More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Derek Sivers
Read between
April 13 - April 13, 2022
The most rewarding things in life take years.
If you haven’t decided what to master, pick anything that scares you, fascinates you, or infuriates you.
People don’t fail by choosing the wrong path — they fail by not choosing.
Make your choice, then make a lifetime commitment to constant improvement. The passion comes after you start getting good.
When you’re not practicing, remember: someone somewhere is practicing. When you meet them, they will win.
Most people fail in life not by aiming too high, but by aiming too low.
you aim high and miss, you don’t actually fail.
Pursue your mission at the expense of everything else.
You do it for the journey, not the destination.
Randomness keeps your mind open and observant.
Life is determined not by causes, but by randomness and odds.
Randomness helps you learn acceptance. You can’t take the blame for failures. You can’t take credit for successes. You can’t regret what you didn’t cause.
All you can control is your response.
Every day, you’ll practice how to react to chaos: with dignity, poise, and grace.
The crisis — the most painful moment — defines the hero.
The goal of life is not comfort. Pursuing comfort is both pathetic and bad for you. Comfort makes you weak and unprepared.
Always take the harder option. Always push into discomfort. Ignore your instincts.
Practice thriving with bad luck. Bad luck makes you resourceful and strong.
Happiness is solving good problems.
The easy road leads to a hard future. The hard road leads to an easy future.
That’s what we call our memories.
Whatever benefits you right now is the right choice.
Always pushing to see how far you can go, if you die during an adventure, you’ll die happy, knowing you pushed it as far as you could.
A benefit of fame is that it carries on without you.
Your final act of generosity is your absence. It leaves a void for others to step into.
Give away everything you haven’t used in a week. Ownership binds you to the past.
Old friends and family see you as you used to be, and unintentionally discourage your growth.
Chasing the future is how to live.
The longer something lasts, the longer it will probably last.
the way to live is to ignore everything new. All of it. Let the test of time filter everything. Value only what has endured.
Friendships, nature, family, learning, community. The best things in life aren’t things.
When people ask you about current news, proudly have no opinion.
Indulging is common. Refraining is rare.
Live in the past. Watch the greatest movies of all time. Read the classics. Listen to the legends. These things have lasted because they work so well. Time is the best filter.
Move to a small self-sufficient town that has resisted modernization — ideally an untouched place that hasn’t changed in a hundred years, and won’t change in a hundred more. Spend time outside.
The biggest obstacle to learning is assuming you already know. Confidence is usually ignorance.
Don’t believe what you think. Have questions, not answers. Doubt everything. The easiest person to fool is yourself.
If you can’t explain it yourself, you don’t know it.
Writing is refined thinking.
Great public speaking comes from great pr...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Your self-control is highest in the morning and diminishes during the day, so review your book’s rules every afternoon.
But when a previously jovial patient loses their humor, we’re rightfully concerned. They’re losing the spark of life.
Humor puts distance between an event and yourself.
Prepare for the worst. Train your mind to be ready for whatever may come.
Detach from the outcome and be OK no matter what happens.
quality of your life is tied to the quality of your community, neighborhood, and country. You can’t be healthy in a sick society.
Psychologists, philosophers, and religions all agree on one thing. Helping others is a better path to happiness than helping only yourself.
Giving makes you happier than...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Telling your tale to a group of indifferent strangers both shares and dilutes the pain.
Money can represent freedom, safety, experience, generosity, attractiveness, power, or whatever you want.
