Derek Sivers Quotes

I'm so into music that I just stop and listen, whenever there's music on. That's the problem with being a musician for so long. I can get lost in the bassline, fascinated with the arrangement, curious about the production. I can't shut it out.

The purpose of money is to trade for things that make you happy. So if you can bypass money and get directly to the happy, you've saved a lot of trouble. And it makes others happier, too, when you organize your business around non-monetary things.

Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you're being the real you and when you're trying to impress an invisible jury.

Most people don't know what they're talking about. They move their mouth and say things because they don't want to admit they don't know. Or they think they know, but it's just confabulation and biases. So ignore them unless what they say resonates with some real wisdom inside of you. Assume they're a fool and find out the truth for yourself.

I'm not interested until I see their execution.

Obvious to you is amazing to others.

Business is not about money. It's about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.

Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn't that enough?

Never forget why you're really doing what you're doing.

Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently promoting what's not working.

If it's not a hit, switch.

Care about your customers more than about yourself, and you'll do well.

Make sure you know what makes you happy, and don't forget it.

Most people don't know why they're doing what they're doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own.

Our lives drifts along with normal things happening. Some ups, some downs, but nothing to go down in history about. Nothing so fantastic or terrible that it'll be told for a thousand years.
"But because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! So people pretend there is drama where there is none."
That's why people invent fights. That's why we're drawn to sports. That's why we act like everything that happens to us is such a big deal.
We're trying to make our life into a fairy tale.

If anybody ever called our number, it would be picked up in less than 2 rings with a friendly voice answering, "CD Baby." From 7 am to 10 pm, there was always somebody to pick up a call in 2 rings. No voice mail system; no routing to different departments. We treated our customers like our best friends. You don't route your best friend's call to an automated system!

For some reason, ever since I was a little kid, I wake with the most energy of the day, and it slowly declines from there.

Trust, but verify. Remember it when delegating. You have to do both.

If you find even the smallest way to make people smile, they'll remember you more for that smile than for all your other fancy business-model stuff

In the end, it's about what you want to be, not what you want to have.

For years, I'd say yes to almost everything, trying to be nice and generous. Feeling obliged to be of service to the world. Maybe also a fear of being forgotten if I don't. But I paid the ultimate price in doing that, because for all those years, I got almost no work done! Some famous authors have written about this: that if they said yes to every request, then they'd never have time to write another book again.

It's only a little difficult to say no. You've got to believe that the work you're doing is ultimately more useful to the world.

To me, 'busy' implies that the person is out of control of their life.

any business that's in business to sell you a cure is motivated not to focus on prevention

When you make a company, you make a utopia. It's where you design your perfect world.

Customer service is the new marketing.

I've always been very Type-A, so a friend of mine got me into cycling when I was living in L.A. I lived right on the beach in Santa Monica, where there's this great bike path in the sand that goes for, I think, 25 miles. I'd go onto the bike path, and I would [go] head down and push it - just red-faced huffing, all the way, pushing it as hard as I could. I would go all the way down to one end of the bike path and back, and then head home, and I'd set my little timer when doing this. . . .

"I noticed it was always 43 minutes. That's what it took me to go as fast as I could on that bike path. But I noticed that, over time, I was starting to feel less psyched about going out on the bike path. Because mentally, when I would think of it, it would feel like pain and hard work. . . . So, then I thought, 'You know, it's not cool for me to associate negative stuff with going on the bike ride. Why don't I just chill? For once, I'm gonna go on the same bike ride, and I'm not going to be a complete snail, but I'll go at half of my normal pace.' I got on my bike, and it was just pleasant.

"I went on the same bike ride, and I noticed that I was standing up, and I was looking around more. I looked into the ocean, and I saw there were these dolphins jumping in the ocean, and I went down to Marina del Rey, to my turnaround point, and I noticed in Marina del Rey, that there was a pelican that was flying above me. I looked up. I was like, 'Hey, a pelican!' and he shit in

The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. ... The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.

When you make a business, you get to make a little universe where you control all the laws.

Busy is what happens when you're at the mercy of someone else's schedule.

If you want to be useful, you can always start now. It will be a humble prototype of your grand vision, but you'll be in the game. Start by teaching someone this week. Starting small puts 100% of your energy into solving real problems for real people.

If you think your life's purpose needs to hit you like a lightning bolt, you'll overlook the little day-to-day things that fascinate you.

Everyone who became great at something has a similar story: For years, they worked on their craft every day, even if they weren't in the mood. Always pushing, practicing, working, and improvingYes it takes thousands of hours of practice, but that's good news! It's a clear path and it's under your control.

Distributing the music is so easy it's moot. So now the delicate art of calling attention to your music means everything. Marketing is distribution.

If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow. And when you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first one to stand up and join in.

A work-only zone does wonders for your productivity. So, I prefer working at the office now. I spend 8 focused hours there, then I go home to be present with my family.

Let's never forget that whatever brilliant ideas you have or hear, that the opposite may also be true.

Whatever excites you, go do it. Whatever drains you, stop doing it.

You can't please everyone, so proudly exclude people.

Every time you're making a choice, one choice is the safe/comfortable choice - and one choice is the risky/uncomfortable choice. the risky/uncomfortable choice is the one that will teach you the most and make you grow the most, so that's the one you should choose.

No business plan survives first contact with customers.

I love that sometimes we need to go to the opposite side of the world to realize assumptions that we didn't even know we had and realize that the opposite may also be true.

If you keep thinking about putting on a conference or being a Hollywood screenwriter, and you find the idea terrifies but intrigues you, it's probably a worthy endeavor for you. You grow (and thrive!) by doing what excites you and what scares you everyday, not by trying to find your passion.