Someone else thought of it

One thing I get a lot from people new in the tech field is a problem with coming up with new ideas. It is the make it or break it formula for everyone new in the field. I gave up on this idea long ago. Not because I can't come up with a great idea, but because it is irrelevant.

Everyday there are new ideas. Some are great and some are terrible. But knowing which is going to be a success is a complete gamble. All we can do is speculate. Some people come up with a great idea, execute it and it doesn't gain traction. A different person does the same the exact same thing, with less work and it becomes successful.

It just happens.

Thinking your idea is unique is a terrible thing you can do to yourself:

To exaggerate a little, there are 7 billion people on planet earth and they all have a couple of ideas. The odds of someone having the same idea as you are extremely high.

If your goal is to do things different, then you won't do anything. Instead, find a problem you have or that you like to solve and do whatever it takes to solve it. If you use known solutions or your own approach it doesn't matter. As long as you solve it.

Then there is the time you think of something and you do a lot of research and can't find a single person that has done it. Let me tell you right now. Someone else did, you just didn't find it. But it doesn't matter. The goal is not to see who can think of something no one else thought of.

Accept that whatever you are thinking of someone else is thinking about it, and move on. Only people who have nothing else to do, spend time thinking about who else thought about what they thought about.