At this year’s Maker Faire, DIY legend and Mythbuster Adam Savage gave a speech with his 10 commandments of making and the advice he wished he had gotten when he was starting out. If you’re a DIY enthusiast, it’s well worth watching.
The video is 43 minutes long, but the 10 commandments are only the first 10 minutes of the video. A few of his commandments definitely struck us, such as:
4. Use a project to learn a skill. I don’t know about you, but I need a goal to learn a skill. I can’t deconstruct and just learn welding for welding’s sake. I need to have something that only welding will bring me. Look around and find something you need to build. Something you can’t help but build.
7. Discouragement and failure are intrinsic to the process. Don’t hide from these. Talk about them. They’re not enemies to be avoided, they’re friends, designed to teach you humility. Go easy on yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others; go ahead and be envious of others’ skills, because frequently you can’t not. Use that.
We’ve talked about both of these things before, and they’re still some of the best tips we can give. I highly recommend watching the video for the full talk (at least the first 10 minutes). You can also read his condensed list at the link below.
My 10 Commandments for Makers [Tested]
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