Why do so many of us find it so hard to give honest, constructive feedback?.
<h2>Nobody's perfect</h2>
First of all, I think it's important to point this out - even if it feels rather obvious.
Even if someone is more proficient than you at a specific skill, they are not perfect. For this reason, I think it always makes sense to point out things that could be improved upon.
It is important to not be condescending, though. This is especially important if the person you are giving feedback is less experienced than you.
However, this post is not about giving feedback. Rather, it's about receiving it.
<h2>Asking for feedback</h2>
As I mentioned earlier, a lot of people find it hard to give feedback. The fastest way to receive more feedback is simply to encourage people to give it. For example, you could start every call/meeting/presentation with a note about how you would appreciate any feedback.
This is especially powerful if you emphasize how you are aware that you're not perfect but really want to improve.
It's the same as receiving App Store reviews (coincidentally, I recently wrote an article about <a href="https://bravoapps.dk/blog/saadan-forbedrer-du-din-app-store-rating">how to improve your app store rating</a>). The easiest way to receive more ratings and reviews is to ask for more.
<h2>Reacting to feedback</h2>
The most important part of receiving feedback is how you react to it.
First, how you react to it in the short term. Imagine someone just told you that your third slide contained way too much text and was really confusing.
You might feel an urge to start arguing and protect your work - &quot;4 bullet points is definitely not too much text&quot;. These kinds of kneejerk reactions to feedback should be avoided. They set the precedent that giving you feedback is a way to start an argument. Again, this espcially applies if you are more experienced than the feedback-giver.
What you decide to do with the feedback in the long term is entirely up to you. If you don't agree with the feedback, you don't need to adhere to it.
However, it is important to remember that the feedback was meant as a genuine tip to help you improve.
I have been trying to be explicit about giving more feedback for a few years now. I hope you will join - and together, we can all improve.

Give more feedback

&quot;Pay yourself first&quot; is a famous quote and principle from Robert Kiyosaki's &quot;Rich Dad, Poor Dad&quot;. I like the quote because it promotes the idea of intentionally putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Especially in relation to where you spend your time and focus.
<h2>Being <s>comfortable</s> complacent</h2>
A lot of people, including myself, want to achieve more than what they're currently doing. This leads to an exploding number of &quot;side hustles&quot;. And even worse - idle side hustles.
After working at a job for a full day, it's easy to not have the energy to do any productive work. It's way easier to just watch TV, scroll social media or do some other mindless activity.
Even worse, justifying it to ourselves is equally easy. We can easily convince ourselves that today wasn't the right day to do it, anyways. It's probably better to wait until tomorrow.
<blockquote>
I don't feel like doing anything right now. Maybe tomorrow.
</blockquote>
– Most people, never getting anything done
<h2>Intentionally being uncomfortable</h2>
Imagine if we instead flipped this on it's head. While fully energized, we spent time and energy working on our passion projects - our side hustles.
Afterwards, just like before, we're tired. We want to watch TV. Except, it's no longer just ourselves we need to justify it to. Our boss and our teammates probably wouldn't appreciate the fact that we watched TV instead of working.
<blockquote>
You didn't do anything all week? You're fired!
</blockquote>
– Your boss
We obviously don't want to be fired. To avoid that situation, I'm sure we would find the energy to do our job.
<h2>Time creditors</h2>
The reason we find it easier to find energy for our job, as opposed to our side project, is that we have an external party who is expecting us to do it. Also, the fact that there will be very real negative consequences if we don't.
These are what I would call &quot;time creditors&quot;. They are entities that you owe your time, energy, and focus to.
When we have a creditor to worry about, it's much easier to buckle up and get stuff done.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
I'm not arguing people should do a bad job at work because they were up all night working on their side projects. You still have a very real responsibility to show up and be productive.
Also, it might be hard to implement fully in the real world. However, I think it's an interesting thought. I wonder what would happen if we all started paying ourselves first.

Pay yourself first... with time

It definitely wasn't an easy decision to quit my job at <a href="https://clearvoyage.com">ClearVoyage</a>. The people there are a joy to work with, and the work is mostly interesting.
However, it felt like the right time. The decision was also made easier by the fact that I already had a few things going...
<h2>Freelancing</h2>
I have been doing freelance development work for more than 7 years. Back when I started, my average &quot;contract&quot; was around $50, mostly doing WordPress maintenance.
Now, I regularly do work for $5-10K. Still nothing massive, but often enough to pay for rent and food. Having this definitely made the decision easier, as it lowered the risk significantly.
<h2>Mobile App for high schoolers</h2>
In Denmark, most high schools use the same system to handle schedules, assignments, grades and communication - <a href="https://lectio.dk">Lectio</a>. It was built in the nineties and, unsurprisingly, it is not very mobile friendly.
A user-built solution was made. As almost every high schooler in Denmark uses this system, it very quickly gained a lot of traction.
Back in December 2020, I bought the app for $25K. Today, it brings in about $1-2K a month. Also a huge deal in lowering the risk.
<h2>Savings</h2>
Perhaps most importantly, throughout the last few years, I have built enough savings to last for a few years, even if everything goes wrong with the other projects.
<h2>The decision</h2>
I am incredibly fortunate to be in a position where I can quit my job with almost no risk to my financial situation. At this point, the only thing I'm risking is my time.
When I first made the decision, I was still worried whether it was right or not. However, as I spoke to friends and family, I realised that every conversation made me more certain. It was the right thing for me.
<h2>Going forward</h2>
So, what am I going to do, now that I don't have a full time job?
I will be focusing on 3 things:
<ol>
<li>Improving the Lectio app mentioned earlier</li>
<li>Building an audience</li>
<li>BravoApps</li>
</ol>
The two first are self-explanatory. But what is BravoApps?
<h3>BravoApps</h3>
When companies outsource the development of their mobile app, they often think it is a one time deal. The app is developed and released. Case closed.
In reality, an app (obviously) needs to be maintained. This can be quite a pain. Traditionally, you either hire a freelancer or an agency. The freelancer can quit at any time, and the agency is often quite expensive.
With either solution, you often end up paying for a specific number of hours (on retainer) every month. This means you need to use exactly the right amount of hours. Otherwise you (1) have wasted a number of hours you have already paid for or (2) you have to buy extra hours, often at a premium.
I want to solve that with BravoApps. It is a productized service that offers unlimited app development work on a fixed price subscription.
You know exactly what you are going to pay. And you will get the app development work you need.
I have just released a landing page for it: <a href="https://bravoapps.dk">BravoApps</a>.
If you want to follow along with the journey, feel free to follow me on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/lukasgjetting">@lukasgjetting</a>. I will be sharing insights and numbers on an ongoing basis.
Now back to building!

Blog

This is where I write about my journey and my thoughts.

Give more feedback

Pay yourself first... with time

Going indie