Project lifecycles for anything

Most people tell that in order to create a skill, you really need to have passion, or talent, or some other facet that sounds really inspiring.

And yet, we see examples of people being successful in different areas that challenge those requirements, all the time. You can be a successful billonaire if you pick the right stocks (even if you don’t know it) and you then just stick to them. You can be a first-class Youtuber if you make enough videos of whatever it is that you want. You can be a famous musician if you just make more of what you do.

So the trick is perseverance. But not just blind perseverance. That “you can do whatever you set your mind to” motto sounds really nice but it’s very empty of strategy.

And here’s how it goes.

It’s important that, whatever you do, you can keep doing that. There are a few aspects to consider:

Resources: you need to have an external source of resources (maybe a side job) or make sure that whatever you’re doing is providing enough to keep you running. Otherwise, your effort is dead on its tracks.

Consistency: whatever it is you’re doing, you need enough variation so that you can keep doing different products. If you’re setting up a bakery, you want to be able to make more than a single product. If you’re doing a podcast, you want to have multiple subjects of conversation for multiple episodes. You get the idea. You need a source.

Non-deterioration: You need to not get worse. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t get better (for now), but you need to make sure you don’t go downhill.

First phase: your project needs to be able to survive.

Once survival mode is in the bag, you may want to improve whatever it is you’re doing. Note that survival mode is enough to make sure that it will go on, but improvement is what will make it stand out from any others.

There are whole books on the subject of improvement, maybe too many. But the trick is to lean on others that already made the way, and to make yourself different from all the rest trying to do the same.

Leaning on others: You probably did not invent a new branch of human knowledge. That being the case, there is some science, some rules, some professionals in whatever you’re doing. Find out what they recommend. Find out what the usual mistakes are, and avoid them. Find out what is necessary and head for it. Important here is that you take out what necessary is, outside from every other suggestion, idea or extra-improvement.

Distinguish yourself: Why would anyone consume what you do and not some other? If you can’t answer that question, you won’t stand out. Make sure you have an answer you can stand by for a long term.

Phase 2 is about improvement and growth. Predictable improvement, and controlled growth.

After long enough in Phase 2, giving that Phase 1 always carried over (meaning that your project keeps surviving and getting better), you’ll be in a situation when there’s more and more to do. This is a good problem to have, but as any problem, it requires a solution.

At this point, this cannot be a solo-flight anymore. You need to choose some people that will take some responsibilities for you. Maybe an external company that specializes in marketing, or maybe business accountability software. Whatever it is, you’re now in the process of management instead of delivering.

Depending on what you want your role to be, you’ll end up somewhere on the organization (albeit, informal) that you created. Or not.

Congratulations, you made your effort successful.

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