I don’t remember much from December 2020. I’d left my job at Pluralsight 2 years prior, and had spent that time building Minafi, going on tons of hikes and training for a marathon (ran one in 2021!). After 9 months of social distancing, my wife and I also went on a hiking road trip around Utah – in what was possibly the best time ever to see Utah’s National Parks (no crowds, 50 degree weather and no snow).
When I came back from that trip, I was energized and ready to make some new goals for 2021. I tried something a little different: I set themes for the year. The four themes I wrote down were:
- Continue Moving from a Goals-Based Live to a Values-Based Life
- Local First
- Avoid Big Tech
- Value My Own Time
“Switching to a values-based life” and “valuing my own time” were entirely mindset based changes. “Local first” is one I continue to strive for, and remind myself about whenever making purchases.
But it was “Avoid Big Tech” that ended up having the largest impact on my life.
An Initial Spark
In the spirit of Local First, avoiding big tech was a logical next step. That meant not purchasing as much from Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Anti-Amazon sentiment was high around this time as their anti-union practices were put into the spotlight.
I made steps to leave some of these ecosystems, but others I fell back into.
I uninstalled Facebook from my phone, deleted Messenger and Whats App. Eventually I deleted my Facebook and Instagram altogether.
I stuck with Google for many things – namely Google Fiber, Gmail and Docs. Although I did switch to Duck Duck Go for search.
There wasn’t much Microsoft in my life. I still use GitHub, but only as a free user.
Apple ended up coming out in favor of DEI, and has continued to make good decisions (from what I’ve seen). I have no problems supporting them, although I have switched to buying subscriptions outside the app store to give more money to developers.
I didn’t expect Amazon to be the most difficult to break up with. We unplugged out Alexa Echo devices, stopped renewing Amazon Prime and focused on buying local. Unfortunately some businesses only sell on Amazon, which has meant the occasional purchase.
Leaving Goodreads, an Amazon owned social network for readers, ended up being more difficult than I thought. I didn’t have too many friends on there, but enough that it felt alive. When I started Hardcover in April of 2021, I didn’t realize how difficult a task I was taking on (probably a good thing, or I wouldn’t have done it!). We launched in October 2021, and I was officially off Goodreads!
On December 31, 2021 I switched from Audible to Libro.fm – severing the last connection I had with Amazon. We’d occasionally re-enable Prime for a month here or there to watch Rings of Power, or buy a few Audible exclusives, but we were mostly off Amazon.
The Power of a Theme
I didn’t realize it at the time, but that one line in my 2021 goals would end up setting the stage for the next 4 years of my life.
It led me to build Hardcover as a replacement.
It led me to learn how to deploy applications on Google Cloud Run rather than AWS, and later on Digital Ocean (where most of Hardcover is hosted now).
It led me to join Libro.fm as an audiobook listener.
Which led me to have a great resume item (Hardcover), along with years as a user, when applying for a job at Libro! 🥳
Progress Happens Because of Work
It can sometimes feels like change happens at a snails pace. When I set that theme for 2021, I was enjoying my (temporary) early retirement, and still hoped to never “work” again – yet 5 months later I started a new company. 😂
This wasn’t what I planned at all. I was happy relaxing and enjoying sleeping in and working on Minafi. But this theme motivated me to do something more. It turns our that there were parts I enjoy that are difficult to find without other people – community and the kind of work you can create with others.
I didn’t realize this at the time, or I would’ve started Hardcover as an open source project working with the community from the start. That’s something I’ve recently realized and we’re taking steps to open source the codebase!
My takeaway from this? Find your core values and stick to them. They’ll lead you to places that you don’t know exist.