Chapter 10: Reflect — Turn Loops Into Habits

Finishing a loop isn’t the end. It’s a checkpoint. The power of TenK 6 grows when you pause, reflect, and capture what happened before you spin the next cycle. Without reflection, loops blur together and learning leaks away. Reflection builds a body of evidence—your personal growth archive.

Why Reflection Matters

Founders skip reflection because starting the next thing feels exciting. Reflection multiplies progress. It gives you clarity on what worked and what was noise. Wins fuel confidence. Misses turn into lessons instead of dead ends. Writing it down forces honesty and creates material you can share later.

Half an hour a week can save you months of mistakes.

A Simple Rhythm

At the end of each week—or when you complete a loop—answer five prompts on one page. Keep it conversational; you’re writing for future‑you.

What did you ship? Paste evidence: a screenshot, link, or commit. Who did you ask and what did you learn? Include quotes, screenshots, or even “nobody replied” if that happened. What metric did you track and where did it land—start and end? What surprised you—unexpected feedback, edge cases, small wins? What will you try next? Carry one clear insight into the next loop.

That’s it. Five questions. One page. Then move.

Capture It Well

Keep it light: a notes doc, markdown file, or Indie10k project log works fine. Make it visual—graphs and screenshots beat walls of text. Build a ritual: same time every week—Friday afternoon, Sunday night, or Monday morning. Tag patterns you notice so they’re easy to search later.

Example: Early Indie10k

After loop three:

Shipped a landing page with fake login. Asked on Indie Hackers and got three comments. Tracked sign‑ups: thirty‑seven; return visits: zero. Surprise: the “$10k” framing resonated more than the tool. Next: cut features and lean into the story.

That one page guided everything that followed. Over a month of pages, patterns get loud. You’ll see which channels keep working, which ships stall, and which asks land best. That clarity is worth the half hour.

Micro‑Exercise

Pick a day this week and block thirty minutes. Answer the five prompts. Save the page. Share one insight publicly. You just turned a loop into a habit.

In the next chapter, you’ll see how to aim your loops at the right bottleneck with tracks.