This Wall Doesn’t Need Plastering, It Just Needs To Be Smooth!

We recently downsized from a house to a flat (part of the strategy to make setting up my own business viable).

We went for the option which involves buying a relatively cheaper place with a lot of potential and using the saved equity from doing so to refurbish it and get the place exactly as we want, as well as being as energy efficient as possible going forwards.

One of the many contractors we hired to help with this stood out because of his attitude.

He talked about spending time researching new methods and materials that he can use to construct the desired end result for the client with minimal time and expenditure. He explained this meant he can do more jobs for more people, who might be paying more for materials but much less for labour (because everything he’s doing is more efficient and less messy than more traditional methods).

I asked him if he could re-plaster a wall because it was quite damaged. He asked how I would like the wall to look. Odd question, I thought, and replied “smooth”. His reply was “well then this wall doesn’t need plastering, it just needs to be smooth!”

We discussed how that could be achieved in a quicker and cheaper way than re-plastering it, he worked his magic on it, and I couldn’t have been happier with the results!

I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between this interaction and the pitch I have to my clients.

Most people seeking a therapist are doing so in the context of having been conditioned into assuming that they need to engage with the popularised traditional therapy process, in the understanding that it’ll take time and will probably be challenging, painful even.

However, the truth is that someone who’s unhappy doesn’t necessarily need to ‘unpack everything’ with a therapist, they just need to be happy!

Focusing on what is wanted is clearly the best place to start. There are then many ways, traditional, progressive, even experimental, to achieve it. I’m inclined to lean towards the quickest, least messy, least expensive way I know of.

By accepting my contractors invitation to try something different to what I’d assumed would be needed, I was amazed at how quickly and neatly he completed everything I’d hoped he might, on schedule and well within my budget.

Similarly to him, my chosen approach is the result of investigation into how time and money can be saved through replacing traditional approaches with new methods and ‘materials’, so that people can achieve what they want, as painlessly as possible, without having to spend any more time than necessary on the process of achieving it.

All I can say to anyone seeking a therapist is why not try something different, if it means you can achieve the same outcome quicker and easier? After all, life doesn’t always need plastering, it just needs to be smooth!