Fearlessness
jasonleow • 26 Nov 2023 •
One thing I could never do that a lot of good indie hackers can is how they seem fearless in taking on new technology.
Never learned Swift before, but guy will try to build a weekend project, and then next week he’s shipping a real mobile app.
Always been more of a frontend guy, but started learning Python and Langchain to build AI apps.
Not touched code ever in his life, but used ChatGPT to build his very first browser extension, prompt by prompt.
All these are real life stories I saw on Twitter. These are real people, not fictional.
And every time I witness stories like these, I feel a tinge of envy.
How do they do that?!
For me, just messing around Javascript is hard mode for me already, even though I’m way more comfortable now than 5 years ago. I have so many ideas I want to build but feels scary - Telegram bots, AI apps, SaaS ideas… but I can’t quite see or imagine myself ever being able to just say, I want to pick up a new language, build something I’ve never touched before, and be launching said products in weeks.
It feels near impossible.
But yet it is possible.
What does it take to get to that level of confidence, that fearlessness with new tools/tech?
Do I need more computer science fundamentals? Or just more practice, more shipping?
Or is “near impossible” just my own self-imposed limitations? Basically, BS?
Maybe it’s a bit of all 3 points…
And if I want to get there, I just need to stop holding myself back out of fake fear, just try to out (“what do I have to lose anyway?”), and get there step by step, in baby steps.
Comments
@drodol That’s a good mindset to go in with. Agree about reasons for stalling… my expectations tend to cramp my style more than help.
From very recent experience in using this “fearless” approach with building a scraper using Python and Scrapy (python lib) + ChatGPT, all I have to say is, go into it like a child. Have that child mindset of not being afraid to fail, almost like it’s a game. It helped me. I was going at it like: I wonder would this would do, or whether this would work., it stops working. I stop making progress. I stall.
I have noticed that when I start “caring” about something, i.e. maybe subconsciously wanting it to succeed or make money or make me look good, or whatever