My blog post last night was focused on being thankful for days when things don’t go as planned in the workshop. There were several things that didn’t work out as I would’ve like yesterday. When I wrote my post I took time to think through each of my errors and write notes to myself.

Today I re-read my post prior to starting to wood work again. I reviewed my mistakes from yesterday. Before doing anything else I walked through my plan modifications to salvage one of my projects. I drew it out and then proceeded to craft.

The notes from yesterday helped a ton! Instead of getting frustrated and seeing things not work out everything seemed to fall into place. In a couple of spots I paused for just a second, thought about yesterday, and then realized I needed to do something just a little different. Each time I paused I was able to figure out the right solution.

At one point I was about to glue up my project so I paused and took my time. I practiced my clamping technique one more time prior to gluing. I carefully pre-adjusted the clamps to be approximately the right size and had them lined up on an empty bench in order of application. Once I started gluing I moved slowly and methodically, double checking each piece prior to adding glue. When a piece stuck and didn’t quite fit for a second I took a deep breath, relaxed, and then fit it together. Where I felt rushed and stressed yesterday I felt totally calm and chill today.

The results were awesome – if I do say so myself. Everything worked out very well. Even when things didn’t quite go to plan I paused and figured out a way to make it work. I’d bet that no one would ever guess the issue once it is completed.

So why did today go so well? I paused to soak in the results of yesterday. I took time to assess my mistakes and determine how I could improve. I wrote notes to myself to remind myself how to improve. I didn’t get frustrated, I remembered that I am still learning and yesterday was a day full of lessons. In soaking all of that up yesterday everything flowed so much better today.

What a valuable lesson for me to remember. Take time to learn from failures and successes. Think on them. Write them down. Review prior to starting the next project.

Thanks!!!