I know something about you.
You have something in your head, something you'd like to do. You think about it all the time, but you haven't done anything about it.
There's a goal you want to achieve, but you still haven't taken the first step:
Instead, you procrastinate by reading: blog posts, books, tutorials. You read the 4-Hour Workweek and dreamt but never did. You got inspired but your inspiration died on the vine.
Why?
Why can't you get your engine running? Laziness? Fear? Too busy?
You drive to the office dreading your day, but you drive home with a dream... "One day I'm going to build a startup. One day I'm going to finish that side-project. One day I'm going to launch that thing."
But that one day never comes.
Why can't you just fucking do it?
There are so many of us, working on our own, in our basements, trying to push past this invisible barrier. Alone and stuck.
* * * * *
You're not alone:
"What they're finding is that unless you're one of these incredibly highly motivated people, you're not going to finish. Most people need some combination of access to information, and access to support."
What's the secret of all the "successful" people? They must all have super-human self-discipline, right?
Nope. Here's the secret: they all have partners.
Think of some of "the greats": Jason Fried and DHH, Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs, Larry and Sergey, Hiten Shah and Neil Patel, Jobs and Wozniak, Ben & Jerry, Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin.
Even the famous lone rangers in our industry form ad-hoc support groups: Rob Walling is in two Mastermind groups and Patio11 hangs out in a Campfire room with other founders on daily basis. He says it's the best thing he's done all year.
"Working alone is almost impossible when launching a bootstrapped startup. The more people you can get to work with you the better."
Going to the gym didn't become a habit for me until I teamed up with my co-worker, Todd. He'd message me every day: "So, are we going today?". I didn't want to let him down, so I almost never missed a workout.
When you're alone, it's easy to make excuses. But a like-minded partner can look at you and say: "Quit whining and just fucking do it". Knowing someone else cares is motivating. This is why accountability greatly improves your chances of getting things done.
So why are we all still grinding it out, by ourselves, in our basements?
* * * * *
Yes, you're going to need to buckle down and work. You're going to need to get off Twitter, turn off distractions, and put yourself in a place where you can focus. You're going to need to develop good habits.
But you don't have to do it alone.
Partner up. Quit holding on to 100% of the equity for something that doesn't even exist. Allan Branch recently told me: "A good partner makes your ideas better".
Or, create a group with like-minded people. Meet weekly, hang out in an online chat, and help keep each other accountable. Cooperate to achieve a common goal.
Fight, and win, with others.
We humans are social creatures. Historically, we've thrived as a species because of it.
If you want to just fucking do it, find someone who can do it with you.
Regards,
Justin Jackson
@mijustin
On Google+
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PS: Are you trying to build and launch your own product? I've been running a JFDI (just fucking do it) group for people like you. If you're interested, join my mailing list and I'll let you know when we open up more spots.
Thanks to Ryan Hoover, Nathan Kontny, and Spencer Fry for their early feedback on this post