Focus

For the last several weeks, I have focused on developing a giveaway tool for Twitch streamers. It is a piece of software that allows the streamer to run a giveaway on their channel. My goal was to make a reliable, highly customizable, interactive utility. This utility would allow viewers to enter themselves via a keyword and would feature animations that celebrate the winner when the tool randomly selects them.

I have used numerous tools of this type in my four years as a Twitch streamer myself. I have had headaches with each one. Some allowed a single winner to be drawn, and then the entire list of entrants would have to be cleared. Others crashed during the giveaway and lost all the names of the entrants. Others would bug out and stop accepting new entries. None of them had much customization at all.

I have done no type of software development previously. I do not know how to write code. But I decided with the aid of an AI agent I would try to make a program that met my needs.

I tested it out on my streams. Other streamers stopped by to hang out and saw the tool in action. A few of them messaged me to find out what program I was using to run my giveaways. I had to tell them it was something I cooked up myself. They wanted a copy.

I decided that if there were a need and a desire from my friends, I would try my hardest to make this useful to others. I reached out to roughly a dozen of my friends who stream and asked if they would to test my little application and give me feedback.

Ideas and suggestions came pouring in rapidly. I was amped with creative energy. People pointed out so many new features and bugs to me. I set to work trying to accommodate all the requests and fix every bug. My friends were incredibly helpful in suggesting features I'd not considered and in reporting any errors they encountered.

Interest in my program began picking up slowly. Other people were asking if they could get a copy. There were even a few people who said I should sell this utility online. I know nothing about the development or distribution of software.

I didn’t consider these thoughts as a viable course of action until someone introduced a partnered Twitch streamer to the program. TheOnlySuper is the founding member of the stream team I belong to, C.R.E.W. Team. CREW stands for Cultivating Relationships and Embracing Well-Being. He saw my tool’s potential and showed me unforeseen uses.

Super offered me invaluable feedback and a few insights for improved functionality. I worked hard to implement these tweaks over the next few days. Each time I would send a new build of the application, Super would come back with more suggestions.

After roughly a week of these back and forths, we had found a build that suited 95% of the requests I had received. Super used my utility on his streams; replacing the program he had been using for years. I was beyond flattered.

Then he did something I can never forget. On his streams, he began dedicating time to speaking with his much larger audience and promoting my program. His channel even features a command that directs to my application’s site. He insisted I release this program publicly for sale.

I have never had much self-confidence. The concept of putting something out that I had made for public consumption was terrifying. What if people didn't like it? What if someone bought it and was unhappy? Was there a price that was suitable for the market?

I settled on releasing it on my merchandise site. I have priced it at $4.99 USD. My feeling is that streamers rarely have an excess of funds for things like this program. I wanted to make something that could be useful and affordable.

To date, I have sold one copy of my application. I am exceedingly grateful to that person. I have found out because of this purchase that when I post a new version of the program to my store, anyone who has purchased it receives an email stating a new version is available for them to download! This makes me ecstatic. I had worried how I could let purchasers receive updates when they were available.

I have a tendency to become absorbed in my little fancies. Developing this utility has become my obsession for recent history.

This is where we come to the word focus. My focus here has been on my application, not on my daily life. These last several weeks, I have let my family down. I have not been there for them the way a father and husband should be.

For nearly forty years, I was a single man with no ties. I could come and go as I pleased at any time without regard for another person. These lifelong patterns and habits have been difficult for me to change. My intense concentration in one area, I acknowledge, can result in a deficit of focus elsewhere, possibly influencing how others perceive things.

Showing those I love how I feel in the moment is something I must improve at. My whims can no longer be allowed to dominate my life. Even when I’m busy, I need to improve my availability to my family. They should know by my actions how important they are; not solely by my words.

Here is my unsolicited advice. Take the time to be present for your loved ones. Don't offer them lip-service. Don't be like me. Spend that time face-to-face and show them you care. Focus on them. Allow them to be the center of your world, even if it is minutes a day.

FOCUS on those you care about. It will be worth it!