Making stuff makes me happy

Around 2007 I discovered that I loved making things. The first thing I made was a small website. It was ugly and didn’t work very well, but I’d made it and it was mine. I was filled with pride and showed everyone I knew.

From 2008–2012 I hit my stride of “making stuff” with a series of apps, projects, and tiny businesses. In 2012 I made a couple more things and again found deep enjoyment in it. Only a couple of those dozen projects were profitable (on a small scale).

But profit, for me, wasn’t the end game. The joy was in the making.

2015 was a year of invention, too. I got to make new things at work, in my church, and personal projects, too. It was a great year.

Until now, I’ve always built things that I wanted to build. They rarely worked in tandem or accomplished a shared goal (aside from making me happy). 2016 is already shaping up to be different.

I have several new projects planned for 2016 and the work on them has begun. But this time these projects all steer in one direction and I have a killer team working with me. Every planned project builds on the previous one and lays the groundwork for the next.

By the end of 2016, I expect we will have rolled out a lot of great projects, tools, apps, and whole products…more than any year in my life so far.

Justin Jackson is going to make 100 things next year, and while I don’t plan to make that much stuff, I understand the desire to make as much as possible.

There’s so much to be learned from making things: what you love, hate, suck at, are good at, and what bores you. That’s some of the most valuable knowledge you can have; it’s part of growing in self-awareness, which grows you as a person.

The first thing rolling off our “production line” will be a helpful encouragement and challenge to church leaders who want to make measurable progress on discipleship in their personal lives and in their church. That’ll land in early- to mid-January.

I’m anxious to see what my friends make, too. Please share them with me, either in the comments or directly via email.