Last night I wrote "FUD" on my journal.
I wrote it organically, arriving at those words: fear, uncertainty and doubt, in that particular order, without realizing it.
I was trying to understand why yesterday was such a massively unproductive day.
I struggled all day working on the copy of my newest project. An idea I had for the rock climbing community that I had a couple years ago and that I always revisit because I know and I see there's a need for something like this out there on a regular basis.
[And now that I injured a finger a few weeks ago I have a lot more spare time in my hands]
Fear -- fear of exposing myself. It's been a while since I launched an ambitious project.
Uncertainty -- That launching this project is the right thing. For me. For the market. When I'm not working on it I am constantly reminded by hearing other climbers that there's a need for it. Not for everybody, the value prop asks a lot from the climber, but for people that are really psyched this will make a lot of sense. But when I'm working on the specifics I am constantly uncertain about it.
Doubt -- It jumps at me when I'm working on the site. Whether it's the right idea to launch with a copy-heavy website instead of a flashy SaaS typical landing page. "Is this the right headline?", "Is this the right paragraph?".
When I was re-reading my journal last night I realized I had spelled-out that common term. FUD. It surprised me. I wasn't expecting that. But at least, now, I know why I spent the day staring at my text-editor, going back and forth between looking at templates, writing five words, deleting two, switching paragraphs, feeling frustrated, going for a walk, saying "fuck it" and escaping to twitter, going back to the editor.
I woke up this morning thing about sharing this with you. So here it is.
Part of the journey. Days like these just suck but you keeping one word at a time is all it takes. If you believe your idea has merit. It’s a success. I’d invest on that alone because in your darkest time, taking one step is all I need to see for it to win.
hey Pablo, I was in the same mood a couple of months ago, procrastinating, journaling. Then I decided to build a journaling app where I could set goals and that would give me insights about my progress towards those goals. The road to launching that was full with FUD, but I built my journaling app while using it and it worked. FUD appeared less and less in my journal and finally I got it launched (not wanting to promote here, but it's called DailyState - https://dailystate.me).
I found that journaling is a great way - perhaps the best way - to overcome FUD and procrastination. And remember Nike, Just do it. Whenever you're stuck, just continue, just do something. Anything. And track whatever you're doing in your journal (but I believe you're already doing that).
Whenever you believe you're stuck again, look back in your journal and see that you've faced such situation before. You know you've grown and made progress and can do it again.
Good luck!
@EpicDev Just get to know Dailystate! Very cool product. I'm in the search for tools to improve my writing skills and create a sustainable habit in content contribution. Awesome product!
Thanks for sharing!
I go into my day job feeling FUD almost everyday. When you are an "architect" at a large company there are a lot of expectations. I'm learning to just embrace it. But in a positive way...
I'm trying to go in more and more with the attitude that I really don't know what the hell I'm doing. It is surprising how well received that attitude is from people. What I mean is, I try to go into situations and just level set that I want to help out and invite a conversation about what the problem is and then just talking through it. No pressure, just there to listen and learn.
Most of the time, I either actually do know the best approach and share that or they end up figuring it out for themselves. Worst case, I tell them straight up that I don't know the answer but will consult with the other architects and get back to them.
I think this Indie Hacking is the same way, maybe? You just have to start with the mindset that you don't know what you are doing but you are going to try something and then listen and learn. Make it better. Improve it. Start from scratch. Just keep moving forward and finding what works.
One FUD day at a time. :-)
Thanks for sharing, I'm sure you are not alone in that.
I put out a poll on Twitter for reassurance :)
Personally, I feel I've gotten better at just accepting who I am and what I can achieve. I still wish I was better at doing and managing certain things, but meh, I do my best not to give myself a hard time for not getting stuff done.
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