Last week, I was going through a stack of my old backup CDs, some even from the 90s. Oh my God, the stuff we hold on toโฆ
Buried in layers of forgotten files, I found relics from my past:
The first game I ever built in C.
Pixelated photos from a simpler time.
Few of my CorelDraw designs that once felt like masterpieces.
And then I found this one document.
A list.
A list of projects I once startedโฆ or seriously considered.
Projects I thought might keep the lights on when things were uncertain.
Projects that nearly derailed the mission I started with.
Hereโs what was on it:
โข ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด
โข ๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ
โข ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ด
โข ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ
โข ๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ
All real projects. Some even brought in quick revenue for us at that time.
Most were ideas pitched by partners, saying,
โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฆ๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด.โ
And they were tempting.
Because when youโre building something hardโฆ
Something originalโฆ
There will be a time when no oneโs buying what youโre making.
And suddenly, these detours start to look like lifelines.
Short-term money. Quick validation.
A way to โkeep going.โ
But hereโs the trap:
You start building for others instead of building for your dream.
You move from being a founderโฆ to being a freelancer.
That list I found, I had written it down back then as a warning to myself.
Not to get comfortable.
Not to trade my long-term vision of fighting viruses for short-term wins.
I was shamed for some of those decisions,
walking away from good money,
choosing to say no.
But today, Iโm grateful.
Grateful that I didnโt let distractions define my direction.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐โ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐:
Someoneโs offering quick money for something off-track.
That moment will come.
What you choose then decides what youโll be remembered for.
Are you building your vision, or drifting from it?
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