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Hello again everyone hope you are all well! If you are new here, I’m Rob. I’ve been a bricklayer for 20 years and now I run a podcast about mental health in the construction industry called The MYHPodcast. (You can find it on all major podcast platforms)
Its 3 days to go till the Big man is here (Santa) and I thought it was about time I checked in with you all the last time we spoke The MYHPodcast was just about to turn 1 and I had just come back from doing a week’s filming with Wienerberger (I’m wearing the hoodie as I write this blog) Speaking of hoodies you can now get your very own MYHPodcast Hoodies and other merch on our website 😊
It’s been another amazing month for me and The MYHPodcast, I started the month off with 2 trips down to the big smoke. The first was a day out with Stephen from Construction Sport - Building Teams. Saving Lives. We did a sponsored walk around London’s Rugby union stadiums and finished the day at Twickenham. We were walking to raise some money for fellow bricklayer who is going through a tough time at the min. You can read David’s story here and donate as well to our walk here.
Then 2 days later I was back down for a few beers with our Commander and chief (Ash) and all the boys. It was great to see you all and I can’t wait for the next one! It was so good to speak to you all face to face and not through a screen. I really feel I have made friends for life. A week later I was back with Ash but not as far south. We both had a day trip to Leamington spa, we had a very exciting meeting with Tony and his team over at A+E Construction (more to come on this in future blogs)
And finally I can now confirm I have been asked to go on the road again with Andy Stevens and Matt (D5 Construction) this time we will be out promoting everything that The MYHPodcast is all about we will be working with the light house club who are the UK and Ireland construction industry charity and they run the construction industry help line
I can really appreciate all the great things that are happening now both with work and in my personal life. When I was at my lowest point, when Louise left with the boys. I felt like whatever I touched turned to shit and nothing would go right. When Lou had left, I went to work as normal, and I don’t think anybody knew what I was going through or maybe they did but just didn’t want to or know how to talk about it. I was building 4 blocks of student accommodation in Liverpool, this time for a great client. I would be turning up and just doing enough to get by without anyone having to pull me up on my work, but I wasn’t going at my normal pace. I was taking my finger off the pulse with a lot of things. I stopped exercising, looking after myself (not getting my haircut regular etc) not eating properly, very little sleep and when I did sleep it was broken. It was a vicious merry go round that I felt like I couldn’t get off.
While this was going on Lou and I were trying to sort our marriage out and figure out what was best for us and the boys. We told them I was working away to try and keep things as normal as possible. Friends started to ask questions as well. It was getting harder and harder to hide what was going on and there were times I felt like giving up and saying fuck it I will just be single. But I knew that wasn’t what I wanted, I loved Lou and the boys more than anything! I knew I had to fight for it if I wanted to keep the amazing life I already had.
I couldn’t see how good it was before because I was just totally consumed with everything else in my life, I lost touch with what was/is the most important things in my life. When I realised all of this, I knew somethings had to change in my life for the better. I had to adjust to the change to our new way of life.
Building wise I have been busy as always. I have been on a big dig out job in Stockport I will be putting a video up on our Youtube channel of this job head over and check it out here. I managed to get the first lift of blockwork done on my house and hoping to get the tanking detail done, as well as finishing the stone work on the garage by the end of Jan.
December’s podcast is available now listen here and it is a belter! It is by far my favourite pod to date. We have Chris Shaw on from EveryTrade what a great guy Chris is! Go check him out and give him a follow, if you don’t follow Chris already. He runs a very successful domestic construction company based in the northwest and everything he does is very slick! He comes on and talks about the highs and lows of running a busy construction company and what it takes, we go deep on this one and I thing you will love it so check it out here and let me know what you think. Also let me know who you would like me to get on the podcast.
With 2021 ending and 2022 starting I would like to say thank you to you all for all the amazing support you have given me and the podcast over the past 12 months. A big special thank you must go to Ash for giving me a platform on his website as well as all the other support he has given me over the past year, and I know I have made a friend for life. (Sorry I was a bit sick in my mouth then 😉) I hope you all have had an amazing Christmas and New Year. Remember that last year was last year and this year is completely new full of exciting new opportunities and adventures. Keep moving forward and thinking positively and positive things will happen. Remember life is very special and we only get 1 crack at it so make the most of it.
Stay safe, keep laying, be kind and I will speak to you all soon
Thanks
Rob