Can we just skip to the bit where I've done that?

The biggest problem with taking up new hobbies is all that guff at the beginning when you don't know anything and can't do anything.

I want to be able to sew/whittle/paint/play the horn, but I want to just *do* it, if you know what I mean.  The bit where you're learning to do it is just so much... crap.

I understand that you have to be in that stage where you are learning how to do the thing you want to do before you can get to the stage where you can actually do the thing you want to do, but it takes foooorrrrrreeeeeevvvvvveeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr.  And you are crappy at doing the thing you want to do during this time.  Your efforts are clumsy and stupid, and it can take so long before you see improvement.

The longer it takes me to get vaguely competent at something, the more time I have to get distracted by something else.  It's a dangerous period of time.