Derek Sivers podcast

I have so much more to say on this subject, but this book is done now because I believe short books are useful. So the conversation continues on the website: sive.rs/u There you will find more thoughts and stories around “Useful Not True”. Please email me any questions or thoughts. I reply to every one. Go to: sive.rs/contact To share my books with others, get them directly from me with quantity d...

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 mont...

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-v...

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,...

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...

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...

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 supp...

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. “Her...

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 comm...

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’...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 unaccept...

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...

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 c...

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...

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...

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. Duri...

You don’t want a drill. You want a hole in the wall. So what do you really want when you seek “the truth”? You can gather raw facts, but there are infinite facts, so you select and filter and interpret them. Like cotton plants or sheep’s wool, facts are processed before they’re used. Is that seeking the truth? Or just material for a story? Maybe you’re preparing for arguments. You want facts as we...

I was at a workshop, and right before dinner, the teacher wrote this on the whiteboard: LIFE IS _______ He told us to think about what goes in the blank. He said that after dinner, he’d reveal the meaning of life. At dinner, I was at a table with seven other people, each arguing about what should go in that blank. One said life is learning. One said life is memory, since if you can’t remember your...

Jerusalem is one of my favorite places. I hope to live there some day. Whenever I visit, I meet people who say they moved there from across the world because of the power of that place. They all say “it has an energy” and “you can feel it”, as if it’s an objective fact. I’ve been to Bethlehem, the Temple Mount, and walked the Via Dolorosa. I’ve touched the Wailing Wall and the stones that held up...

In Harry Potter, there’s a magic mirror that reflects the viewer’s desire. What Harry sees in that mirror is very different than what Dumbledore or Ron sees, because their desires are all different. Imagine if there was something similar that shows you what you most need to believe right now. It shows proof to support whatever perspective would most benefit you. Upon seeing it, you instantly belie...

There was a famous man who did many great things. After he died, they told stories glorifying him, painting him as flawless. But one story said he was not as great as he seemed — saying he was actually very flawed. A young boy really looked up to this hero. The glorifying stories inspired him by showing him a role model of greatness. The boy worked as hard as he could and held himself to that high...