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I'll give you a tip, if it helps. So, early on in my career, I'd be in big companies with big products. The little feature or whatever I'd work on just didn't

I'll give you a tip, if it helps. So, early on in my career, I'd be in big companies with big products. The little feature or whatever I'd work on just didn't seem all that important to me. I didn't care what my managers thought. I didn't care about the company. The stock price didn't matter because I only had a few measly shares worth nothing. Everything about the situation felt like a waste of time. I'd stay up late at night working on side projects, only to be tired at work and, again, too tired to complete the side projects I felt were more worthy of my time. Somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to make a product for myself. Something complete, contained, and ready to release to market -- good or bad. It was that process of trying to make something stable, complete, and market-worthy that let me understand the grind. The last 1% is so much more awful than the first 99%, and it's in those details where all the "mental gains" are made. Today, there is no shortage of opportunity to get a feel for what it takes to make a complete product. Whether it's the app store, a functional web site, or just anything that gets, oh say, 1000 users. You just need to go through the abuse of completion once to get an appreciation for the grind. Once you know what you're in for, then you'll be more selective about what to start. Moreover, the end goal will make the grind seem like a logical step instead of endless toil -- this is where the grind is understood and appreciated. Just my opinion and experience! Hopefully it helps.

pmoriarty 9y ago
Thank you for the advice, but there a couple of reasons why I doubt I'll ever do what you suggest. "Today, there is no shortage of opportunity to get a feel for what it takes to make a complete product. Whether it's the app store, a functional web site, or just anything that gets, oh say, 1000 users. You just need to go through the abuse of completion once to get an appreciation for the grind." The problem is: I don't really care about making some stupid app or website. That sort of thing interests me about as much as scraping out a sewer. I'm interested in things like reading old books of fiction, essays, and literary history. I enjoy feeling like I'm communing with the truly great minds of the past. Nobody's going to pay me for that -- especially as I don't really like to write articles, books, or essays myself -- and that's really critical for any kind of success in academia. I have other interests, but they're very mercurial. What interests me today might bore me tomorrow, and I'd probably hate doing any and all of it if I was forced to do so day in and day out for years on end -- especially if I couldn't choose my own subject matter as my mood dictates. The second problem for me is I really don't care about the business and marketing side of self-employment and running one's own startup. That's even more boring to me than writing code for apps I don't care about. I'm sure your advice is great for many people -- particularly if they're young and still enamored with technology. But unfortunately, I think I've just turned in to a grumpy old man who really couldn't give a damn. Too bad I can't afford to retire and go off to mind my own business, reading old, worm-eaten books until I die.

pmoriarty 9y ago

Thank you for the advice, but there a couple of reasons why I doubt I'll ever do what you suggest. "Today, there is no shortage of opportunity to get a feel for what it takes to make a complete product. Whether it's the app store, a functional web site, or just anything that gets, oh say, 1000 users. You just need to go through the abuse of completion once to get an appreciation for the grind." The problem is: I don't really care about making some stupid app or website. That sort of thing interests me about as much as scraping out a sewer. I'm interested in things like reading old books of fiction, essays, and literary history. I enjoy feeling like I'm communing with the truly great minds of the past. Nobody's going to pay me for that -- especially as I don't really like to write articles, books, or essays myself -- and that's really critical for any kind of success in academia. I have other interests, but they're very mercurial. What interests me today might bore me tomorrow, and I'd probably hate doing any and all of it if I was forced to do so day in and day out for years on end -- especially if I couldn't choose my own subject matter as my mood dictates. The second problem for me is I really don't care about the business and marketing side of self-employment and running one's own startup. That's even more boring to me than writing code for apps I don't care about. I'm sure your advice is great for many people -- particularly if they're young and still enamored with technology. But unfortunately, I think I've just turned in to a grumpy old man who really couldn't give a damn. Too bad I can't afford to retire and go off to mind my own business, reading old, worm-eaten books until I die.