Encouraging practice

In one way, buying equipment and setting up a workspace for welding may be the easy part:  you do your research, order the equipment, pay for it, and assemble it in a space that is conducive to use.  Although that may not seem easy at the time, compared to the countless hours and focused attention of practice to become proficient at welding, it takes little effort.  Therein lies the greatest danger in learning to weld: achieving a modest level of skill and going no farther, or worse, losing interest and lapsing into inactivity.

Learning to weld then depends upon your following through with the time and strategic action similar to what you would devote to a welding certification program, in other words taking it seriously.  That means rearranging your schedule and possibly your occupation to accommodate your new vocation.  Just randomly grabbing a few minutes when you aren't otherwise occupied won't provide enough practice to advance your skills.  You need some sort of plan to make welding an important part of your life.

Here are a few ideas that could get you into the habit and promote encouraging results:

1. Create a list of projects around the home that involve welding and metal fabrication.
2. Set aside regular times for practice.
3. Join a group and share knowledge, exhibit projects, and encourage each other's skill acquisition.
4. Create videos of your projects and skills to share with others.
5. Design and fabricate metal objects that people want or need.
6. Seek employment that involves welding.

Let's consider each of these options in more detail.

1. Projects can range in size, complexity, and difficulty to match your current skill level or push you to the next level.  These can be recreational or functional, depending upon your situation.  You may wish to avoid pressure by selecting tasks that are non-critical, or you may wish to provide more motivation by accepting responsibility for products that others will depend upon.
2. This may seem easy, but unless you dedicate yourself to practice, something else will always crowd its way into your designated time.  That means you have to set boundaries for yourself and others, not taking on new roles if they eat into your practice time, or limiting others' ability to assign tasks to you that take you beyond your limit.
3. There may be makers clubs in your area, but those might only involve welding in a tangential way.  You might need to deliberately seek out other welders, especially people like you who are motivated to learn.  Starting a welding club might sound strange, but you could broaden it somewhat with practical projects that involve welding.  That might attract more members.
4. Often you learn more when you try to teach others.  While you may have no interest in teaching, you will learn faster if you document your work.  This will force you to review your welds more critically and also give you time and perspective for self reflection.  You may wish to collect your videos or other documentation into a journal or blog, strictly for your own reference or perhaps for others.
5. Creating objects for other people may be the most demanding and frustrating endeavor, but may motivate you to progress faster and farther than any of the other options.  Beware the pitfalls of the "business mentality" where you enslave yourself to the whims of others and spend huge amounts of money thinking it is an "investment" in a money-making scheme.  If you provide a valuable service and let people know about it, you can arrive at a common ground where your desires and their needs intersect.
6. Professional welding may guarantee expertise in a certain type of welding, but it may also limit your range of skills.  Often employers wish to exploit what you do best and assign repetitive tasks that will ultimately limit your progress in attaining greater breadth of skill.  You may have to pursue education on your own time and at your own expense if you want to learn a skill outside your job description.