Builder's Blueprint: 3 Lessons Learned for Accelerating Success

Welcome!

You will be learning 3 important lessons in this newsletter:

I hope that sharing my startup journey will show you how I grow as a builder and inspire you to take the steps needed to level up your skills as well.

It’s important to understand when it is okay to slow down and reflect versus hustle and put in the work.

Enjoy ;)

Progress = Speed & Direction

Progress: Progress is how far you’ve gotten toward a goal you set for yourself.

Speed: Speed is self-explanatory - put in the work to get to your goals, and you will get closer to them.

Direction: But direction is equally, if not more important. Here is why:

If you hustle in the things you don’t want to do or compound toward your long-term goals, you may be at a place worse than when you started.

It’s okay to take the time to reflect on how your direction aims at your goals before putting the hard work in.

But how do I know my direction?

There are 4 steps to do this:

Before this week, I had my 3 long-term goals. But I had trouble with steps 2 & 3 - understanding what I need right now and how to get there.

Talking to people who support me and understand where I’m coming from allowed me to clear my head to give me more confidence and certainty in what I am doing. Journaling and spending time outside also helped with this.

In the end, it is my (and your) decision to figure out what we want. But you can’t do that if you are overwhelmed or in a discouraging environment.

To be honest, I’m still not 100% certain about my direction and don’t think I’m supposed to be.

So now it’s about putting in the work, progressing, and planning the next small steps.

The Context Switch Struggle

The context switch struggle naturally happens if you are a solo entrepreneur wearing multiple hats.

Things to learn on the coding side:

Things to learn on the business side:

Yeah, this is a lot to handle. Context switching can be emotionally challenging due to the focus switching you must have.

There are 3 ways to tackle this challenge:

1. Build a team - You may think you are better off doing things yourself since you trust your skills but delegating is a good managerial skill to have. You may need to guide and train others, but it will help you in the long run.

2. Context switch less - stay with the same task for a longer time before switching

   Ex: Focus on designing and coding the product for 5 months. Then focus on marketing and sales when you are ready to get some traction on the user side.

3. Talk to people with experience - brainstorm with those who have more experience.

Naturally, context switching will always be there due to the diverse number of responsibilities one has to grow a business. It could be quite fun to context switch but stick to whatever you feel you need to focus on the most.

Patience is Key

Just because what we are working on isn’t taking off right away, doesn’t mean we are doing the wrong thing.

I’m not saying to never give up. Because giving things up is a skill and can allow for other opportunities.

But don’t give up prematurely.

In the following newsletters, I will share weekly updates with you on what I’ve learned, my startup/builder journey, UF student founder stories, and will strive to be a source of encouragement for you guys.

In exchange, this will help me communicate better and keep me accountable.

Feel free to share this newsletter with anyone else who would find this useful on their tech journey!