Conquering Your DIY Fears

Doing it yourself is scary. Once you dig into a project, a lot of times it's hard imagine how things will end up. Will it match your vision? Will it hold up? Will it work again? Will you make things worse than they already are? I've had all of those worries time after time, project after project. 

One thing I've learned is you have to be brave enough to try. If you mess up, that's totally OK. Most everything can be redone, repaired, remedied. Whether you educate yourself more and give it another try, find a friend or family member to help, or have the means to hire out - it's going to be alright!

I have enough projects (successes and failures) under my belt to be pretty fearless in what I choose to do myself. And I'm smart enough to know my limits. Not everything can be mine to do, which is frustrating, but field experts exist for a reason.

The reason I encourage you to consider "doing it yourself" is because of the confidence it will undoubtedly bring you. And honestly, the money it will save you, specifically when it comes to home or auto related projects/repairs.  

I enjoy crafting, woodwork, assembly, all of the things - but the DIY tasks I enjoy the most are home improvement based. Probably because I get to use power tools most of the time. When I started doing DIY projects, power tools were so scary to me. Once I got going with them, I found that using them is one of the skills I feel most confident in myself about.

Before starting anything (even during), I rely on the endless amount of education available to me for free online. YouTube is my favorite place to go, step-by-step articles being my second go-to. There is so much content out there, you can find the niche you're looking for. The specific instructions for your specific project involving specific A/B/C details. 

Most recently, our tub was leaking. My husband was convinced we'd need to take the shower apart - cut into the tiles, disassemble everything, etc. That freaked me out - until I did some research. Our specific type of shower handle (Delta) has a cartridge (pictured below) that is known to give out in certain areas over time. After pulling the handle apart, removing the cartridge, and comparing it to some information online, we determined all we needed were two tiny sets of $3 seats/springs. Our springs had stiffened up too much over time and needed more give to properly keep the water from dripping out of the faucet. We slipped the new parts in, put everything back together, and no more drip!

If we lived in the freak out zone over this, we would have spent hundreds of dollars on a plumber. It was worth doing a little research to determine everyday people can make this fix on their own.

​The other project I did recently was change a headlight on my car. I'm not great with cars, but I understand enough to be dangerous. I have a 2012 Chevy Equinox, an oldy but goody vehicle, that things go out on more often - including the headlights. Again, after doing a little research, I knew what I needed and what to do. Headlights on Equinox's are extremely easy to change, you unscrew two covers (pictured below), replace the bulb, and put the covers back on. 

There was no need to go to a shop and pay labor for this headlight replacement. It cost me around $30 for two bulbs and a few minutes of my time to do. Not an unclimbable mountain like I always thought it was.

When there is a potential project in front of you, take a step back, consider the task at hand, and before defaulting to calling for help, maybe do it yourself. 

I BELIEVE IN YOU and hope this little pep talk helps push you into doing more projects on your own!