#668: Derek Sivers — The Joys of an Un-Optimized Life, Finding Paths Less Traveled, Creating Tech Independence (and Risks of the Cloud), Taking Giant Leaps, and Picking the Right “Game of Life”

Brought to you by Allbirds incredibly comfortable shoes, Wealthfront high-yield savings account, and Shopify global commerce platform providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business. 

Derek Sivers (@sivers) is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising, quotable insights and pithy, succinct writing style. He is a former musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, who sold his first company, CDBaby, for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.

Derek’s books (How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want) and newest projects are at his website: sive.rs. His upcoming book is Useful Not True.

Please enjoy!

P.S. To follow the exact step-by-step "Tech Independence" instructions from Derek, please visit sive.rs/ti.

*

This episode is brought to you by Allbirds! Allbirds are incredibly comfortable shoes, sustainably made, with design rooted in simplicity. I’ve been wearing Allbirds for the last several months, and I’ve been alternating between two pairs. I started with the Tree Runners (in marine blue, if you’re curious), and now I’m wearing the Tree Dashers, and the Tree Dashers are my current “daily driver.” I stick with the blue hues, and the Dashers are in buoyant blue. The color pops, and I’ve received a ton of compliments.

The Tree Dasher is an everyday running and walking shoe that’s also great for light workouts. It’s super comfortable, and I’ve been testing it on long walks in Austin and New Zealand on both trails and pavement. Find your perfect pair at Allbirds.com today and use code TIM for free socks with a purchase of $48 or more. Just add a pair of socks to your shopping cart and apply code TIM to make the pair free.

*

This episode is also brought to you by Shopify! Shopify is one of my favorite platforms and one of my favorite companies. Shopify is designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. In no time flat, you can have a great-looking online store that brings your ideas to life, and you can have the tools to manage your day-to-day and drive sales. No coding or design experience required.

Go to