Day 941 - Nuance nuance nuance - https://golifelog.com/posts/nuance-nuance-nuance-1690701672995
Over time I realised my most important lessons in indie hacking are about busting either/or myths, and learning nuance to mainstream advice. Here's some:
### Diversified enough to survive, focused enough to matter.
This settles the portfolio of small bets versus focus on one thing. It's not one or the other. You need both. How much of both? Just enough diversity to survive unknown unknown events, but not so many that it breaks your focus.
### Working hard on the things that truly move the needle, slacking off on the things that don't.
This is about being strategically incompetent. Even if you're an A player, you don't have to play the A game in *everything* that the product needs. It's about priorities, and also about knowing how to drop or quit pushing certain things. Sometimes you can leave fires burning, but the product still grows.
### Long term opportunities for steady cash flow, short term opportunities for fun and profit.
I wrote about this [yesterday](https://golifelog.com/posts/short-lived-opportunities-1690621132825). Sometimes going for short-lived but viral opportunities can be beneficial and fun too. Long term ideas are not objectively better than short term ones.
### Contented enough to be happy, dissatisfied enough to hustle.
This an important tightrope dance for me, a work-in-progress. I know being dissatisfied with my product, progress, or skills pushes me to work harder and grow. But too much self-inflicted bashing is also not healthy. I want to live a fulfilled, contented life on a day-to-day basis, yet also be aware and driven enough to improve and make changes.
### Confident enough to celebrate your effort and skill, humble enough to know much luck was involved.
I think in the startup world people like to say they can "make their own luck". I believe we can, but it's a lot less than we think. And there's a lot more luck outside of our influence and awareness than we like to give it. It takes a certain humility to admit that you're not totally in control. It's not just about moral positions either – it's practical and healthy for the mind to be able to recognise that, so that our expectations are more realistic.
*What other nuances did you learn along your indie journey?*
### Diversified enough to survive, focused enough to matter.
This settles the portfolio of small bets versus focus on one thing. It's not one or the other. You need both. How much of both? Just enough diversity to survive unknown unknown events, but not so many that it breaks your focus.
### Working hard on the things that truly move the needle, slacking off on the things that don't.
This is about being strategically incompetent. Even if you're an A player, you don't have to play the A game in *everything* that the product needs. It's about priorities, and also about knowing how to drop or quit pushing certain things. Sometimes you can leave fires burning, but the product still grows.
### Long term opportunities for steady cash flow, short term opportunities for fun and profit.
I wrote about this [yesterday](https://golifelog.com/posts/short-lived-opportunities-1690621132825). Sometimes going for short-lived but viral opportunities can be beneficial and fun too. Long term ideas are not objectively better than short term ones.
### Contented enough to be happy, dissatisfied enough to hustle.
This an important tightrope dance for me, a work-in-progress. I know being dissatisfied with my product, progress, or skills pushes me to work harder and grow. But too much self-inflicted bashing is also not healthy. I want to live a fulfilled, contented life on a day-to-day basis, yet also be aware and driven enough to improve and make changes.
### Confident enough to celebrate your effort and skill, humble enough to know much luck was involved.
I think in the startup world people like to say they can "make their own luck". I believe we can, but it's a lot less than we think. And there's a lot more luck outside of our influence and awareness than we like to give it. It takes a certain humility to admit that you're not totally in control. It's not just about moral positions either – it's practical and healthy for the mind to be able to recognise that, so that our expectations are more realistic.
*What other nuances did you learn along your indie journey?*