You Are Always Competing
In the United States we grew up on competition, often to an unhealthy level. Sports, fashion, popularity, academics, you name it. You have spent your life trying to be better than the person next to you.
Stop.
Competition breeds the idea that winning means someone has to lose. With that mentality the only loser is you.
Instead, start competing with the only person that matters. YOU.
I am a woodworker, that’s no secret, this blog is half named after it. The other half is named after me, intentionally. I write this blog and woodwork because I am in constant competition with myself. I am striving to do better, to be better. Every article I write is better than the last. Every piece of furniture is an incremental improvement upon a previous build, an idea, or a design I dreamed up. When I make, I learn. New techniques, new skills, expanding my horizons along the way to open new doors so I can try new things.
At some point in your life you looked at a piece of furniture and felt intimidated by it, thinking to yourself, “I’ll never be good enough to make that.” I am here telling you to stop. That type of thinking is your competitive nature sneaking in, stopping you from trying because you do not want to fail, to look worse than someone else. But you won’t look worse, you will challenge yourself. I am not saying to start out of the gate building a Sam Maloof rocking chair with zero woodworking experience. Instead, make that rocker a goal and work toward it. Start with the basics, a box, a side table, a cabinet. Understand how things go together, then you can start adding to your tool belt, both literally and figuratively. Add in a curve to your next piece. Introduce new joinery. Try making a simple chair and then expand.
See, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about challenging. Challenge yourself. Challenge others with your design, not to beat them, but to inspire.
Take what you see, build off of it, change a design, make it your own. Then take your design and modify that, make a sketch of it and see what it would look like if you replaced the straight legs with tapered legs. Add a bevel or a curve where there used to be a straight line. Then go try to make it.
You will be amazed at what you can do. You will also be frustrated with what you can’t, but that’s the point. Push yourself out of your comfort zone into the learning zone. It will be painful, but it’s addictive. Once you get the bug you will start over designing simple projects for the sake of it, because you want to be pushed and the best person to push you is you. Once you learn how to push yourself you will have the ultimate motivation, motivation to outdo past you and inspire future you.
So take the next step. Stop looking outward and turn your attention in and always remember, your best work is what you are doing today.
The Ellie Bookcase. A design and build challenge I set for myself. My first use of sliding dovetails and definitely not my last.