Picture trigger
It all started very innocently. Having finished power shearing my section of cedars (Thuja occidentalis), I naturally walked over to my crew members to ask what was next. And that’s when the other working manager on site, decided to snap a photo of me. Posting the photo on my company’s WhatsApp was a major blunder. But we’ll get to that. First the picture.
Now, to be honest, this isn’t a very flattering picture. My round, pandemic cheeks are covered in cedar clippings and my jacket makes me look like a flagger. I didn’t want this to go out on the company WhatsApp. But out it went, without my permission.
Haters crawl out
By the time I arrived at home, the WhatsApp chat was shockingly jammed with hate mail, some of it badly misspelled, and incoherent. I had no idea one bad picture could trigger so much hate. It went from ageism to xenophobia, and questions about my skills and output. You name it. It was all total garbage. And it made me laugh.
Now, we have two important points to consider here. One is that how you see yourself drastically differs from how others see you. It’s always there but it helps to remember it. Because even in bad pictures, I feel like the man.
The second point I learned from Grant Cardone: having haters is a good sign. You can’t give in. Just laugh it off and keep going. Outperform and crush the losers all year.
Lucky to have Vas?
Now, I didn’t get a chance to read all of the garbage because my boss stepped in and took it all out. Then he shut down the haters better than I could by listing my career highlights and finishing with the words, “we’re lucky to have Vas!“. No one, and I mean no one, commented after that. The haters all crawled back into their holes. Lucky to have Vas; that’s a hard sell.
Let me humbly add some notes.
It’s a long year outside in the landscape. I float around among the crews, helping and training, when I’m not doing installs. Installs that generate extra revenues.
Currently, I’m the only Red Seal Journeyman Horticulturist and ISA certified arborist on staff; and I have sign-off authority for level one arborist technicians in BC. Because I like the extra income, I also do commercial sites on weekends.
Then you have to add side-work and two teenagers, plus a wife with great talent for inventing chores. I can’t do much about my grey hair.
Don’t be afraid of haters. I think it’s a good sign when you get some. Keep doing your best work!
