Hey There! š
Iāve been building small projects on the side for a while now, but if I'm honest, finishing and launching them has always been my biggest challenge. I get ideas, I build prototypes, I write codeābut they usually sit on my machine, hidden away, waiting for some āperfectā day that never seems to come.
I decided it was time to break the cycle. I wanted to finally push something live, no matter how basic it was. So I set myself a simple goal: build and launch a tool in one day, start to finish. Hereās what I ended up with: Dupl - a tool to detect and remove duplicate lines from text files. Itās something small and specific, but it does what it needs to do!
Why This Worked for Me
Hereās why this approach finally helped me get over my fear of launching:
Kept It Simple: I focused on building one specific featureādetecting duplicate lines in text. No fancy features, no complex UI, just the core functionality. Keeping it small meant I didnāt feel overwhelmed.
Set a Time Limit: I gave myself a few hours to get the core functionality working. Limiting the time I spent kept me from endlessly tweaking and obsessing over minor details.
Let Go of Perfection: I had to accept that it wouldnāt be flawless. Itās not about building a perfect productāitās about shipping something and learning from it.
Treated It as a Learning Experience: The whole point of this project was to get over my fear of launching. Whether people used it or not, it would still be a win for me.
The Result
In a few hours, I had a basic tool deployed on Vercel. Itās not groundbreaking, but itās out thereāand thatās what matters! Now, Iām excited to keep iterating on it, maybe adding features or learning from feedback. But for the first time, Iām not afraid to put my work in front of people.
If youāre also struggling to launch, my advice would be: start small, set a deadline, and just go for it. Youāll feel a huge sense of accomplishment just by seeing your work live, no matter how simple it is. Plus, youāll be one step closer to building and launching something bigger.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to check out Dupl if youāve ever wanted a quick way to clean up duplicate lines! š
P.S. Iād love to hear your thoughtsāif you have feedback, ideas for new features, or just want to share how youāre using it, drop a comment or reach out. Your input would be super valuable as I continue improving the tool!
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