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by gagege 989 days ago
I can have discipline, if I'm doing something for a purpose. Losing weight, getting a job, etc. My problem I always lose what the purpose of my solo project is. Or, I shoot so many holes in my own idea that I can't imagine it being useful to anyone.
2 comments

So get an accountability "partner" - perhaps another person who is doing their own thing and having the same challenges you're having.

Or do the public progress showmanship thing (recurring blog or vlog posts about your project and the current status). I admire the people that go this route, but it frankly scares me since we're talking here on a forum of talented people, some of whom could just hear the project idea and probably get it built faster. So sharing seems to create a lot of risk.

Does that stuff actually work for some people?

My issue is that I don't give a shit about other people outside of those I care about. imo the whole coach thing is a cottage industry of bullshit artists.

If Linus Torvalds wanted to give me advice/coach me I'd damn well listen, even if I disagreed with it (and I'd question if I'm right because Linus is that good).

But the random joe blow whose entire career is coaching? I just have no respect for it.

An accountability partner isn't a coach. It could be, but it certainly doesn't have to be.

For example, an accountability partner could be a potential client/user that you're building a tool targeting. You keep them in the loop with regular updates, and that activity alone can help keep you moving forward even when you might have moments of doubt. If you know you _have_ to report status to someone weekly, you're less likely to blow a week off entirely. At minimum, you might wait until an hour before the meeting and hustle to do at least something.

That's a user.
I do this too. And the flipside is many audiences dont care about the idea or do but find one problem and churn off. So external feedback is hard. tricky one to solve. scratching your own itch can keep you motivated but doesn’t answer the demand question. The other way is to go full mom test and just do full time market research and product hat for months and only then build.