While others spent last spring break sunbathing on the beach or perhaps skiing in the mountains, I spent mine building a Lego set. Yes, yes, I saw the nicer (as in not-Boston-winter) weather at home and still decided that instead of soaking up vitamin D, I would spend $200 to stay inside all break. But honestly (and call me a nerd), I had a blast. I built the Lego Technic Red Bull car. It’s large, at over 1,600 pieces, and impressively thorough. The pistons move, the steering works — it’s a really cool car. Even though the finished Lego is the final product you want, the real fun lies in the building process. I realized, as I built, just how much you can truly learn from Lego. Here are some life lessons, told in colored-brick form.
1) The small details matter
While building my car, I discovered pretty quickly how much attention I needed to pay to things like direction. I would place a piece, only to find out that it was facing the wrong way after I was halfway done with everything else. Sometimes, I’d forget a piece altogether and wouldn’t realize until I tried connecting the section I was working on to the larger structure. More often, however, the mistake wasn’t noticeable until bags (and days) later, meaning I had to flip back through the instructions to figure out where exactly I went wrong.
This is fairly similar to real life — small details often do end up biting. Sure, maybe being late to work once doesn’t matter now, but eventually, it will. Sure, that one assignment you forgot about isn’t too big of a deal, until you have a full week of plans and suddenly that assignment is due tomorrow, but you have no time tomorrow, and now it’s causing way more stress than it ever needed to.Â
2) Be forceful
Being gentle is the name of the game, until it’s not. Most Lego pieces feel pretty sturdy, but some have a bend to them. It can be pretty scary trying to press the pieces together, but if you’re too gentle, they’ll never click into place. You need a little force behind it.
In life, you have to learn when to push and when to pull. Sometimes, relationships may feel fragile, but in order for things to click or improve, a little pressure is necessary. The same goes for success — sometimes being selfish and pushing yourself is what you need to achieve your goals. Remember, though, that doesn’t mean you should go around thinking only of yourself; be selfish when you’re working toward something important.
3) Pace yourself
The Red Bull car came with 10 bags, and I quickly decided to construct two bags a day, with a one-day break. For me, this was an unusual amount of preplanning, but it worked. I wanted to finish the car before returning to Boston, which gave me about six days, and I was volunteering at the local high school most nights, so sitting down and building for 12 hours straight was unrealistic. By limiting the number of bags I built each day, I was able to spend time with family, not just focus on the all-consuming process of making a car.
Pace yourself! Doing everything at once might sound like a time-saver, but it rarely goes as planned, and you’ll end up feeling forced to do something you once looked forward to.Â
4) Consider others’ observations
My dad quite enjoyed watching the Lego car come together, especially once the pistons and steering started to take shape. When I finished, I happily showed it off to him. He quickly discovered that one of the sides could be pulled off. At first, I told him to stop breaking the car, before realizing that there was probably something wrong with how I had built it. I eventually fixed it, which involved pulling back the other side to see how the connections differed, and then making that change. I wouldn’t have even realized there was an issue if my dad hadn’t pointed it out.
So, take my advice: Give an ear to others! Maybe they broke your Lego car, but maybe something was off to begin with. Hear both sides and examine the details for yourself. Don’t blindly trust the first result.Â
I may not have come out of my vacation with a tan, but I did come out with a sick car and some serious introspection. That’s a win, in my book.