Indie Hackers often use the rhetoric of only wanting to make X money or not needing to make it big, but when I observe their message I think they still don't realize just how big their ask is.
I don't mean the dollar amount. Wanting to make $100-300k USD isn't an unreasonable ask, but what makes Indie Hackers unique is that their goal comes with a lot of strings. They want to be doing something they love. It has to be recurring income. They want to be able to earn while they sleep. With all these stipulations suddenly making six figures becomes a really difficult thing that shouldn't be taken lightly.
In response to this I see a lot of makers beginning to make small goals such as 1K a month. They think it's a smart goal because it's reasonable and obtainable but I think that having such a goal closes creators off from their true power.
Creativity
.
There's nothing wrong with making money, in fact it means that you're doing something. Maybe not something right, but you're still doing something. But to be driven by some type of earning amount is the wrong boss to have. It makes a good measure of effectiveness, but it should never be the goal.
The goal should be something you'll consider banal. It's people. Creating things should serve other people, people with obstacles and ambitions you care about. When you solve their problems then that's when the money can come. But if you don't start with people and a domain you don't care about then you're essentially working for yourself as a boss.
And having yourself as a boss is actually the worst one to have. The highest performers and the most fulfilled people have often served something greater than themselves. What's more alluring to you?
"Hey come work for me so that you can help me live a
four-hour workweek
lifestyle."
or
"Let's help writers write things they want to write before it's too late and they're on their deathbed."
The difference in the two approaches is what you obsess over. Do you obsess over the thing you're trying to do. Or do you obsess over being an Indie Hacker?
I was going to re-name The Brandonian Doctrine to The Deathbed Chronicles because some people are pretending to be too busy to listen during day-to-day lives. I say okay, then save it for their deathbed. After all, they won't have anything else better to do after saying goodbyes to family and probably could use a few chuckles on the way out. Hopefully, they haven't lost their hearing by then.
If they don't have time for it in their day-to-day i doubt they would choose to listen to it on their deathbed. lol.
I think they would listen to it on your death bed maybe... or soon after. You know how like when a musician dies their streams go up for a bit? So I still think it'd make a fine title.
I think they would listen to it on your death bed maybe... or soon after. You know how like when a musician dies their streams go up for a bit? So I still think it'd make a fine title.