Concrete Sets. You Don't Have To.

Some things are meant to harden. You are not one of them.

I've worked with a lot of concrete.

It doesn't care how you feel.

It doesn't wait.

It doesn't forgive bad timing.

Once it sets, that's it.

There's a window. A short one.

Where it's pliable.

Where you can shape it, shift it, carve in a mark, and fix a mistake.

But wait too long?

It becomes stone.

And stone doesn't change.

Some builders become concrete too early.

They get set in how they manage.

How they Plan.

How they bid, build, and lead.

They confuse "experience" with "finished."

But here's the truth most won't say out loud:

Hardening too soon is how you start to crack.

I've been in this field a long time.

Long enough to know that staying relevant, hell, staying alive in spirit, means staying a little wet around the edges.

It means saying,

"Maybe there's a better way."

"Maybe I don't know everything."

"Maybe this young apprentice has something to teach me."

Flexibility isn't weakness.

It's a survival skill.

And the pros who last, the real ones, don't just know how to pour concrete.

They know how not to set.

Because, unlike concrete, you do get another chance.

You can reset the formwork.

You can break it up and start again.

You can keep evolving even if the boots are worn and the back is sore.

So let the concrete set.

But you?

Stay fluid.

Field Note:

Hardening is for structures.

Not for souls.