Meet Tom.
Tom has been an iOS developer for a few years.
He likes his job, he was happy with what he was doing.
But, one day during a conversation with friends it changed…
One of them told him about a brilliant new idea for an innovative iOS application for cat owners.
Tom was thinking for a while and finally agreed to create it.
He planned everything, two weeks for this feature, one week for that, 3 days for another thing.
He was excited to start a new project, he was thinking about it all the time.
Days passed and the initial two weeks for the first feature took 3.5 weeks. He wasn’t worried because he knew he’s on the right path to finish it anyway.
During another week, he didn’t find time to work on it because of a health problem.
Tom does everything at night after work and during free time.
After over a month, the first feature is ready, Tom was proud of it.
Time for another feature…
Then, new fresh technology was published AppClips.
Tom feels that he needs to test it by doing some small projects and learn more about it.
So, he stops doing the application for cat owners and starts doing a new one.
During testing news, he had a brilliant idea of how to use AppClips because his cousin has a restaurant…
He planned everything…
And you can guess how the story was continued…
How often do you have something similar to Tom?
I know that we, developers, have thousands of ideas for apps that can change the world or make us rich.
Often, we start doing something, we prepare ourselves for it but finally, we stop doing it for something else.
I’m sure you have some projects you started but you stopped because something else was more important or it looked better.
I have the same, so every time when I have a new idea for an app I save it for someday and focus on what is important to do and to the work.
But where is the book I recommend?
Here it is, it’s a book written by Steven Pressfield and forwarded by Seth Godin called Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way (US Amazon link).
I know it sounds like the next motivation book where you need to jump ten times and feel great, talk to yourself that you’re the champion and everything will be done.
It’s not like you think.
The main concept is RESISTANCE. All of us have this resistance inside, the more we want to do something the resistance is stronger.
When you have your project, task, you name it, and you want to do it you have this feeling, maybe eat something first, maybe check emails first, maybe respond to messages on social media or maybe start a new better project.
This is resistance.
How to fight with it?
Just do your things with this uncomfortable feeling.
How do I use it personally? I hate mowing the grass because I can’t listen to anything. So, I mow the grass with this hating feeling to it because work must be done anyway.
If Tom, from our example, knew about this book and read it he would know that he has to stay focused. Tom would have finished an innovative application for cats and sold it to thousands of users but instead of that, he did nothing.
Don’t be like Tom, don’t allow RESISTANCE to overwhelm you.
