Indie hacking and spiritual practice

Talked at a Twitter Space with Christin about the intersection of indie hacking, entrepreneurship and spiritual practice, mindfulness and growth.

Not something I talk about much, but definitely underlying all my actions and decisions on my indie journey:

• Having to unlearn unhelpful beliefs and narratives I have about the world and about myself. For example, unlearning my relationship with money, hard work. I’ve never had a ‘job’ that constantly challenged me and my belief system more. The personal growth is 1000x over the any valuation or revenue.

• Right livelihood and practising empathy and compassion in the workplace. This started from my last job as a designer in government, to bring about public policies and services that are more citizen-centered. At the root of that work is helping public officer generate empathy for citizens. I think I still bring some of that into my work in indie hacking, by having empathy for my customers and incorporating those insights into the features, during support requests.

• Marketing reframed as helping others succeed. I never liked marketing. But that’s because I mistook bad actors and encounters in the past as the entire stage. Ever since trying it out and learning that I can do marketing if I do it as helping others succeed, as being helpful to a fault, as acts of kindness it all aligned inwardly. Practising generosity.

• Last but most important, is the daily mindfulness required to be building an audience and being online. Mindful consumption is not just food but also food for the mind - media, conversations, people I follow. Practising loving speech and deep listening. Not engaging in toxic arguments with toxic people.

My practice ain’t perfect, but I do hope to try everyday.