I launch it, it fails, and I feel like shit
How do we stop that cycle?
Rationalize it as an experiment.
That’s how I trick my brain.
If it’s an experiment, it’s nothing personal. I’m not a failure. It’s the hypothesis that sucked. Science.
I’ve interviewed
recently. He researches a lot. He tackles things with a curiosity in mind. He sees somebody succeed and asks himself, “How did they get there? What is it that got them there?”Throughout the interview, you can sense he tries things out and waits for a result. If the result is not what he expected, he reassesses his position and adjusts his strategy.
Why would you want to adopt this perspective?
In the summer of 2022, I read the 4-Hour Work Week, and I was bound to work 4 hours per week and generate a stash of cash. Probably not 4 hours, but 20 good hours per week would be great.
So, I tried a bunch of things. I tried a meditation group, and that failed. I tried to advertise my stuff on Google Ads, and I got banned. I tried on Bing, and I got banned as well. I tried to sell calligraphy courses, but I didn’t like teaching it. I tried to sell a subscription to mail wholesome letters and advertise the service with Reddit Ads. Not only didn’t it work, people roasted me on my ads. They thought it was stupid.
It was plainly demoralizing. Each failure was a punch in the gut. I was so excited about each idea, but seeing a lack of results killed my enthusiasm. Properly murdered it and buried it 10 feet down.
Therein lies the crux of the approach. We don’t want a game over state. We want to keep going, get that win and build on it.
It’s a mindset shift
Mindset is one of those things that’s the hardest to develop. It requires a distance and perspective on what you’re doing and what you’re feeling while doing it.
Here are 3 things that have helped me.
Framing it as an experiment
Usually, when I cringe at something I’m about to do. I’ll say, “Fuck it. If it fails, it’s just practice. I’m just learning.”
The next level would be to have a proper hypothesis and a strategy to verify or nullify it. Something like that: If I develop an Upwork course to help people get to their first $1000, I think I can get 40-50 sales at $40. I’ll post on LinkedIn and Twitter about my tips and perspective to get traffic to my landing page. I’ll need 4000 visits on my landing page if people will convert a 1%.
Then, I can go out there and wait to see the results.
Expectations are set completely differently because I’m not focused on success. I’m open to poor results as well. That reduces the disappointment when it doesn’t perform as well as I thought.
Volume
The more I try to develop ideas, the more I can reflect on the patterns I’m going through and the emotions I’m feeling and why I’m feeling them. I can also refine which ideas I’m tackling based on results and what I’m learning.
It’s about reps. The first time, you’re wrapped in it. The second and third time, slightly less.
After reflecting on the experience a couple of times, you gain that distance and can see patterns in how you react and develop a pattern that’s more sustainable.
Mindfulness
Meditation and journaling are the prime mindfulness exercises. I don’t like simmering in negative emotions for too long. I want to understand why I’m feeling what I’m feeling and what I can do not to feel it again.
If I can’t avoid feeling it, I want to develop a strategy to process it effectively to bounce back faster.
Mindfulness and journaling create distance from those emotions I’m wrapped up in. They become that thing that I can observe and reflect with equanimity.
If you’ve tried those, what were your results? What other methods work for you? Leave a comment below or reply to the email.
3 juicy links of the week
Looking for a product idea and hate marketing?
You found a cool idea that you think is genius. You’re excited about it. Then what? You spend hours developing something without knowing the demand. I like this tweet because it vets an idea based on the demand. If no one cares, let’s jump to the next idea!
The 5 Principles to live by if you want a lifestyle business
Right now, a lifestyle business appeals to me. I’d like to remain solo as much as I can for now. But I wouldn’t mind working with a nimble team at some point. At that stage of my life, I’m not attracted to making something big and growing at all costs. It just sounds exhausting and very stressful to me. I want to build sustainable wealth and also have fun with my friends and family.
A thread about people making 500 bucks per month
You won’t go far with $500 per month, but it’s fun to read those, and you might get a cool idea from perusing the replies!
Love this, Kenny. One thing I might add to this is learning to test your hypothesis as quickly as possible. It’s going to hurt a lot more if you spend weeks or months working on something before you put it out in the world and test it. Having led product at early stage startups for the last decade, something my team and I always ask is “what’s the simplest thing we can do to see if this idea has legs?”
Your post is 🎯 . Building through experimentation liberates you and enables progress.
I learned the power of experimentation while working at Amazon. All teams are encouraged to take experimentation goals with clear hypothesis.
At any given time, multiple experiments are running. Data is gathered. Experiments showing showing positive signs turn into products. The ones that fail are useful learnings.