By popular demand, this is a follow-up with the amazing Derek Sivers (@sivers)!
This episode can be listened to independently of our first popular conversation, and he answers some of my (and your) favorite questions.
Originally a professional musician and circus clown, Derek created CD Baby in 1998. It became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100 million in sales for 150,000 musicians.
If you only listen to one answer from this episode, don’t miss his response to “What do you believe that other people think is insane?” It gets progressively weirder and weirder and starts around 34:09.
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
The below show notes are thanks to Drew Coffman, John Briggs, Kerrison Garcia, Bill Trammel, and Paul Milano (I combined elements from all of your comments):
Books Mentioned In This Episode:
Tricks of The Mind by Derren Brown
Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Derek Sivers’ notes on Thinking, Fast and Slow https://sivers.org/book/ThinkingFastAndSlow
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. Derek Sivers’ notes on Show Your Work https://sivers.org/book/ShowYourWork
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
How To Talk To Anyone by Leil Lowndes. Derek Sivers’ notes on How to Talk to Anyone – https://sivers.org/book/HowToTalkToAnyone
How To Make People Like You In 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman
Power Schmoozing by Terri Mandell
Stumbling Upon Happiness by Daniel Gilbet.Derek Sivers’ notes on Stumbling on Happiness https://sivers.org/book/StumblingOnHappiness
TIME STAMPS:
– Who is Derek Sivers? [02:25]
– When people ask you what do you do, how do you answer that? [05:00]
– When you think of the word ‘successful’, who is the first person that comes to mind and why? [06:57]
– What are the most common misconceptions about you? [08:39]
– What does the first 60-90 minutes of your day look like? [09:27]
– What are you world class at that people might not realise? [12:24]
– Where are you up to with the ‘Do This Project’ and are you going to be sharing your findings on your blog? [13:46]
– What are a few directives for sharing thoughts online in an authentic way? [15:05]
– Why in hell did you become a programmer? [16:40]
– What are some directives for creating relationships with people who hold interesting world views? [19:03]
– Does business need to be complicated? [21:55]
– How has knowing your [personality] type affected your life and how has it played a role in any life decision? [24:30]
– What should someone ask to determine their own utopia? [26:14]
– How do you define success? And what habits or skills are most important to living a successful life? [28:03]
– If you instantly lost everything, what steps would you take to become successful? [31:05]
– What is something you believe that other people think is insane? [34:09]