By Gaurab Chhetri on June 25, 2025
Do What You Want, Not What You Can - My Mantra for Building Meaningful Projects
When I started programming back in 2020, I thought building things was mostly about showing what you can do, proving that you know a language, a framework, or a library. Over time, I realized that this mindset often leads to projects that check a technical box but don’t really matter to anyone.
That’s where my mantra comes in: “Do what you want, not what you can.”
Instead of asking what can I build with this tech?, I ask what do I want to create that excites me, helps people, or solves a real problem? That shift has shaped everything I’ve built since.
From Experiments to Purpose
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Bhanai (2024) 1: I could have just practiced Node.js by building another web app, but I wanted to explore how programming languages could reflect culture. That’s why I built Bhanai, a simple language with Nepali-inspired syntax. It wasn’t just a coding exercise — it was about identity and creativity.
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CognitiveSky (2025) 2: I could have just fine-tuned a sentiment model as a portfolio project, but I wanted to understand mental health narratives on social media. That’s how CognitiveSky was born: a full pipeline, from Bluesky Firehose ingestion to sentiment/emotion/topic dashboards, with a mission to support researchers and advocates.
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MedGuide AI (Hackathon, 2025) 3: We could have built any demo-worthy app, but we wanted to tackle a problem that touches everyone, making medical reports less intimidating. The result was an AI agent that explains labs and prescriptions in plain language, which ended up winning a hackathon.
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ResQMe (Hackathon, 2025) 4 : Similarly, instead of chasing flashy features, we wanted to build something for public safety. ResQMe became an AI-powered SOS and triage system, winning SerpApi’s Community Engagement Track.
Why This Matters
When you build what you want (not just what you can):
- You stay motivated long after the “tutorial high” wears off.
- Your projects reflect your values and passions, not just your skills.
- People connect more with your work, because they can see the story behind it.
The Bigger Picture
This mantra doesn’t mean ignoring technical learning. In fact, pushing myself toward want-driven projects forced me to learn more than I would have otherwise. From LangGraph agents to real-time dashboards to building my own language, the skills came naturally because the why was strong.
As I continue my journey; through hackathons, research, and open source; this simple reminder guides me:
Don’t just prove what you can do. Create what you truly want to exist.
✍️ This blog is part of my portfolio series, where I share stories behind my projects, hackathons, and research. If you’ve ever struggled to find motivation in your coding journey, I hope this helps you shift your perspective too.