Something that I recently taught myself to do was play the guitar. A few years ago I saw my cousin play Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamikawio’ole at a campfire, and I wanted to learn how she did it. I had never played a stringed instrument before, but when I went home the next day I found an old guitar and googled the chords needed to play the song.
I practiced the song all together every once in a while, and after a few weeks, I was successfully able to play it. One of the reasons that I was so successful in learning how to play my first song was because I like self-teaching. I alone had the drive to learn something and I took the opportunity to do so. I could work according to my own schedule and desires, and for this reason, I was able to fulfill my desire to learn the song.
The result of self teaching is a satisfying one, and it brings a great sense of accomplishment. However, there are limits to self teaching. Sometimes, it is more helpful to have assistance from an expert. I think that if I had decided to take lessons for guitar that my skills would be much more advanced than the result of my self-teaching.