Between the years 2014 to 2020, I was heavily active on this website. I posted regularly and it consumed a significant amount of my time and attention.

The topics I wrote about were extremely random. I wrote about politics, sports, word games, music, family life, spiritual issues and even art. I even threw in some fiction and off-beat satire. The only thing these topics had in common is that I was interested in them. Other than that, there’s no reason for them to have been on one website. The pinnacle of this randomness was the review I wrote of a cinnamon danish I bought from a vending machine.

From the beginning, I knew this randomness was not ideal for a blog. On the contrary, it’s better to stay on a specific niche or topic and establish yourself as an expert on that topic.

But I did the opposite and I knew I was doing it. I was all over the place. And I didn’t really care. I enjoyed the writing and the interactions that came from it. It was all good and fun. That is…until my time became extremely limited…to the point where there was no time at all for random writing. Gradually, my posts became more infrequent and I eventually shut it all down. My last post was more than three years ago.

Writing to Woodworking

One of the last articles I posted was about the woodworking business I had created. That business, in addition to my family and full-time job, were the main reasons why I had so little time.

But I was happy to make that trade. I never made any money from writing. Woodworking, on the other hand, was putting real money in my pocket. With minimal marketing effort, I gradually got to the point where I could be as busy as I wanted to be. I could fully occupy my available time with orders that earned me a respectable hourly rate.

The income wasn’t enough to justify leaving my day job. It still isn’t. I’ll elaborate on this in future posts. Nonetheless, the orders and the revenue served my interests quite well. They enabled me to…

• bring in extra income to pay bills (super helpful during hyper inflation)
• acquire new and better tools
• improve and evolve my products, designs and catalog
• establish a successful online profile and reputation
• create a long list of clients who now trust me and my work

Those are some modest yet tangible achievements. I’m proud of them. But the thing I’m most excited about – more so than anything listed above – is the knowledge and experience I gained while doing it all. It’s far more valuable to me than all the money I made in exchange for doing the work.

My plan is to continue full-steam-ahead with this knowledge to advance my woodworking business and also create more businesses. This effort is not the “big new endeavor” I’m referring to in the title of this post. But rather, it refers to my attempt to document my execution of this plan. I’d like to transparently demonstrate what I’m doing and how I’m doing it while articulating the thoughts that lead to my actions.

Documenting the Journey

All that to say…I’ll be posting regularly on this website again. But not with the random aimlessness with which I always posted before. No more satirical commentaries or silly fiction (although those were so much fun!). Instead, I will hone in and focus on my entrepreneurial efforts

This is the right time to mention that I don’t consider myself an expert on these topics, nor will I present myself as one. Of course, I certainly know more about this stuff than those who aren’t doing it at all. To them, I may appear to be an expert. And there may be some entrepreneurs out there who are at different stages of the journey. Maybe they’re just getting started or they don’t know how to start. Something I post here may help them along their way.

I don’t want to falsely imply that I’m doing this with purely altruistic motives. Obviously, I do hope that others get something out of this content. But I must honestly acknowledge that I also need to gain something from it. What will I gain from the time and energy I set aside to share my thoughts here? Whether that means clients, orders or subscribers…I don’t know. But it must provide me with some kind of return…otherwise I just can’t afford to do it. But I’ll figure that out later.

What’s clear to me now, as it always has been, is that I need to chronicle this effort in one way or another. I have to get these thoughts and actions on paper or on a screen … even if I don’t share it with anyone. That’s just the way I’m wired. Writing organizes everything in my mind and it helps me to align my efforts with my priorities.

Pivoting to the Goal

As for those priorities, they’re all aimed at one set of goals; build successful businesses, create wealth and make a significant impact in the lives of those who join me in this journey.

There’s obviously so much to learn from those who have already succeeded, from those who already walked this path and achieved these goals. But I would suggest there’s an entirely separate value in watching someone who’s still on the path … someone who’s still trying to make it.

I recently read a biography about Elon Musk. And yeah…it was super interesting. It tells you everything he did and how he got to where he is today, great. But it’s all written from the present-day perspective in which you and I and everyone else knows who Musk is and what he’s done. How interesting would it have been to read Musk’s personal blog from 1995 to 2005 and then see him rise over time to where he is today? I’m not sure if he wrote journals or chronicled any of those years but what a treasure they would be if he did.

I miss writing. I spent the last three years building my products and selling them…hundreds of them. I wrote very little about it. Aside from my wife, hardly anyone knew what I was doing or what I was aiming for. At times, not even I was aware of what I was aiming for. I was just doing it. And I could very well spend the next three years doing the same thing.

In the last year, however, I came to the realization that something has to change in a big way. My present routine won’t get me to where I need to be. I have a corporate job from 8 to 5 (which I like). I have a family (I like them too). And as I mentioned, I also have the woodworking business on the side for which I’m very grateful. It’s all good…I’m very blessed.

But the current outlay of my time won’t get me to my above-mentioned goals. A drastic change is in the works. I’m not ready to reveal it all now. But if you’re interested in what’s next, that’s a good reason to occasionally check in here and follow along.

The post A Big New Endeavor appeared first on Joseph Gonzales.

There’s no way I could’ve established or maintained a real woodworking business with such an inconvenient setup. There I was, applying polyurethane out in the open wind with flies and mosquitoes landing on my work. Everything was always dirty. It was a big unworkable mess.

But then in March of 2018, I got an incredible job offer in Houston. I accepted the offer and moved there with my family. Months later, my wife and I found and bought a house we liked in Pearland, just south of Houston.

A Blank Slate

There’s a lot that we like about our new home. But the only part of the house that matters in this post is the 1-car garage. I’m gradually making it into a fully functional workshop. And the purpose of this post is to chronicle the evolution of this garage from a simple, empty space to the workplace I need it to be. Here it is when I moved in…just a bunch of paint and materials from the previous owner and a few of my tools. It’s a blank slate with unlimited potential.

At first glance, I’m sure you’ve already noticed a few things which make this garage an ideal working environment. First of all, it has nicely painted walls with insulation behind them. This is critical during the hot summer and the cold winter. It won’t be any fun to work in this garage if it’s uncomfortable. The window in the back will help with ventilation.

Also, as you can see, it’s a deep garage. It’s only 8 feet wide, but it extends more than 24 feet from the front to the back. That amounts to 200 sqft of floor space and 1600 cubic feet…and I intend to maximize every bit of it.

A Humble Beginning

I have big plans for this space and I’m really excited about it. In this post, I’ll chronicle the development of this garage from this humble beginning to whatever it becomes. The most recent updates will appear at the bottom. In September, I filed the paperwork for Joseph’s Woodwork & Crafts Company. Click here to read about the ongoing development of this new business.

As for this post, this is all about my workshop. I’ll lay out my plans, list my tools and honestly explain what’s working and not working. I still have some considerable tool purchases to make. But as I make those purchases and build work stations in this garage, I’ll faithfully update this post with pictures and a summary of all that I did.

I understand that maybe only woodworkers will be interested in a post like this one. But that’s ok with me. I understand woodworkers because I’m one of them. And it’s only after spending hundreds of hours alone on projects that you can begin to understand the importance of a proper workspace. Thanks for joining me on this journey. I’d appreciate your feedback. Feel free to comment down below.

The Evolution of My Woodworking Shop

July 2018 – Although it’s incredibly hot and uncomfortable here in Pearland this summer, nothing can dampen my enthusiasm for making this garage into a super-productive woodworking shop. Since we just moved in a few weeks ago, however, there are many little projects I must attend to first.

I went ahead and bought a $400 Honda lawnmower at Home Depot. It’s the first lawnmower I’ve ever purchased. There were others that were cheaper. But I figured I’d go ahead and get a good one, take good care of it make it last a long time. $400 is nothing when you consider the cost of paying for a lawn service month after month, year after year.

The real drawback to owning a lawnmower, aside from the maintenance and the price, is that it takes up so much space. I can’t put it on a shelf or hang it on the wall. It occupies 10 square feet of the limited floor space I have in this garage. As a result of this, I’m already thinking about building some kind of shed in the backyard that would hold the lawnmower and other big items for the lawn. Although I’d like to own a wheelbarrow, for example, there’s no way I’m going to keep one in this garage.

First Project

Critical project #1 is to build some kind of shelving for our master closet, which currently has nothing; no shelves, no rod, no paint. When I get a chance, I’ll write a post about that project (here’s the post).

It’s actually good to do a couple of projects in a garage where nothing is set up. It slowly reveals the arrangement that’s going to make the most sense. For now, I put my sawhorses against one of the long walls and laid some 2 x 12 boards on them. And then I hung a bright light above it. That’s my setup so far. It’ll probably change 100 times.

Free Wood!!

Wow, great news for me. It turns out that a lot of wood is thrown away where I work. The thing is…lots of parts and equipment arrive to our facility on pallets or in crates. They end up reusing a lot of it, but most of it just gets thrown away. Therefore, if I see material in the dumpster that I can use, I’m free to take it. Oh man, this is great. Several times already, I’ve brought material home that would easily cost more than $50 if I bought it at the store.

Of course, some of the wood is loaded with nails and have been exposed to the sun and rain for a long time. But that’s perfectly fine with me. Some of the stuff I plan to build will specifically require worn material. Check out this awesome crate they gave me:

Too Much Free Wood

Oh man, I sorta got carried away with all the free wood at work. It’s now taking up a huge section of the garage and it’s in my way. Ironically, because I’m spending so much time removing nails from these boards, I don’t have any time to build anything with all this free wood. I guess I’ll have to hold off on bringing more wood home.

If I see more great pieces in the dumpster at work, however, I won’t resist taking it home. It’s simply impossible for a woodworker to refuse good, free wood. If you can’t relate, imagine seeing a $20 bill on the other side of the street. It’s inconvenient for you to cross the street, but you’re gonna do it anyway. Twenty dollars is twenty dollars! And when I see awesome wood in the trash, I see dollar bills!

The post The Evolution of My Woodworking Shop (My Garage) appeared first on Joseph Gonzales.