So I work as a software engineer and have done for a long time. I have the ability to build lots of different types of applications. I spent a long time learning HOW to build things but I have never been good at knowing WHAT to build.
A goal of mine is to be financially independent (otherwise known as rich :) ). The idea that I could achieve this goal if only I found the right product to build is very frustrating. I spend 40 hours a week working for someone else for a salary but what I would love is to work on my own projects and earn financial freedom instead. Anyone out there who has done this?
Edit: What I am really asking is: Have you taken an idea you had and developed it into something that has significantly improved your life? For me that means attaining a level of financial freedom to work on projects I find interesting and pass on the ones I am not interested in. For others it might have a different meaning. Where did you get the inspiration from? How did you figure out what to do? How did you stay motivated? etc.
I only have so many keystrokes left in my fingers, I seem to spend a lot of them on things that benefit others which is a good thing, but I'd like to spend some that will benefit me also :)
The way I read is, is that you want to work for yourself and become happier. Don't focus on the money, it is just a means to an end, which I guess for you means a stressless life living on a nice salary. Don't expect to get an idea from the magic inspiration factory, making something in a month and then waiting for the cash to flow in. It's not gonna happen. Working for yourself requires a resilient mentality, being able to deal with stress of not making money and working more hours than a week can hold. With freedom comes responsibility. For me, doing stuff leads to inspiration to do more. Learning new things and facts about the world is what makes me come up with new ideas. When I encounter a new idea or phenomenon, I always ask myself what it could help me with. Is there a way to turn it, bend it, spin it so that something new can be done with it? Can it be better?I spend 40 hours a week working for someone else for a salary but what I would love is to work on my own projects and earn financial freedom instead.
Good point, I come from a family of self-employed people where I am one of the few wage-slaves. While they do certainly work very hard and have stressful jobs I still feel a lot of the same stresses when working for other people... There is a lot of similarity from what I can see.Don't expect to get an idea from the magic inspiration factory, making something in a month and then waiting for the cash to flow in. It's not gonna happen. Working for yourself requires a resilient mentality, being able to deal with stress of not making money and working more hours than a week can hold. With freedom comes responsibility.
I think the bigger question might be what you want out of life. The 40hr routine might provide enough stability for you to do other fun activities. Maybe you're looking for more challenge? You might be able to talk to your boss about more difficult work. Working less hours. What if you had more money now, how would you use it? Are there different ways of achieving that goal? My point is that it's too easy to just settle on 'I want more money so I want to turn my life upside down'. There's a Dutch idiom which can be translated to 'there are multiple ways to Rome': there are always other ways of getting where you want. Think about all the routes and destinations before you make a drastic change! If you don't know the landscape of possibilities, you'll encounter mountains of problems you didn't forsee.
OK so I think we have wandered away from the actual question I asked but lets continue anyway :) At some level I am asking this because I feel that while what I do is important and it benefits others lives it is always under the control of others. What I want out of life is a difficult question and not one with a single answer (at least not one that provides any level of detail). Your point about the 40hr work week providing stability is true but at some point stability is not enough. The work I do is very challenging but so what, does the fact that it is difficult mean it is more worthy than easier work? Hardly.I think the bigger question might be what you want out of life. The 40hr routine might provide enough stability for you to do other fun activities. Maybe you're looking for more challenge? You might be able to talk to your boss about more difficult work. Working less hours. What if you had more money now, how would you use it? Are there different ways of achieving that goal?
The goal of my post is to find out what you want, what's wrong with what you have, so you can build from that and get yourself a goal to achieve. I did get the impression from your unedited post that you wanted to know break from the slur and make money, and I just wanted to get your mind off the money part, as it shouldn't be the focus. Well, there are different kinds of challenges, and it depends on what you mean. If work requires me to think creative, requiring the most of my capabilities, I get much more gratification out of it. Work that's just doing stuff, while the actions might be difficult for the untrained, will soon get menial and unrewarding. While your work might be 'worthy' because it means a lot to other people, your work should still be rewarding to yourself. Otherwise you're just doing what others want you to do. I'd get sick of that pretty quickly. Since you mention freedom often, I think that's what's behind all this. Maybe you're missing a sense of agency in your worklife, that you work because you want and chose to do so, not because you have to follow some boss. Being able to pass on boring projects, like you said in your opening post. What gave me motivation recently was this great Zefrank video on how much time we still have left. Our time on this beautiful world is only so much, and I feel like I need to make use of it to the best of my possibilities. If that means changing my life, switching jobs, finally ditching friends I didn't like, then so be it. Being altruistic is good, don't get me wrong, but it shouldn't govern your life. Life's too short for that.The work I do is very challenging but so what, does the fact that it is difficult mean it is more worthy than easier work? Hardly.
it is always under the control of others
I only have so many keystrokes left in my fingers, I seem to spend a lot of them on things that benefit others which is a good thing, but I'd like to spend some that will benefit me also :)
It took me a year to reply to this, your post stunned me that much :) I hear you though and I think when I posted this I was looking shake things up and find something I could get excited about, a new project perhaps. And into that I somehow attached secondary things like the possibility it would make me rich and free which are both ridiculous and superfluous. I want to find something that excited me a little and would provide a level of gratification. thanks for the video.
Financial independence does not necessarily equal rich. I've always approached this in the reverse way. If you are just trying to get rich you may not actually enjoy what it is that you are dedicating your time to. You first have to focus on a question. Questions are the most important intellectual tool humans have. I've developed the mind set that asking the right question is much harder than finding the answer. If you would like to build a product that will "make you rich" you have to ask yourself a few questions: A) What is it the world needs (functionally/adaptively) that does not already exist? B) How long would it conservatively take me to construct such a app/device/tool/product etc.? C) What will the likely technological landscape be at the end of this timeline? Once you have very focused answers to these questions you will have a better direction. But remember - it is the project that should excite you - not the prospect of riches. It may take several projects before you get your breakthrough - but if you love what you're doing you will eventually start a project that is "successful".A goal of mine is to be financially independent (otherwise known as rich).
The idea that I could achieve this goal if only I found the right product to build is very frustrating.
Ok, so I need to clear up one or 2 things first, let me update the question a little as I typed it on a phone and didn't provide as much context as I should have. Lets not focus on the "get rich" piece as that is only a nice side effect. The main purpose I have in asking this question is to see if someone else has taken an idea they have had and formed it into a product with some success. The advice you provide is a good common sense approach.
I can't explain why, but I get my absolute, outside-the-square, best ideas, beyond anything that could be pulled from starbursting and structured-analytical-techniques, whilst sitting in coach on a plane. I've come up with fleshed out novel outlines, painting ideas, App concepts, solved problems that have weighed on me and seemed 'unsolvable' at other times, and a range of other things, all whilst sitting like a stuffed sausage and doing some chair-based yoga moves trying to eat dinner from a fold-out tray. I get similar levels whilst driving, albeit nowhere near as strong or creative, and more a day-to-day level of idea generation. I'll soon be changing work patterns and getting 4 day weekends, so hopefully a) I'll have more creativite-thought time and b) time to work on them, instead of just thinking about them.
Seems like you thrive in an environment that lacks stimulus/distraction. There is literally nothing to keep your mind occupied in that coach seat. You can't even be properly comfortable. While driving it is the same thing. You are going through rote motions, but at least the seat is comfy and you have to pay attention to the road and where you are going which provides some input to your senses and thus lessens the effect. If I am right then sitting on your toilet for thirty minutes (not doing anything other than sitting) should have the same effect. Try it... for science!
Possibly; yet when I catch public transport (train, bus, tram), I don't get the same thought processes or out-of-the-blue thinking. I'll think of things, yes, but not to the same extent, especially in terms of creativity. I can assure you from many a session sitting on porcelain thrones for elongated periods of time, I don't get any great thoughts there-and-then either!
I've found they've been generally well lit, not what I'd consider overly dim, as low/dim lighting will send me to sleep. And of course dealing with irritable passengers next to me, the person ahead attempting to crush my knees with the reclining of their seat, etc etc. It's a weird context to get creative, that's for sure.