Derek Sivers
from the book “How to Live”:

Here’s how to live: Chase the future.

2021-12-13

Live in the world of tomorrow.
Surround yourself only with what’s brand new and upcoming.
That’s where life is made.
It’s the most optimistic environment, full of hope and promises.

It’s the smartest way to live.
You’re moving forward in time, so you should watch where you’re headed.
Go where things are going.

It’s the most exciting way to live.
Every day will be like a child’s birthday, with surprising new breakthroughs.
It keeps your brain healthy, young, and active.
Since everything will always be new, you won’t rely on assumptions or habits.
You’ll pay full attention and keep learning every day.

Move to South Korea, and keep an apartment in Songdo, Incheon.
South Korean culture places the highest value on what’s new.

Work as a futurist and technology journalist.
Stay on the cutting edge of things so new they barely exist.
Every new invention will come to you first, before the world has heard of it.
Learn the basics of every field, so you can understand new innovations in logistics or chemistry or anything else.

Listen only to new music.
Watch only new shows.
Use only the newest media.

Give away everything you haven’t used in a week.
Ownership binds you to the past.
Don’t get invested in any one thing.
Stay immersed only in what’s coming next.

Spend your social time meeting new people.
You’re not the same person you were last year or even last week.
Old friends and family see you as you used to be, and unintentionally discourage your growth.

Replace your personal daily routines.
When something becomes a habit, quit.

Every month, visit China.
Everything there changes so fast that if you miss more than a month, you’ll be out of touch.
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.

When a new country declares independence, go immediately.
All conversations there will be focused on the future.

Avoid Europe and anywhere that lives in the past.
Places that resist change have no vision, only memories.
Yesterday is gone for good.
The past is dead.
Resurrecting it makes ghosts and zombies.

Avoid religion because faith is not meant to be questioned.
Tradition is the opposite of what you want.
Nothing worshipped will change.

Oppose convention because that’s how things were.
Slavery was a convention.
Human sacrifice was a convention.
Denying human rights to women was a convention.
Some day our current conventions will seem as wrong as these.
Since you live in the future, start condemning them now.

The best benefit of living this way is how you cut all ties and never look back.
Every day will be like amnesia.
Whatever traumatic thing might have happened in your past, it no longer defines you.
In your world, the past has no power at all.

Chasing the future is how to live.