Jason Leow

Saw an intriguing, thought-provoking thread on why folks with ADHD struggle to complete projects:

> For people who do not have ADHD, dopamine is released *at the moment a goal is accomplished*... For people who do have ADHD things are a bit more complicated. There are various ways to frame this argument, but the one that I tend to prefer is just: we seem to get dopamine from satisfying curiosity rather than completing goals...
>
> Your projects are your way of asking the universe a question, and then digging and digging and digging until the universe answers. You are motivated by curiosity, and that is a blessed gift, not a source of shame. Your unfinished work is the testament to your growth. Those aren't abandoned projects -- those are the remaining scaffolds from the the space ships that they launched. It was never about finishing the thing. Forgive yourself for that. – [@mykola](https://twitter.com/mykola/status/1666274476621803522)

Projects as a way to ask the universe a question. I love that.

Is that why I struggle to finish projects sometimes?
Do I have ADHD?

I'm not so sure about the ADHD part... assigning the condition might be convenient but not always true (as conditions are always more complex than a single facet of behaviour). But the root was what resonated deeply – satisfying curiosity. Because that's exactly how I feel when making my Carrd plugins. Someone asks a question about how to do something on Carrd, in Reddit or Facebook. I get curious. I can see it being possible but I don't know for sure. I wonder if it can be done. I try it, solve it, and in the process, create a plugin.

It's *literally* someone asking a question to the universe, which I happened to see, and that became my own question to ask the universe.

And the most revealing part that it's more about satisfying curiosity than reaching completion, is how I struggle—truly struggle—to launch it. Even to just put it on my site is a barrier. Writing a tutorial and publishing on my stores for sale is a doubly difficult. In most cases, I make it and I feel like my work's done. Sometimes I share it on social media, most of the time, it's just another thing done and left on the shelf.

Now I know why.

Satisfying curiosity had always been the main mission, not completing goals, not making money, not running a business.

In general, that's why I make things too. Curiosity. Satisfying that builder itch is why I build in the first place.

Now I know why I struggle with all other aspects of indie hacking.

Should I go with my base form *ala* just building for curiosity?
Or should I force myself to achieve all these other things with the output of my curiosity, even though I've never intended to?

Whose game am I really playing?

Turned 44 today. Another year, another trip round the sun.

Some birthday wishes:

🏋️‍♂️ Stay healthy
👪 Give the best to my family
💵 Earn enough to do that
🗓 Have time freedom, and be present
🚀 Build a profitable product

Simple wishes. But not-so-simple execution.

It's easy to wish and dream. But to make wishes real, a whole different game. A whole different universe, in fact.

Staying healthy and lean in an era of middle age dad bods and junk food makes food, sleep and exercise choices a daily uphill struggle.

Giving the best to family is great and all, but best is costly. And it wouldn't be possible if I'm just scraping by most months. I got to earn more. I got to provide.

Being a present and calm dad had always been my aim. Being able to work from home, work on consulting and indie projects of my own choosing had been pivotal to that. But I'm far from being present. Time freedom is just the first key. The second key is the quality of my presence during that free time.

Most of all, my work aspiration to have a profitable product that's lifestyle-sustaining. I have profitable products but none that's even close to feeding the fam.

It's all hard af. But I feel the mindset has got to switch. Something more fundamental, at the root.

Aspiring is fine. But actualising is better.

This new birth year, I ~~hope to~~ will stop aspiring and start actualising.

Also my first affiliate sale! Gave a commission of $4.62!

A few thoughts on being an indie dad for three years now:

- Mums have it harder, but it sure ain't easy being a dad too. Both struggle in their own ways. Just want to acknowledge the work that dads do too.
- To provide and protect, yet to also be present. That's a tough juggle only dads will know. It's harder when being an entrepreneur means you're thinking about the business all the time. Learning to switch back to the little human before you is a skill that has to be learned and nurtured.
- It's funny how life goals change as an indie dad. Indie single: $1M ARR! Be the best! Indie dad: Time freedom to play with my kid! Give the best to family. Success in life becomes a different animal. Not to say one is better than the other. There's pros and cons, but there's something natural about bringing up a child that aligns to how the seasons unfold through the year.
- There's a lot less support and resources for dads in general. Many dads might not want to even talk about the challenges they face. Many are silently struggling. Hearts out to those dads.

Happy Father's Day, indie dads!

In the latest episode of @indielifepod, @dagorenouf and @jmckinven talk about Dago's burnout and failed business:

"If you don't look at the risks, you're vulnerable. The reason we failed and we got exhausted, and I burned out, is that we were constantly swimming against the fact that it wasn't a good business." – via [@mijustin](https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1669783225928138753)

That resonated so much, it hurt. Because it was so effing true.

Previously, I assumed that hard work will truimph everything. But I've learned a lot in the past 2-3 years since going serious on indie hacking. One of the most painful lessons was exactly what Dago just shared.

At the start, your ability to smell bullshit on your ideas is simply not there yet. You're not good at telling what's a good business versus a bad one. Everything seems like a good business, just because you're a naive first time founder running on pure optimism and idealism.

But soon with a few failed businesses, you realize at the end they weren't such good businesses after all. The economics just didn't make sense. The amount of investment needed—especially of your time, effort and energy—to keep it going, didn't square with the financial payoffs. You spend 10h marketing a product, just to get 1-2 new customers per month. You're pushing the product uphill. ALL. THE. TIME. A lot of effort, very little reward.

Yet you keep going just because "hard work".

Now I've learned. You got to feel like you're being pulled downhill. Not that you no longer have to work hard, or ship bad products. But being pulled downhill is when your effort can't keep up with the demand. The product seems to be running on its own momentum. You can stop marketing for a week, a month, you still get sales (though maybe less). A lot of effort still, but with outsized rewards too, comparatively.

In both scenarios, hard work was constant. But only in one where there's a happy ending.

You can't outwork a bad business.

- Removed auto-scroll down to keep typing input at vertical center of screen, because it's distracting af.
- Improved performance of typing sounds. There sound be less of a lag now.

"You can be relaxed and dedicated. Just because you worry more, doesn't mean you care more." – [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/june-15-2023)

That's my goal when it comes to any project or goal in life. Dedicated. But relaxed.

Doing the former part was easy. All the sports training from school came in handy. Discipline was seldom an issue. Throw in an obsessive, competitive, Type A sort of attitude and you got a formula for dedication.

But the same strengths are also my weakness when it comes to the "relaxed" part.

In the past I used to conflate dedication and worrying. I assumed the worrying was part of what made the dedication worked. So just as I put in the reps for my training, I put in the reps for the worrying.

So finite games like sports, it's not so bad. But when you put obsessive worrying over long term into infinite games like life issues and entrepreneurship, your mental health suffers.

Thing is, relaxing isn't hard on its own. It's easy to do when you're on vacation, for example.

It's being relaxed while being dedicated that's hard. And I dare say, hard for most people to do *well* in. Because it's about balancing. Enough tension to matter, enough slack to be happy.

I'm nowhere near that perfect balanced state, and have no answers to how to get better at it.

*Any ideas?*

I saw this tweet the other day and thought it was a brilliant way to find new product ideas to work on:

> how to get a your first mrr
> clone chrome extension with bad reviews but has users
> make it actually work
> have it pay your rent
> – [@codyschneiderxx](https://twitter.com/codyschneiderxx/status/1668015337969778692)

Stepping back, it's not just about Chrome extension, but any sort of software or apps on any app store or marketplace! Go on any marketplace, there's always apps that's popular or used to be popular, have lots of users, but working poorly, have lots of negative reviews about features not working, or simply no longer developed or maintained. Find these apps, add your own spin to it (never clone one for one), publish, and profit.

I did a quick search for Twitter Chrome extensions and found this emoji extension [EmojiPanel](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/emojipanel-for-twitter-pr/jfjmncmbmpnaljmmcmeefmkmionkojmd) with 4000+ users and over 250 reviews:


And it was last updated in 2016!

Their lapse is our opportunity.

The beauty of this approach is that the 1-star apps are the junkyard where we can find treasure. One man's meat is another man's poison. The product's already validated, the users are already there, and it just needs a fresh update (by you). And you're doing a service to the existing users by providing a working alternative!

*What 'junk' apps or app categories did you find that's providing opportunities like this?*