Day 2: Virality is a drug
Today, I officially announced 90 Days to the public, and the tweet blew up.
This isn’t my first taste of going viral. A project of mine from a few years ago blew up on Reddit, but somehow this time it felt different. It’s an awfully motivating thing to have so many people that are supporting what I’m doing. Whether it’s simply reading my stuff or asking to chat over coffee or even offering an office I can work out of, I truly appreciate the immediate support I’ve gotten.
One of the books that pushed me to pursue this journey was The Alchemist. In it, there is a quote that I never understood:
“when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”
Today, my understanding has gotten a bit clearer. I’ve always tried being supportive of anyone I see who’s pursuing their dreams, and now I’m on the receiving end of that support. I couldn’t be more grateful.
But it’s also been getting to my head. Virality is a dangerous drug to play with. There’s all the telltale signs. Sharp dopamine hits when something goes well and feelings of withdrawal when it doesn’t. I found myself religiously checking the likes/comments/shares on my tweet. Someone who’s been in a similar boat brought up a good point:
admirable, i've found "doing the thing" and "documenting doing the thing" w/o letting the documenting part become the thing i'm doing brutally hard
It’s a time drain to be documenting every day of your life while also trying to build a product. To add to that, I’ll be putting an extra burden on myself to post every day to social media while making sure I don’t start doom-scrolling.
What I’m working on
Today was a relatively less productive day in terms of my projects. I spent most of it catching up with old friends and dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of a viral post. Nonetheless, I was able to make some minor strides in the music theory app I’ve been working on. It turns out that detecting chords from audio is possible but much more difficult than simply detecting pitches.
A ton of people also asked me what I’d be working on these 90 days, and my answer hasn’t been as clear as I’d have liked it to be. If you’ve got any advice on the practical ways you’ve found successful product ideas, I’m all ears.
As always, for future updates, consider subscribing.
I spent an entire year on sabbatical after leaving a career in tech. Here's my reflection on the entire year: https://blog.mattyao.co/p/51-a-year-of-zero
It's cool to see you documenting your journey so frequently and publicly. Best of luck :)