The Part Where You Feel Ridiculous

I want to describe a specific feeling, because I think a lot of people have it and nobody talks about it.

You sit down at the laptop. You open the tool. You start typing your idea. And a small voice in the back of your head says, very clearly:

Who do you think you are.

Not as a question. As a statement.

I am a 50-year-old guy from Oklahoma. I sell construction supplies. My most technical previous skill was building a decent pivot table. And here I am, at 11pm, describing an app to a computer like I'm some kind of founder.

The voice is loud. The voice sounds reasonable. The voice sounds like people I actually know.

Why the voice is wrong (but understandable)

The voice is running old software. It learned the rules back when building software required a computer science degree, a team, a garage, and a very specific haircut. Those rules were true for a long time. They are not true anymore. The voice hasn't gotten the update.

You are not being delusional. You are being early.

What I do with the feeling now

I don't fight it. Fighting it makes it louder. I just note it, the way you'd note the weather.

Oh. There's the ridiculous feeling again. Right on schedule.

Then I type the next prompt.

The ridiculous feeling doesn't go away. It just stops being in charge. That's the whole trick. That's the whole post.