Recently I read Scott Adam’s book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. I was impressed at how the author constantly try’s new projects and gains skills from them. That’s one of the core tenants of the book. Try to undertake projects where, even if you fail, you will gain skills that can help you in the future.

Reading this book, I realised, I’m a hard worker and I read a lot but I don’t try new things as much as I would like. I’ve had an idea in the back of my mind for a few years. I wont reveal the idea just yet but it’s a product for software engineering teams.

I don’t know why I haven’t attempted this project sooner but now I’m super excited about it. It may not work but unless I try I will never know.

After reading Scott Adam’s book, I’m also excited by the skills I’ll be developing. I plan to build the application in Ruby on Rails. Although I’m already familiar with this technology it’s rare to build a new application from scratch. I have the chance to use the latest version of Rails and correct the mistakes of old. I’ll also be learning design skills. I plan to design the first version of the application myself. My design skills are non-existent so I have to learn a lot. Finally, I’m excited to build my marketing skills. I’ve never marketed or sold a product before. Although this is only a side project, I think these skills will be very useful to me in the future.

Stay tuned to find out whether I manage to ship the project. I hope to reveal the idea soon.