I guess what Im trying to ask is, is cutting off my project early whenever I feel like it is the smart thing to do or should I continue until Im certain that whatever my project is the end goal is not feasible/realistic.
That depends on why you're doing the project.
If you're doing it to learn something, and you've learned it, then quitting early makes sense.
If you're doing it for fun, and it's not fun any more, then quitting early also makes sense.
If you're doing it because you want to make millions, but you haven't proven the idea yet, quitting doesn't make sense. Also, going to market is scary and expensive, so are you just avoiding that pain? It's very common to quit just as things get hard.
In retrospect, most of my projects start with learning as the goal, since I'm young and just trying things out.But whenever I feel that one of them may have value I get stuck (probably out of fear) when I need to go to market, which makes me believe the value I once saw is no longer there , so I pivot and start over again.
I am at this exact stage. It turned out that building was the easiest part. I tried to promote consistently for months and I am barely at 45 signed-up users. It feels super good to get every new user, believe me.
What helps me decide is a clear deadline. Mine is the end of the year, so I gave myself almost half a year to try to get users. Until then I use every promotion channel I can. From brochures to Reddit.
Complete something for a change. Break the pattern. You rationalize your current pattern by saying there's a better opportunity half way through your project, but that's an excuse. You need to taste the success of finishing a project, even if isn't the most impactful project. Otherwise I predict you will never finish something.
I guess what Im trying to ask is, is cutting off my project early whenever I feel like it is the smart thing to do or should I continue until Im certain that whatever my project is the end goal is not feasible/realistic.
That depends on why you're doing the project.
If you're doing it to learn something, and you've learned it, then quitting early makes sense.
If you're doing it for fun, and it's not fun any more, then quitting early also makes sense.
If you're doing it because you want to make millions, but you haven't proven the idea yet, quitting doesn't make sense. Also, going to market is scary and expensive, so are you just avoiding that pain? It's very common to quit just as things get hard.
In retrospect, most of my projects start with learning as the goal, since I'm young and just trying things out.But whenever I feel that one of them may have value I get stuck (probably out of fear) when I need to go to market, which makes me believe the value I once saw is no longer there , so I pivot and start over again.
I am at this exact stage. It turned out that building was the easiest part. I tried to promote consistently for months and I am barely at 45 signed-up users. It feels super good to get every new user, believe me. What helps me decide is a clear deadline. Mine is the end of the year, so I gave myself almost half a year to try to get users. Until then I use every promotion channel I can. From brochures to Reddit.
When was the last time you started and finished a project?
Other than very simple projects, don't really remember.
Complete something for a change. Break the pattern. You rationalize your current pattern by saying there's a better opportunity half way through your project, but that's an excuse. You need to taste the success of finishing a project, even if isn't the most impactful project. Otherwise I predict you will never finish something.
Noted. Thanks for the advice.