IT’S THE VERY FIRST ONE!

-Welcome to the Trying to be Decent Newsletter!

Thanks for being here! Some of you are friends. Some of you are family. Most of you are my biggest supporters in the guitar world. That’s probably how a lot of you know about me, anyway. However you got here, thanks for giving me a shot. I’m stoked to have you on board, and I hope I can provide you with something useful.

If you’ve been watching my Stahman Guitars Instagram account, you might’ve noticed something funny: The non-guitar content consistently outperforms the guitar stuff!

And it’s not by a little bit.

The responses I get from the non-guitar writing carry an important message. I’ve helped more people through writing than fixing guitars. Fix a guitar, affect one person. Write something, affect all the people that read it. Writing’s the only way to spread the goods. That’s where the newsletter comes in.

-Why the hell would I call this thing “Trying to be Decent?” Shouldn’t the name be more extreme or authoritative? Why not “CRUSHING YOUR ENEMIES IN BUSINESS” or “90 DAYS TO BECOME UNSTOPPABLE FOREVER NO MATTER HOW MANY BULLETS PIERCE YOUR FLESH”?

First: I don’t really dig stuff like that. I’m 100% aware that I will have to engage in that sort of titling tomfoolery if I aim to get a larger view/read rate. I’m gonna fight against it for now, though. Second: I don’t think we all need to be riding waves of extremes. It’s not healthy, and it’s not realistic. So I promote being decent! I believe it’s the way.

Definition of Decent (From Oxford Languages, via Bing):

de·cent

[ˈdēs(ə)nt]

adjective

1. conforming with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behavior:
   “the good name of such a decent and innocent person”
   • appropriate; fitting:
     “they would meet again after a decent interval”

I’m going to add my definition. And that is “good.” Not great. Not perfect. Good. Maybe even pretty good.

-We can’t be amazing at everything, but we can at least be decent at everything we care about.

Imagine CRUSHING IT at everything you do. CRUSHING YOUR FISHING TRIP. CRUSHING DUST REMOVAL ON THE BASEBOARDS IN YOUR KITCHEN AND UNUSED GUEST ROOM. CRUSHING THE PLACEMENT OF A STAMP ON A POSTCARD. That sounds insane. Not a life I want to live.

If I care about something, I strive for decent performance. I care deeply about my business and my craft. I always put effort into luthiery, and I get decent results. I’m not going to say my re-fret jobs are “perfect.” I get pretty damn close, though. Decent saves the day. It allows me to be productive and take pride in my work.

The stickiest situations are the important ones I don’t care about. I have to acknowledge their importance. There’s no avoiding these tasks. I’ll put in a decent effort. Nothing herculean. Wouldn’t it be absurd for me to excel in these areas?

Really, I’m content to be a decent vacuum cleaner pilot. I’ll still reap the benefits of an acceptably clean house. There’s no compelling reason for me to put extra time and effort into world-class vacuum cleaner skills. I’ve got bigger worms to fry.

What about the areas in life that are important, but require more time or skill than what I’ve got? My favorite Super Secret Strategy is to outsource that stuff. To me, that still counts as being decent. I’m putting something in the hands of a true professional. The job gets done. And that’s decent. 

By the way, that’s how I take care of my bookkeeping and tax stuff. I’ve got a decent system, and a better accounting firm. I get ‘em what they need, and they take care of the stuff  I don’t want to do. And they’re more knowledgeable. I have no desire to learn the tax code.

-The more things you’re decent at, the better your life will be.
(DECENT+DECENT+DECENT=AMAZING)

Imagine being a decent cook, a decent organizer, and a decent painter. If your list stopped there, that would be an amazing life, made possible by just being decent! Each additional area in which you become decent leads to opportunities and new experiences. Throw enough decent together, and it will form something amazing. Be a decent friend, lover, sibling, and coworker. And then find some other ways to be decent too. It adds up!

-Shoot for greatness in one area, and you may become crippled in other areas. Additionally, even if you do achieve the gold star, it won’t solve your problems. Just take a look at the rich and famous!

You’re already thinking of someone, aren’t you? The pro athlete that took their own life. The movie star who’s had fifteen spouses. The powerful politician who got busted engaging in exactly the behavior they were crusading against.

Committing to total domination in one area takes a lot. It may even take everything. For most of us, that’s not a worthwhile trade-off. We’d rather be decent in all the areas we care about, than be tortured by a pursuit of excellence in just one facet of life.

-Remember that a jack of all trades is better than a master of one. Learn some new stuff. You don’t need to be a god. You’ll benefit from becoming decent, though. Decent gets shit done!

Some of my fellow luthiers will bristle at this, and that’s fine. Decent gets shit done. Perfect never arrives, and often never starts.

Look at a few giants of the luthiery trade: Frank Ford, Dan Erlewine, Ian Davlin, Joe Glaser, Doug Proper, Joel Wilkens, and others. Every single one of these people is multifaceted. Frank was a machinist, like Dan and Joe. Doug is an educator, and could probably work for a museum doing restoration of antiques. Joel knows how to work on cars! Every one of them could make a living doing paint work if guitars disappeared from the Earth.

When your house is on fire, will you wait for the perfect fire crew to arrive, or take the decent one that shows up? If your transmission goes out, do you require the best in the country, or a decent shop nearby? Feel free to chase perfect, best, and amazing; but decent gets shit done. Every time.

-It helps to look up to the better and best. Reduce the gap between your current position and greatness, and you’ll probably become decent.

I’m certainly not arguing against becoming great. By all means, shoot for the stars! In the worst case scenario, aiming high will result in you becoming decent (which is pretty good). No one is asking you to be perfect. We just need you to be decent.

Thanks for reading. You’re a badass. Til next time!

-Nate

(Decent website on the way. It won’t be perfect!)