I struggle with respect to idea execution. This applies especially to personal projects that I most care for. Simpler put, I often don’t finish what I start. This is the factor most responsible for the difficulty in explaining my mission, specializations, projects, accomplishments.
I accumulate knowledge dispersed throughout countless notebooks and digital archives, but don’t incorporate any parts of that knowledge into publishable material in the broadest sense. This could involve something as simple as synthesizing some content into a friendly and readable interpretation for online sharing. But my content continuously remains in draft mode. I’ve gradually expanded a Mathematics/Computer Science reference guide over a couple of years. But what hope lies in transforming something of that complexity into a finished product if I cannot even confidently polish one topic into a sufficiently acceptable version to publish online?
I maintain numerous articles written in various locations in multiple languages, but uncertain if any satisfies a certain criteria to publish on even a personal blog. More crucially, I’m uncertain if these publications provide any value. One immediate step that emerges would be to demonstrate this content to a handful of people and inquire to the respect of value. Alternatively, I could (and should) publish everything I intuitively find palatable, then rely on some online metrics or feedback to extract value. Is this not the way to rapidly improve quality and consistency?
Similarly this holds with respect to technical projects. While I have produced deliverables in my industry or academic work, I haven’t previously demonstrated such attitude with personal projects. The notion of a public GitHub repository, open source contributions to Sourceforge, or even milestones uploaded to a personal web page, remain in the realm of fantasy. Online collaboration in starting a movement or organizing a useful contribution to a community? The notion is barely appearing on the roadmap.
What have I accomplished? Elimination of commitments, noncontributing resources, distractions, expenses, possessions, and unnecessary weight. I am passionate over maximizing space in my life and removing unessential burden. This provided flexibility to live in different locations at minimal cost, for which much potential still exists to further minimize. I accumulated a myriad of invaluable skills not transformed into services or products.
The value for myself remains clear. But I don’t yet use the liberated space and energy to produce anything or provide value for others in ways that I sincerely care for. Therein lies the key.
And in small, palatable projects lies the resolution. From published articles and posts (however small), to experiments conducted, documented, analyzed and published, to small projects, realized and shared. Entrepreneurial points are accumulated in carrying out tangible milestones.
Questions, comments? Connect.