I Didn't Mean to Build an App
How a personal experiment became a cohort, a field guide, and a web app built around one simple idea: finish what matters.
I Didn’t Mean to Build an App
A few years ago, I built a simple system for myself.
One goal.
Thirty-nine days.
No trying to change my entire life overnight. No color-coded productivity framework. No twelve-step morning routine.
Just one meaningful thing and enough time to make real progress.
I started using it because I was tired of starting over.
You know the feeling.
The notebook full of plans.
The Monday restart.
The fresh month.
The fresh quarter.
The fresh year.
Always beginning.
Rarely finishing.
What surprised me wasn’t that the system worked.
What surprised me was how much calmer I felt.
When you stop negotiating with yourself about ten different priorities, something shifts. Your attention stops scattering. Your energy stops leaking. You begin to trust yourself again.
Over time, this little personal experiment became a cohort.
Then it became a book.
Then, somehow, it became a web app.
The web app is now live.
The app itself was built in 39 days.
The Field Guide took much longer. I’ve been working on it since the fall of 2024, refining the ideas, documenting the lessons, and trying to capture what I’ve learned from living this practice myself.
Now I’m looking for people willing to kick the tires.
Use it.
Stress-test it.
Tell me what’s confusing.
Tell me what breaks.
The next step is the mobile app, and I’d rather build it alongside real users than in isolation.
If any of this sounds interesting, you can take a look here:
focus39.com
One more thing.
Some of you subscribe to this publication because of my work in branding, visibility, authority building, and reinvention.
Focus39 comes from a different part of my life.
It’s related, but not directly.
It’s less about positioning and more about practice.
Less about getting noticed and more about doing the work.
Because of that, I suspect I’ll eventually move these updates to a separate publication dedicated entirely to Focus39, the ideas behind it, and what happens when people commit to one meaningful thing for 39 days.
If that sounds like your kind of rabbit hole, you can follow along here (it’s an empty room right now):
For now, I’ll continue sharing occasional updates as this project evolves.
After all, that’s how this whole thing started.
One small experiment.
One meaningful goal.
Thirty-nine days.
And a question I still can’t stop asking:
What could your life look like 39 days from now if you stopped starting over?
Jane Grismer is a Brand Strategist, Publicist, Content Creator, and Certified Coach who helps experts turn their power into presence. She writes about clarity, visibility, reinvention, and the disciplined practices that help people build meaningful work and meaningful lives.
Learn more at janegrismer.com.