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Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

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Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#71

Post by carlosjobim »

Hard work and struggle doesn't take anybody closer to success, it never has. It is one of the most common false beliefs and even false gods.

Do you think a panther struggles to fell its prey? No, it is a pleasure for the panther, it's a game.

Your approach is wrong. You shouldn't keep going with your failed pet project, you should abandon it and start something else. Be happy that you've only earned $200. Imagine if you were in the situation that you were earning more but still not as much as you should? Then it would be much harder to let go.

If you're looking for a project, something to turn into your own business, you will have to try several different things. And do not invest too much in them before you get returns. Sometimes you have a great offer, but nobody wants to talk to you. Why? Because people are idiots a lot of the time. There's nothing you can do about that.

Start some new projects, see what sparks an interest among others, and investing more of your time and effort when you see that you are getting returns. Abandon the projects without returns.

I make a living selling a service to the general public, that I personally don't consider a huge value add. But people are very eager to buy it, so why shouldn't I sell it?

I had another service I tried to sell that would have been an enormous value add for business clients. Like an all pros and no cons service, and I could easily demonstrate to them how they could save many thousands with the service per month while at the same time making their lives easier. Guess what? Nobody even wanted to talk to me. Sometimes there's a brick wall for no logical reason.

So try different approaches and follow the flow.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#72

Post by e40 »

voxl wrote: post #36
e40 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They survived in the past by having low expectations and knowing hardship was a fact of life. And also that life was unfair to the extreme.

I would argue that they didn't survive, unless they were predisposed to it. If you were depressed 500 years ago you died.

I disagree. Life 500 years ago was a constant struggle to stay alive. That left very little time to sit around and be depressed.

For those humans, at that time, who were mentally ill, I agree, they either died from exposure or were protected by other humans. That protection was expensive, though, and wasn't available to many families.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#73

Post by lmiller1990 »

riku_iki wrote: post #10
alain94040 wrote: post #2

After 4 years of $0, I'm not sure it's a matter of finding the strength to keep going. Something in your target market doesn't seem to be working out. If you can, find experienced friends that are willing to tell you the ugly truth about your business effort. Talk more to your potential customers. Did you just happen to pick the wrong market?

I think all markets are currently saturated. What market do you think is easily available for solo hustlers?

There isn't any easy markets, making even a few hundred bucks a month as a solo dev is vastly harder than just working a 9-5.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#74

Post by jononor »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #58
agluszak wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, I understand that, but why do you want to have this agency in business specifically? Why the focus on tying your agency to making money?

>why do you want to have this agency in business specifically? Is there any way to succeed financially without being bound to corporate, and not have a business in some way? Be it gig economy, consulting, independent creation, or a traditional brick and mortar establishment, you at the end of the day have a brand/image to sell to customers that you want money from. It all comes down to business. The only alternative…

You can stop tying your success and agency to work things. Find another avenue for that feeling instead. Then the micro-managers and dysfunctional businesses cannot get in the way of your success. Then a job is just something that pays the bills.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#75

Post by jononor »

anonzzzies wrote: post #67

I am in the same boat, but for me it has been 10 years working on it and I stopped mostly doing anything else a few years ago and focusing 100% on this. I know should do something as not even competitors are closing 10m$+ investment rounds with incredibly low quality products compared to mine. I just don't live in san francisco and i don't know investors. Anyway: I am going to keep pushing, I guess my belief in the p…

If only there was some program that could Combine You with investors and other business savyy people ;) Joke aside - wether it is investors or customers you are looking for, you gotta get out there. The quality of your product is all in vain if it does not reach your target audience.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#76

Post by razodactyl »

sorokod wrote: post #4

An older monk and a novice were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side. The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman. Then, without a word, the older monk picked…

It just occurred to me that other humans act as external memory storage... like when you suddenly remember something... that's how I feel reading this story for the Nth time over the last decade.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#77

Post by johnnyanmac »

jononor wrote: post #74
johnnyanmac wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why do you want to have this agency in business specifically? Is there any way to succeed financially without being bound to corporate, and not have a business in some way? Be it gig economy, consulting, independent creation, or a traditional brick and mortar establishment, you at the end of the day have a brand/image to sell to customers that you want money from. It all comes down to business. The only alternative…

You can stop tying your success and agency to work things. Find another avenue for that feeling instead. Then the micro-managers and dysfunctional businesses cannot get in the way of your success. Then a job is just something that pays the bills.

>You can stop tying your success and agency to work things.

I could. For my specific goals it's not easy, though. Ultimately my goal isn't money but to help others. And that takes time and energy for the sake of others.

I don't necessarily need all the money (I know my career choices won't pay FAANG salaries), but if I can make enough money to focus full time on assisting others and not split my remaining free time on essentially doing more work, that's just optimal usage of my time here.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#79

Post by lilbaby »

e40 wrote: post #72
voxl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue that they didn't survive, unless they were predisposed to it. If you were depressed 500 years ago you died.

I disagree. Life 500 years ago was a constant struggle to stay alive. That left very little time to sit around and be depressed. For those humans, at that time, who were mentally ill, I agree, they either died from exposure or were protected by other humans. That protection was expensive, though, and wasn't available to many families.

Why would you want to survive, though. Just for the sake of it?

Actually it feels somewhat unfair, how hard it is to die, nowadays. You literally have to commit a violent act towards your body to do it.

I'd love to just sort of blamelessly die by exposure or something. No fault of mine and no fucking life on Earth, thank you very much.

Re: Ask HN: How to Overcome the Trough of Sorrow?

#80

Post by badpun »

tim333 wrote: post #68
voxl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue that they didn't survive, unless they were predisposed to it. If you were depressed 500 years ago you died.

Depression must have had some survival value or it would have evolved out.

Same could be said of hunger or tiredness. In other words, depression can be an unwanted, but inevitable byproduct of our internal workings - same as being tired is.
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