Fixing a bicycle is a piece of cake, right?

Well, yeah, it depends...

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“Hey Lennard, could you fix my bike? It’s got a flat tyre.”

Whenever your mother-in-law asks you something, you better listen. (Especially, when she is from the Balkans…)

“Sure, will do. Front or rear tyre?”

“Rear.”

Yikes.

Now you need to know: When it comes to craftsmanship, I am usually as well suited for the job as a gorilla is for performing neurosurgery.

The start is promising:

I remove the wheel, replace the tube inside the tyre, and put it back in place.

But then I meet him… the final boss, my personal Bowser:

The gear shit shift.

I push, I turn, I press.

All in vain. Whatever I try, the damn thing just won’t latch.

Frustration kicks in. Anger towards myself.

“Oh come on, Lennard, how hard can it possibly be?!?”

I grab my phone and look up a how-to video. My thumb attacks the play button, almost breaking the screen:

The video takes 39 seconds and makes the repair look like the easiest thing in the world.

Thanks, man. A real confidence booster.

I put my phone away and try again. And again. And again.

An emotional rollercoaster. A dizzying alternation of hope and disappointment that only Arsenal fans might be able to relate to (tbf, looks like this joke might not work this season…).

Oh dear, that f****** gear…Shi(t)ma(n)noooo!

As if I wasn’t already embarrassed enough:

After a while, my girlfriend shows up, asking: “Wait, you’re STILL fixing the bike?!? I’m gonna ask for help now.”

“NO! I got this!”

17 more desperate attempts. And then, suddenly:

“Click.”

I slide down the wall, landing in a puddle of sweat. Completely exhausted. The Dalmatian sun is burning down indifferently, the mosquitos attacking more aggressively than ever. Even the crickets’ chirping sounds like laughter: “HA. HA. HA.”

I don’t care. Job done.

My brain immediately justifies the fact that I’ve just spent one hour of my life reattaching a gear shift on a bicycle.

“At least now you know how to fix them, right?”

Yeah, maybe. Probably not. But even if. At what cost?

And that brings me to my question:

What’s the real learning here?

Be patient, keep trying, learn from failure, succeed eventually?

Sure, but there is more to it:

While my bike story might not be comparable to your daily challenges, it begs the question:

How do you decide whether to do something by yourself (and maybe learn a new skill) or not?

Learning something new is usually a great investment.

But it also takes time.

And if it takes too much time, will you still have enough time left for your core business?

What do you think?

Thanks for YOUR time.

Lennard

PS: If you plan to offer your product or services in German and would like a Freelancer to do the copywriting, let me know. I’m gear here to help.

PPS: Turns out that while fixing the bike, I managed to scratch that little plastic cover on the gear switch. Now you can’t see in which gear you drive…Can’t wait for my first review: “Great bike repair service, fully recommended!” :)