[linkmotif]

This piece and its ilk are the real click bait of HN. Nothing new or interesting said here, just another “fail fast and early” piece that misses the bigger picture: namely, that unless you just want to make money—which is cool—failing fast and early is not what everyone is about. Finding a markov chain to a product is definitely a way to get there, if you just want to find some product, any product, that will sell to somebody somewhere. But okay, I’ve read this piece a hundred times. I get it. Please stop writing it, or at least please stop upvoting it.

[wahern]

Maybe it's coincidence but IIRC there's some scientific literature that suggests simply imagining success can trigger similar reward pathways as actually achieving success.

This in turn may sap motivation. (Not sure if this consequence is part of the science.) The remedy according to some sources is to avoid imagining success or even the end state of your project. To maintain perseverance, try to stay focused on the most immediate problems and potential future hurdles.

[linkmotif]

Your comment should have been the article.

But regarding:

> The remedy according to some sources is to avoid imagining success or even the end state of your project.

Is it really the remedy? I agree the problem you state is real, but how does this, or all other possible ways to keep your eyes on the prize, the “remedy”?

Growing up I was on a competitive swim team, and one of the exercises we did before meets was imagining the whole race, imagining how we would execute our performance from start to finish. You would imagine the start, how you feel fresh and easy, and then the middle, as you begin to feel yourself tire, and then the end, when you’re exhausted but then the reward of finishing. It’s about the whole race, I think, and day dreaming about the end doesn’t have to be so bad.