4 ms·
You have to work on something you are passionate about. If you work on Sundays because you cant keep yourself away from it, then great. If you work Sundays beca
by quelsolaar 7y ago
You have to work on something you are passionate about. If you work on Sundays because you cant keep yourself away from it, then great. If you work Sundays because you think if you work hard enough you will become rich and successful, then you are likely going to burn yourself out. Your life is NOW, be happy now. Don't push it off. If coding all day makes you happy do so. but if you rather hang out at the beach do so. There is nothing wrong with that.
I see a lot of startups made up of people who bought in to the startup myth and all they want to do is be successful. They dont care the least about the problem they are trying to solve, or like to do the work needed to solve it. If you would spend day and night on something even if you knew it would never come to anything, then that's the thing you should do.
A lot of people try to figure out what the pattern for the perfect startup is, and I think its just what ever you are passionate about. Maybe it will work out, maybe it wont, but at least you wont have wasted your time.
If you are passionate about caviar, be a sturgeon fisherman, or a chef. dont start a startup.
- sklarsa 7y agoThanks for posting this. I've been bouncing startup ideas around for a long time, but I feel that this comment will help to reframe my thought process in a positive and productive way.
- quelsolaar 7y agoThank you for saying so! Reach out if you want advice or support @quelsolaar on twitter.
- superasn 7y ago> Your life is NOW, be happy now This seemingly simple sentence carries so much wisdom. I'm not the biggest fan of Eckhart tolle but this is basically what his philosophy is too. To quote him "It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living." Understanding it can transform your entire life (at least it did mine)
- pier25 7y agoIndeed. You have more chances of succeeding at anything if it's something you care about. You will understand the domain better. You will inspire others (customers, investors, coworkers, etc). You will go the extra mile.
- smacktoward 7y agoFill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. -- Tao Te Ching, ch. 9, Stephen Mitchell translation (http://taoteching.org.uk/index.php?c=9&a=Stephen+Mitchell http://taoteching.org.uk/index.php?c=9&a=Stephen+Mitchell)
- _xander 7y agoThank you for this. > Keep sharpening your knife / and it will blunt Particularly resonated with me. I was so frustrated to find grinding through skills and development courses after work left me burned out and, all things considered, a poorer thinker.
- eitland 7y ago> Keep sharpening your knife > and it will blunt. With real modern knives this doesn't make sense if you know what you are doing. Either I am missing something or something got lost in translation?
- rckoepke 7y agoMy guess: Sharpening is the process of removing material, if you sharpen a knife forever it will grind down to a useless stub. It is possible something got lost in translation, or possible that the metaphor isn't quite as satisfying as some of the others used.
- cjhopman 7y agoMaybe in another 1500 years, bowls will automatically resize to whatever we put in them and that part won't make sense anymore either.
- throwawaymsft 7y ago"A classic is something everybody wants to have read, but no one wants to read." -Mark Twain Many want to have had done a startup.