“I think that saying ‘good enough’ is a superpower.”— Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers (
@sivers) is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising, quotable insights and pithy, succinct writing style.He is a former musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, who sold his first company, CDBaby, for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.
Derek’s books (
How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want) and newest projects are at his website: sive.rs.His upcoming book is Useful Not True.
Please enjoy!
P.S.To follow the exact step-by-step “
Tech Independence” instructions from Derek, please visit sive.rs/ti.
The transcript of this episode
can be found here.Transcripts of all episodes https://tim.blog/2018/09/20/all-transcripts-from-the-tim-ferriss-show/.
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Want to hear the first time Derek was on the show? Listen to our conversation
here, in which we discussed developing confidence, finding happiness, saying ‘no’ to millions, Derek’s favorite books, and much, much more.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know
[in the comments](#respond).
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
– Connect with Derek Sivers:
Website | Podcast | YouTube Useful Not True: Whatever Works for You by Derek Sivers How to Live: 27 Conflicting Answers and One Weird Conclusion by Derek Sivers Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing by Derek Sivers Your Music and People: Creative and Considerate Fame by Derek Sivers Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers Tools of Titans: Derek Sivers Distilled | The Tim Ferriss Show #202 Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying No to Millions | The Tim Ferriss Show #125 Derek Sivers Reloaded – On Success Habits and Billionaires with Perfect Abs | The Tim Ferriss Show #128 Go Go Goa Loose Leaf Gift Cube Chai | T2 Australia The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz Sartorial Talks | YouTube Suits | The House of Michael Browne Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier by Kevin Kelly Thingvellir National Park | Heart of Iceland PADI 5-Star Dive Center Iceland | DIVE.IS Wet Suit vs.Dry Suit: What is The Difference? | Boat Safe Panic Attack | Better Health Channel Wellington | 100% Pure New Zealand Tech Independence | Derek Sivers What is the Cloud? | CNBC Explains The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss VPS (Virtual Private Server) Explained | IBM The Everywhere Cloud | Vultr Lenovo ThinkPad T400 6475 Notebook | Amazon A Free, Multi-Platform 4.4BSD-Based Unix-Like Operating System | OpenBSD What is an SSH Key? | SSH Helping You Feel Close | Marco Polo Register Domain Names | BookMyName.com Domain Name, Web Hosting, Email and SSL Certificate | Netim An Oddly Satisfying Experience | Porkbun Language Opens Worlds | Klingon Language Institute Free and Open-Source CalDAV and CardDAV Server | Radicale Rsync | Wikipedia Continuous File Synchronization | Syncthing Blog Tool, Publishing Platform, and CMS | WordPress Secure E-mail for Private and Business Customers | Mailbox.org We Respect Your Privacy and Put You in Control | Fastmail Transactional Email API Service For Developers | Mailgun Email Delivery, API, Marketing Service | SendGrid Create Your Online Store Today | Shopify Compress the Complexity of Modern Web Apps | Ruby on Rails Apr.
24–Apr.26, Atlanta | RailsConf 2023 Marylebone: The Underdog Terminus | Jago Hazzard Wicked the Musical | London Do ‘Maximisers’ or ‘Satisficers’ Make Better Decisions? | BBC Worklife Hey Jude by The Beatles | YouTube Patrick House on Consciousness | EconTalk The Incredible Reason Why Richard Branson Started Virgin Atlantic | Travel + Leisure Not Disappointing Myself | Bookbear Express Moral Relativism | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Sam Harris: Science Can Answer Moral Questions | TED Talk The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris | Amazon The History of Utilitarianism | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, From One of the America’s Leading Experts by John L.Esposito Hobbes’ Moral and Political Philosophy | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Funding Cutting-Edge Scientific Research | Saisei Foundation Decision Fatigue | The Decision Lab The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss Stoicism Resources and Recommendations | Tim Ferriss Keep Your Identity Small | Paul Graham Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Todd Gilbert The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie | Amazon Benefits of a Daily Diary and Topic Journals | Derek Sivers Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Dummies by Rob Willson and Rhena Branch The Work | Byron Katie Why I Let Go of My US Citizenship | Derek Sivers The Pros and Cons of Renouncing US Citizenship | Nomad Capitalist Burning the Boats and Sinking the Ships! | Mexica: A History Podcast The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle | Amazon The 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs | Verywell Mind Settlers of Catan Is One of the Best Family Board Games | Playtonic Monopoly | Wikipedia) Release Your Music Everywhere | CD Baby A Simulation Role-Playing Video Game | Stardew Valley Somebody That I Used To Know (Feat.
Kimbra) by Gotye | YouTube The Basics | Bandcamp There’s Something About Mary | IMDb How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets by Felix Dennis The Last Emperor | IMDb Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford | Amazon The Official City Guide | Portland, Oregon The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence by Josh Waitzkin 8 Documentaries All Designers Must See | Prototypr Frog Design Tim Ferriss and Matt Mullenweg in Antarctica: Exploring Personal Fears, Bucket Lists, Facing Grief, Crafting Life Missions, and Tim’s Best Penguin Impressions | The Tim Ferriss Show #578 A Rare Podcast at 30 Below Zero — Sue Flood on Antarctica, Making Your Own Luck, Chasing David Attenborough, and Reinventing Yourself | The Tim Ferriss Show #567 John Wick: Chapter 4 | IMDb E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial | IMDb Saga by Brian K.Vaughan and Fiona Staples | Image Comics Papaoutai by Stromae | YouTube Lobste.rs Hacker News
SHOW NOTES
– [06:16] The Derek Sivers School of Enough.
– [11:24] Scuba diving and empathy lessons in Iceland.
– [16:13] Categories we apply to ourselves and others.
– [22:46] Derek’s people compass.
– [28:14] How to secure your tech independence.
– [1:05:19] The unoptimized life.
– [1:16:37] The meaning of Derek’s upcoming book, Useful Not True.
– [1:32:55] The problem with moral relativism and other -isms.
– [1:51:24] Giant leaps.
– [2:00:10] Finding and asking mentors for help.
– [2:08:18] Games.
– [2:12:26] The wisdom of quitting when you’re ahead.
– [2:17:13] Why would Derek — never in need of external validation — seek fame?
– [2:20:45] What makes Derek so darned interesting?
– [2:23:18] Has Derek always been a satisficer?
– [2:31:43] Living on the edge case.
– [2:35:33] The real question behind “What would you tell your younger self?”
– [2:40:29] Giving directions in Antarctica.
– [2:41:46] How do you teach an 11-year-old to act like a 16-year-old?
– [2:45:45] Parting thoughts.
MORE DEREK SIVERS QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW
“If you wonder why I’m so happy, why I’m thriving, why I seem to be doing well, a lot of my happiness comes from this worldview that is radical doubt.It’s skepticism.I’m going to give this the shorthand of calling it ‘Useful Not True.’”
— Derek Sivers
“If you set up your business to serve the people that you love being around, even if it makes less money, you’re going to be much happier.”
— Derek Sivers
“I think that saying ‘good enough’ is a superpower.”
— Derek Sivers
“We spend the first half of our life deferring to authority and thinking that authority has power over us.And at a certain point, you realize that you’re free.
You’re liberated from that as long as you don’t break the law.”
— Derek Sivers
“The temptation to keep playing, even though the rewards are done, isn’t that the definition of addiction? Continuing a behavior even though it’s not rewarding you anymore?”
— Derek Sivers
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Matt Mullenweg Barry Schwartz Michael Browne Kevin Kelly Tobi Lütke Harley Finkelstein David Heinemeier Hansson Paul McCartney Neo Morpheus Richard Branson Ava Bookbear Sam Harris Thomas Hobbes Dr.Seuss Paul Graham Sonja Lyubomirsky William B.
Irvine Dale Carnegie Byron Katie Hernán Cortés Eckhart Tolle Napoleon Hill Abraham Lincoln Tyler Cowen Seth Godin Keith Richards Björk Chuck E.Cheese Jesus Abraham Maslow Gotye Jacinda Ardern Serena Williams Cameron Diaz Felix Dennis Roy McMillan Prince) Brian Eno Kurt Cobain George Harrison Puyi Genghis Khan Alexander the Great Madonna Josh Waitzkin Sue Flood E.T.Stromae
[The Tim Ferriss Show](/podcast) is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads.It has been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it’s been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions.To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out [this page](/podcast)..
