I had an experience this week that reminded me of the importance of follow through when working on a project. And I as I was reminded of this fact, I immediately thought of Technical Training as well as the application to many things in life. There’s almost a universal application for this important truth.
I’m talking about the ability to be tenacious in finishing a project. Or, think of it this way: the raw determination to see a project through to success. I mean here the stubborn determination not to fail.
I was reminded of this as I worked on my personal computer. I decided to upgrade my GPU (the Graphics card). But to do this, I had to update the power supply too. We live in an era of plug and play, and neither one is that difficult, so I wasn’t super worried about it. I’m mechanically inclined and I’ve worked on computers many times.
This project seemed pretty straightforward. But experience (mostly painful experience, I’ll add) has taught me projects seldom go as planned. In fact, Murphy’s Law is a thing and I have the scars to prove it.
“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”
Edward Murphy
Examples, you ask? Sure, not a problem. Anytime you drop a screw or bolt while working on a car, it will either disappear forever. If you drop a socket or wrench it will always roll to the most inconvenient place possible. And don’t get me started about tightening and loosening. It’s gotten to the point where “Lefty loosy, righty tighty” is hard wired in my brain. Again, scars to prove it.
So against this backdrop I opened up my computer and set about upgrading the power supply and GPU. After I installed the new parts, the computer wouldn’t start back up. Complications. Murphy’s Law came crashing down on me.
As a result, I spent a good amount of time working through potential causes, problem solving, researching and retrying. Eventually, it all worked. I had to reset the GPU three times and perform a hard reset and the computer finally booted up. I was able to add the GPU and download drivers.
Now the computer works great and my new graphic cards is awesome. My gaming experience has upgraded too. A happy ending to my project!
And after I started playing my new rig, I thought about it and realized there were many important lessons and life reminders to my experience upgrading my computer. The importance of persistence and an unwillingness to accept failure were right near the top.
It served as a great reminder of following through to completion. It reiterated the importance of not giving up until success comes. There will always be setbacks and things that do not go as planned. This is life. But the response to problems is super important.
As far as Technical Training goes, it’s often the difference between success and failure. Same for life. Success often means persevering, even when things don’t work as planned or when things get tough. It’s immensely satisfying to finally be on the other side and enjoy the fruits patient determination.
So don’t quit on whatever is your working on right now. Gather yourself mentally and push on. You’ve got this!
