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Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

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Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#1

Post by humaninstrument »

Lately I've realized that I consume way too much. Be it Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, HackerNews, Youtube, etc. Even though I have a job and I deliver value to society on a dialy basis, I feel like I could contribute more.

Another thing that is holding me back I think is the fear of commitement. I have a partially ready youtube channel, with two videos, not listed. I tell myself that I'll open the videos to the public and then start realising videos on a weekly schedule but the commitement seems like a such a burden on me that I don't think I'll be able to keep up.

I also would like to contribute to open source software projects, or write more for my blog, but I just can't force myself to do it. This is kinda a mix of fear (of what?!) and procrastination habits.

Am I pressuring myself too much to make the switch? How did you do it?

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#4

Post by andai »

No one else can answer these questions for you. If your rationalizations don't make sense, they're covering up for deeper fears you may be reluctant to face.

Imagine starting work on these things right now and notice how you feel. Investigate from there.

Or, ignore the feeling, and go work on your dreams anyway :)

Best wishes

Also, an important thing to realize is that everyone is bad at stuff in the beginning. In the words of Jake the Dog, "Suckin at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something!"

Or (can't remember where i got this) "Every artist has 10,000 shitty drawings in them, it's best to get them out as quickly as possible."

Deliberately making something bad (because it will probably end up sorta bad at first, whether you want it or not) can help you overcome the delusion of "it has to be perfect or people will judge me!"

Aim to fail because failure is an essential part to success. You keep sucking until one day you wake up and realize things are going really well. You have to make it to that day though. The only real failure is giving up.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#6

Post by CharlieA »

andai wrote: post #4

No one else can answer these questions for you. If your rationalizations don't make sense, they're covering up for deeper fears you may be reluctant to face. Imagine starting work on these things right now and notice how you feel. Investigate from there. Or, ignore the feeling, and go work on your dreams anyway :) Best wishes Also, an important thing to realize is that everyone is bad at stuff in the beginning. In th…

This reminds me of a quote attributed to Van Gogh. No idea how accurate it is, but the sentiment is great.

> "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."

(ofc: Replace PAINT with anything you like!)

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#7

Post by pjc50 »

Other way round: you're feeling a desire to contribute, but you're not seeing an unmet need. Start by finding an audience, even if it's just one person. Maybe you actually want to make a different kind of contribution such as through volunteering.

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#9

Post by titanix2 »

For your Youtube channel, I'll advise you to prepare a few more before launch: this way you'll be able to skip a week or two easily... which should lessen the fear of not being able to keep the pace. Also you can choose a two weeks release schedule which is easier to keep (video is a lot of work).

Having deadline helps a lot to start and finish projects. Procrastination can also be change in productive procrastination: instead of making you video you can write a blog post. For example, I'm right know programming a game I wanted to start for a long time instead of writing a research paper (and oh, commenting on HN).

Finally I use visualisation before starting something. Instead of just thinking or writing down "write the blog post about XXX" I envision the final product for some time and how it will affect positively my life. Then I have more motivation to actually start it!

Re: Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?

#10

Post by andai »

andai wrote: post #4

No one else can answer these questions for you. If your rationalizations don't make sense, they're covering up for deeper fears you may be reluctant to face. Imagine starting work on these things right now and notice how you feel. Investigate from there. Or, ignore the feeling, and go work on your dreams anyway :) Best wishes Also, an important thing to realize is that everyone is bad at stuff in the beginning. In th…

Another useful perspective to have is to start thinking in terms of other people's needs.

Eg. instead of "how can I make a million dollars" ask "how can I provide a million dollars in value?"

Thinking in terms of people's needs is also beneficial to relationships and mental health, ie. noticing the needs of those around you, how you are / aren't meeting those needs, as well as your own.

This way of thinking helps me make decisions in my life.

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