You've Got to Create

The year was 2016. High school finals were close.

I was trying to become smart.

In the quest for becoming smart I stumbled across a tedx video by this kid called Jacob Barnett: forget what you know - fun fact, we're the same age, I'm actually 24 days older.

A line in the video caught my eye, "put your unique perspective into the world". I still remember it.

I've remember this for so long because it's what I've aspired to do for the longest time; put something I can call my own out into the world.

The video talks more about how when you're truly doing nothing, that's when magic happens.

And in 2024 I did nothing. And magic did happen.

Did I make money? Nope. Did I make a widely successful product? Nope.

But I made something. Something that was all me. I learnt how to code and I created something from scratch.

Well, can I code now? Nope. Still pretty bad at it. Would've been impossible without LLMs.

Honestly the only key reward: realising that I want to do this for life. Build things. Not just software, but anything.

Take an idea and force it into reality.. and that's why I think you should create. To feel the joy of forcing something into reality.

Software is a great equaliser and starting point. Anybody, literally anybody can build it, especially now when there's zero barriers to entry.

But when you create, It doesn't have to be software. It could be a piece of writing. It could be a custom blog. It could be art. It could be a unique dish. But the only caveat? It's got to be yours.

That's where the fun stuff kicks in. When you push something that was a mere puddle inside your brain and bring it to life.

I've switched my career thrice in the last ~ 5 years. I graduated from college with a specialisation in human resources. I eventually realised I sucked at it, and (luckily) got the opportunity to become a product manager.

And when everything was going great, when I was loving my job, I realised I never got around to creating something I could call my own. So I ditched my amazing role and did exactly that.

Now? I'll go back to being a PM for sometime, so I can make some money.

I'll be back though. I won't stop creating.

And I hope, you do too. At least once.