That was the most valuable lesson he learned throughout his half a century in the electrical industry, he said.
"I was told this on my first day at work and have always remembered that good advice."
Stuart "Stu" Smeaton celebrated 50 years of working with Aurora Energy (and its predecessors) at the weekend.
His career began on June 25, 1973, when he worked as an assistant lineman. He was 22.
At that stage, he was not even thinking much about long-term career options.
He qualified as a high voltage line mechanic in 1980 and went on to undertake several roles such as tree management and lines inspection.
Back in the ’90s, he even had to wear a backpack with two aerials and inspect more than 20,000 power poles in Dunedin on foot, so they could be identified by GPS.
Now a quality assurance officer, Mr Smeaton inspects the quality of the work carried out by Aurora Energy’s contractors.
The electricity industry had changed a lot, but that only made him want to stick around a while longer, he said.
"People are buying EVs, they’re putting solar panels on their roofs and storing power in batteries and Aurora Energy is making sure our network has enough capacity for more people using electricity as well as feeding power back into the grid.
"Over the last few years, it’s been fantastic to be part of the company as we lifted our investment across the network and have begun to position ourselves for this future," Mr Smeaton said.
The biggest changes he had seen over the years had been to health and safety and traffic management.
When he first started, the only thing contractors had to protect themselves from traffic was a men-at-work sign, he said.
"When I first started, people used bare hands on the low voltage lines and only used rubber gloves on the high voltage, although they did wear appropriate footwear."
His advice to those who did not know what they wanted to do in life was to find a job that they really enjoyed and give it their best effort.
He also encouraged young people to give the electrical industry a crack.
"It's such an interesting sector to work in with a lot of career opportunities and I'd encourage young people to consider it as a career option, especially with increasing electrification.
"It's a fascinating industry."
