About this book
In my first book, Anything You Want, I told the story of how I started, grew, and sold my company.
As part of selling the company, I signed a non-compete agreement that said I couldn’t do the one thing I’d been doing since I was twenty-seven years old. So I had to make a real change in my life.
I thought a lot about what’s worth doing, fixing faulty thinking, and making things happen. For the next ten years, I wrote for hours a day in my private journal, asking myself questions and answering them. When these thoughts seemed useful to others, I’d turn them into articles, which are now the chapters of this book.
I write succinctly because I’m only introducing ideas. You can apply them to your life better than I can. But if you want to hear more thoughts or talk about them, go to the URL at the end of each chapter: (sivers.org/_____) There you’ll find many interesting comments about that idea, and you can post your own.
Or just say hello at sive.rs/contact I love hearing from people who have found my work. I reply to every email.
— Derek Sivers, Oxford, England, 2019
Yes, the URLs are nice; a lot of commenters have things to say from their interesting lives—and everyone's life is interesting to themselves.
I always have so much fun reading all those comments that I never get around to clicking on any of the coloured web links that people sometimes include.
It took me a while to realize that many folks don't read every comment, which to me is a waste of an opportunity. I sympathize, since there is so much to read.
Some folks comment without reading other comments first, which I only half-sympathize with, since to me that may be rude.
One of these days I hope to have a "links only" hour where I finally look at all those links.
I have just bought this book because I heard Derek talk about it in a podcast and it sounded fascinating. I just went ahead and bought the audio + paper version. I've just started listening to it and find the comment to go on to Url/whatever profoundly irritating - the whole point of getting the audio book was to listen. I didn't realise I would have to stop and go to my computer every few minutes if I wanted to know more. I'm disappointed.
As a non-native English speaker, I only discovered you after a tweet last night. Available from a real entrepreneur your true "I have experienced" stories and your style are very helpful. I can't wait to finish reading the book. Greetings from Turkey
That is very good. It was useful for me.
Thanks
I am one of those old-fashioned people who still prefer reading to listening. If I listen only, I have to stop and rewind to hear something again. For this reason, I don't like "live" things. When I read, I can stop and reflect on what the author is saying, and integrate it into my life and thinking.
The URLs are good for me. I agree with Sean's comment. Here's an idea for development: Is slow reading related to slow responding?
I only found your book from the medical student in Cambridge name Izzy. The only problem was my English pronunciation and English essay construction is not really good. Qwhich I would like to improve. I am not good in public speaking and that is my bad luck. Not good in public speaking.. how can I improve those.???
Thanks.
Regarding how to improve your public speaking,
out in the community Toastmasters International has weekly meetings (and a monthly magazine) for learning "communication and leadership." Learning is fast because parts of the meeting, including prepared speeches, are evaluated, as is the total meeting.
Within the campus community, many club members are international, and still learning English. Students love being friendly and helpful and doing activities together. My own campus club went to the bar most weeks, and during the summer we went camping and to an amusement park. And of course we partied. Our club was one third undergrads, one third graduate students, one third people from off campus. Two of us were old enough to have a daughter in high school.
When a young couple left to get a job in another country, the girlfriend told me the boyfriend had really liked my support. As best I recall, my support had been to tease him, man-to-man, "Are you waking up at night before your speech?" I was acknowledging to him that it was scary. Like how nobody but the leader gets a proper nights sleep before a Campus Recreation expedition to glacier walk.
Two chapters in “Hell Yeah or No”, and I am already astonished.
The conciseness, one of my favorite quotes from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
I do not know if you are striving for it, but in my eyes you are darn close to it.
I myself try to be as short as being understandable allows.
Hi, Derek
I am just coming to say hello, some day I am going to write again with some serious questions because you seem like one of those seekers who put the time to go not just wide but deep.
Deep admirations,
Dimitar