Ask HN: Courage to build stuff

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3021278

by thiagofm • 15 years ago

8 9 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Here's the deal, I find myself procrastinating a lot. I think I have a good idea, I know a big community of people that uses spreadsheets to do something.

Why my brain still makes me procrastinate instead of developing something that COULD make me some good money, and actually... It's a cool thing, I can expand it a lot, make it useful.

But why my brain still do that with me?

How to deal with those feelings? I have all the skills that I need, actually... I'm really well versed with the web universe, I easily get hyped by languages, concepts and so on, and learn them easily. But why when it comes to building actually something good, something inside feels wrong?

vicngtor• 15 years ago

I think you are too afraid to fail. You are too worried that if you build something shitty (at first), your peers will judge you.

I say fk it, just do it and launch. Life is too short to worry.

adrianwaj• 15 years ago

Do something you really want to do instead.

bo_Olean• 15 years ago

What do you want to prove by not starting to work on your ideas today ? Ask "What do I want to prove by not doing X ?" recursively to yourself unless you find enough reasons to get started..

I couldn't find the thread few weeks past where I read similar comment. It actually worked for me. If anyone remembers the thread please link it here.

Cilvic• 15 years ago

What exactly feels wrong? Take a small step i.e. write something down, draw something, tell people about it. Just do something that get's you started.

Fliko• 15 years ago

Just stop thinking and start building something, and don't stop building that something until it's usable.

jimisir• 15 years ago

Hey! am actually in the same position as you are. I think I have a good idea but I can come up with a million reasons why i'm not developing e.g. being in school taking 7 classes, studying for the GRE being in debt bla bla bla.

Anyways, to remedy this, it was pretty much just a basic decision. I told myself that I'm wallowing in self pity about problems and not doing anything about it. I decided to act now.

This is not enough though, I think it's important to hold yourself accountable to someone. Maybe get invovled in a startup competetion that requires an update every week, tell a close friend about the idea ( this helps to validate it maybe, and they might keep asking you about it forcing you to build it). Set minimal goals (like oh, i'm going to get my login system working today). And just start building.

Products really just start out as features. If you can implement just one simple feature, you'll be well on your way. And don't be afraid, just be the man in the arena http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html I hope this helps.

PS - Stop reading too many blogs and news and stuff! Just build..I know I always get carried away by tech news instead of being the news

keiferski• 15 years ago

Realize that you have a huge amount of power and ability. There are thousands of people like me: tons of ideas but no technical knowledge to implement them. Many people would kill for the ability to build an idea at will.

You've got the power; don't waste it.

glimcat• 15 years ago

The same argument really strikes both sides of the path. Avoiding the water because you can't swim seems reasonable, but no one has ever learned to swim without jumping in the water.

Speaking for myself, the only reason I can (appear to) pull prototypes out of thin air is that I've done it more times than I can keep track of. Even then, there are unique challenges almost every time.

dholowiski• 15 years ago

If it's really something you're in love with, just do it. Lie to yourself and pretend that you're just building it for your own use, then when you can't stop yourself from grabbing people on the street and telling them how great it is, release it to the world.

If you're not that excited about it, then build the thing you're really excited about. If it's the most exciting thing you can think of right now, start building it for the learning experience, and jump ship when you think of something better.

Seriously. I challenge you to write 100 lines of code tonight.

Ask HN: Courage to build stuff

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