Derek Sivers

The first time, it was an accident.

I met a couple who were thinking of quitting their jobs and travelling the world for a year. They asked my thoughts.

Imagine you host a dinner party with two doctors and two accountants. You introduce the doctors to each other and the accountants to each other, assuming they’d have the most in common.

I’ve started writing my autobiography. I’ll keep writing it for the rest of my life. It’s private now, but will be released the week I die.

I used to like the internet. I thought it was cool, creative, wild, untamed, expressive, decentralized, and educational. I guess it was, back then, but now? I kinda hate most of what’s out there.

Which sounds better to you?

People with many interests often ask my advice on which industry or career path they should follow.

When you experience someone else’s genius work, a little part of you feels, “That’s what I could have, would have, and should have done!”

A few years ago, I thought it would be fun to get into camping.

My friend has a huge crush on someone.

Since I’m living in Europe now, I thought it would be good to tour everywhere in Europe, and get to know it better.

What do you call it when you skip school or work for a day, to do whatever you want instead? In America, we call it playing hooky. In England, we call it skiving. (Got another word for it?)

The most relaxed feeling I know is after going back and forth between a super-hot pool and super cold pool.

Today my bus was delayed, and I was really annoyed.

I used to use Gmail. But one day, as I typed my mother’s email address into the “To:” field, Google popped up a prompt asking if I also wanted to CC my uncle. That was so invasive and creepy that I deleted the account immediately and never used it again. I don’t want automated intelligence in my private email.

I don’t know why I have this rebellious nature. I tend to want to be the opposite of my surroundings.

Somewhere in our past, we were told it’s bad to daydream, because it meant doing nothing — staring out the window — instead of doing what we’re supposed to be doing. To admit we’re daydreaming felt like it needed an apology.

People often ask me how they can get over their fears. For example, they are scared to quit their job and start a business.

This is my advice to anyone writing something for the public — especially a talk on stage.

You couldn’t just roll down the street leaving huge piles of garbage everywhere you go, making life slower for everyone as they climb over your mountains of junk, just to get on with their life. You’d feel bad about it, right?

Someone asked me today why I don’t charge money for the things I do.

I have three mentors.

My “daily” blog was silent the last four days, because I took my kid on a spontaneous trip to another country. No phone. No computer. I gave him my full attention every day from when he woke me in the morning to when we fell asleep together at night. It was great.

Here’s an idea: Every month, pick something you hate or know nothing about, and get to know it well. Spend a few hours per week, for an entire month, just learning about that subject. Why?

Here’s an idea: Create a little school somewhere remote. School of what? School of mastery.

First, see my previous article about PostgreSQL functions at sivers.org/pg. That article gave tiny examples, but no finished working code.

I wanted to learn about the world, so I went travelling.

When someone becomes an expert at something, you know what else they become? Annoying.

If you’re in doubt about something that’s not in your life, try it. Things are so different in practice versus in theory. The only way to know is to experience it yourself.

I don’t usually talk about money, but a friend asked me what it was like to get rich, and he wanted to know specifics, so I told him my story.

Like everyone, I live in a little house with many doors and windows.

David grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, with five brothers and sisters.

I was uncomfortable, unhappy, and restless. I didn’t want to meet new people, because I felt I was giving the wrong impression. Something wasn’t right. It took me months to figure out the real problem: My clothes don’t fit anymore!

Cross the world four times.

One approach to music is to do whatever you want. Absolutely anything goes. But to me, that’s too free. It’s anti-inspiring because having infinite options is overwhelming.

In 1990, at the age of 20, I moved to New York City and got a job as the tape room guy for Warner/Chappell Music Publishing.

In 1991 I was 22 years old, and had moved to New York City to be a professional musician. I had a little home studio, and was doing some random gigs around town.

A musician had manufactured 10,000 copies of his CD in anticipation of 10,000 orders that were sure to come through that week.

Watch Elizabeth Gilbert’s great TED talk called “Your elusive creative genius”.

I’ve always used freedom as the compass to guide my decisions.

I hear lots of business plans.

A new day begins when I wake up, not at midnight. Midnight means nothing to me. It’s not a turning point. Nothing changes at that moment.