How do you get motivated without giving up?
Hello makers!
I'm 23 yo and work as a software engineer (recently graduated), I learned to code at 14-15 and so far I have not managed to take advantage of these skills more than working for others.
So I have a simple question.. How do you get the motivation to work on your projects/ideas every day without giving up? I've started many projects that I have never finished because I think they are not good ideas.
All comments, advice or destructive criticism is well received. :p
Ship something each day. Only that keeps me going. If I have a task that takes a month to finish, I feel the burden and never finish it.
In my own projects it means that I should have a working prototype from day one. I've learned this from game jams (48-hour game Hackathons). In game jam I'll need to have a game that works from start to "game over" in four hours. Otherwise I don't have a game after those 48 hours.
So split your tasks aggressively and cut them off from your MVP even more aggressively. Remember:
I felt the same back in January, when I started my entrepreneurship journey. I was 23 at the time (now 24). Took me a solid 6 years to really understand that motivation is overrated.
What matters is 1) your purpose and 2) your routine serving this purpose. An article I wrote about the motivation issue : Chaos routine.
Concerning your second problem, the "fear" of finishing, well, that's something that you can work on gradually. Make the project's scope smaller so that you can launch it more quickly. Don't be afraid to show your ideas to the world, it's a mandatory step for improvement. Don't think about the people : from the start, believe in your own ideas. Don't overthink. As Bukowski would put it : "Don't try", meaning, if the need for making doesn't come bursting out of you, then maybe you need to reevaluate your purpose/routine.
I'm shipping more than ever now.
Hi Hugo!
I get you, I also have many projects shelved because I doubted the idea or it just wasn't fun to work on it anymore. But quite recently, about a month ago I decided to work on an idea and just launch it, no second doubts.
Then the project became more fun because people started giving feedback and signing up for the newsletter. Since I have been working on that blog, but sometimes you rather binge Netflix.
If that hapends (and I need to get work done) I don't wait to magically find motivation but instead, open a timer (Pomodoro) and set it for 25 minutes to just work on that blog post or feature. Then 25 minutes become 2 hours.
So 2 things;
Just keep searching for your thing and following your nose about what excites you.
With that said, if at some point you find that quitting is becoming a pattern, it could be useful to force yourself to see something through to completion, i.e. set a concrete milestone that's further than you usually go (doesn't mean you have to do it forever).
Everyone struggles with staying motivated and reaching their goals. The reality is that refocusing, changing, or making a new start on something, no matter how small, is a big deal. But it's not impossible. With the right approach, you can definitely do it.
writing down your major goal. Your major goal is the ultimate thing you'd like to see happen.
If you slip up, don't give up. Forgive yourself and make a plan for getting back on track.
Find a motivation deeper than just whether you think the current thing will succeed or not. Even things that turn out well have periods where the going gets tough and it's easy to quit too soon.
People often ask how much runway they need... but this year I learned runway is secondary because the balance in your emotional bank account will drain much faster than your financial bank account.
For me, teaming up with someone was what I needed to see a whole project all the way through. After doing that once and learning there is a lot of value in the lessons learned from shipping, I can focus on one project now and see it through because there's is no value in not seeing it through. The outcome itself doesn't matter, it's about getting further than you did last time. If you're not doing that, you're not growing.
You need to know what drive you to work at the first place, e.g. extra income, for learning, or for fun?
For me, the first is learning, then money. I built me first side project using new language that I learnt so solve real world problem. Then money, is the next motivation to continue work on side project.
One tips to motivate work on project is using issue tracker to keep idea, feature, and todo so that when no idea what to work on, you can using issue tracker to find what to do.
You probably never found something worth fighting/working for. The right motivation should not be "I wanna make extra money"! Just find something you care about, something aligned with your passions (startups, videogames, travels etc.)
That's my advice, that's how I do :D
And what about motivation is "making more money" because it is a necessity? I understand your point, and in that case I would do something that I am passionate about in order to make money?
If your goal is just to make more money than I'd suggest 2 things:
If you just start a side project for making money it's totally fine, I mean a lot of ppl do that. But it's a lot of hard work without the certainty of ending up richer. I have no statistics with me, but I assume that just here on IH people making real money out of their side projects can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
I'm not discouraging you at all! It's just that if my goal was to make extra money I'd pick one of the 2 ways I suggested above. I believe money are a consequence, not a driver for entrepreneurs.
If it's really a necessity than that should be enough reason to feel "motivated"
Hey Hugo!
I noticed you say 'work on them every day' ... This could be why you find it difficult.
Set yourself 'working' days and other days when you have time to relax and/or work on other projects that may be more fun for you. But stick to the 'work' days strictly (for your big project) and be definitive ... I notice @brunolemos mentioned about positive words instead of maybes. Great tip!!!
On that note, I'll leave you with a quote that helps me day to day:
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward you goal.”
~ Bruce Lee
Thank you all for your comments and advice! I am in the process of finishing a small project that I hope to launch.
I noticed in myself that I avoid making commitments, maybe you have this too. Avoid saying "I hope to launch", say "I will launch". Set a deadline. Make it a responsibility.
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