The Aha! moment of Polar Habitsā¦ š¤Æ
7 months and 4,500 users after I had the idea, it finally hit me.
Hey, friend! š
I meant to write earlier, but Iāve been so absorbed by and focused on building Polar Habits, that I havenāt been able to pay attention to much else at all.
Iām not happy about that! š¬
Whenever I get engrossed like that, I become incredibly disorganisedāletting tasks pile up, forgetting friends (hello, B! šš»), and neglecting my personal well-being.
To help me get back on track (and stay on it,) Iām going to make 2 commitments for at least the next 2 months:
Get back into doing weekly reviews every Wednesdayā¦ Yes, Wednesday!
Every day, Iāll write down my single most important task on a post-it note and stick it on my laptop. I can add bonus tasks too, but the ONE thing āļø is the only one that matters!
My Bumpy Ride: Polar Habits š»āāļø
If you donāt know about Polar Habits, itās a guilt-free habit tracker born out of my frustrations with streaks and how they made me feel whenever I missed a day:
Itās been around 7 months since I came up with the idea, and even though the core of that idea hasnāt changed, there was a subtle but crucial mindset shift that makes a big impact on the direction of the product.
The primary feature of Polar Habits is an accumulative chart. Itās part of the original idea, and I donāt believe it will ever change. But, that same chart now represents something different.
At the start, I was inspired by my most recent interest in gamification and the concept of āReputationā in games. Instead of a streak thatād reset to 0 every time you missed a day, the chart helped you track your habit reputation over time:
But nowā¦
Spot the difference? š
Well, apart from the colour, of courseā¦
The subtle but crucial difference is in the label on the vertical axis: āMomentumā instead of āReputation.ā
The number one promise of Polar Habits is aĀ guilt-freeĀ habit-building experience. But we canāt play with peopleās āreputationā and expect them to not feel guilty! š
It was one of the first thingsĀ JesseĀ and I discussed when he joined me and probably the most important decision we made as a team. At the time, āMomentumā justĀ feltĀ better. I couldnāt explain why. But looking back, it makes so much sense nowāso āobviouslyā right!
Hereās what one of our users recently said to me:
āPolar Habits is š«¶ I don't want to sound dramatic with "you changed my life" but using this app did ease my attitude towards habits and daily actions. I definitely feel less guilty about skipping days when it happens. And I feel excited when I see my graph! I never thought that adding a graph (that makes you view what you do through a building-up momentum lens) would be a game-changer in my habits. Like, how come this is such a genius move?? š I used to like streaks but it did induce a sense of panic when I was about to drop it, and it affected how I viewed some habits because of it ā like it was no fun in the end. Now I can't stop talking about "building up momentum" and "progress > perfect completion" with friends and clientsā
The excitement I felt when I read those words is hard to describe. I felt proud, and maybe a little smug too! š
Jesse and I have been getting a lot of comments like thatā¦
For me, the Aha! moment arrived a little late, but it finally did: habits arenāt aboutĀ streaks, and theyāre not aboutĀ reputation. Theyāre aboutĀ momentum.
How could I have overlooked that? How come so many habit-building āgurusā advocating for streaks and not breaking the chain have not made this the centre of everything they talk about? š¤Æ
I think going forward, Jesse and I will put every decision we make in Polar Habits through this filter:
How can we help people build and maintain momentum with their habits?
(I said I think, because I literally thought of this as Iām writing, and I havenāt discussed it with Jesse yet! #buildinpublic š)
Our user base grewĀ muchĀ faster than I thought it would (or planned for.) This has been mainly down toĀ Jesseās reach in the ADHD community and aĀ veryĀ successful launch on ProductHuntĀ (we made it to #2 Product of the Day on January 1st! š)
That growth helped us better understand our users and how our product resonates with them, but it also highlighted plenty of shortcomings that we hope to address in the next few weeks.
That could be the topic of my next postā¦ š¤
My next postā¦
When I started The Bumpy Ride, I decided to not promise a publishing cadence. It felt like too much pressure. But the fact that it took me so long to write another post tells me that I do need the accountability of a promise (my friend Dylan was right.)
Instead of promising a long-term publishing cadence, Iāll make a promise about only myĀ next Ā post. Iāll try and make it happen in 2 weeks, by February 9thāmaybe sooner.
Hopefully thatāll be a good compromise: accountability without the daunting, long-term pressure! š
Thanks for joining me! š
You got this, my friend! š
Great post Merott! Love your honesty, building in public vibes and your aha! sharing :)
I was actually wondering why is your app called 'Polar Habits' vs 'Momentum' before I saw your post today. For me Polar Habits brings up the feelings of being extreme, in fact 'polarised', and it puts an emphasis on habits vs. rituals and momentum, which feels like a more integrated experience and what your philosophy is about?!
I know this is going to sound strange but I have to make an extra effort to not think of polar bears and the ice cold blue of your branding when engaging with your product so I can connect with it - because I want to connect with it, I love your approach!