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Highlights
Highlights

How to Live

By Derek Sivers
“Many huge achievements are just the result of little actions done persistently over time.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# habits
“Goals don’t improve your future. Goals only improve your present actions. A good goal makes you take action immediately. A bad goal doesn’t. A goal shows what’s right and wrong. What moves you towards your goal is right. What doesn’t is wrong.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# growth # goals
“When talking with people, ask deep open-ended questions — like “What’s your biggest regret?” — that will lead to unexpected stories.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# vulnerability # honesty
“Put yourself into stressful situations. Eventually, almost nothing will seem stressful.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# self-experiments
“But your future self shouldn’t be bound to what your past self predicted. So never make plans.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# self-concept
“When you’re really learning, you’ll feel stupid and vulnerable — like a hermit crab between shells.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# learning # growth # vulnerability
“Rules must be absolutely unbreakable. If you try to decide, each time, whether it’s OK to break the rule or not, then you’ve missed the whole point of rules. Rules are to save you from deciding. That’s why hard rules are easier to keep.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# self-experiments
“Pity people who can’t enjoy anything less than the best.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# minimalism
“Practice being uncomfortable, even in small ways. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Skip eating for a day, or sugar for a month. Go light-weight camping for a week. Befriend discomfort so that you’ll never fear it.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# vulnerability
“Own as little as possible. When you realize you’re dependent on something, get rid of it to prove you don’t need it. The less you have, the less you have to lose.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# minimalism
“No matter how honest you are, there’s always more honest.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# honesty # vulnerability
“Turn your experiences into stories. A story is the remains of an experience. Make your stories entertaining, so people like to hear them.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# self-concept
“You use your past to make your future.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# growth # self-concept # self-experiments
“Invite your dream date to dinner. While everyone else is nervously preparing, you jump right in, unafraid to fail.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# vulnerability # anxiety # honesty
“If you go through life without changing anything, what have you done?”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# self-concept
“Changing the world includes changing yourself. Change your beliefs, preferences, acquaintances, hobbies, location, and lifestyle.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# growth # self-concept # self-experiments
“If you have feelings for someone, and you don’t let that person know, you’re lying with your silence. Be direct. It saves so much trouble and regret.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# relationships # limerence # unrequited-love # vulnerability
“Projecting perfection onto someone is not love. You say “I love you” but really mean “I love this”.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# limerence # relationships # unrequited-love
“Most of what you make will be fertilizer for the few that turn out great.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# creativity # half-ass
“Your imitation of anything will be unrecognizably warped by your own twisted perspective.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# creativity
“When you’ve finished a work, wait a while before you release it to the world. By then, you’re on to something new. The public comments won’t affect you, since they will be about your past work.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# vulnerability # creativity
“Keep a counterweight job. Something effortless that covers your bills. Something you can do a few hours per day, but otherwise not think about. It gives discipline and regularity to your life.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# capitalism # productivity
“Don’t try to be more right. Just be less wrong.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# less-wrong # growth
“Embrace what’s weird about you, and use it to create. Never think you need to be normal or perfect.”
—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
# perfectionism