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Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

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Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#101

Post by anatta »

edw519 wrote: post #62
anatta wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The haughtiness is really unhelpful in gaining insight from a dilemma that many people encounter to various degrees. He's mentioned that this issue is applicable to his endeavors in general, not just startups. People can be involved in business and startups for various reasons, not just a personal sense of ideological purity.

haughtiness is really unhelpful Sorry if it seemed like that; it certainly wasn't my intention. OP asked a question and then provided some clear data: any attitude toward your customers is your problem, not theirs. People can be involved in business and startups for various reasons, not just a personal sense of ideological purity. I believe that caring for your customers is necessary but not sufficient for any busine…

I'm in agreement with you about customers after reading the astute distinction you mentioned to Wheels (prospects vs. converted customers). Once you've curated a stable base of good customers you absolutely must tend to them and that relationship can be very enlightening.

My only issue with your reply to OP was that it seemed unnecessarily sharp in tone ("Go pursue some other passion. Leave the start-ups for those of us who really care") and addressed an effect ("snubbing customers") of his problem rather than trying to untangle the source of the problem itself (being addicted to inertia but lacking grit).

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#102

Post by ahoyhere »

Buy, read, and use "I Could Do Anything I Want... If I Just Knew What It Was" by Barbara Sher. Don't let its goofy self-help look deter you, because the design is horrible and the back cover is retarded but the book is quality, no-nonsense all the way through it. And because it describes you and your problem to a T. It will help you uncover the core issue of why you keep abandoning things.

It's more complex than "it just gets hard," trust me.

After that, read The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz. Take notes. Think hard about it. Figure out if you're even working on something you love so much you want it to exist, whether you want to feel satisfied or feel engaged, and how you're misusing stress or rewards to keep yourself going.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#104

Post by bdickason »

Wolf_Larsen wrote: post #100
bdickason wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, let me rephrase, because you're righ. I do care. I definitely set unrealistic expectations for my customers, as identified below. In the past I've been bad about overpromising and then spreading our dev resources thin, which definitely contributes to this feeling that customers are pushy (because they don't get what we've promised). This is something I've gotten better at recently, but still remains a major pai…

Awesome, you've identified one of your biggest weaknesses. Also, you've gotten better at it recently. It seems to me like you need some time to work on that. For me, learning to say "no" and establishing my authority to clients regarding the direction of a project was HARD. It took me at least 2 years from the first time I noticed to get to a point that I could run a project pretty damn smoothly. Also, I suggest you…

Thanks Wolf. This is honestly my favorite post of the entire thread. Your advice is on point and speaks from personal experience :) Appreciate it!

I'm taking a few days off this weekend during the holiday. Hoping for the best :D

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#105

Post by bdickason »

petervandijck wrote: post #94
bdickason wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The clear roadmap is something I've never been good at and perhaps this is a root cause. For example, as a 'product manager' I have tons of big dreams for my product. Generally, it takes 2-3 months to get any solid prototype out there. Add on another 2-3 months of buildout to go from prototype to something people use and... by the time anything I've built in the past has reached 50k+ users, we're at least 6 months ou…

The big dreams for your product are understandable. But a roadmap won't help, it will just make you waste time on planning a future that you can't possibly plan. There's another way. Think of this exciting vision first. Then, instead of making a roadmap and starting years of coding to finally arrive at this vision (which will never happen, likely), start cutting away stuff from your vision. Cut away non-crucial stuff…

Peter, I'm doing exactly this right now :) And it's damn fun.
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