want.
