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I used to think like this. At it's core, it's a variation of "never give up", mixed with "the power of habit". I agree with "the power of habit" part. From th

I used to think like this. At it's core, it's a variation of "never give up", mixed with "the power of habit". I agree with "the power of habit" part. From the "never give up" point of view, I've changed my mind, thanks to books like The Lean Startup, Blitzscaling, and my own experience. The bottom line message seems to be "keep insisting and you'll be successful". I spent 3+ years working in a game that never took off as a side project. In hindsight, I should have taken the hint of the lack of traction early on and dropped the whole thing. Instead I sank countless hours into a project that never worked out. How many prototypes could I have produced in the same time? Bottom line, habits are good, so long as we don't mix it up with the concept of "don't give up and you'll be successful".

mariusor 5y ago
If you don't strongly believe in the work that you do, I doubt that any amount of discipline and punctiliousness will give you satisfaction at the end. I don't believe it's enough just having "taking off" as an incentive. You should be trying to either improve yourself, or the "world" at large with what you're doing. Also apologies if this sounds too preachy, I can't find a better way to express what I mean in the moment.
zhdc1 5y ago
> From the "never give up" point of view, I've changed my mind, thanks to books like The Lean Startup, Blitzscaling, and my own experience. It depends on whether you're giving up on the process or the goal. Startups "give up" or pivot on their original and subsequent ideas so often that's it's considered a best practice. This is different from founders giving up on starting a business. Like you mentioned, the habit is what matters.
FriedrichN 5y ago
There is a difference between tenacity and doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results when there are no signs of progress. Ideas like "never give up" and "the power of habit" are not universally true, they are heuristics you can apply to your daily life. In complex systems there are no absolutes. If you have an idea that can be applied to all things equally you're in a cult.

mariusor 5y ago

If you don't strongly believe in the work that you do, I doubt that any amount of discipline and punctiliousness will give you satisfaction at the end. I don't believe it's enough just having "taking off" as an incentive. You should be trying to either improve yourself, or the "world" at large with what you're doing. Also apologies if this sounds too preachy, I can't find a better way to express what I mean in the moment.

zhdc1 5y ago

> From the "never give up" point of view, I've changed my mind, thanks to books like The Lean Startup, Blitzscaling, and my own experience. It depends on whether you're giving up on the process or the goal. Startups "give up" or pivot on their original and subsequent ideas so often that's it's considered a best practice. This is different from founders giving up on starting a business. Like you mentioned, the habit is what matters.

FriedrichN 5y ago

There is a difference between tenacity and doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results when there are no signs of progress. Ideas like "never give up" and "the power of habit" are not universally true, they are heuristics you can apply to your daily life. In complex systems there are no absolutes. If you have an idea that can be applied to all things equally you're in a cult.