The Ship of Theseus

There are two approaches of buying tools and supplies, JIT and hoarding. My father had the JIT (Just In Time) system in place. Being a weekend warrior, he would buy the tools and supplies for the weekend project during the week, anticipating the work on Sunday. Him being raised in the 60s, he never over-consumes, if he needs a drill, he would buy a drill, not the whole set on discount (with useless tools), just the drill. Same went for drill bits, if the job required a 6mm drill bit, he would buy just one, use it, never sharpen it, and throw it at the bottom of the tool box. 

Early on, having inherited some of his tools, I also adopted this JIT system of working. However, as I was enduring in more weekend projects, I realized that often times I needed multiple tools at the same time. Further more, it's difficult to predict which tools one would need in advance, especially considering my lack of experience at that time. So I often opted for improvisation, if I needed a 5mm whole, I would use the existing 4mm drill bit and widen the whole by hand. This led to sloppy work, week joints and unsafe working habits. 

Enter the drill bit set, I bought this set for very cheap, the drills were hobby grade, but it was the tipping point in my way of thinking.

This drill bit set has changed my life, and not in the obvious way. It's not the abundance of drill bits that matters here, it's quite the opposite, having one drill bit of each size, that matters. But only one! 

Besides the benefit of having the appropriate bit for the job in hand, surprisingly the most important part in this tool is the box itself and its designated bit positions. 

When inevitably a bit breaks, gets dull or is missing, its very obvious which one needs to be sharpen or replaced. 

This mind hack brought me discipline, made me maintain the content with great care, every time one was missing, I would spend extra 2 minutes to locate it in the bottom of the toolbox and put it in its place. Every time I would break one, I knew exactly which size to buy the next time I was in the shop.

My woodworking improved, my mind got more organized, the anxiety was gone. I love this drill bit set.

Funny enough, this meme brings the point home

Since the moment I got this drill bit set 20 years ago, I have changed almost every bit in it, either by breaking them, or exhausting them, so I am wondering, is this still the same ship I started the journey with? I would argue yes. As it turns out, abundance is not the key to happiness, having one of each, apparently is. Stay unique.