Fixed bug where toolbar on /write page extended out of screen
Deployed new saving status UI feature
Tested speed of keydown vs textarea input for making typing sound function more performant - keydown is more consistent (0.3-0.4ms) and 0.1-0.2ms faster
Day 878 - Is being "indie" limiting? - https://golifelog.com/posts/is-being-indie-limiting-1685231324853
Is being associated as an "indie hacker/maker/dev" limiting?
Are there any limiters and limiting beliefs to being one that holds you back from getting the results you want?
Mike here started a great conversation about it:
> Just a feeling here, but, I bet if you remove the “indie” label/identity, you’d 10x your revenue. 🔥 – [@CSMikeCardona](https://twitter.com/CSMikeCardona/status/1662414161555628032)
And [Dominic](https://twitter.com/dqmonn/status/1662593406105780226) laid out a few which were hit the nail on the spot:
> Burning passion for developing product, but not distributing it.
> Small set of „approved“ growth channels (SEO, Twitter), long list of ones you would not use (Cold Mails, Partnerships, Lead Magnets)
> Only MRR / digital goods is „good money“
> Accepting when growth is slow (as opposed to solving it)
> Everything needs to be polished
> Everything needs to be shared
> Everything needs to be celebrated
> VC is the devil
Looking through the list, I'm thankful that many on that aren't huge problems for me by now, like the first one. I mean, I still have a burning passion for building yes. Give me building, any day. But I'm no longer opposed to doing it. Marketing was hard to unlearn and learn but it wasn't due to being indie, but more a learned reflex from growing up seeing slimey sales tactics. Don't seem to have problems doing marketing now. Still need to work on that impatience for results though.
But going back to the original question: Is being "indie" really limiting? I think some of those limiting beliefs aren't just confined to indie hackers. It's common for creators, entrepreneurs. We all got our own limiting beliefs, indie or not... We all come with our own sets of biases and beliefs, many which can help or hinder... or both! Depending on context. The ability to work hard is both a boon and a bane. Hard work is good when you're working on the right opportunity, bad when [you're digging on the wrong spot](https://golifelog.com/posts/working-hard-is-overrated-so-is-working-smart-1685086071076).
I'm not sure "indie" was limiting for me, even though I'm aware I had to unlearn many limiting beliefs conditioned through the years. It's just a convenient label to signal I'm part of a community, to connect with others here. In fact, been doing this way of working before "indie hacker" was even a thing! Back then we were just "self employed', "freelancer". The names change, but the beliefs we carry don't.
As [Paul G says, keeping your identity small](http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html) is the way.
Anytime you over-identified with something, that virtue just became a vice.
Are there any limiters and limiting beliefs to being one that holds you back from getting the results you want?
Mike here started a great conversation about it:
> Just a feeling here, but, I bet if you remove the “indie” label/identity, you’d 10x your revenue. 🔥 – [@CSMikeCardona](https://twitter.com/CSMikeCardona/status/1662414161555628032)
And [Dominic](https://twitter.com/dqmonn/status/1662593406105780226) laid out a few which were hit the nail on the spot:
> Burning passion for developing product, but not distributing it.
> Small set of „approved“ growth channels (SEO, Twitter), long list of ones you would not use (Cold Mails, Partnerships, Lead Magnets)
> Only MRR / digital goods is „good money“
> Accepting when growth is slow (as opposed to solving it)
> Everything needs to be polished
> Everything needs to be shared
> Everything needs to be celebrated
> VC is the devil
Looking through the list, I'm thankful that many on that aren't huge problems for me by now, like the first one. I mean, I still have a burning passion for building yes. Give me building, any day. But I'm no longer opposed to doing it. Marketing was hard to unlearn and learn but it wasn't due to being indie, but more a learned reflex from growing up seeing slimey sales tactics. Don't seem to have problems doing marketing now. Still need to work on that impatience for results though.
But going back to the original question: Is being "indie" really limiting? I think some of those limiting beliefs aren't just confined to indie hackers. It's common for creators, entrepreneurs. We all got our own limiting beliefs, indie or not... We all come with our own sets of biases and beliefs, many which can help or hinder... or both! Depending on context. The ability to work hard is both a boon and a bane. Hard work is good when you're working on the right opportunity, bad when [you're digging on the wrong spot](https://golifelog.com/posts/working-hard-is-overrated-so-is-working-smart-1685086071076).
I'm not sure "indie" was limiting for me, even though I'm aware I had to unlearn many limiting beliefs conditioned through the years. It's just a convenient label to signal I'm part of a community, to connect with others here. In fact, been doing this way of working before "indie hacker" was even a thing! Back then we were just "self employed', "freelancer". The names change, but the beliefs we carry don't.
As [Paul G says, keeping your identity small](http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html) is the way.
Anytime you over-identified with something, that virtue just became a vice.
Day 877 - Sleep rookie mistakes - https://golifelog.com/posts/sleep-rookie-mistakes-1685194801655
Lately I'm making all the rookie mistakes for my sleep. All over again.
I'm sleeping late, at 10pm or later. I'm not being disciplined about going to bed by 9.30pm, or even 8.30pm on some days to catch up on sleep. These days I catch up by waking late, by clocking my 5 sleep cycles. At least I try to even the sleep debt, but there's been downsides. The constant pendulum between waking at 4+am and 6_am screwed up my body clock. It's so terribly confused right now. Like how last night, I woke at 4am to go to the toilet, but was wide awake after, so decided to just wake and get to work.
Not just am I sleeping later, I'm also scrolling my phone, exposing myself to blue light and stimulating content right till the moment I sleep. It's a bit like revenge bedtime procrastination. I'm trying to fill some emptiness from the day.
I don't do sitting meditation as much at night now, preferring to just sleep. Nothing to help me settle my mind and calm tf down. I think not doing that makes me more prone to poor quality sleep.
In March and April I remembered not even exercising much. Being pretty much a chair potato. That, as well, didn't help with sleep.
And an even worse mistake – I started taking magnesium threonate over my previous magnesium citramate but stupidly forget to check the per serving dosage. The threonate version was *actually* 3 capsules per serving while the previous was 1 cap per serving. So I've been taking 3 times lesser magnesium for months without knowing. No wonder I've been getting occasional leg cramps at night! 😩
It's been a downhill spiral to the death of sleep lately.
I can say it's all due to stress, work, and care responsibilities. I can say it's due to burnout. Many reasons. But it's all still *on* me.
And only *I* can pick myself back up to frequent 90% scores again.
I've done it before. I can do it again.
I'm sleeping late, at 10pm or later. I'm not being disciplined about going to bed by 9.30pm, or even 8.30pm on some days to catch up on sleep. These days I catch up by waking late, by clocking my 5 sleep cycles. At least I try to even the sleep debt, but there's been downsides. The constant pendulum between waking at 4+am and 6_am screwed up my body clock. It's so terribly confused right now. Like how last night, I woke at 4am to go to the toilet, but was wide awake after, so decided to just wake and get to work.
Not just am I sleeping later, I'm also scrolling my phone, exposing myself to blue light and stimulating content right till the moment I sleep. It's a bit like revenge bedtime procrastination. I'm trying to fill some emptiness from the day.
I don't do sitting meditation as much at night now, preferring to just sleep. Nothing to help me settle my mind and calm tf down. I think not doing that makes me more prone to poor quality sleep.
In March and April I remembered not even exercising much. Being pretty much a chair potato. That, as well, didn't help with sleep.
And an even worse mistake – I started taking magnesium threonate over my previous magnesium citramate but stupidly forget to check the per serving dosage. The threonate version was *actually* 3 capsules per serving while the previous was 1 cap per serving. So I've been taking 3 times lesser magnesium for months without knowing. No wonder I've been getting occasional leg cramps at night! 😩
It's been a downhill spiral to the death of sleep lately.
I can say it's all due to stress, work, and care responsibilities. I can say it's due to burnout. Many reasons. But it's all still *on* me.
And only *I* can pick myself back up to frequent 90% scores again.
I've done it before. I can do it again.
Day 876 - Working hard is overrated. So is working smart. - https://golifelog.com/posts/working-hard-is-overrated-so-is-working-smart-1685086071076
Hard work is overrated.
It alone is not sufficient for success.
So is working smart. It alone isn't enough either.
You got great product-market fit? Awesome, but you can still fail. Just ask the many awesome Twitter tools that shut down when Twitter increased prices for their API.
Boatloads of capital? Hundreds of millions? Sorry, no gurantee of success.
Got lucky? Good for you, but no saying that the luck will hang around.
Even a combination of those factors—hard work, luck, capital, great product—won’t guarantee success.
*It’s necessary, but not sufficient.*
In Chinese there's a saying 天时地利人和 – a harmony of weather, timing, terrain, advantage, people. For sure it's an interplay of factors – good product, product-mkt fit, right timing/opportunity, resources, skills, cash, luck, etc etc.. How much of each depends on your circumstances. And hundreds of other factors that we cannot control. Even if you had it all, there's still many factors outside of one's control that brings success. So while it's necessary to do, it might not be sufficient.
So don't believe anyone who tries to give you a formula.
Some folks will get annoyed when they are told hard work is overrated. They often misunderstand. Hard work is necessary. You should still work hard. But it's an illusion that hard work alone will bring you to success – that's the key point here. Though just because hard work is overrated doesn't mean you can be lazy and wait for success to land on your lap. It won't happen either. I think it's good that people realise there's a nuance to what "hard work" truly means, and act accordingly. Most hold very simplistic, cause-and-effect notions of hard work. And get frustrated, drop out when it doesn't go according to that narrative.
I'm still unlearning this reflex after years of conditioning
It alone is not sufficient for success.
So is working smart. It alone isn't enough either.
You got great product-market fit? Awesome, but you can still fail. Just ask the many awesome Twitter tools that shut down when Twitter increased prices for their API.
Boatloads of capital? Hundreds of millions? Sorry, no gurantee of success.
Got lucky? Good for you, but no saying that the luck will hang around.
Even a combination of those factors—hard work, luck, capital, great product—won’t guarantee success.
*It’s necessary, but not sufficient.*
In Chinese there's a saying 天时地利人和 – a harmony of weather, timing, terrain, advantage, people. For sure it's an interplay of factors – good product, product-mkt fit, right timing/opportunity, resources, skills, cash, luck, etc etc.. How much of each depends on your circumstances. And hundreds of other factors that we cannot control. Even if you had it all, there's still many factors outside of one's control that brings success. So while it's necessary to do, it might not be sufficient.
So don't believe anyone who tries to give you a formula.
Some folks will get annoyed when they are told hard work is overrated. They often misunderstand. Hard work is necessary. You should still work hard. But it's an illusion that hard work alone will bring you to success – that's the key point here. Though just because hard work is overrated doesn't mean you can be lazy and wait for success to land on your lap. It won't happen either. I think it's good that people realise there's a nuance to what "hard work" truly means, and act accordingly. Most hold very simplistic, cause-and-effect notions of hard work. And get frustrated, drop out when it doesn't go according to that narrative.
I'm still unlearning this reflex after years of conditioning
Day 875 - Build to sell ≠ build to own - https://golifelog.com/posts/build-to-sell-build-to-own-1685014349659
I was intrigued by this tweet by [@tarasowski](https://twitter.com/tarasowski/status/1660903135227805698) about building a SaaS to $100 MRR and then selling it for $10k:
> How to make $10,000 in the next 4 weeks.
> 1. Build a SaaS
> 2. Bring it to $100 MRR
> 3. List on @acquiredotcom
> 4. Sell it for $10,000+
>
> I have done that, it works.
And obviously this was intriguing enough for others that that my [retweet](https://twitter.com/jasonleowsg/status/1661154692427317249) blew up.
$20k in 4 weeks sounds like a good deal, no? Sounds like a lucrative opportunity. Of course, there’s no guarantee it can happen every month. The reality is that it is possible but *not commonplace* – this [Feb 2023 report](https://blog.acquire.com/acquire-com-biannual-acquisition-multiples-report-feb-2023/) shows SaaS are asking multiples at 2-3x revenue or 5x profit:
The way I see it, this could be a fun way for someone who's still looking for a main project to focus on, to try many different things first. For sure, this approach has trade-offs on opportunity cost and focus, so not ideal if you already got a good project going.
Or say if I build something but don't foresee a long term future with it, and want to sell. Maybe after building it I realised I'm not in love with the problem enough to do it long term... then selling for $20k after trying it out for 1 month sounds like a nice exit, yes?
Can also imagine that if someone is good at marketing and have good acumen at spotting opportunities, this might be a good way own a business already running on momentum and grow it multiple fold. What’s interesting is how someone could buy it at $10k, build it from $100 MRR to $100k MRR, and flip it for millions.
But the key draw for me is if I build something with the intention to sell it off, maybe new and different opportunities would open up, because I wouldn’t need to fall in love with the problem...
I’ve always judged product ideas on whether I’m in love with the problem, not whether the opportunity is there. I feel like I need to have that maker enjoyability aspect, otherwise I won’t last in the long term. But this got me thinking: Why do I need to always build something to own? Why do I need my products to be like my babies, or borrowing an analogy from @dvassallo, why treat them like pets instead of cattle? If I’m not obsessed with having to love a problem, maybe I can work on product ideas that are trending and is a good opportunity for a limited time, say 1-2 months, and flip it for a good multiple. I can live with 1-2 months! And in the process, I’d probably learn a lot too, work out my shipping muscles, and gain some followers for building in public. Rather than procrastinating and dwelling in abstract terms over which idea I should throw myself into and not ending up not acting at all…
The way I see it might work for me personally, is I don't know if it's a problem space that I'm interested in, but I saw a big opportunity and went for it. Build it out and grow it. Then could decide to sell if still not in love after 4 weeks, or if I start to like it, I can continue growing it. Previously I would have to just let it die if I didn't want to continue and it'll go to waste, or I continue grudgingly - either which are less than ideal.
Build to sell ≠ build to own.
> How to make $10,000 in the next 4 weeks.
> 1. Build a SaaS
> 2. Bring it to $100 MRR
> 3. List on @acquiredotcom
> 4. Sell it for $10,000+
>
> I have done that, it works.
And obviously this was intriguing enough for others that that my [retweet](https://twitter.com/jasonleowsg/status/1661154692427317249) blew up.
$20k in 4 weeks sounds like a good deal, no? Sounds like a lucrative opportunity. Of course, there’s no guarantee it can happen every month. The reality is that it is possible but *not commonplace* – this [Feb 2023 report](https://blog.acquire.com/acquire-com-biannual-acquisition-multiples-report-feb-2023/) shows SaaS are asking multiples at 2-3x revenue or 5x profit:
The way I see it, this could be a fun way for someone who's still looking for a main project to focus on, to try many different things first. For sure, this approach has trade-offs on opportunity cost and focus, so not ideal if you already got a good project going.
Or say if I build something but don't foresee a long term future with it, and want to sell. Maybe after building it I realised I'm not in love with the problem enough to do it long term... then selling for $20k after trying it out for 1 month sounds like a nice exit, yes?
Can also imagine that if someone is good at marketing and have good acumen at spotting opportunities, this might be a good way own a business already running on momentum and grow it multiple fold. What’s interesting is how someone could buy it at $10k, build it from $100 MRR to $100k MRR, and flip it for millions.
But the key draw for me is if I build something with the intention to sell it off, maybe new and different opportunities would open up, because I wouldn’t need to fall in love with the problem...
I’ve always judged product ideas on whether I’m in love with the problem, not whether the opportunity is there. I feel like I need to have that maker enjoyability aspect, otherwise I won’t last in the long term. But this got me thinking: Why do I need to always build something to own? Why do I need my products to be like my babies, or borrowing an analogy from @dvassallo, why treat them like pets instead of cattle? If I’m not obsessed with having to love a problem, maybe I can work on product ideas that are trending and is a good opportunity for a limited time, say 1-2 months, and flip it for a good multiple. I can live with 1-2 months! And in the process, I’d probably learn a lot too, work out my shipping muscles, and gain some followers for building in public. Rather than procrastinating and dwelling in abstract terms over which idea I should throw myself into and not ending up not acting at all…
The way I see it might work for me personally, is I don't know if it's a problem space that I'm interested in, but I saw a big opportunity and went for it. Build it out and grow it. Then could decide to sell if still not in love after 4 weeks, or if I start to like it, I can continue growing it. Previously I would have to just let it die if I didn't want to continue and it'll go to waste, or I continue grudgingly - either which are less than ideal.
Build to sell ≠ build to own.
Day 874 - Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. - https://golifelog.com/posts/start-where-you-are-use-what-you-have-do-what-you-can-1684928365173
They say, for entrepreneurship:
> Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Reminded me of this famous photo of Jeff Bezos building Amazon from ground zero, using a door as a desk.
So what exactly do I have to offer that can get me an extra $1000 per month? [Someone](https://twitter.com/deadcoder0904/status/1660660009854808064?s=20) suggested I do this:
> 1. write down all your skills.
> 2. see if you can provide a service using them where time = money
> 3. reach out to your network to see if anyone needs help with those skills.
> 4. charge >$250 so you need 4 people max.
Okay so here goes:
1. My skills: Design thinking, design research, coaching for design thinking, web design, web development, building simple apps, copywriting, social media marketing,
2. What can I offer:
- Design thinking, design research:
- [Doing] My design consultancy for government and non-profits.
- [Doing] Freelance in design research.
- [New] Advisory for scoping tenders for design services.
- Coaching for design thinking:
- [Doing] Training for organisations.
- [New] 1-on-1 coaching for folks in design industry.
- Web design &/or development:
- [Doing] Sweet Jam Sites (but wanted to shut it down previously).
- [New] Create niche websites - listing directories, Carrd sites
- [Doing] Building tech for good apps by applying for grants.
- [New] Build micro-SaaS as consulting?
- [New] Software consulting by building Carrd plugins?
- Copywriting & social media marketing:
- [New] Fiverr or Upwork writing gigs
- [New] Write technical or niche blog posts for creator/indie hacker/web dev/keto/sleep biohacking industry
- [New] Ghost-writing tweets or content?
- [New] Write social media content for technical or niche blog posts for creator/indie hacker/web dev/keto/sleep biohacking industry
3. Who I can reach out to:
- Design thinking, design research:
- Contacts in government and non-profits.
- Post on LinkedIn and Twitter about needing projects.
- Cold message contacts to ask if they have gigs.
- Market new offerings on social media.
- Coaching for design thinking:
- Cold outreach to organisations about design thinking coaching and training offerings.
- Post about 1-on-1 coaching for folks in design industry.
- Web design &/or development:
- Tweet about offer to create niche websites - listing directories, Carrd sites.
- Apply for new grants to build tech for good apps.
- Tweet about my new offering to build micro-SaaS as consulting
- Email to existing customers about software consulting by building Carrd plugins?
- Copywriting & social media marketing:
- Check out Fiverr or Upwork for writing gigs
- Cold outreach about writing technical or niche blog posts for creator/indie hacker/web dev/keto/sleep biohacking industry
4. Of all the ideas, I just need to get say 5 clients at $199 each. 5 does feel possible! Or:
- 1 client × $1000
- 2 clients × $500
- 4 clients × $250
- 5 clients × $199
- 10 clients × $99
- 20 clients × $50
- 50 clients × $20
- 100 clients × $10
*So what else can I look into that I can offer?*
> Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Reminded me of this famous photo of Jeff Bezos building Amazon from ground zero, using a door as a desk.
So what exactly do I have to offer that can get me an extra $1000 per month? [Someone](https://twitter.com/deadcoder0904/status/1660660009854808064?s=20) suggested I do this:
> 1. write down all your skills.
> 2. see if you can provide a service using them where time = money
> 3. reach out to your network to see if anyone needs help with those skills.
> 4. charge >$250 so you need 4 people max.
Okay so here goes:
1. My skills: Design thinking, design research, coaching for design thinking, web design, web development, building simple apps, copywriting, social media marketing,
2. What can I offer:
- Design thinking, design research:
- [Doing] My design consultancy for government and non-profits.
- [Doing] Freelance in design research.
- [New] Advisory for scoping tenders for design services.
- Coaching for design thinking:
- [Doing] Training for organisations.
- [New] 1-on-1 coaching for folks in design industry.
- Web design &/or development:
- [Doing] Sweet Jam Sites (but wanted to shut it down previously).
- [New] Create niche websites - listing directories, Carrd sites
- [Doing] Building tech for good apps by applying for grants.
- [New] Build micro-SaaS as consulting?
- [New] Software consulting by building Carrd plugins?
- Copywriting & social media marketing:
- [New] Fiverr or Upwork writing gigs
- [New] Write technical or niche blog posts for creator/indie hacker/web dev/keto/sleep biohacking industry
- [New] Ghost-writing tweets or content?
- [New] Write social media content for technical or niche blog posts for creator/indie hacker/web dev/keto/sleep biohacking industry
3. Who I can reach out to:
- Design thinking, design research:
- Contacts in government and non-profits.
- Post on LinkedIn and Twitter about needing projects.
- Cold message contacts to ask if they have gigs.
- Market new offerings on social media.
- Coaching for design thinking:
- Cold outreach to organisations about design thinking coaching and training offerings.
- Post about 1-on-1 coaching for folks in design industry.
- Web design &/or development:
- Tweet about offer to create niche websites - listing directories, Carrd sites.
- Apply for new grants to build tech for good apps.
- Tweet about my new offering to build micro-SaaS as consulting
- Email to existing customers about software consulting by building Carrd plugins?
- Copywriting & social media marketing:
- Check out Fiverr or Upwork for writing gigs
- Cold outreach about writing technical or niche blog posts for creator/indie hacker/web dev/keto/sleep biohacking industry
4. Of all the ideas, I just need to get say 5 clients at $199 each. 5 does feel possible! Or:
- 1 client × $1000
- 2 clients × $500
- 4 clients × $250
- 5 clients × $199
- 10 clients × $99
- 20 clients × $50
- 50 clients × $20
- 100 clients × $10
*So what else can I look into that I can offer?*
Day 873 - More ideas on getting an extra $1000/month - https://golifelog.com/posts/more-ideas-on-getting-an-extra-dollar1000month-1684843880685
I tweeted a [question](https://twitter.com/jasonleowsg/status/1660586164376436736?s=20):
> "Finances had been a bit tight recently. The fam could do with a bit more. Was thinking an extra $1k a month won't hurt – not too much that it’s overwhelming, but non-trivial enough that it requires some plotting. How would you go about it if you had to earn an extra $1k/m?"
And the tweet blew up. This is why I love the Twitter Maker community. Everyone wants to help out a fellow indie. I got a lot more ideas from it!
- **Upsell a premium service to past Carrd customers**, e.g. that unlimited support idea that I've held back. Since there's some ongoing relationship, and some indirect validation from the existing business, the barrier to buying is lower. To make it sustainable I got to limit the no. of customers, or scope down the kinds of tasks that can be requested. Imagine just a $199/month subscription service × 5 customers = $1000 more in the bank monthly.
- **Cross bundle with other creators**, anything that fits well together. Sell for 1 week/month, split revenue 3 ways.
- **Live Zoom course** for 2h every Saturday for 1 month on something I'm an expert in. $100/pax, for 10pax. Design thinking?
- **Micro-consulting**: Sell 1h of my time, to help someone with a topic that I'm an expert in. Revive superpeer.com/jasonleow.
- **Build plugins for up-and-coming platform Framer**. Repurpose my Carrd plugins for Framer?!
- Find a problem that someone is willing to pay $2k/m for and **outsource/drop service** it for $1k/m.
- Launch a **simple one-feature micro-SaaS** product.
- **Freelance**! Easiest and fastest.
- Unconsidered idea: **Food delivery.**
- Leverage geo-arbitrage and **move to a low cost country**. But difficult due to family and elderly parents.
So many cool ideas to consider! 🤔
> "Finances had been a bit tight recently. The fam could do with a bit more. Was thinking an extra $1k a month won't hurt – not too much that it’s overwhelming, but non-trivial enough that it requires some plotting. How would you go about it if you had to earn an extra $1k/m?"
And the tweet blew up. This is why I love the Twitter Maker community. Everyone wants to help out a fellow indie. I got a lot more ideas from it!
- **Upsell a premium service to past Carrd customers**, e.g. that unlimited support idea that I've held back. Since there's some ongoing relationship, and some indirect validation from the existing business, the barrier to buying is lower. To make it sustainable I got to limit the no. of customers, or scope down the kinds of tasks that can be requested. Imagine just a $199/month subscription service × 5 customers = $1000 more in the bank monthly.
- **Cross bundle with other creators**, anything that fits well together. Sell for 1 week/month, split revenue 3 ways.
- **Live Zoom course** for 2h every Saturday for 1 month on something I'm an expert in. $100/pax, for 10pax. Design thinking?
- **Micro-consulting**: Sell 1h of my time, to help someone with a topic that I'm an expert in. Revive superpeer.com/jasonleow.
- **Build plugins for up-and-coming platform Framer**. Repurpose my Carrd plugins for Framer?!
- Find a problem that someone is willing to pay $2k/m for and **outsource/drop service** it for $1k/m.
- Launch a **simple one-feature micro-SaaS** product.
- **Freelance**! Easiest and fastest.
- Unconsidered idea: **Food delivery.**
- Leverage geo-arbitrage and **move to a low cost country**. But difficult due to family and elderly parents.
So many cool ideas to consider! 🤔
Day 872 - How to earn an extra $1000 per month? - https://golifelog.com/posts/how-to-earn-an-extra-dollar1000-per-month-1684723396675
Finances had been a bit tight recently. The fam could do with a bit more. Maybe $1k more per month is a good target – not too much to shoot for that's it's overwhelming or stressful, but not too insignificant either that it doesn't require some planning and concerted effort.
So here's me writing to brainstorm how to achieve that:
**Services**
– Services are the fastest way from idea to revenue. Minimal upfront effort, but lots of recurring effort. What skills do I have right now that I can immediately offer services for?
- Carrd-related services - unlimited design, installation, unlimited support
- Web design freelance gigs
- Conduct design thinking 101 workshops - remote? Face-to-face?
- Design thinking coaching for teams
- Remote gigs - RemoteOK, Upwork, Fiverr
- Drop services - Repackage niche gigs from Upwork/Fiverr, add my own spin and expertise, charge for more, e.g. UXStoryboard.
**Info products**
– Next to services, info products are the next easiest to get off the ground, and move to revenue. Some upfront effort, but minimal recurring effort (other than marketing). What's something I'm already an expert in and can talk for hours without preparation?
- Keto ebook
- 5am club/sleep biohacking directory
- Twitter hacks directory
- Carrd helpkit - a comprehensive support directory of just about anything Carrd-related
- Design sprint guide and workbook
**SaaS/Software**
– No immediate payoff, but could be complementary to the other ideas with more fast payoffs. Some types of software can be done quickly and flipped too. What ideas in the drawer have I kept that I can execute on right now?
- Build and launch more Carrd plugins.
- Build apps with intention to flip on microacquire.
- Buy an app on microacquire, reflipped it for more months later.
- Put Sheet2Bio on sale.
- Pivot Sheet2Bio to B2B to show charts and stats.
- Build niche websites that grows from SEO, monetized via ads.
- New product idea: Plugins marketplace for any website. Repurpose Carrd plugins to be suitable for any website.
- Design thinking micro-SaaS: Storyboarding, service blueprints, journey maps, personas, stakeholder maps, insight writing, HMW AI engine, ideation prompt engines,
**Ecommerce**
– Selling stuff online is a popular trick. What can I sell that works well with what I'm good at, in niches that I'm familiar with?
- Finally kickstart my single item ecommerce site in waiting - career conversation cards.
- Indie hacker swag store? Posters, memes, tshirts, mugs, stickers.
- Use Midjourney to make physical products or printables to sell on Etsy? Tarot cards, posters?
**Grants**
– There's funders who are keen to give you money. Who are these funders and what can I do to apply?
- Ask for money to build tech for good apps from local philanthropic grants - SGStrong, Lien Foundation
- Ask for government productivity grants for local SMEs
**Slash big item spends**
- We dropped plans for an overseas trip in June.
- No staycations for time being.
- Relook insurance payments.
*What else can I do to quickly earn $1k more per month?*
So here's me writing to brainstorm how to achieve that:
**Services**
– Services are the fastest way from idea to revenue. Minimal upfront effort, but lots of recurring effort. What skills do I have right now that I can immediately offer services for?
- Carrd-related services - unlimited design, installation, unlimited support
- Web design freelance gigs
- Conduct design thinking 101 workshops - remote? Face-to-face?
- Design thinking coaching for teams
- Remote gigs - RemoteOK, Upwork, Fiverr
- Drop services - Repackage niche gigs from Upwork/Fiverr, add my own spin and expertise, charge for more, e.g. UXStoryboard.
**Info products**
– Next to services, info products are the next easiest to get off the ground, and move to revenue. Some upfront effort, but minimal recurring effort (other than marketing). What's something I'm already an expert in and can talk for hours without preparation?
- Keto ebook
- 5am club/sleep biohacking directory
- Twitter hacks directory
- Carrd helpkit - a comprehensive support directory of just about anything Carrd-related
- Design sprint guide and workbook
**SaaS/Software**
– No immediate payoff, but could be complementary to the other ideas with more fast payoffs. Some types of software can be done quickly and flipped too. What ideas in the drawer have I kept that I can execute on right now?
- Build and launch more Carrd plugins.
- Build apps with intention to flip on microacquire.
- Buy an app on microacquire, reflipped it for more months later.
- Put Sheet2Bio on sale.
- Pivot Sheet2Bio to B2B to show charts and stats.
- Build niche websites that grows from SEO, monetized via ads.
- New product idea: Plugins marketplace for any website. Repurpose Carrd plugins to be suitable for any website.
- Design thinking micro-SaaS: Storyboarding, service blueprints, journey maps, personas, stakeholder maps, insight writing, HMW AI engine, ideation prompt engines,
**Ecommerce**
– Selling stuff online is a popular trick. What can I sell that works well with what I'm good at, in niches that I'm familiar with?
- Finally kickstart my single item ecommerce site in waiting - career conversation cards.
- Indie hacker swag store? Posters, memes, tshirts, mugs, stickers.
- Use Midjourney to make physical products or printables to sell on Etsy? Tarot cards, posters?
**Grants**
– There's funders who are keen to give you money. Who are these funders and what can I do to apply?
- Ask for money to build tech for good apps from local philanthropic grants - SGStrong, Lien Foundation
- Ask for government productivity grants for local SMEs
**Slash big item spends**
- We dropped plans for an overseas trip in June.
- No staycations for time being.
- Relook insurance payments.
*What else can I do to quickly earn $1k more per month?*
Day 871 - Shipping fast, staying last - https://golifelog.com/posts/shipping-fast-staying-last-1684667617547
It had been a fruitful and fufilling side project weekend! Launched 2 features for Lifelog:
- Typing sounds to improve productivity and writing experience.
- Placeholder text shows goal reminders as writing prompts.
This energizing experience really shined light on how being able to ship fast is such a key part of the motivation equation for indie hackers.
You get the dopamine rush of building something quickly and launching it out into the wild.
You get the satisfaction and fulfilment of using it yourself, or seeing your customers use it almost immediately.
You discover gaps and erros, and areas of improvements quickly, leading to an iterative build-launch-tweak virtuous loop.
You feel productive that tangible outputs were delivered.
You get more motivated and inspired by the fast feedback loops.
You had fun. That's the most important part.
Previously I didn't ship anything much for Lifelog for 2 years, and with that, the motivation also stagnated. Now, I look forward to every weekend when I get to ship something new, something fun. And there's an ensuing boost of fresh creative energy that spills over to everything else.
The end result is being able to sustain the long indie journey, to play the long game, to outlast.
Shipping fast, staying last.
- Typing sounds to improve productivity and writing experience.
- Placeholder text shows goal reminders as writing prompts.
This energizing experience really shined light on how being able to ship fast is such a key part of the motivation equation for indie hackers.
You get the dopamine rush of building something quickly and launching it out into the wild.
You get the satisfaction and fulfilment of using it yourself, or seeing your customers use it almost immediately.
You discover gaps and erros, and areas of improvements quickly, leading to an iterative build-launch-tweak virtuous loop.
You feel productive that tangible outputs were delivered.
You get more motivated and inspired by the fast feedback loops.
You had fun. That's the most important part.
Previously I didn't ship anything much for Lifelog for 2 years, and with that, the motivation also stagnated. Now, I look forward to every weekend when I get to ship something new, something fun. And there's an ensuing boost of fresh creative energy that spills over to everything else.
The end result is being able to sustain the long indie journey, to play the long game, to outlast.
Shipping fast, staying last.
Received a new $10 subscription payment after customer's trial expired, but the customer never wrote a word on Lifelog, so won't update MRR just yet...
🎯 New feature (based on customer feedback) deployed for side project weekend: Placeholder text shows goal reminders as writing prompts, to keep user's goal top of mind when starting on a blank writing page
Day 870 - The joys of coding a side project on weekends - https://golifelog.com/posts/the-joys-of-coding-a-side-project-on-weekends-1684573522576
I've been having a pretty sucky past few weeks to be honest.
But somehow being able to code and deploy something new for Lifelog this weekend lifted me up again. Now I'm enjoying the new audible feedback feature that I made myself. Every keystroke punctured by the sound of a mechanical keyboard. Relishing the fruits of my creative labour.
They say there's different kinds of indie hackers. There's the builder sort who just loves to code and make things. There's the marketing sort who enjoys storytelling and engaging and persuading others. And there's the CEO, entrepreneur sort who loves building and running businesses.
I'm totally the first kind - the builder. Just being able to build and code is such joy. It's not about the marketing or the cool stories I can tell. It's not whether I can make a business or boatloads of money out of this. Just the pure unadulterated joy of making a widget that does something when I push the button. I don't know why that gives me joy but it just does. It always feels like magic when I do. Especially with coding.
And on days or weeks when it feels sucky, getting in touch with that side of me had always helped uplift my spirits somewhat.
Joy is the ultimate creator.
But creating is also the ultimate joy.
But somehow being able to code and deploy something new for Lifelog this weekend lifted me up again. Now I'm enjoying the new audible feedback feature that I made myself. Every keystroke punctured by the sound of a mechanical keyboard. Relishing the fruits of my creative labour.
They say there's different kinds of indie hackers. There's the builder sort who just loves to code and make things. There's the marketing sort who enjoys storytelling and engaging and persuading others. And there's the CEO, entrepreneur sort who loves building and running businesses.
I'm totally the first kind - the builder. Just being able to build and code is such joy. It's not about the marketing or the cool stories I can tell. It's not whether I can make a business or boatloads of money out of this. Just the pure unadulterated joy of making a widget that does something when I push the button. I don't know why that gives me joy but it just does. It always feels like magic when I do. Especially with coding.
And on days or weeks when it feels sucky, getting in touch with that side of me had always helped uplift my spirits somewhat.
Joy is the ultimate creator.
But creating is also the ultimate joy.
⌨️🔊 New feature deployed for side project weekend: Typing sounds to improve productivity and writing experience on Lifelog
Day 869 - Baked-in virality - https://golifelog.com/posts/baked-in-virality-1684452002178
[Jay's post-mortem](https://twitter.com/therealjayber/status/1658985390391586816) about how and why Zlappo (the Twitter scheduling tool I used) failed was instructive. The point about baked-in virality and product-led growth is particularly resonant.
The idea is that you want to bake in some sort of virality into the product itself, to make it easier to market your product. Like say you can set up a free website but at the bottom of the free site there's a "Powered by X" link. Mailchimp does that/ Carrd does that. Many successful products have that. The benefit of baked-in virality is how marketing becomes user-generated. When users share their websites, they are unintentionally marketing your platform for you, without even trying. You don't even need them to be affiliates – as part of the transaction of getting a free thing from you, they willingly accept the branding on their site, and the unintentional marketing they're doing for you.
Building a product is hard enough, and marketing makes it even harder. Make that 10x more if you're a solo founder. So anything that can automate or outsource that even a little will go a long way. Product-led growth is the way.
The hard question I had to ask myself: ***If I stopped marketing and the product stops selling, did I really have a good product?***
The real honest answer: No.
I look at Lifelog, and that was it's fate back then when I stopped mentioning it on Twitter. And Twitter wasn't even a great distribution channel for it.
I look at my Carrd plugins projects. It marketed itself in a small way, through SEO, word of mouth, free tools as top of funnel, and some baked-in viral elements like adding a link to my main site in the templates. Not enough to go super viral, but had some semblance to baked-in virality which was what made it promising. Promising, *but* not great.
I look at Sheet2Bio, and it had the elements of baked-in virality with the "Made by sheet2Bio" link at the bottom of each bio page. But product-market fit was lacking, and my execution of it even more so. So this was instructive too - baked-in virality is not a magic pill - it won't solve all your problems.
Each one of my 3 products provided a different facet and nuance to baked-in virality.
I wonder if my next product will look like if I combined all that I learned into it...
The idea is that you want to bake in some sort of virality into the product itself, to make it easier to market your product. Like say you can set up a free website but at the bottom of the free site there's a "Powered by X" link. Mailchimp does that/ Carrd does that. Many successful products have that. The benefit of baked-in virality is how marketing becomes user-generated. When users share their websites, they are unintentionally marketing your platform for you, without even trying. You don't even need them to be affiliates – as part of the transaction of getting a free thing from you, they willingly accept the branding on their site, and the unintentional marketing they're doing for you.
Building a product is hard enough, and marketing makes it even harder. Make that 10x more if you're a solo founder. So anything that can automate or outsource that even a little will go a long way. Product-led growth is the way.
The hard question I had to ask myself: ***If I stopped marketing and the product stops selling, did I really have a good product?***
The real honest answer: No.
I look at Lifelog, and that was it's fate back then when I stopped mentioning it on Twitter. And Twitter wasn't even a great distribution channel for it.
I look at my Carrd plugins projects. It marketed itself in a small way, through SEO, word of mouth, free tools as top of funnel, and some baked-in viral elements like adding a link to my main site in the templates. Not enough to go super viral, but had some semblance to baked-in virality which was what made it promising. Promising, *but* not great.
I look at Sheet2Bio, and it had the elements of baked-in virality with the "Made by sheet2Bio" link at the bottom of each bio page. But product-market fit was lacking, and my execution of it even more so. So this was instructive too - baked-in virality is not a magic pill - it won't solve all your problems.
Each one of my 3 products provided a different facet and nuance to baked-in virality.
I wonder if my next product will look like if I combined all that I learned into it...
Day 868 - When play becomes work - https://golifelog.com/posts/when-play-becomes-work-1684369888965
They say, when work becomes play, you’ll never work another day in your life. That's always been how I tried to do it. No matter which job, it had to be fun in some way. That's a major reason why I indie hack, because building new things is so fun. Trying to make work like play makes it easy.
But lately, I'm also realising over time, making work like play can bring about an opposite effect too:
**When play becomes work, you’ll never play another day in your life.**
It's like what they say about how it can be fun to do knitting but once your livelihood—your very survivial—depends on it, the fun bit gets killed. Certain hobbies are better off staying as hobbies.
Sometimes I wonder that a lot for my indie making.
I enjoy the building aspect of indie making. The selling and making a business part, a lot less enjoyable. Would I be better off and happier having a main job and making projects on the side? But I can hardly imagine having any bandwidth or time after a demanding 9-5, toddler care, and still have any energy left in the evenings or weekends to build for fun. I can't imagine never building anything ever.
So even if being self-employed is the means towards being able to enjoy building, play becomes work problem persists. It creeps up on you. Sometimes I wonder if I had lost the ability to play and have fun for myself. Everything "fun" is also intimately tied up with making it profitable.
Was it when my consulting revenue dried up and survival became an issue?
Was it when I became a new dad and felt that I needed to provide more?
Was it when I got serious on Twitter and got influenced by all the successful indie folks?
Or it could be that life just got waaay busier in the past 3 years and I simply lost touch with my ability to play. It's easy to lost yourself in work, and parenthood.
Do I want my son to not remember seeing me play ever?
Do I want to just be that kind of father who protected and provided for everyone else other than himself?
Do I want my wife to see me not smile that kind of smile whenever I have fun with abandon?
No.
*When was the last time you played in a way that gave you deep joy?*
But lately, I'm also realising over time, making work like play can bring about an opposite effect too:
**When play becomes work, you’ll never play another day in your life.**
It's like what they say about how it can be fun to do knitting but once your livelihood—your very survivial—depends on it, the fun bit gets killed. Certain hobbies are better off staying as hobbies.
Sometimes I wonder that a lot for my indie making.
I enjoy the building aspect of indie making. The selling and making a business part, a lot less enjoyable. Would I be better off and happier having a main job and making projects on the side? But I can hardly imagine having any bandwidth or time after a demanding 9-5, toddler care, and still have any energy left in the evenings or weekends to build for fun. I can't imagine never building anything ever.
So even if being self-employed is the means towards being able to enjoy building, play becomes work problem persists. It creeps up on you. Sometimes I wonder if I had lost the ability to play and have fun for myself. Everything "fun" is also intimately tied up with making it profitable.
Was it when my consulting revenue dried up and survival became an issue?
Was it when I became a new dad and felt that I needed to provide more?
Was it when I got serious on Twitter and got influenced by all the successful indie folks?
Or it could be that life just got waaay busier in the past 3 years and I simply lost touch with my ability to play. It's easy to lost yourself in work, and parenthood.
Do I want my son to not remember seeing me play ever?
Do I want to just be that kind of father who protected and provided for everyone else other than himself?
Do I want my wife to see me not smile that kind of smile whenever I have fun with abandon?
No.
*When was the last time you played in a way that gave you deep joy?*
Culled my follows:followers ratio on @golifelog and @pluginsforcarrd Twitter accounts to a ratio of less than 0.6, to not hamstring the accounts algo-wise
Day 867 - Average effort repeated for an above-average amount of time - https://golifelog.com/posts/average-effort-repeated-for-an-above-average-amount-of-time-1684295468401
"Sometimes all you need for exceptional results is average effort repeated for an above-average amount of time." – [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/may-11-2023)
OK so if I followed what James Clear said for my indie hacking journey, what average effort should I be repeating for an above-average amount of time?
- I keep building and launching new average products with average performance, didn't go viral. But I keep building and launching for years. One day, I might hit an exceptional opportunity, or my skills at shipping fast or shipping complex apps get to a point where I can leverage on exceptional opportunities that way.
- Every week and month I put myself out there learning how to sell and market my stuff. The posts, emails, DMs, side projects do only average, but over years, I learn how to engage with customers and occasionally some go viral.
- Building an audience. Tweet and post on social media every day, and 90% of time it only gets average views. But over years I get the hang of the vibe and start to know what is most engaging.
- Staying healthy. Health is so underrated. We sit down for long hours, work 24/7, and wonder why we're less productive compared to a year ago. By keeping fit, having daily movement, eating well every single day for average effort, I keep my energy levels high so keep at the long game.
- Staying in business, not having to go back to fulltime employment. Just staying in business long enough means average effort put in for a long time. And in a long enough time span, you watch the competitors fade away.
-
*What other average effort in indie hacking is often underrated, but if repeated for a long enough time, would help us get to exceptional results?*
OK so if I followed what James Clear said for my indie hacking journey, what average effort should I be repeating for an above-average amount of time?
- I keep building and launching new average products with average performance, didn't go viral. But I keep building and launching for years. One day, I might hit an exceptional opportunity, or my skills at shipping fast or shipping complex apps get to a point where I can leverage on exceptional opportunities that way.
- Every week and month I put myself out there learning how to sell and market my stuff. The posts, emails, DMs, side projects do only average, but over years, I learn how to engage with customers and occasionally some go viral.
- Building an audience. Tweet and post on social media every day, and 90% of time it only gets average views. But over years I get the hang of the vibe and start to know what is most engaging.
- Staying healthy. Health is so underrated. We sit down for long hours, work 24/7, and wonder why we're less productive compared to a year ago. By keeping fit, having daily movement, eating well every single day for average effort, I keep my energy levels high so keep at the long game.
- Staying in business, not having to go back to fulltime employment. Just staying in business long enough means average effort put in for a long time. And in a long enough time span, you watch the competitors fade away.
-
*What other average effort in indie hacking is often underrated, but if repeated for a long enough time, would help us get to exceptional results?*
Day 866 - Keto » Intuitive eating - https://golifelog.com/posts/keto-intuitive-eating-1684202186021
I started keto in September 2019. It's been almost 4 years, and how it had evolved since! Lately I'm moving through yet another phase, so I thought I should do a recap of how it's unfolding:
- **Year 1 - Strict keto phase**: It started with strict keto. Just 20g of carbs per day, high fat, some protein. And 16/8 intermittent fasting. Just following all the rules to the tee. No fruits except a few strawberries or blackberries. I got keto flu initially, recovered from it, but it was still hard. I got through by keto bakes and treats, and lots of coconut yoghurt. I lost 10kg in 3 months, went down 2-3 notches on my belt, but it was too much. I looked too guant and thin.
- **Year 1 - Maintenance keto phase**: I got slightly less strict. Tried to put back some of that lost weight but increasing some carbs from keto bakes, cruciferous vegetables. Stopped IF. Still didn't touch the bad boys like rice, sugar and milk. Still high fat, moderate protein. I gained back some water weight, started to look more normal.
- **Year 2 - Meat heavy keto**: Interesting, the body started to crave more protein at this point, so I went to high protein, moderate fat. Had more fatty pork, ribeyes, and leafy vegetables. I felt more satiated, and less queasy from not taking in so much fat. This was where the keto bakes started to taper off too, as sugar alcohols started to mess with my gut. The surprising thing was: I gained back all the lost 10kg of mass, but not the dad bod and belly (my clothes continued to be loose). Seems like the body was taking in all that protein from years of undereating protein and building it back into the body. I slowly lost interest in greens, and stayed on the meat.
- **Year 2 - Carnivore**: Then I went all in on carnivore. Mainly just meat and fat and eggs. No milk still. Almost no vegetables and fibre – when I eat it it's a bite or two in a week. It's pretty hardcore, but I started to develop a better sense of what my body needed. That embodied intuition was growing. Some days I would fast in the morning. Then when I started to feel tired or weak in the morning, I would stop fasting. My gut issues all but disappeared – no more bloatedness, no farts, queasiness or any issues at the toilet. It's the best it's ever been while on carnvore.
- **Year 3 - Low carb**: Somewhere along the carnivore path I contracted COVID, and felt like I needed to have some carbs during that period. I just fed what the body needed – rice, fruits, fibre. Thus began the experiments back into carbs again. This sounds like a low carb phase but actually it felt more like mostly carnivore, sprinkled with some carbs here and there. I started taking some fresh milk in my coffee. Butter was morning breakfast. I had occasional cheat days—around once a week—where I took some sugary treats after my main carnivore meal.
- **Year 3 - Intuitive paleo**: Now I'm following more intuitive eating. Foods-wise, more like paleo. Whole foods like meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds. I still stick to more fatty meats, leafy vegetables and low sugar fruits, some nuts. I still avoid most processed foods, sugar, soft drinks, ice cream, though I treat myself on some days. I limit my intake of grains and carbs like rice - around a few mouthfuls, depending on how I feel that day. Some days I don't take any grains altogether if I'm feeling 'off'. My gut is protesting more now especially during festive periods, so occasionally I go back to carnivore mode to rest the system. The best part is, I check in and listen to my body during every meal now. I've finally established a better relationship with my body. I got more embodied. The weight is still off, and yet I feel mostly fine on a higher carb routine. To say it's intuitive paleo phase lacks nuance actually. Truth is, I switch between keto, carnivore, and paleo based on what my body tells me. These ways of eating are now tools in my toolkit.
I think this journey that started from keto to now intuitve eating was really about getting back to a better relationship with my body. To become less disembodied. To stop emotional eating.
3 years on hitting year 4, I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.
Thank god.
- **Year 1 - Strict keto phase**: It started with strict keto. Just 20g of carbs per day, high fat, some protein. And 16/8 intermittent fasting. Just following all the rules to the tee. No fruits except a few strawberries or blackberries. I got keto flu initially, recovered from it, but it was still hard. I got through by keto bakes and treats, and lots of coconut yoghurt. I lost 10kg in 3 months, went down 2-3 notches on my belt, but it was too much. I looked too guant and thin.
- **Year 1 - Maintenance keto phase**: I got slightly less strict. Tried to put back some of that lost weight but increasing some carbs from keto bakes, cruciferous vegetables. Stopped IF. Still didn't touch the bad boys like rice, sugar and milk. Still high fat, moderate protein. I gained back some water weight, started to look more normal.
- **Year 2 - Meat heavy keto**: Interesting, the body started to crave more protein at this point, so I went to high protein, moderate fat. Had more fatty pork, ribeyes, and leafy vegetables. I felt more satiated, and less queasy from not taking in so much fat. This was where the keto bakes started to taper off too, as sugar alcohols started to mess with my gut. The surprising thing was: I gained back all the lost 10kg of mass, but not the dad bod and belly (my clothes continued to be loose). Seems like the body was taking in all that protein from years of undereating protein and building it back into the body. I slowly lost interest in greens, and stayed on the meat.
- **Year 2 - Carnivore**: Then I went all in on carnivore. Mainly just meat and fat and eggs. No milk still. Almost no vegetables and fibre – when I eat it it's a bite or two in a week. It's pretty hardcore, but I started to develop a better sense of what my body needed. That embodied intuition was growing. Some days I would fast in the morning. Then when I started to feel tired or weak in the morning, I would stop fasting. My gut issues all but disappeared – no more bloatedness, no farts, queasiness or any issues at the toilet. It's the best it's ever been while on carnvore.
- **Year 3 - Low carb**: Somewhere along the carnivore path I contracted COVID, and felt like I needed to have some carbs during that period. I just fed what the body needed – rice, fruits, fibre. Thus began the experiments back into carbs again. This sounds like a low carb phase but actually it felt more like mostly carnivore, sprinkled with some carbs here and there. I started taking some fresh milk in my coffee. Butter was morning breakfast. I had occasional cheat days—around once a week—where I took some sugary treats after my main carnivore meal.
- **Year 3 - Intuitive paleo**: Now I'm following more intuitive eating. Foods-wise, more like paleo. Whole foods like meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds. I still stick to more fatty meats, leafy vegetables and low sugar fruits, some nuts. I still avoid most processed foods, sugar, soft drinks, ice cream, though I treat myself on some days. I limit my intake of grains and carbs like rice - around a few mouthfuls, depending on how I feel that day. Some days I don't take any grains altogether if I'm feeling 'off'. My gut is protesting more now especially during festive periods, so occasionally I go back to carnivore mode to rest the system. The best part is, I check in and listen to my body during every meal now. I've finally established a better relationship with my body. I got more embodied. The weight is still off, and yet I feel mostly fine on a higher carb routine. To say it's intuitive paleo phase lacks nuance actually. Truth is, I switch between keto, carnivore, and paleo based on what my body tells me. These ways of eating are now tools in my toolkit.
I think this journey that started from keto to now intuitve eating was really about getting back to a better relationship with my body. To become less disembodied. To stop emotional eating.
3 years on hitting year 4, I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.
Thank god.
Day 865 - Raising $100M vs earning $1 - https://golifelog.com/posts/raising-dollar100m-vs-earning-dollar1-1684138031512
Them startup founders: We're happy to announce we just raised $100M for our startup!
Us indie hackers: Look mom, I earned $1 from the internet!
We're not built the same.
Here's a totally biased take on why that $1 is better for most of us:
- That $100M isn't even yours to take home. It's mostly for hiring 10x developers, buying ads on Google and Facebook, and the remaining for a cool office. Most of them earn nothing for years, all in hopes for an asymmetric payoff (if it even does). That $1 is all yours to keep (of course, not accounting for taxes yet).
- That $100M comes with lots of strings attached. Too many, including giving away your first-born. That $1? Only what was promised in the sale.
- You just got yourself a boss (your VC funder) with that $100M. I stay being a boss with that $1.
- The more you raise the more you lose freedom. The more you earn the more you gain freedom.
- Getting that $100M means you signed up to work as a slave with zero work-life balance for the next 5 to 10 years. Earning that $1 means you are getting towards better time freedom and balance *within* the next 5-10 years.
- Being happy with $1 keeps me grounded and real. Drinking the tech startup Koolaid of changing the world, going big or going home, makes me lose sight of reality.
*What other reasons are there to go for that $1?*
Us indie hackers: Look mom, I earned $1 from the internet!
We're not built the same.
Here's a totally biased take on why that $1 is better for most of us:
- That $100M isn't even yours to take home. It's mostly for hiring 10x developers, buying ads on Google and Facebook, and the remaining for a cool office. Most of them earn nothing for years, all in hopes for an asymmetric payoff (if it even does). That $1 is all yours to keep (of course, not accounting for taxes yet).
- That $100M comes with lots of strings attached. Too many, including giving away your first-born. That $1? Only what was promised in the sale.
- You just got yourself a boss (your VC funder) with that $100M. I stay being a boss with that $1.
- The more you raise the more you lose freedom. The more you earn the more you gain freedom.
- Getting that $100M means you signed up to work as a slave with zero work-life balance for the next 5 to 10 years. Earning that $1 means you are getting towards better time freedom and balance *within* the next 5-10 years.
- Being happy with $1 keeps me grounded and real. Drinking the tech startup Koolaid of changing the world, going big or going home, makes me lose sight of reality.
*What other reasons are there to go for that $1?*
Day 864 - Don't over-complicate - https://golifelog.com/posts/dont-over-complicate-1684031721145
They say, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". It's easy to over-complicate. Making things simple is 10x harder.
Products are like that.
What we often think customers want: Clean design, cheap price, cool branding, latest tech stack, 100 Lighthouse score, etc. But that's because we take cues from successful indie folks who do all that, and assume they are successful because they do that.
So we complicate.
But lately I realised that being focused on what the customer says rather than what the indie influencers say, is way simpler. Way more effective. Speaking to customers, engaging them on their issues, and hearing directly from them their feedback, gives a clearer picture on what truly matters to customers: Helpful product, fast support.
See proof – Exhibit A 👇
That's it! That's all to it.
This isnt a one-off email. It's just an example of the many others I get after heloing and talking to them. In the end, it's very simple for customers. It's just us who over-think it, and over-complicate things, when we look to the wrong people for direction.
Focus on what your customers say is the best way to simplicity.
Products are like that.
What we often think customers want: Clean design, cheap price, cool branding, latest tech stack, 100 Lighthouse score, etc. But that's because we take cues from successful indie folks who do all that, and assume they are successful because they do that.
So we complicate.
But lately I realised that being focused on what the customer says rather than what the indie influencers say, is way simpler. Way more effective. Speaking to customers, engaging them on their issues, and hearing directly from them their feedback, gives a clearer picture on what truly matters to customers: Helpful product, fast support.
See proof – Exhibit A 👇
That's it! That's all to it.
This isnt a one-off email. It's just an example of the many others I get after heloing and talking to them. In the end, it's very simple for customers. It's just us who over-think it, and over-complicate things, when we look to the wrong people for direction.
Focus on what your customers say is the best way to simplicity.
Day 863 - 4 types of burnout - https://golifelog.com/posts/4-types-of-burnout-1683944789772
Burnout seems increasingly common amongst indie hackers and creators. Every month I see someone on Twitter say they're leaving, deleting Twitter or taking a break (and never come back).
I'm feeling it too, not just Twitter but everything. But having been through it a couple of times, I think I know how to manage it and get through it without drastic measures. Sometimes it's due to working too hard or too long without a break. Sometimes, it's feeling disengaged from the work because you're 'forced' to do it, or failing too often. Other times, it's the exhaustion from office politics or difficult colleagues/supervisors.
Thing is, we often associate burnout as physical burnout, like from working too hard. It's so much more than that. This post by [@addyosmani](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/addyosmani_motivation-productivity-wellbeing-activity-7060855435334995968-YuvN) shows there's 3 others we never knew:
Interpreting this for indies:
- Mental burnout:
- Staring at your screen for long hours resulting in cognitive strain.
- Working with phone notifications on, so constantly context switching and distracted.
- Being perfectionist about your product, always feeling like the product is never good enough and the resulting constant dissatisfaction/
- Physical burnout:
- Can't sleep because you're constantly 'on', replying to support emails at night, getting woken up by pings
- Working 12h days, 7 days a week, no vacation, because you're going "all in".
- Lack of exercise and movement from sitting in chair
- Social burnout:
- Seeing everyone's MRR tweets and feeling like a total failure.
- Getting embroiled in toxic online drama and outrage.
- Chatting with too many people, spending too much time on Twitter.
- Self-doubt from seeing and comparing how everyone seems to be doing well.
- Emotional burnout:
- Chronic stress from constantly hustling, needing to hit revenue goals for investors or yourself. Might manifest as constantly feeling tired and drained despite getting enough sleep.
- Can't bring yourself to do the work, no motivation.
Listing it out this way made me realised I definitely experienced more than 1 type in the past. It's a complex issue, and an even more complex condition. Not something you can just sleep it off.
I'm feeling it too, not just Twitter but everything. But having been through it a couple of times, I think I know how to manage it and get through it without drastic measures. Sometimes it's due to working too hard or too long without a break. Sometimes, it's feeling disengaged from the work because you're 'forced' to do it, or failing too often. Other times, it's the exhaustion from office politics or difficult colleagues/supervisors.
Thing is, we often associate burnout as physical burnout, like from working too hard. It's so much more than that. This post by [@addyosmani](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/addyosmani_motivation-productivity-wellbeing-activity-7060855435334995968-YuvN) shows there's 3 others we never knew:
Interpreting this for indies:
- Mental burnout:
- Staring at your screen for long hours resulting in cognitive strain.
- Working with phone notifications on, so constantly context switching and distracted.
- Being perfectionist about your product, always feeling like the product is never good enough and the resulting constant dissatisfaction/
- Physical burnout:
- Can't sleep because you're constantly 'on', replying to support emails at night, getting woken up by pings
- Working 12h days, 7 days a week, no vacation, because you're going "all in".
- Lack of exercise and movement from sitting in chair
- Social burnout:
- Seeing everyone's MRR tweets and feeling like a total failure.
- Getting embroiled in toxic online drama and outrage.
- Chatting with too many people, spending too much time on Twitter.
- Self-doubt from seeing and comparing how everyone seems to be doing well.
- Emotional burnout:
- Chronic stress from constantly hustling, needing to hit revenue goals for investors or yourself. Might manifest as constantly feeling tired and drained despite getting enough sleep.
- Can't bring yourself to do the work, no motivation.
Listing it out this way made me realised I definitely experienced more than 1 type in the past. It's a complex issue, and an even more complex condition. Not something you can just sleep it off.
Day 862 - Things frequently optimized that are not worth optimizing - https://golifelog.com/posts/things-frequently-optimized-that-are-not-worth-optimizing-1683858757877
[James Clear's](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/may-11-2023) has a knack for asking interesting questions. In his latest newsletter, this one struck me:
> What's the one action that moves the needle more than 100 other actions? What's the one choice that renders 1000 other choices irrelevant?
>
> Most things are not worth optimizing. Master the big moves and move quickly and peacefully through the other stuff.
That got me thinking:
What are some of these "most things" that are not worth optimizing in indie hacking? What do *I* try to optimize frequently that are actually not worthwhile doing so?
Things frequently optimized that are not worth optimizing:
- Refactoring codebase to achieve clean code. No customer cares about clean code (obvious caveat is of course, if you're selling a boilerplate to other developers).
- Getting to the last few points of Google Lighthouse score, because there's not much difference in terms of a user's experience between 98% and 100%.
- Optimizing your second brain note-taking systems when 99% of your notes are unused or applied.
- Making a product perfect (but not launching). Perfection is the enemy of great. If your product is perfect but no one sees or uses it, does it exist?
- Rewriting tweets multiple times before publishing. For ephemereal tweets with an average lifespan of 24h-48h, you're over-doing it if you had to rewrite and edit it multiple times before publishing. Your tweet just needs "good enough" level to send out.
- Spending weeks editing a blog post. Similar point above re: tweets. You can tweak the blog post using feedback after publishing.
- Sleep biohacking without getting enough sleep time (e.g. 8h). I do a lot of sleep hacks, but nothing beats just getting enough sleep hours to start with. The rest are just toppings. I didn't have a choice when it comes to sleep hours back when the kiddo was still a baby, so the hacks helps me keep my head above water, but they are only stop gap measures.
- Getting a LLC, bank account, logo, before you have a product. No you don't need those things. Get a product out first. Get interested customers.
- Perfecting the business plan. The plan will change the moment you launch. Yes, have a rough plan, but you don't need to get to 100%.
- Getting likes, impressions, followers. Those metrics doesn't always translate to revenue. If it does, yes knock yourself out and chase it. But very often, our customers are not directly on Twitter, so going viral on social media isn't mission-critical.
*What are some other things you frequently optimize that are not worth optimizing?*
> What's the one action that moves the needle more than 100 other actions? What's the one choice that renders 1000 other choices irrelevant?
>
> Most things are not worth optimizing. Master the big moves and move quickly and peacefully through the other stuff.
That got me thinking:
What are some of these "most things" that are not worth optimizing in indie hacking? What do *I* try to optimize frequently that are actually not worthwhile doing so?
Things frequently optimized that are not worth optimizing:
- Refactoring codebase to achieve clean code. No customer cares about clean code (obvious caveat is of course, if you're selling a boilerplate to other developers).
- Getting to the last few points of Google Lighthouse score, because there's not much difference in terms of a user's experience between 98% and 100%.
- Optimizing your second brain note-taking systems when 99% of your notes are unused or applied.
- Making a product perfect (but not launching). Perfection is the enemy of great. If your product is perfect but no one sees or uses it, does it exist?
- Rewriting tweets multiple times before publishing. For ephemereal tweets with an average lifespan of 24h-48h, you're over-doing it if you had to rewrite and edit it multiple times before publishing. Your tweet just needs "good enough" level to send out.
- Spending weeks editing a blog post. Similar point above re: tweets. You can tweak the blog post using feedback after publishing.
- Sleep biohacking without getting enough sleep time (e.g. 8h). I do a lot of sleep hacks, but nothing beats just getting enough sleep hours to start with. The rest are just toppings. I didn't have a choice when it comes to sleep hours back when the kiddo was still a baby, so the hacks helps me keep my head above water, but they are only stop gap measures.
- Getting a LLC, bank account, logo, before you have a product. No you don't need those things. Get a product out first. Get interested customers.
- Perfecting the business plan. The plan will change the moment you launch. Yes, have a rough plan, but you don't need to get to 100%.
- Getting likes, impressions, followers. Those metrics doesn't always translate to revenue. If it does, yes knock yourself out and chase it. But very often, our customers are not directly on Twitter, so going viral on social media isn't mission-critical.
*What are some other things you frequently optimize that are not worth optimizing?*
Day 861 - What does rest look like? - https://golifelog.com/posts/what-does-rest-look-like-1683757807028
Been feeling off. Like I need some deep rest. Could be burnout...
A dear friend asked me yesterday: What does rest look like to me? What image comes to mind?
Immediately what came to mind:
I'm back in Ubud, Bali. Alone. Like I always do at the end of the year for one of my personal retreats, before fatherhood and the pandemic. I wake up in my villa. No sounds of traffic, just birds chirping, the blades of the rice plants rustling in the fields. Dawn's just breaking. I can see Mt Agung in the distance. I sit for a while in meditation just soaking this in. Next, breakfast at one of the lovely cafes in Ubud central, serving food made with wholesome, organic, local produce. My body sings from eating that. Then I laze away the morning at my favourite coffee place, sampling their local single origin. *What should I do today? What adventures call out to me today?* I decide, on a whim, to ride the scooter to the beach. Traffic's crazy along the way, but interspersed with occasional rides through sleepy village roads lined with coconut trees on both sides, and ripening rice fields in the background. It's bliss to ride on the wind through such beauty. I hit the waves. Maybe surf a bit. Swim and float around, letting the sea do its soothing magic. I end the day sitting on the beach, watching the impossible sunset of yellows, oranges and purples. Content. Calm. Rested. Alive.
*What does rest look like to you?*
A dear friend asked me yesterday: What does rest look like to me? What image comes to mind?
Immediately what came to mind:
I'm back in Ubud, Bali. Alone. Like I always do at the end of the year for one of my personal retreats, before fatherhood and the pandemic. I wake up in my villa. No sounds of traffic, just birds chirping, the blades of the rice plants rustling in the fields. Dawn's just breaking. I can see Mt Agung in the distance. I sit for a while in meditation just soaking this in. Next, breakfast at one of the lovely cafes in Ubud central, serving food made with wholesome, organic, local produce. My body sings from eating that. Then I laze away the morning at my favourite coffee place, sampling their local single origin. *What should I do today? What adventures call out to me today?* I decide, on a whim, to ride the scooter to the beach. Traffic's crazy along the way, but interspersed with occasional rides through sleepy village roads lined with coconut trees on both sides, and ripening rice fields in the background. It's bliss to ride on the wind through such beauty. I hit the waves. Maybe surf a bit. Swim and float around, letting the sea do its soothing magic. I end the day sitting on the beach, watching the impossible sunset of yellows, oranges and purples. Content. Calm. Rested. Alive.
*What does rest look like to you?*