I realized today that, as I showed other people my site in the last day or two, some of them had gotten motivated to work on their own projects.
I didn’t realize it, because I’d been working on this site/project so long, but it was a small project that is actually “complete” now. I can’t speak for everyone but if I were in their situation, suddenly seeing a project being completed, I would think “this makes me wanna work on my own hobbies”. I think at least a couple of people’s reaction had been this (as mine would have been). And I think it’s great. Not because I’ve motivated them, but personally, seeing them motivated to work on stuff motivates me even more. Like, the “I don’t wanna be left behind! If you’re doing this, I’ll do that” feeling.
Granted, it’s often a passing feeling for some.
But personally, I’ve always thrived on competition between my peers. I felt really motivated today to keep working.
I’m going to spend the rest of my night working on Secret Project KB…hopefully I can make some progress…maybe even show some of you what Secret Project KB is (when I’m further along), so you can join me in my journey. I’d rather have that than all of a sudden say “Project KB is released everyone“. I think having others join me will help me stay motivated. I would want to keep working on stuff so others, who are watching my progress, don’t get disappointed when I haven’t done anything in a while. I think that’s also a great motivator. (It’s also a major motivator for blogging…cuz I don’t like users coming to my site and being disappointed that I don’t have anything new to read).
On a separate note, of the people I asked to look at my site, I was pretty disappointed that most of the comments were “great job” or “looks good” type comments. The reason I asked people to see my site was more for critique and things I could fix. I wasn’t looking for praise, I was looking for issues and concerns. I guess I should have made that more clear…I think I only got real feedback from one person. I know it’s delicate to bring issues up, my pride is so high right now, but I’ve generally, for this kind of stuff, always preferred the “this is a mistake that i found, that you don’t know about…so this is me telling you” response. It’s one of the best ways to learn because it’s not that I’ve purposely done something in error, it’s more so that I’m oblivious to the error. That is, if I’ve done something wrong, it’s generally that I don’t know I’ve done something wrong than I’ve knowingly done something wrong but chose not to fix it. And without knowledge of my error, how can I ever hope to improve? I’ve found this approach to learning seems only unique to me though. Most people don’t like when their flaws are brought up. Too much pride I guess? Arrogance? I don’t know….and I find it ironic cuz I’m full of pride and arrogance…and yet, I’d still prefer the blow to those things if it will help me improve. But again, most people aren’t like that. Most people hate it.
One of the things I have to learn is that what I’ve found best for me is not always best for others. Because thinking my ways should apply to others often leaves me with less friends. It’s like people don’t like the blunt truth. WHY NOT?! ?_?
Anyways…off to work :)