Wondering what all the successful people have that you don't? I'll tell you...
After 10 years of building apps that went nowhere, I thought:
"What do all these successful people have that I don't have?"
2.5 years later my app had taken off, and I was one of them.
Sure, I had acquired some skills over the years, but nothing crazy.
Nothing you don't have or can't learn as you go.
- My code was mediocre.
- The UI was meh.
- Most people would have said I knew nothing about sales.
- Most people would have said I knew nothing about marketing.
What I did have was:
- A lot of attempts under my belt, increasing my chances for luck to go my way
- Determination
- Willingness to figure sh*t out as I went along
- Willingness to get out of my comfort zone
- A sense of scarcity in income, as my freelance work was drying up due to me putting any spare time I had into my SaaS projects over trying to get more freelance clients.
I also had two small kids at home. That could have stopped me, but instead it fueled me.
Some people thought I was crazy, and wasting my time.
I loved that - it fueled me to prove them wrong. That certainly wasn’t my “why”, but I’ll channel whatever energy I can into driving me forward.
This isn’t a path for everyone, but if you want it, you can get it, so don’t let a perceived lack of skills or time get in the way.
You’ll make the time if you want to, and you’ll acquire any necessary skills along the way.
It’s up to you, but anything you’re telling yourself about why you can’t do it is BS.
Thanks for sharing. I definitely agree that determination is crucial and having a driving force helps (in my case, it's my two kids).
Also, being comfortable with letting go of the pursuit of perfection is a big mindset shift. Acceptable is completely fine for launch, so long as you're intent on improving it little and often with user feedback and engagement.
I feel sometimes like I'm wasting my time. But my 3 Littles at home are fueling me as well
Mac is insightful as always
I am not there yet but after several try, I start realizing that there never was secret ingredients to success. Most of it come from understanding the market you are serving and to understand you need to try stuff and let yourself get shot in the head many times.
With that understanding you just increase you chance of success.
So you need to fail fast and understands things fast
That's a really inspirational story.
You asked yourself "What do all these successful people have that I don't have?". What do you think was the answer? A shift in perspective? More sales calls? Luck?
Grit I think. Nothing else. The ability to constantly fail and carry on regardless.
The first realization is that it wasn't the things I was expecting, like skills, expertise etc. These are the things many early stage entrepreneurs think is holding them back.
I later realized what I did have was grit and determination.
My main goal here is to inspire people to realize that they likely already have what it takes, if they want it.