3 Questions to ask yourself before giving up and the lessons I have learned as Indie Game Dev

First click this youtube video! (and let it play in background)

1. Have you been operating with too much information?

With so much information at our fingertips on the good ole World Wide Web, it’s easy to overwhelm yourself with more knowledge than you can apply. You read e-books and blogs, participate in teleconferences and coaching sessions, and join user forums to talk about getting things done.

One of two things happen as a result: you spend more time planning to act then acting; or you devote minimal energy to multiple plans instead of committing to one solid approach. Instead of drowning in all the data, why not narrow it down and start again from a less overwhelming space?


2. Did you set a smart goal? SMART goals are:

Specific—you know exactly what your world will look like when you achieve this goal.
Measurable—you have a specific plan to mark your progress as you go.
Attainable—you have the attitude and aptitude to make your goal reality.
Realistic—you’re willing and able to do the required work.
Time-bound—you’ve set a concrete timeframe for completion to create a sense of urgency.

If you didn’t set a SMART goal, you may have set yourself up for failure. How can you possibly make something happen if you don’t know exactly what you want, or didn’t really believe you could do it? Are you really willing to walk away when you didn’t give yourself every opportunity to succeed?


3. What’s the worst that will happen if you keep going and don’t reach your goal?

Often when I want to turn around it’s because I’m afraid of failing—afraid other people will be disappointed in me or judge me, or afraid I’ll have wasted my time. In all reality, no one ever judges us like we judge ourselves; and we always grow and learn through the process of striving, regardless of what we attain.

If you don’t keep going, you’ll never know how far you could have gone, and you’ll miss out on being the person you’d become through the effort itself. If you do keep going, well, it’s like this quote: “Shoot for the moon, for even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”

 

ahh, to clarify, this thread seems to be about finishing your project
At first I assumed (since I of course was viewing the title from my perspective) it was about making it profitable/finding investors/etc

 

Good points, all. Especially, point 2 (Making S.M.A.R.T. plans) - this has killed many a prototype of mine...

 

Wow this is really useful!
And congratulations on 2000 posts!

-GamehubDev

 

I found myself doing this a lot lately :neutral: I don't have a clear goal for some aspects of my game, so I can never really "get there" until I define more clearly where exactly it is I need to get.

Also, somewhat of an inspirational post, thank you. I played the video in the background.

 

As usual, da bawss post is... BOSS.
And I never knew Mr. Mister did that song.

 

The SMART goals bit alone was worth the read.

 

May I add:

4. Remember why you started making games in the first place and how much you are enjoying it.

 

Too bad I finish the reading your post 1 minute into the song.

 

I keep a journal about my moral towards working on games. This is an entry I made a few years ago.

 

Reading about the SMART goal got me motivated, good post, nice read.

 

very nice! I dig!! esppecially "“Shoot for the moon, for even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”" that's what i like to tell myself everyday, well not exactly that but something of that nature.

I believe success is about never giving up, believing in yourself, and knowing what you deserve, and knowing that even if you fail today, you can always get back up tomorrow and learn from yesterday, and keep building until you get it right!

 

Nice.

I find that keeping a development diary helps a lot. I make sure that I post an update once a week and this in turn motivates me to work to show progress whether big or small.