Derek Sivers podcast

For the last three years, my boy and I have had a pet mouse. We got her from a pet store, and he’s carried her in his hand through so many adventures in forests, beaches, and playgrounds. She sat on many little handmade boats down the creeks of New Zealand. Sand castles and Lego houses built just for her. Drawings and stories for and about her. You’ve never seen a mouse so loved.

The past six months, she’s been next to me ...

Your outside doesn’t need to match your inside.

You can feel terrified inside, but just pretend to be brave for one minute. By doing that, you were actually brave.

You might be a total introvert, but need to attend an event, so you act social for one hour. By pretending to be social, you were.

You can imitate your role model. Many top performers have an alter ego — a Jekyll to their Hyde or vice-versa — a side of themsel...

When I got my first guitar, the nice man at the shop put on new strings and tuned it. A week later, I brought it back to the shop because it sounded terrible. He told me it was just out of tune. I said, “But you tuned it already!” He explained that I constantly have to re-tune it every time I play.

Same with adopting a new mindset. Every week, back in the journal, reflecting, talking with friends, and making adjustments.

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I spent basically my whole life in America, and had no desire to travel or be anywhere else. But one day I was thinking about growing older, and how people get stuck in their ways as they age. I thought what a learning experience it would be to move somewhere far away — somewhere that surprises me every day. Doing that often would be great for my brain.

The more I wrote about it in my journal, the more I felt it matched my v...

No matter what choice you make, someone will tell you it’s wrong.

It’s wrong because it’s not what they would have chosen.

It’s not what they need.

It’s not the choice of other people they know.

It’s not what an expert recommends.

The prosecution rests their case.

You might feel a need to defend it, or argue why you’re right. Don’t bother.

It’s not for them, or anyone else. It’s not even for your future or past. ...

After you privately internalize a belief, talk about it with friends. Explaining it to different people helps you refine it. They might see an angle or consequence you hadn’t considered.

You hear it for the first time outside your own mind. You’ll hear it sound wrong or right when telling someone else.

It feels like an announcement. It helps solidify the decision. You can ask them for help to support your choice, and to ...

Once you find a viewpoint you want to adopt, a great tool to internalize it is a private journal. Whether you write, type, or just talk, the point is to fill your mind with this new perspective.

Strengthen it by stacking up the reasons why you chose it.
“Here’s how this will help me: ____”
“Here’s how this will help others: ____”

Clarify it by defining it so simply that it’s easy to remember.
“Here’s how...

You load the program into the computer, and it begins its calculations. It’s computing. It’s working hard, and it’s going to take some time.

If you interrupt it with new instructions, it has to begin all over again, because the parameters have changed. If you keep giving it new information, it will never finish its job.

People who tell me they are lost and running in circles have one thing in common: They say they keep ...

Picture the stereotype of an explorer, hundreds of years ago, on an expedition to uncharted lands. The explorer tries everything. Up that river. Down that valley. Into every inlet. The explorer finds a nice harbor that would make a great port, and notifies the queen.

The queen appoints a captain to lead people to this new place. The leader is focused entirely on this destination. “Here’s where we’re going. Here’s why. ...

You can do anything. But you can’t do everything. You have to decide. If you don’t decide, you get nothing.

You can think of a hundred paths to follow. But you can’t follow them all. Use time. One path now. Other paths maybe later. Otherwise you’ll never get anywhere.

How do you know what’s the best choice? Trick question! No choice is the best in itself. A choice becomes the best when you choose it. That’s when...

This is where I would share powerful questions that you can answer for big insights and change. But here’s why I’m not:

I’ve read books that have long lists of questions. But when I’m reading, I want to keep reading, not stop for hours or days at that spot, pondering every question.

I’ve read books that act like a workbook, giving many blank pages with lines, expecting you to write your answers in that space. Does anyone a...

On the Olympic podium stood the winners of the gold, silver, and bronze medal. The silver medalist was so angry at herself for not being just a little bit faster — just milliseconds away from winning the gold. The bronze medalist was so happy with herself, just milliseconds away from winning nothing.

The former student was disheartened that she was failing at everything, so she went back to visit her old teacher. When she to...

To list all the beliefs I’ve found useful would fill a whole book. (Actually, four books so far, since that’s what my previous books were about.) So instead, for your own ideation, it might help if I list the traits that my most useful perspectives have shared:

Direct: Go directly for what I really want, instead of using other means to get there. This requires soul-searching of my real motivations. What do I really want?...

To change, reach past what comes naturally. Avoid your defaults. Get guidance outside of yourself. Use a different tool.

“Oblique Strategies” is the name of a deck of cards where each card has one creative suggestion. When making music or anything, if you get stuck, you shuffle the cards, randomly pick one, and apply what it says. Some examples:

• Not building a wall; making a brick.
• Use an unacceptable color.
• Ho...

When things aren’t going well, you’re in a bad state of mind. If you ask yourself a healthy question, like “What’s great about this?”, your answer will probably be “Nothing! This is just bad!”

Don’t be so sure. Push past that first thought. Keep asking. You can always find something useful.

Use what you learned about brainstorming. Don’t stop at the second or third answer. Come up with crazy ideas.

Use what you lear...

Pick something that’s holding you back from what you want to do, be, or feel.

It might feel like physical fact. “I’m too old.” “I can’t afford it.” Even if you are old and have no money, that has not stopped others, so that’s not the real problem.

Beliefs are often self-fulfilling. Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right. Think nobody will love you? Think there are no opportunities? You can make bad dreams com...

You might say, “I can’t help the way I feel”, as if it’s completely out of your control — as if you have no choice and are unable to feel any other way. But you do have a choice. Think a different way and you’ll feel a different way. You choose your reaction. Not the first one, but the next.

There’s a crucial moment in between when something happens and when you actually respond. It’s an important life skill. It’s as si...

Imagine you’re reframing a painting. First, you remove the old frame. Then you try different frames.

The first three parts of this book were helping you remove the old frame. That was just preparing for this. Now it’s time to try different frames.

Explore many different ways of looking at your situation — finding perspectives you’d never considered before. Where you felt stuck, you’ll see a great way out. You’ll find ...

Los Angeles, 1952. Igor Stravinsky, the composer, was 70 years old, and rehearsing the orchestra.

A young girl who lived next to the orchestra hall snuck in through the back door to listen to the rehearsals. She watched the violins, cellos, flute, trumpet, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano. She wondered which one should be her favorite. There were too many options. She needed to pick one. During a break, she got up th...