Validating your journey yourself to keep growing Consistently

You are yours best judge, what gives you goosebumps, increases you in fun, lets you explore the untouched areas of yourself, things that separate you from noise — are all things that are points of validation. People can’t validate what is good for you and not. Everybody knows it — but how do we not forget it. Let’s explore.

Dos by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Yesterday iPhone 12 was released. Highly advanced chip, dolby sound video captures, shiny product launch and extremely powerful product. A product evolved through decades of blockbuster inventions.

But — the basic question remains here; do we need an excavator to dig a hole? Do we need a phone to be social — or we need to be a human first? Do we need a car to travel, or we need few bucks to buy the train ticket? Do we need more or we need less to live good?

I feel, we are getting lost in a shiny pursuit while forgetting “it is we who make technology useful for us” and not the “technology itself”. An iPhone 12 user won’t become a film producer. But a film producer will become a better iPhone 12 user.

We do not need shiny products, more appreciations and more claps to validate our journey for us. It is we, each of us ourself, to validate if we are going right or wrong. Maximum you will do wrong is, mishit the golden buzzer. But if you keep your own-self accountable, you will surely one day hit a golden buzzer.

It needs discipline to make sure our thumb presses the right app icon on our iPhone — a tremendous amount of discipline. Because introduction of advancements / bad people behind technology / bad marketing practicies has enhanced so far to easily lure us into abusing the evolution of technology.

Let’s explore becoming disciplined while living in 2020.

Make a list of your Don’ts

For me Dont list includes

• Use of social media for entertainment, inspiration or validation
• Use of twitter more than once (only to contribute to the community)
• Vulgarity / music / pornography
• Involve myself in a boring activity

It took some time for me to list these Donts above. You can also make a Dont list for yourself and measure yourself against it.

As you walk this path of living sober / off addictions — productive lifestyle becomes an automated outcome.

I write blogs, make websites, design fliers and organise meetups. When I don’t fall a prey to any of the donts mentioned above — I manage to keep doing all things I love. But when any of the trigger runs me down — I fall bad and at times it becomes heavy on my soul to take me back into a productive run.

Make sure, you have a Dont Dos list. Hang it prominent. Next time you feel you are lost, it will guide you exactly where you went wrong.

Get into action everyday every morning (eat the frog)

There are many productivity maintaining techniques. I read about eat the frog and it immediately became my favorite.

Eat the frog is eating the baddest problem first thing you do everyday. Something worst that eats up on you, gives you a motivation boost and is heavy if not done today. You do it the first thing in the morning.

You eat one frog everyday first thing. You grow only by doing it — it is important, at times not so much fun, but makes you feel good. So sanely, you should be doing it the first thing.

I teach to code to a student. And when I don’t, it hangs on me all day.

Let your product go loose

Feedback system in 2020 is so badly broken, it becomes nearly impossible to gather correct feedback. There does not exist any place where people will tell you the rights in your product.

You got to figure it out yourself. You will yourself be validating your ideas, by making them and setting them loose.

Set them loose means, you continue with your life, next feature, or a new product without worrying about the earlier one. Stop thinking about it and its bads. You manage to move on to next feature creation.

For me it is the blog I write everyday. Some times the blogs resonate with people and they contact me. And mostly these go loose in void. It is a small product I try to deliver everyday without worrying about it hitting the top charts.

Find a niche, a thing, a product, you can send out to the world everyday. Find it, create it, polish it and send it out. Do it nearly everyday. It will keep you moving feeling fulfilled. You will have contributed to the world 1 bit. And you will see it working some day in the near future.

“You have to trust in something.. Your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” — Steve Jobs

Conclusion

You are own judge. You know what you like. Not your parents, friends, spouse or boss. It is you who has to steer your life out of troubles. No one will come to save you, if you are not willing to take your fights head on. If you can’t fight your grounds, everybody is so lost, they won’t even notice and you will have drowned already.

Let others give you feedback and talk you down. Let people abuse your product. Let them give you names. But under the pile of criticism do not forget you started this path for a reason. If others can’t see your reasoning, it is either you forgot your reasons or you are not amplifying the reason loud enough.

All reasons are good. All questions are good. All things written and published are good. If you believe in yourself, your product and it gives you chills down your spine, you got it right — fine — and good!

Thanks for reading.