Or not, as I found out this week…..
Noticing details matters.
I get asked to do all sorts of different things during the course of a working week, some familiar and a significant amount of stuff I’ve never done before. But this week I got stuck because I didn’t practice what I preach. A vertical blind was my undoing. I’ve seen them a hundred times, but obviously never really looked at them, never figured out how they work or how they go together.
And what did I get asked to modify and fit this week……yup a big vertical blind. And it needed shortening, no mean feat.
But after a read of the frankly baffling instructions and a little fiddling around I managed just fine. Apart from a slight annoyance with myself that I had not taken any notice of the many blinds I had seen before, which would definitely have helped me out this time.
If you want to learn how to tackle the stuff you know nothing about, start with this little excerpt from my book….
I want you to start taking notice of a few things, to become more aware of the physical world. Because a deep curiosity about the physical workings of the world is at the centre of all handy people.
This core approach to being handy is when you are… observing, listening, smelling, touching, researching and practicing on everything you can get your hands on.
Soak up little snippets of information from the physical stuff that surrounds you to build up a store of information which will nurture your understanding of how things work. Add any practical experience (success or failures) you have and you’re good to go. This basic understanding of how things go together and work is essential if you’re going to be handy. Once you mentally start noticing the practical world and how it works, the physical act of working on stuff will become intuitive and automatic over time.
Here’s hoping that you start taking notice of the stuff in your life…..just in case!
Stay well
Ian
