by Michael Plank
Historically, my level of handiness can probably best be described with the word “competent.”
Not great. Not masterful. Not brilliant. But I don’t do a terrible job.
Here’s the most recent project: a kitchen vanity we inherited. At some point, someone mounted this bowl to the top of the dresser, but it needed some work. The veneer on top was badly water damaged and the faucet handles didn’t work quite right.
Lauren and I stripped off all the veneer, I took out the basin and the faucet, cut a piece of shower board to fit, put in a new faucet, reassembled everything and caulked all the seams and edges. I just need to put that drawer face back on with some hinges and trays to make a compartment. I’ve never done a project quite like this before. But thanks to YouTube and a text to a friend, now it’s in my skillset. I’m 95% sure that I could now take almost any dresser and almost any big ceramic bowl and build a vanity like this to put into a bathroom.
And here’s my point…
Too often, people get paralyzed by feeling like they don’t know what to do. This is true in health and fitness, where I see it a lot, but it’s true in a lot of other places too. And sometimes, you really do need a little more information.
But mostly, you just need to start. The difference between someone who can do home projects and someone who can’t is that the person who CAN just started doing projects. And I’d bet a lot of money that most of what they know they learned along the way.
The difference between someone who’s fit and someone who isn’t is that the fit person started. And they learned along the way.
And those people got themselves into trouble and got in over their heads. But then they asked for help and got it and kept going. And now they seem like these superhumans who have all these character traits that we wish we had.
But all they did was just start.
I can’t say for certain, but I’d bet that the thing you want is on the other side of just starting.