Recently, a simple side project taught me an unexpected lesson about something much bigger than welding:
Don't be afraid to think about something you don't already know.
I had been working on upgrading a pull wagon and took it to a welder to have different wheels installed. He was happy to do the work, but unfortunately, the wagon still didn't perform the way I needed it to.
So I went home and started researching.
I looked for solutions.
I found different designs.
I printed a few simple pictures showing ideas that might solve the problem.
Then I headed back to the welding shop excited about what we might be able to create.
I showed him the wagon and explained:
"It wasn't the weld. It was the design. I think if we change a few things..."
Before I could finish, he stopped me.
"I don't manufacture anything."
I was a little stunned.
I tried showing him some of the pictures.
Again:
"I don't manufacture anything."
Okay.
So I tried something different.
"Can you at least tell me what you think about these designs or what I might be able to do to accomplish what I'm trying to do?"
One last time:
"I don't manufacture anything."
Message received.
I left.
But on the way home, I kept thinking about that interaction.
"I Don't Know" Isn't the Problem
To be fair, I had walked into a muffler welding shop asking about something well outside the work they normally perform.
He wasn't obligated to help design my project.
Maybe he didn't have the equipment.
Maybe he didn't have the experience.
Maybe he simply wasn't interested.
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those answers.
But the interaction made me think about something many of us do in our own lives:
What happens when we're presented with something outside of what we already know?
Do we become curious?
Or do we immediately shut it down?
How Many Opportunities Have We Rejected Because They Were Unfamiliar?
Think about it.
"I've never done that."
"I don't know anything about that."
"That's not what I do."
"I'm not qualified."
"That's outside my comfort zone."
Sometimes those statements are completely reasonable.
But sometimes they're walls.
And if we're not careful, we can spend years building those walls around ourselves until our entire world consists only of things we've already experienced.
That's safe.
But where's the growth?
Where's the learning?
Where are the new opportunities?
You Don't Have to Know the Answer
That's the beautiful thing about thinking.
You don't have to know.
You can say:
"I have no idea how to do this... but let me think about it."
Sometimes the greatest opportunities begin with having absolutely no idea what you're doing.
I Know Because I've Done It
There was a time when I had no intention of writing a book.
There was a time when I wasn't planning on building an empowerment website.
Those opportunities presented themselves, and I had a choice:
Stay with what I already knew or find out what I was capable of learning.
I chose to pursue them.
Do I know exactly how everything will turn out?
Absolutely not.
I still don't.
But I'm happy I gave myself the opportunity to create something that could potentially help other people.
And I wouldn't have discovered that if my response had simply been:
"That's not what I do."
So Here's Your Challenge
The next time an unfamiliar opportunity presents itself, don't immediately ask:
"Do I know how to do this?"
Ask:
"Am I willing to learn?"
You don't have to pursue every opportunity.
You don't have to become an expert at everything.
And there's nothing wrong with recognizing your limitations.
Just make sure fear of thinking, learning, or being uncomfortable isn't making the decision for you.
Be curious.
Ask questions.
Explore.
Learn.
Create.
Let yourself discover abilities you didn't know you had.
Because pursuing new opportunities builds Confidence.
Riding out the mistakes, frustrations, failures, and uncomfortable moments along the way builds Resilience.
And never forget:
You're already Beautiful.
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