Swallow your Pride, Leave it to the Pros
Why it’s not always better to do it yourself. Self-awareness is key…
I woke up this cold morning with a little giggle and my signature prideful smile. Keen to crack a joke I turned to my girlfriend, Brigitte who was still asleep. She had to sleep over at my place because after an eventful Father’s Day we arrived at her flat to find the key to her room not working. Following a ruk-en-pluk session we called her landlord Elrico. He came to assist and we realized that the key to the door lost a little tooth. I had to bite my tongue to not suggest putting the key under your pillow for cash….
When using the spare the same thing happened. A few solutions were suggested and for some reason the instinct of most were to loosen the bolts and take the handle off. Henry, another individual stripped away from Sunday evening habits, then proceeded to jam a screwdriver in the mechanism and to wiggle it. This was reminiscent of the age old fix of a broken remote — hit the remote and try again. However, the required solution it seems, was not as simple or archaic.
Following a few minutes of sighs and pondering I made the unexpected suggestion — what if we called an expert in the field? The sudden realization of my genius was uncanny. After a few endless rings of companies we found a locksmith who would come but at double the working hour price. We scheduled for him to come today at 9 am and Brigitte came to sleep here. I told her she can prepare for her test using my iPad for the time being. We went to sleep early and today will have it’s own problems and uncanny solutions.
The lesson in this scenario is the same one I echo in my mind while playing mediocre golf. Just because you have confidence in yourself and YouTube is a magnificent resource it does not mean you can always solve a problem best by yourself. Don’t play hero-ball. Most of the time a professional can solve your problem in a blink of an eye and there is no shame in admitting that you aren’t as capable. So, don’t attempt to hit a stinger between two pine trees, recover to the fairway and go support Louis Oosthuizen in the US Open. True pride lies in knowing what you can’t do yourself.
This does not constitute as financial or life advice, read my story and don’t be an idiot 😉
