However, when she was a nanny is St. Louis, I discovered she had carried my admonition a big step further. She felt that if she could read it she could do it. I even have trouble with that concept, and my comprehension is very good.

She has fixed gates, rewired electrical outlets, used a chain saw for her crafts, taken Accounting courses and been a whiz at them, is now working putting computer boards together, is good with behind the scenes work in drama, excellent seamstress, writes poems and stories, been a paid housekeeper/companion, and is a great children’s person. She has been a nanny, a Sunday School/Children’s Church leader, and worked in day care. She completely blows my mind. I have trouble believing she is mine. How did my husband and I create such an accomplished person?

One time, working in a day care center, they decided to stencil all the woodwork. Daughter went out and bought the supplies and, by the time the professional got there, had one doorway stenciled. The lady asked her where she trained and daughter said, “I read the directions on the back of the package.” The lady replied, “There goes 2 years training down the drain.”

And my husband was the same – was a mechanic, farmer, plumber, carpenter, tiler, roofer, welder, electritian, etc. I think that came from growing up on a farm where you had to make do and make your own. No money to do otherwise.

The business owner essentially outsources to his employers and so does the consumer, but there is value in doing things yourself simply because the price for the other methods are too high compared to the value you get.

Anyway, one thing you’ll discover as your range of skills get wider and wider is that everything is based on the same basics. This is pretty much impossible to realize from the outset when the focus is more in the technicalities (you don’t know what the basics are yet). Even later when the focus is on implementation, it is not obvious.

I think that it’s a requirement for frugal living as well!

thanks for yet another great post.

In the last couple of years I’ve learned off the Internet how to field strip and clean my new handgun, take off and clean out the clogged trap under the sink, repair my Foodsaver, repair my refrigerator, drain the sediment from my water heater, figure out what was wrong with a leaking dishwasher and fix it, figure out why my washing machine was leaving white scum on my clothes and fix it, properly prune a rose bush, and more.

Granted there’s a lot of junk to wade through, there are also surprisingly clear, detailed and comprehensive instructions available for many things that formerly would have left me at the mercy of expensive tradespeople visits or appliance replacements.

I’m not much inclined to “warm and fuzzy” feelings, but the generosity of people (like Trent and my YouTube skills mentors) who take the time and trouble to share their skills freely with total strangers gives me one.

I debate this often, on what I want be when I grow up.

I do have to say Trent that some people are just built this way. However I’m not built this way so this is not good advice for me. You have to have a lot of interest, time, and motivation to make this pay off and the pay off is not immediate but over a lifetime.

It is true that having wide general knowledge is useful. I do think there is danger in overspreading one’s energy.

The biggest problem I have is that most employers want people that have expertise in one area; at least those employers that pay well.

At times, it’s nice being a little knowledgeable about a lot of different things, but there are many times when I feel that it’s a curse that results in me being universally mediocre.

I’ve found that the jobs where I’m best suited are those that require abstract thinking; I can often apply knowledge I’ve garnered from other areas in unexpected ways, by finding connections and homologies.

For those others of you out there like us, check out Barbara Sher’s “Refuse to Choose” — my wife bought it for me for Solstice one year and I’ve found it a little helpful at times.

My advice – forget the idea that you can know (and do) everything. Assess your strengths, improve your skills in those areas, and get help with the rest. The net result is more profitable, and the task is much more realistic.

There is one thing to keep in mind, we need to know our limitations. For example, we can all learn to play golf, but most of us (99%+) won’t play at Tiger’s level.

If you are unsure about something– get some help . . .

Okay, they couldn’t program a computer and they may or may not have been able to write a sonnet or conn a ship but they were better “general specialists” than we are. They had to be. Their survival depended on it.