I wanted it
I built iFeelio for me. I wanted to have a tool to give me the space to express what I was ACTUALLY feeling. To actually figure out what I wanted in life. To learn how to answer the basic question, “How do I feel?”
After not touching the Java programming language for 10 years (and only taking one class in it in college), I retaught myself the language and coded an Android app in two weeks. For the next 9 months, I was the only person who used it. Simply asking myself the questions, “How do I feel?” and “What is happening?” transformed the way I related to myself and to others. Yes, some of this transformation was and continues to be painful. Throughout this process, it has changed me and the way I show up in the world.
Others wanted it
What I started to notice is that other people wanted to use iFeelio. My friends in Boulder practically begged me to make an iPhone version so they could try it themselves. One friend of mine who had an iPhone couldn’t wait, so he told me he started using the online demo and just wished it could save. I never ever anticipated somebody would use the online demo for the actual purpose of micro-journaling. It blew my mind.
Eventually, I found a friend of a friend who was willing to help me build the iPhone version. 15 months after starting iFeelio, I now had it available on Android and iPhone, for people all around the world to download.
Others appreciate it
Since iFeelio is completely private, in the sense that I have no idea what you write in it and I don’t even know who is using it, I don’t have much visibility into whether users appreciate it or not. However, what continues to shock me is how people will go out of their way to tell me how much it is helping them in their lives. I have had people tell me it is “like a best friend in my pocket” to “thank you so much for iFeelio, it has really helped me through a lot this summer.”
What you want is often what others want
I built iFeelio for me because I wanted it. I continue to work on it because I continue to want it. Often times we focus so much on what others want instead of what we want. What I have learned in this process is that people often want you to have what you want. And they often want the same things as you.
So the question I’m asking you is…
What do you want?