How do you deal with low self-esteem days?

Question

I've touched this topic on Twitter and Makerlog before, but I'm curious to learn how other makers approach it.

From time to time, I get feelings of low self-esteem and doubts. My products might be progressing towards the goal, but I'm not sure whether they are the right products, whether they will sell, and whether I am able to market them.

At these times, I feel the entire hustle might not be worth it and it's probably a waste of my resources.

Will you share your experience with this feeling and how you cope?

Caroline Chiari · Accepted Answer

I've been working on Koupi for a while, I can't seem to get users, or even traffic to my website. Every day I tell myself that Koupi is a waste of time, maybe just a portfolio project, and I should just stop.

The way I see it is Koupi is a one person project. I never learned this at school. I studied physics in college. I never had any real, formal computer science education (a few classes audited here and there). But I built fully functional product that would make my life so much easier if I could use it at my work.

I worked too hard to give up. When I started, I didn't have the skills necessary to get me to where I am today, but now I do. Right now, I don't have the skills to get me to where I want to be (marketing & sales), but I've got to work on it. Every day, I have to be better. Not the best, just better.

Building a company is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm a sprinter. The only way to finish is to tell yourself that once you climbed that, or made that turn, you won't even remember how unsurmountable it looked when it was a right ini front of you.

I think the most important mechanism I have to deal with low self-esteem is to look back at where I was. How hard the challenges ahead were, how tough it all looked, and tell myself: you already did the impossible, how hard can everything else really be?

I hope that helps!

Piotr Gaczkowski · Answer

@henry_zhang3 Thanks, I agree that talking with someone supportive is a great help. Too bad I learned about this so late!

Valerie Fenske · Answer

Hi Piotr,

I think it's all about balance. A lot of work leads to quite a lot of expectations, which may not turn into the reality. So here I usually rely on data and analytics.

Before jumping on any activity, I also say to myslef "if I fail, I will have not "a fail" but "the lesson learnt", Good retrospective session is a miracle.

And yes, working with emotions was the hardest part of my journey. But the result is - I have fewer and fewer days when I'm not content with myself

Piotr Gaczkowski · Answer

@caroline_chiari Thanks for sharing this. I think I can relate. Marketing and sales are probably the toughest things to learn for me.

Is there anything we can do to help you with your product?

Reece · Answer

@caroline_chiari I feel like giving up every day and that we've picked the wrong market, not niche focused enough, it's really difficult to stay focused

Piotr Gaczkowski · Answer

@valeryfenskaya great suggestions about "the lesson learned". Even though I plan my products as experiments (if I fail, I'll have much more knowledge than I had before), sometimes emotions take over and rational perspective is lost.

Henry Zhang · Answer

I've found that when i feel like that, it helps to talk to someone who supports you. A lot of the time it feels like i wasn't getting far enough fast enough, but other people will often tell you otherwise. If you have a team, I also find it helps me remember the faith i have in them and their abilities. That being said, low self-esteem days always suck the most!

Caroline Chiari · Answer

@sendpilot1 Another thing I do is step back and take a break. Right now, I'm focusing most of my time on building my personal brand (blogging, youtube, social media etc.). It's a worthy investment for both myself and my company (and any future idea I may have), and it allows me to stop the spiral of negative thoughts towards Koupi.

Reece · Answer

@caroline_chiari This is awesome - and 1000% relatable.

How do you deal with low self-esteem days?

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