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Plastering a ceiling

Watch an expert … then copy!

June 4, 2015 Ken 0 Comments

If you want to be good at something, study a pro. I was out of work and spending a lot of time in the house quite a few years ago, when it became necessary to have a room plastered. I say “became neccessary” … what I really mean is I had started to decorate the room and found that as I was going through the preparation the walls were shedding old plaster almost as fast as old paper. It was coming off in chunks! :/ Oops, time to call in a professional! I asked this guy, who was in his fifties, I’d say, if he would mind if I stuck around and watched him work. I explained I was at home anyway, and I was always curious to see how jobs should be done properly. He was quite okay about that, as long as I kept him in regular cups of tea, that was the deal. He wouldn’t eat (I offered), saying the job called for so much bending and stooping that he found it better to have a light breakfast before work and then eat nothing till he got home. He’d tried eating during the day while on a job, but it interfered with his digestion. Fair enough, I thought, whatever works for him (I found out later that was the first piece of really useful advice I’d get from him) … subscribeWe got on fine, chatting away about all kinds of things while he worked, and I watched and took careful note of everything he was doing. Over the next day or two I had a really good grounding in the method. Watching the way he did things methodically, never rushing, but somehow making steady progress, and the way he was able to achieve an almost faultless finish with long, confident strokes of his float … it really was an education. I also asked him the occasional question, while being careful not to make a nuisance of myself. The next time I came across a patch of plaster that needed fixing I made a better job of it that I’d been used to.  In fact, it looked quite decent. That gave me confidence. Next time I was about to decorate a room I decided to have a go at plastering. I think I only did one wall that first time, but I learned a lot by doing it. Over the next year or so I went on to strip and plaster virtually every wall in the house (it’s an old house!), and I replastered every room. The results weren’t as good as you’d expect from a professional, but they were good, and they definitely got better with each job I took on. I remembered what I’d seen Bill do (I think that was him name). I’d been particularly impressed by two things, firstly his plastering technique (which I tried to copy as closely as possible), and secondly the fact that he never seemed to be in a rush. He worked steadily and methodically, taking each section and dealing with it, never in a rush to try and do more than he could handle, or to go back over an area once he’d achieved a nice finish. I copied that as well. I’m not bragging but my plastering improved tremendously. With just a day or two watching a professional (I remember he told me he’d been a plasterer for about thirty years or more), I’d learned hell of a lot.

Truly amazing? Really?

So what’s this got to do with being truly amazing? A lot, actually. I look on it as a great example of modelling. I could have studied plastering from DIY books or even taken a course in it, I suppose. That might have worked (although I have my doubts). As it happened, I was able to watch a pro at work, and close up, and ask him the occasional question about the finer points of the job. I learned so much about plastering in just two days, and in the following months by putting into practice what I’d seen, that I was able to take on any room and replaster it from scratch before going ahead and decorating. Instead of just patching up little areas of damaged plaster (and not very successfully), I’d become skilled and confident enough to take on any plastering that came my way. I even did favours for a few neighbours from time to time, at the same time honing my new skills (even a rescue job when a section of a neighbour’s living room ceiling collapsed!). I don’t say this to make out I’m suddenly a professional plasterer, or as good as a professional. That kind of skill comes with months and years of practice. What I’m pointing out is that something that most do-it-yourselfers would shy away from had come right within my capabilities. I wasn’t nervous about having a go at doing a bit of plastering anymore. In fact, I’d learned to really enjoy the work!

If you think you can, or you think you can’t … you’re right!

This relates to so much in life. You think you couldn’t possibly do a thing, so you never even try (that’s the default position for so many people, in so many situations). But life teaches you that you can surprise yourself with your ability to learn new things. And one of the best ways to do that is to find someone who is doing it already, and doing it well, and modelling what they do. You can apply this to all kinds of things. You can become excellent at something instead of settling for just being passable. And it’s worth keeping this in mind when it comes to, for example, making money online. Sure, the ones who are making a proper living online, and specially those who are making a fortune, are unusual. Not everyone can do what they do. But surprisingly, many of them don’t have a great depth of knowledge when it comes to computers, even though they’re making money using them. Instead, they learn just what they need to learn in order to do a particular thing, and they focus on that. Some manage to make crazy amounts of money while barely possessing any computer skills worth mentioning. The thing is, they learn the little bits that are important and they take action, putting that bit of knowledge to work in a productive way. Very few of them are IT professionals. Most wouldn’t be able to recognise a piece of programming code from a hole in the wall (even one that needed plastering!), but it doesn’t matter. They learn only what they need to learn. Just enough. That’s the key – they don’t set out to become experts, just to be able to get things done.

Could you do it?

I don’t see why not. Here’s a tip that might help: if you’re unsure how to do something, or you think it’s way beyond your capabilities, do a search online. Tap out the question into the Google search box, or put it into the search at YouTube. There are probably hundreds of people who have the skills you need and are willing to share their knowledge. I hate to admit it but I was slow to realise this. If there was something that I didn’t understand, that was it, end of the road. I was in the habit of assuming I’d never master that skill or ability. That’s all changed now. Anytime I want to do something to with computers or the internet, no matter how far out of my comfort zone it might be, the first thing I do is search online for some advice or information, or a tutorial on the subject. Believe me, the extent of the knowledge that’s available online these days is staggering. And there are entire online repositories of information, such as the one at udemy.com, where those with knowledge and skills in numerous subjects have put together online instructional courses. These are courses you have to pay for, but they have regular reductions to get more sales so don’t feel you have to fork out a fortune to get the info you need. Another interesting site is fiverr.com, where those with the skills are willing to do things for you for a small amount (the original idea was everything would cost just $5, but it’s expanded now and although most ‘gigs’ start at a fiver, many have extras that cost a bit more). So there’s always a way to achieve what you need, even if it means outsourcing the job to someone more skilled in that particular area.

If you don’t look, you don’t find!

I’ve just done a quick search on udemy.com and I came across a free  course called Learn to Setup Websites from Scratch (I wasn’t even aware there were any free courses on udemy!). This one consists of 24 lectures, mostly 5-10 minutes, a few about 20 minutes, and 4 hours of video instruction. I just watched one of the longer lectures and it was really very good, perfect for a beginner. I’ll take a good look at that course (I’m sure there are things in there that I don’t know yet) and, if you’re interested in having your own website, I’d recommend you do too. Udemy has courses on all kinds of things, not just computer-related subjects. There are courses on health and fitness topics, personal development, design, business, marketing, music, etc, etc. The bottom line is do not assume you can’t do something. The chances are you only need to learn a limited number of things in order to achieve what you want, so don’t let lack of knowledge put you off. And that information is available, mostly free, sometimes paid for. But it’s there. And once you make the commitment to learn some new things, your horizons suddenly get wider and more inviting. You’re equipped to do practically anything! I’m not saying everyone should be making money online. The world needs professionals, and ditch diggers, and road sweepers, and every other job you can think of. But if you want to shake off the normal, run of the mill job options open to you and achieve something better, then making money online might be just what you’re looking for. And you don’t need to be a computer expert to do it!

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