Be A Better Builder
Follow-up thoughts on the creative process.
Hello again! Welcome back to The Workbox. In case you missed it, here is last week's post titled We Are Makers, You and I. I have been writing lately on what it means to me to be a maker. The previous post is in part because I am excited about practicing that skill and challenging myself to follow through on projects, really pushing those ideas into realities. Today, I want to share my thoughts and musings on what it means to be a better builder.
START SOMEWHERE
Everyone has to start somewhere. YouTube is full of craftsmen, makers, builders, and vloggers who seem to have jumped off the cliff into the deep end. Obviously, they started somewhere, some latent talent or skill, and were born with some desire to act upon it. Others found an area where there was a need or space to be filled and decided that they were going to try and be the ones to fill it. They were willing to take that first step.
There are lessons to be learned here, for sure. I think the most important is the actual taking of the first step. Taking that leap into the air, no matter how little, and following through with it until its conclusion. Sometimes, it may lead to bigger and bigger jumps until you have a full-fledged career. Other times, you may learn dozens of ways on how not to do things.
Nevertheless, doing, starting, going, and giving it a try is essential. Like eating vegetables on your plate or food that looks questionable to you, but your mom says you should try at least one bite. On one hand, you may learn that you do, in fact, like canned spinach. On the other, you may solidify the notion that you do not like canned spinach at all. Edison learned many ways how not to make a lightbulb, but eventually, he found a way to make it work. The beginning is the first part of being a better builder. Pushing those thoughts into the world, watering them with your actions, and seeing if the conditions are right for growth.
FOLLOWING THROUGH
The second part of being a better builder is following through. Setting small attainable goals creates a cycle of success. Start small, very small, if you are trying something new. If you have a big project, break it into bite-sized pieces. For instance, read one page daily if you are trying to read more. It is important to follow through until the end. Failure is an acceptable end, much to my chagrin. If I am trying to make a coffee table out of wood and it ends in disaster, I discover a way not to make a coffee table. But I followed through until the designated end of the goal. The fear of failure prematurely stops many ideas. Suppose Edison was afraid of failure and decided not to try to make a lightbulb; well, who knows where we would be.
LEARN THE LESSONS
What is vital about following through is learning the lessons at the end. Otherwise, we become stuck in a vicious cycle of repeating the same process. Humans are not immutable. We are born to change. We age, we grow, and we learn. It is a blessing that we can grow as we complete tasks. We receive information, process it, and make new, improved decisions based on what we now know. This entire process enables us to be a better builder.
Ultimately, there is are opportunities to learn at every stage of the making process. We must active, observant, and engaged it all aspects of life. Creating something is a wonderful aspect of humanity. But with it comes responsibility and a duty that what we make, we make well.
Such a good read. It reminded me of President Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘Man in the Arena’, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”