Woodworking can help you in several other areas of your life, including being more self reliant. There are so many things that woodworking teaches, but the most important is that you can always figure it out. That tends to trickle into other areas of your life. Here is my woodworking and self reliance story…
Woodworking and Plumbing
I changed my kitchen sink faucet this weekend. While on the surface this has nothing to do with woodworking, it actually does in a way. Without the lessons and the confidence that woodworking has built in me, I may not have attempted this myself.
One of the greatest lessons in woodworking comes from figuring things out. For just about every single project that you make, you are going to have to figure things out as you go. Even when you have more experience, you will still run into things that you have to figure out on the fly.
For beginners, this is one of the hurtles that makes some people give up too soon. Woodworking is very wide in scope and very deep too. Each discipline can be a lifelong study that only becomes more interesting and fulfilling over time. There are going to be ample opportunities to solve problems and figure out solutions as you go. Here is the real thing that the problem solving process does for you…
Woodworking and the Pattern of Success
Over time, you will develop a pattern of success running into problems and figuring them out. Psychologically this creates a pattern in your brain that makes you more confident based on previous success.
Your brain sees a problem, and because of the track record that you have built successfully solving problems, you look at the current situation differently. Here is where woodworking slowly teaches you that you can solve problems in other areas too.
My faucet is not made from wood, and does not have anything to do with woodworking other than solving a problem. The problem being the previous faucet cracked and would spray water all over the place.
Thinking Mechanically
Woodworking makes you think about things differently. You will start thinking more mechanically, and this is helpful around the house. It will make you more self reliant, and before you know it, you will be solving all sorts of problems.
Most of the time in woodworking, you will be figuring out how to make things work. Angles, hinges, movement, they are all part of the design. As you design, and engineer, you teach yourself how to be a problem solver.
Thankfully, woodworking taught me that I am more than qualified to replace that faucet. I saved a lot of money over paying someone else to do it, and I know that the job was done well without skipping any steps because I did it myself.
Add self reliance to your list of reasons that you are learning about woodworking, it’s one of the hidden benefits. Happy building.
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