You don't have to do it all yourself

Obviously I want it up on the wall asap. We don’t own a drill, a level or a stud finder. I googled picture hanging services locally to see what it would cost to put up. It was really reasonable.

We also have a beautiful rustic wooden mirror and a board with some hooks to put on the wall in the laundry.

These have been waiting for 2-3 years to be put up.

I showed this to my partner thinking he would give me ‘what a waste, I can do it myself and you need to be patient’ type of response.

But he didn’t. His shoulders relaxed and he said that’s a great idea.

We chose the best option and Dino came out a couple of weeks later.

There is no way we could have done what he did in the time he did it and the professional way he did it.

All 3 are magnificent. Seriously, they are.

Dino also taped up the back of the mirror to make it stronger as the backing board had warped a little. He cleaned the walls before and after - they are cleaner now than ever before. And everything is perfectly positioned, extremely secure (“You are going to need to put wet things on the hooks in the laundry so I’ll make sure it’s strong enough for wet towels”).

Add to that Dino owns an art gallery in Newcastle. We’ve now been introduced to some amazing local artists and feel closer to getting some art for our lounge room. Win win chicken dinner.

Who is a fan of Grand Designs? The people that do designs themselves and don’t get an architect usually always regret it. Or at least waste money and don’t get the best result.

My friend who runs a couple of AirBnBs, as well as having a full time job, nearly wanted to give them up because she so desperately hated receipts at tax time - so she got a bookkeeper and described it as ‘life changing’.

We are next thinking about a landscape designer. Seems expensive and over the top but we are going to end up with something more beautiful and interesting than we could have planned ourselves, less dead plants because they will choose the right ones, and pure delight looking outside every day. ?

And sure, saving up for that might mean giving up an overseas holiday but taking a year off for a garden we can enjoy every single day seems totally worth it.

Financial planning? Why would you sort out retirement planning on your own when an expert, who knows everything, can set you up in the best possible way. Why leave it to chance? What if you made a mistake? It’s a huge risk to take with your lifelong savings.

Retirement is such a huge transition with your sense of identity, health and never ending questions to answer, adding worry about money on top of that seems an unnecessary burden.

Most of us wouldn’t dream of making our own wedding dresses.

More and more we are told don't self diagnose when we are sick - go to the doctor.

With access to so much free information online now, and DIY shows, we’ve been given the message that we can now do everything ourselves. And that we are letting ourselves down if we don’t.

But experts are experts for a reason. They have studied for years. They continue to study every year to keep up to date. They are faster than us, they provide confidence, they generally get better outcomes.

I think they even save relationships from ’that’s not how you should do it’ as two people attempt to blunder their way through. A few less ‘I told you so’s’ can only be a good thing.

My question to you this morning is….

What if you let an expert help you?

Would it make your life a little easier or even a little better?

This is a reminder you don’t have to do it all yourself.

And if this idea sounds fantastic but a step too far, let’s have a conversation about what’s getting in the way. I know you can do it!

Have the best day!