Yes, you can be successful too.

Too many times have I seen friends and colleagues with high aspirations get shot down because of the supposed rareness of success in their respective industries, the volatile nature of the economy or a host of other ‘potential’ reasons. While I admit that many of them are probably not cut out to be famous athletes or business moguls, constantly hearing that they don’t have a chance at all kills any aspiration they might have to begin with.

Belief in oneself plays a key role in motivating people to work harder at whatever they’re pursuing. For an entrepreneur, the idea that success may not be that far-fetched can often provide that extra push to actually succeeding. I often get asked, “how many Bill Gates’ are out there for every person that tries and fails?” (substitute Bill for any other successful businessman) Well, if Bill Gates can do it, why can’t I? Or anyone else for that matter? The truth is that you can – anyone can – if they want it enough to do something about it. Googling ‘rags-to-riches’ is evidence enough that people can overcome some of the hardest situations to reach success.

Well, if Bill Gates can do it, why can’t I? Or anyone else for that matter? The truth is that you can – anyone can – if they want it enough to do something about it.

It’s easy to argue that there are a lot of external factors that led to their success and in truth there probably  were, however a big part of it was their confidence. They believed in themselves and used that motivation to push them to greater levels. It’s easy to fall into the realm of ‘wannabe’ entrepreneurs who spend their time talking things up and reading books but fall short when it comes time to act. They may end up stuck in the same story for years and years, unable to move forward because of a list of excuses. Whatever your excuse is, there is a way to get around it if you look hard enough.

It’s important to realize that while not everyone is equal in intellect, skill set or financial situation, success for the greater part is something that should be attainable with enough hard work and dedication. Failure is a part of the journey – learn from your mistakes and move on.

The Trickle Effect

Believing in yourself and your company provides confidence not only to you but to everyone you work as well. Confident employees and cofounders are ones that have motivation to work hard because they expect success. Your role as their leader is to ensure that they maintain confident and have belief in the company through all of your ups and downs. Knowing that success is not impossible can increase productivity and lift the spirits of the people you come in contact with (leaving lasting impressions).

Some quotes to get you motivated from some influential people:

The turning point, I think, was when I really realized that you can do it yourself. That you have to believe in you because sometimes that’s the only person that does believe in your success but you.
- Tim Bixworth, lumber tycoon

Whatever qualities the rich may have, they can be acquired by anyone with thetenacity to become rich. The key, I think, is confidence. Confidence and an unshakable belief it can be done and that you are the one to do it.
- Felix Dennis, MAXIM

I believe in giving everything my best shot. I do not believe in holding back. I am very driven by the fact that we are destined with these opportunities.
- Shailendra Singh, Sequoia Capital India

Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.
- Sam Walton, Wal-mart & Sam’s Club

Self-esteem is a huge piece of my work. You have to believe it’s possible and believe in yourself. Because after you’ve decided what you want, you have to believe it’s possible, and possible for you, not just for other people.
- Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup for the Soul

This is one of the original DevGrow article’s from 2008 that was lost in transition. This is the last of the oldies, moving on to new content next week.

It seems that more and more entrepreneurs these days are falling into that first category of obsessing over there work, an act that is detrimentally affecting both their project and social life. While it may have started as a healthy, passionate drive, several factors are now pushing them towards an unhealthy obsession that can often lead to failure instead of success.

While an entrepreneur (or anyone) can take advantage of either their passionate or obsessive feelings to force themselves to work, there are some key differences that should be noted. For starters, obsession can often lead to depression if certain goals are not met. This is very common when entrepreneurs take on too much and are unable to complete tasks, disappointing themselves or others. Being overly obsessive can also be detrimental to a person’s social life and family, as they are constantly preoccupied and easily agitated.

Keep It Healthy

When things start to get a bit overwhelming, try to treat your project as you would a relationship with your partner. Usually, one is enough and multiple will only make you work harder for several mediocre projects. All relationships are two-way: are you getting something back from this project you are slaving over? Monetary success may not come easy but you should at least feel a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment as you progress. Lastly, you can’t spend all of your time with your partner and you shouldn’t spend it all with your project either – taking some time off on a daily basis can help fuel your creativity and drive.

All good relationships also require healthy discussion and it’s the same with your project. Find someone to talk to about what you’re going through, the decisions you have to make and your overall feelings. The great thing is that they don’t even have to be entrepreneurs or even tech-minded, they just have to be willing to listen. Talking through ideas can help you recognize errors, create new ideas and relieve some stress.

Tips To Stay In Control

So, to wrap things up, if you’re starting to feel overwhelmed with work, try to do the following:

• Take a break! Spend time with your family or just go outside and get some fresh air.
• Set milestones and reward yourself for completing them.
• Talk out your issues with someone else – they don’t have to be tech-minded at all!
• Limit yourself – do not take on more than you can handle at once.
• BREATHE!! Step back and take another look at your end goals. Realize that success is not immediate!

Working on your project should be an enjoyable process that also happens to produce something fruitful. Be passionate about your work but be wary of obsessing over it. In the end, let’s not lose our humanity in the process of finding success.

This is one of the original DevGrow article’s from 2008 that was lost in transition. I’ll be posting a few more oldies in the next couple of days (at least the good ones).

Does Your Product Create Value?

Value is the draw behind your product, the reason it will sell or attract users. It can help to periodically reflect on these questions:

• Does your product address a specific need, be it yours or someone else’s?
• Does your product satisfy the end user?
• Is your product something worth the time, money and/or attention of the end user?
• Is your product something you can be proud of?

The last question on that list is a bit more personal than logical, but I think a positive answer can help create the psychological devotion to your project that you need to get through more challenging times. The logic in creating value should apply to projects big and small, from something you do for yourself to building a scalable business that benefits others.

The key reminder to take away, at least for me, is to focus on that specific need and build a product centered around it. It’s easy to get lost in adding unnecessary features or attempting to do too much – find out what creates value for your users and home in on that. You can only create value for the user if they actually end up finding and using your solution, so follow-through is equally important.

Making An Impact

By providing a product or service to your end users, you are having an impact on their lives in one way or another. Making sure that the impact you have is both positive and significant can also go a long way in creating value. The greater the positive impact on the user, the more likely their lifetime value increases.

Value Creates Organic Growth

We humans are social animals, so sharing things we value is in our nature. If your product can have that significant, positive impact on your end user, they are much more likely to not only share it with friends, but convert them into paying customers.

Final Thoughts

These concepts are dead simple and fairly obvious but they can go a lot further than a business plan or an MBA if put to use. It’s essentially the same mantra followed by Y-Combinator and one that many others have preached and practiced: Make something people want.

“I’m not artistic!”

This is the biggest excuse I hear from my programmer colleagues.  As much as we’d like to think so, being artistic is not an intrinsic ability, it is a learned skill that people must develop with a lot of time and diligence.  While it may be easier to tell yourself you’re not artistic and offset the responsibility to a contractor or friend, understanding what looks good, why it looks good and how to apply that knowledge has multiple benefits:

• Quality Control – Screen the work you receive from contractors
• User Experience – As the developer of the product, you have an understanding of why people will want to use it – applying this logic to your design will create a great user experience
• Cost-Effectiveness – Even if you end up outsourcing the bulk of your design work, use your design skills to create your marketing material (banner ads), letterheads and business cards
• Self-Reliance – While it is absolutely necessary to depend on others at one point or another, being able to develop and design your own product just feels good and allows you to maintain full control

Convinced?  Achieving great design can be just as rewarding as programming, and just as beneficial for your product.  Follow these steps and learn how to create successful design:

1. Draw in Your Spare Time

Take out a blank sheet of paper, pick up a pencil or pen, and draw the first still object you lay your eyes on (or anything else you’d like).  While it’s true you don’t have to be able to draw to make a great looking website, drawing is the single fastest way to improve your overall artistic abilities with relative ease.  What you draw and how you well you draw doesn’t matter yet – your goal is to learn the art of observation and imitation.  Web design often relies on taking bits and pieces of what we see around the web and applying it to something with your own style.  Play with shading, realism, cartoons or whatever keeps your interest level high – remember the key is practice and persistence.

2. Absorb Inspiration

Find great design and learn from it.  A good place to start is an established CSS gallery or design blog, such as CSS Remix and Smashing Magazine.  Spend time looking through multiple sites and resources, take notes (mental or real) and try to find trends and similarities between the sites.  To be featured on a high profile site they must be doing something right, so try to learn as much as you can from their examples.  Your goal in this step is to understand what information the site is trying to deliver to you and what artistic and design trends they use to do so.

3. Learn From Tutorials

The Tuts+ network is a great resource and provides tutorials for everything from Photoshop to After Effects.  Take something you found to be very cool in one of the inspirational sites you’ve previously encountered and find a tutorial for making it (or something similar).  This will not only allow you to apply that technique to your own project but also teach you a multitude of other skills you’ll use in getting to the end result.

4. Practice What You Learn

Take a Photoshop tutorial and follow along with it in Photoshop, or even try to improve on the end result.  Find an incredible looking site and try to rebuild it in Photoshop, just to see if you can.  All good developers have one thing in common: experience, and this is what you’re trying to achieve with by practicing these design skills.  Start small by designing a button or logo, then move on to a complete mockup of a fake product (or your real one if you’d like).  Just like in programming you will undoubtedly go through multiple iterations of your work, hopefully improving on each one.

5. Apply Logic

Just like you would in programming, use your smarts when designing a website.  Keep in your mind the end goals, who your website is aimed at (target audience) and how to portray what you have to say in such a way that you engage your audience.  Web design can be fun and colorful but it can also be smart and targeted, and your goal is the latter of the two.

Conclusion

The point of this article is not for you to stop outsourcing your design work, or drop your designer cofounder in favor of doing it yourself.  Rather it is to help you better understand that you are capable and if you have time, take small steps to make yourself a better designer.  Follow the above steps, find more inspirational resources and keep practicing what you learn and you’ll be on your way to better design in no time.  Also, subscribe to our feed for more articles, resources and tutorials posted every week!