One thing that gets lost in the myriad home improvement shows (and even in your brother’s success story in man conquering tools) is that’s there is inevitable a shit-ton of screwing up that goes into any project, especially the first time you tackle it. Over time you screw up less and less, in smaller and smaller ways, but it’s always there.

Which is kind of depressing but also sort of liberating. What got me over my own personal hump of fear was that I finally realized that if I failed, it was going to be on a very private stage. If I completely botch a bathroom remodel in the privacy of my home, cut through water pipes, and have to re-do the tile three times, well, that all sucks, but if I eventually get it right, well, that’s all that matters in the end.

No one is privy to the myriad failures, so it’s just a matter of getting myself to the point where I can stomach my own incompetence as I slowly chip away at it over time in the quest for semi-competence. It doesn’t make it any less painful, and there’s a certain amount of fatalism involved when embarking on something that you know you’ll screw up, but it’s also slightly liberating, if you spin it the right way. Persistence goes a long ways.

Or, you know, at least go to Lowe’s for installation services, as they’re a hell of a lot better than the fools at Home Depot.

Don’t you think there might be a large group out there that be willing to swap and see it as a major upgrade?

Great home, wife, kids… How many would kill for your inadequacy?

That said, completing a project — even if it doesn’t win awards — is a good feeling. I think your on the right track.