Not love, not hate, but passion.

Your best work is what you feel passionate about, combined with the opportunities no one seems to notice.

Paul Graham talks about finding anomalies and digging into them.

Similarly, Bob Dylan noticed the sense of paranoia that pervaded the world during his youth and it drove him crazy that no music seemed to embody that — so he did it himself.

“Is somebody doing this?” Is not a good proxy for determining a good opportunity.

Some of your wildest successes may come where others have had some mild success, but other times you’ll have to blaze a brand new trail.

But that’s all noise. When you focus on what other people have or have not attempted, you’re missing the point.

When I say “passion”, I’m not saying you have to love something. You don’t. What I mean is that you feel strongly about it.

When Theodore Roosevelt was shot and still gave his “Bull Moose” speech, he wasn’t having fun. He was fulfilling his purpose.

He may have been passionate, but he wasn’t happy at that point. In fact, he was pretty crazy. His aides tried, but no one could stop him from finishing that speech.

“Write the book you HAVE to write,”(emphasis mine) is Ryan Holiday’s advice. I think the same applies everywhere.

The world doesn’t NEED your app, your service, or your article.

If you feel strongly that I’m wrong? Then make it. The marathon required for success usually does a good job of filtering out half-baked ideas.

Book publishing is a long process. Developing and marketing a product is a grueling endeavor that should only be taken on by passionate people.

With all of this in mind, it helps to be a little crazy about what you want to do.

It’s the only reliable engine I know for consistently delivering you to the finish line in a world where things that can go wrong always do.