Derek Sivers Quotes

Your growth zone is your failure zone.
Both are at the edge of your limits.
That’s where you find a suitable challenge.
Aim for what will probably fail.
If you aim for what you know you can do, you’re aiming too low.

But all progress comes from those who ignore the boundaries, break the rules, or make a whole new game.

The past?
That’s what we call our memories.
The future?
That’s what we call our imagination.
Neither exists outside of your mind.
The only real time is this moment.
So live accordingly.
Whatever benefits you right now is the right choice.

When you say you want more freedom from the world, you may just need freedom from your past self.
You don’t see things as they are.
You see them as you are.
Change yourself and you change the world.

Necessity is a great teacher.

Your whole experience of life is in your mind.
Focus on your internal world, not external world.

Ask open-ended questions, asking people’s thoughts.
Ask them to elaborate on whatever they’ve said.
Show that you’re interested.
Allow silence.

The longer something lasts, the longer it will probably last.
Something that’s been around for a year will probably be around for another year.
Something that’s been around for fifty years will probably be around for another fifty years.

When you keep all options open, you’re conflicted and miserable.
Your thoughts are divided.
Your power is diluted.
Your time is thinly spread.
Indecision keeps you shallow.
Get the deeper pleasure of diving into one choice.

Don’t answer a hard question too quickly.
Don’t stop at the first answer.
In mystery stories, the first suspect is not the culprit.

Nothing twice.
Never eat the same food twice.
Never go to the same place twice.
Never hear the same thing twice.
Everything only once.

Every year, visit Singapore, Jakarta, Addis Ababa, Lagos, Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City, and Silicon Valley.
Each is creating the future in very different ways.

Let the random generator decide what you do, where you go, and who you meet. It’ll scramble your habits.
It’ll break the myth of causality.
It’ll guide you to see places you’d never ordinarily see, and do what you never would have done.

Here’s how to live: Value only what has endured.

Communicate knowledge to others to make sure you understand.
Don’t quote.
Put it in your own words without looking up or referencing what others said.
If you can’t explain it yourself, you don’t know it.