My brother asked me…
A few months ago I played a game of pool with my brother. The bet: I lost, I had to visit him when he went to school in Italy. He lost, he had to come back home for Christmas. I lost. I went and saw him for 2 full days and 2 half days. It was a quick trip and we had a ton of fun.
We talked a lot about what he wants to do with his life. He is having a bit of a hard time finding his passion. (Though I think he’s closer now.)
At one point he asked me what my passion was. And it was actually kind of hard to answer. I’ve always considered myself passionate about what I do but I never thought in depth about what it is I’m so passionate about. Because it’s not t-shirts. And it’s not the internet. (Though I love being involved in both.) When it comes down to it, my passion is creating things. I think that is every entrepreneur’s passion – to create something. It’s so simple.
Do you have a passion for making things? If so you’ve found your passion. Now you just need to find something you’re interested in and use your passion to build something around it.
That sucks that you lost the bet but cool that you went to Italy out of it.
Great advice at the bottom of the post! I’ll use it the best way I know how.
I wish I knew. Like your brother, I can’t figure it out.
I love to learn new things. Learn how to play bass guitar, skateboarding, new programming languages and I’m good at teaching and explayning stuff to people.
I’m really glad that I knew what I wanted to be from a very young age. There are some things in life that are more fun than writing computer programs, but being able to make a living out of a passion is a blessing.
My younger brother is going to be an attorney. He will be finished in a few month after some years of really hard learning. He is much more passionate about his music then laws but he knows when he complete his studies he basically can do what he wants to do. He does not need to worry about future anymore and our dad does not need to worry anymore. He’s really proud of us because once it wasn’t that clear what we are going to be. As kids we were some real troublemakers…
I wish you all the best.
Rich.
dude, I may gather some insights about your creative juices here- keep the ideas coming and do something with that notion about relating to kids on their level. That one has oodles of potential! Could you get input from lots and lots of parents about simple things they did to handle common childrearing problems and write a book? It would be a great resource for parents to use….
Hi Jake, firstly, I love the bet you made with your brother cos either way you got to see him, it’s kinda sweet really! I was trying to find your contact because I’m from Noise Singapore, an initiative by our National Arts Council, which is a platform to showcase the creativity of our youth, and we’re holding a conference in March next year. We’d love to have you speak in our conference, we’re in sunny Singapore by the way! Is there any way we can get in touch? I look forward to hearing from you!
-Nabilah
What’s more important to you…? Doing what you love or loving what you do?
Hey Jake,
I am really into creating things as well. Our show is doing great, but I want to see it grow up and out a little bit. Sometimes instead of growing up and out, I get sidled with creative pursuits that stifle my other projects. I need to work on that.
As a creative person, does this happen to you? Do you find yourself creating “too much” (if that’s possible)? If so, how do you wrangle your projects so you’re able to control them?
Your pal,
@mathewh
I think my passion is to create, too, man. To build something, to design something… it’s all the same to me… I believe our Heavenly Father gave us the desire to create.
So whether it’s t-shirts, websites, shelves, whatever… it’s a blessing to be able to create…
Thank you for being so inspiring. I don’t think any other CEO of a multi-million dollar company would make a website like this.
Thanks Jake.
Random question:
In the beginning stages of Threadless did you silk screen your own prints?
No, we’ve always outsourced that. Our first printer was actually my partner’s Aunt though!