3 ms·

Edit: I’m sorry I didn’t really answer OP at all and came across as a bit of a dick. Didn’t mean to just wanted to share something different than everyone else

Edit: I’m sorry I didn’t really answer OP at all and came across as a bit of a dick. Didn’t mean to just wanted to share something different than everyone else I guess. I have an unconventional approach. I just don’t work on ideas that I don’t find interesting or am not passionate about. Passion is the only thing that makes it easy to work through the hard parts to see the idea through, so I stopped trying to lie to myself about HAVING to work ideas. I change my mind a lot, but literally dream about my projects sometimes and will turn and try those ideas out sometimes. I’m not going to take over the world, or work well with others this way, but I absolutely love it and maybe I’ll be able to finish something soon and be able to sell it! If not whatever I’m an experienced software developer I can go find work

xwdv 6y ago
Passion doesn’t finish projects.
- corytheboyd 6y ago
  Okay that’s a nice spicy comment but do you have anything of value to add? I guess I agree, passion alone won’t get you anywhere. But if you DO have the skills, having some amount of passion behind your work can only help, not hurt.
  - karpierz 6y ago
    I think the commenter is saying that passion doesn't last. At some point in a long enough project, you'll lose your passion, and then what will carry the project forward?
    - corytheboyd 6y ago
      Yeah I get it now. Thanks. I don’t think any answer to this question will be satisfactory, as it’s just too easy to say “yeah but what if THAT TOO falls apart?” You just have to figure out how to deaden that questioning of yourself to some extent. There are always going to be a million reasons why you can and probably will fail, I agree that you shouldn’t pretend they aren’t there.
      - xwdv 6y ago
        Discipline is what finishes projects.
bpodgursky 6y ago
This kind of response is not generally productive, because the people asking the questions are obviously looking for help getting organized / motivated / productive. If you're able to focus on ideas you are passionate about, that's great, but not everyone is the same. Some people have issues focusing, AD/HD, or self-destructive procrastination habits. If they are posting on HN asking for help, saying "I'm just able to do it naturally, why don't you try that?" isn't really helpful. We've built a society where being distracted by mindless consumption is by far the easiest path through life. Some people need help getting out of that swamp, and the way to help is not to say, "don't bother".
- corytheboyd 6y ago
  You’re right. I’ll leave my comment but yeah it comes across the wrong way. Sorry everyone, and OP, I didn’t really add anything here. I’d go so far as to say I basically said “the secret to getting over depression is to to just not be sad” which is insensitive and not helpful
  - bpodgursky 6y ago
    I mean, I don't think the advice of "work on projects you're passionate about" is wrong. It's just that personally... I feel the passion maybe 10% of the time, even on projects I'm really excited by. I feel passion sharing stuff, hitting big milestones, etc. But I need more than that to get myself through the grind of the unpleasant bits.
    - corytheboyd 6y ago
      In the context of doing work for others I completely agree, I just can’t create passion to power through work for some other benefactor. I find I can do it for my own projects still though, which is mostly where I am coming from. I must had misinterpreted OPs prompt because I assumed it was general and not about projects for a company, d’oh

xwdv 6y ago

Passion doesn’t finish projects.

corytheboyd 6y ago
Okay that’s a nice spicy comment but do you have anything of value to add? I guess I agree, passion alone won’t get you anywhere. But if you DO have the skills, having some amount of passion behind your work can only help, not hurt.
- karpierz 6y ago
  I think the commenter is saying that passion doesn't last. At some point in a long enough project, you'll lose your passion, and then what will carry the project forward?
  - corytheboyd 6y ago
    Yeah I get it now. Thanks. I don’t think any answer to this question will be satisfactory, as it’s just too easy to say “yeah but what if THAT TOO falls apart?” You just have to figure out how to deaden that questioning of yourself to some extent. There are always going to be a million reasons why you can and probably will fail, I agree that you shouldn’t pretend they aren’t there.
    - xwdv 6y ago
      Discipline is what finishes projects.

bpodgursky 6y ago

This kind of response is not generally productive, because the people asking the questions are obviously looking for help getting organized / motivated / productive. If you're able to focus on ideas you are passionate about, that's great, but not everyone is the same. Some people have issues focusing, AD/HD, or self-destructive procrastination habits. If they are posting on HN asking for help, saying "I'm just able to do it naturally, why don't you try that?" isn't really helpful. We've built a society where being distracted by mindless consumption is by far the easiest path through life. Some people need help getting out of that swamp, and the way to help is not to say, "don't bother".

corytheboyd 6y ago
You’re right. I’ll leave my comment but yeah it comes across the wrong way. Sorry everyone, and OP, I didn’t really add anything here. I’d go so far as to say I basically said “the secret to getting over depression is to to just not be sad” which is insensitive and not helpful
- bpodgursky 6y ago
  I mean, I don't think the advice of "work on projects you're passionate about" is wrong. It's just that personally... I feel the passion maybe 10% of the time, even on projects I'm really excited by. I feel passion sharing stuff, hitting big milestones, etc. But I need more than that to get myself through the grind of the unpleasant bits.
  - corytheboyd 6y ago
    In the context of doing work for others I completely agree, I just can’t create passion to power through work for some other benefactor. I find I can do it for my own projects still though, which is mostly where I am coming from. I must had misinterpreted OPs prompt because I assumed it was general and not about projects for a company, d’oh