Those who know me well will be well aware of my feelings about the whole CZ/UZ thing and my beliefs. These come from way back when i first started in the motor trade in 1982 or to be more accurate, at my very first selling skills training course which was around May of 1983. The guy who was taking the course was called Phil, he stood in front of us on the first morning, a room full of twenty somethings all eager to make their mark on the trade and told us what he considered to be the most important rule in selling anything. I remember it like it was yesterday, he told us that we each had two ears and one mouth and we should use them in that proportion. I did and it works, i still shake my head and smile to myself when someone tries to sell me something but doesn’t know when to shut up. I have listened to sales people miss the buying signals and talk themselves out of a deal so many times over the years and had to intervene to resurrect it. There are no secrets about selling anything, just basic rules and if followed it’s a very enjoyable job.
One of the other things he talked about was the comfort zone thing. It was all quite new to me at that time and I wasn’t alone, i think most of the people in the room had little idea what he was talking about. He was a very clever guy and to get our attention he told us in no uncertain terms that all the best sex was definitely in the “uncomfortable zone”. I think most of it went way over my head at the time but some of it must have sunk in or I wouldn’t remember it as well as i do and he was definitely correct! Turn the clock on 36 years and the vast majority of my UZ experiences come from my work or during building the house at Nannup and this weekend has been a perfect example. There have been a number of tasks which i wanted to do which have taken me so far into the UZ that I’m amazed to have got through them. Plumb in a vanity unit which to be honest didn’t fit the space but looks really good now it’s in there but I had to dig deep into my improvisation resources before i even got to the plumbing part of it but i got there eventually. Tile a couple of splashbacks, i mean, how hard can it be? Well it has absolutely needed all of my thinking-outside-the-box skills and some, cutting holes for power points, negotiating my way around a curved top vanity unit and round another power point to name just a few of the challenges but i got there in the end and although if you look really carefully one of them is not quite straight i think its a good effort. I now need to learn how to grout them to complete the job.
Despite the challenges, some of which have really tried my patience, learning new skills is always a bonus even if they push you a long way out of your comfort zone. Keeps the grey matter on the ball!