Making Space - How Not To Give Up Early As a Founder

The beginning of the year is a perfect time to talk about motivation and how to keep grinding, especially if you have a full-time job and a family. I ditched setting goals and deadlines completely, and here's why you should too.

Working in IT for long enough eventually raises a question: what's next?

Do I keep trading my full-time job for a capped salary and the risk of layoffs? Or do I look for a way to start my own business? The internet is filled with stories of people “risking it all” through #bootstrapping and #indiehacking, but how do you make it possible if you have a family depending on you?

I don’t want to miss my kid growing up, or risk my relationships for an uncertain business idea. How to balance work, health, family, and your own business ambitions until your project takes off?

My answer is simple.

You have probably seen this book. "Atomic" really means breaking habits down into small parts like molecules. Not explosive habits. Yes, I fell for it too.

In "Atomic Habits" James Clear describes the idea of chaining up habits to make small, consistent steps toward big goals. It’s not about achieving a specific milestone overnight but building a lifestyle that naturally leads you there.

Let me give you a life example. I’ve tried and failed to lose weight many times. Every time I set a strict deadline — like losing 10 kilos in two months — something always got in the way. Vacations, birthday dinners, diet slip-ups, getting sick, and losing fit — all these setbacks undermined my efforts. Missing the deadline always felt like a failure, even though I was making progress.

This time, I took a different approach. I fit my workout between two fixed routines, and ditched the goals and the deadline completely.

By fitting the new habit between two regular routines, I’ve anchored the time slot, making it hard to skip

My exercise is set right after I walk my dog in the morning and just before I start working. It's a 40-minute window that’s now hard to skip because I don't know what else to do with this time. This way, I’ve anchored exercise as a habit. This setup enables me to keep going for years. It doesn't matter if I add weight or skip a week on Christmas anymore, and doing so won't make me quit.

Same thing with blogging. You start with something like 500-1K impressions in total per post and 1-10 likes. That's discouraging numbers. Does it make sense to set any goal at this stage if the only real goal is not to quit prematurely?

The results only improve over time with dedication and consistency.

This concept applies to long-term goals like building a business too. It’s not enough to lose 10 kilos one time, write a post, or even launch an app.

The key is to set milestones, break them into actionable steps, set clear boundaries with your family, and link these steps to your routine.

Here's how I do it. Throughout the week, I exercise in the mornings, work during the day, and spend evenings with my wife and kid. Saturdays are dedicated entirely to my family.

Every Sunday, I grab my laptop, go to a local co-working spot with a beautiful view over the city. There I write, take courses, or work on my start-up.

Here's what I achieved this way:

Launched the website for my blog
Completed 4 articles and more to come - the next one is about launching GPT-based features
Scheduled 3 LinkedIn posts (follow for short-form content there!)

Time and consistency are your biggest allies. If you stop obsessing over deadlines, you’ll get there eventually — who cares exactly when if the end result is worth it?

Audience and skills come first. A year from now, I’ll be closer to my goal. In five years, I’ll have enough skills and audience to launch whatever I want.

This approach guarantees meaningful progress. Once something takes off, I will adjust and allocate more time and effort there.

It all begins by making that space.