It’s funny how the topics of conversations you speak about with friends change significantly through time.
Jared has been a long-time friend of mine.
A decade ago, when I was 16, Jared spoke to me about partying, girls, alcohol, high school and generally having fun.
A decade later, now I am 26, Jared speaks to me about partying, girlfriends, designer drugs, his career and generally having a shit time at work.
What? Yes. A shit time at work.
Jared keeps telling me about it. About the shit that happens at the office and how he hates the work he has to do every day. It’s repetitive and bothersome. So I tell him: if you don’t like your job, go and change it and do what you love since you will most certainly be dead in less than 50 years.
Jared turns silent. He agrees.
Suddenly, Jared’s tone of voice switches drastically. He becomes enthusiastic. He tells me about his real passion and what he really wants to do. He wants to set up his own thing. He has a good idea. He believes he can get it to work. Make actual money from it, a stable income. He’s talented enough to pull it off.
Jared tells me he’s gonna go for it, start making preparations, and he hangs up the phone. I’m stunned. He sounded like a completely different person. Filled with excitement and joy.
A week later, Jared calls me again. I can’t wait to see what he’s come up with.
“Oh that thing? Nah, I didn’t get to it. But listen, you have to hear what happened at the office today. It was crazy. Allen from HR made a huge scene in front of me about the missing cover sheets on the Q1 staff reports. Can you believe that? He’s such a prick, right?”
Oh, Jared.
“If what you’re doing is not your passion, you have nothing to lose.” -Anonymous
“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” -Anonymous
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” –Michael Jordan
P.S. I just wrote a book on bootstrapping indie startups called MAKE. And I'm now on Twitter too if you'd like to follow more of my adventures. I don't use email so tweet me your questions.