My grandfather used to build furniture the way I send emails. without thinking about it.

Shelves, tables, small repairs around the house. he just did it. no YouTube tutorials, no googling.

I thought about him a lot this week. because this week I tried to build a chair. and it was… hard… and amazing!

what actually happened and 3 lessons to make your life better:

I went to the hardware store on Monday with no plan. bought some pine boards, a small hand saw, screws, wood glue, sandpaper, and a pair of gloves.

Then I did what I always do: I skipped the tutorial and just started building.

By Wednesday I had something that technically had four legs and a seat.

It wobbled and one leg was shorter than the others.

I made like 7 mistakes because I rushed. I didn't measure carefully. I didn't mark my cut lines.

By Thursday I wanted to quit.

Because I spent hours on a joint that wouldn't line up. And I'd fix one side and something on the other side would break.

BUT by Friday I changed my attitude. I added support pieces under the seat and slowly, painfully, the chair started to become a chair.

it's done now. it's sitting with my family in my little hometown in Italy. it's not beautiful. it's not straight.

but it holds my little sister, and I made it with my hands from a pile of wood.

3 things this chair taught me

1. We rush too much

I couldn't watch a 10-minute tutorial without wanting to skip ahead. I couldn't wait for wood glue to dry without checking my phone.

years of screens and notifications and instant feedback have trained my brain to NOT think deeply.

But wood doesn't have a fast-forward button. and I think that's why more of us need to work with it.

2. We are surrounded by things we never appreciate.

the night after my first day of building, I sat on my sofa completely exhausted and looked at my living room table and chairs.

chairs, tables, doors, shelves, cabinets. someone built all of it.

someone's hands shaped every piece. and most of us walk past these things every single day without a second of appreciation.

building one ugly chair fixed that for me.

3. Men used to know how to build things. and it mattered.

this is the one that stuck with me the most.

my grandfather could build a shelf in an afternoon. his generation just had that knowledge. it wasn't special. it was normal. you needed something for your home, for your family, for your community, you built it.

That knowledge is almost gone now I feel

most modern men, myself included until this week, can build a slide deck but not a bookshelf. can set up a SaaS tool but can't fix a wobbly table.

I think about someday having kids.

And I want to be the man who can build their bookshelf. who can make something with his hands when his family needs it.

not the guy who needs to call a professional for every small repair.

this week got me a lot closer to that.

The real result

the chair is not the point. the chair is ugly. I know that.

the point is what it can do to YOU and your wellbeing, to try the skill of woodwork.

I sleep better after a day of manual work than after any day at my laptop. I notice things I never noticed before. and I have a new respect for anyone who builds physical things for a living.

if you work on a screen all day, go build something this week. anything. a shelf. a small box. buy some wood and make cuts and feel what it's like when your hands do the thinking instead of your keyboard.

SEASON 2 STARTS TOMORROW

week 13 was the final challenge of season 1. thirteen skills in thirteen weeks. coding, Bulgarian, discipline, listening, public speaking, comedy, guitar, strength, cold approach, silence, and now woodworking. some of them stuck. some of them didn't. all of them changed me.

tomorrow I fly to Texas for a month. and season 2 begins with skill number 14:

magic.

card tricks. sleight of hand. making things appear and disappear. the most physical, most deceptive, most performance-based skill I've attempted yet.

season 2. new skills. new country. same mission.

are you coming?

Daily progress, keep practicing:

If you missed the previous weeks and unusual lessons, check them out HERE:

Reply to this email with all your questions, comments, or tips, I will answer.

Or share with friends who want to join and grow.

- Alex