Over the years, Derek Sivers has been a musician, circus performer, computer programmer, author, public speaker, and entrepreneur.

In the 2000s, he sold his business, CD Baby, for $22 million and gave the proceeds to charity.

Derek has optimized his life “for creating and learning” and spends as much of his time as he can (often 12 hours a day, 6 days a week) passionately pursuing his interests. Known for his ability to compress complex ideas into succinct insights, he has written four books and is currently working on his fifth.

This conversation was so much fun that Derek immediately asked to return for a sequel, which we will be releasing this Thursday (26 October). Stay tuned!

Important Links:

Website
Twitter
There’s No Speed Limit
Ideas Are Just A Multiplier Of Execution
The Thinker and The Prover
Keep It Simple, Stupid (Infinite Loops Substack)

Show Notes:

Don’t Be AC/DC. Be Miles Davis.
Does It Have To Be This Way?
Rebranding Laziness
Time Is A Multiplier
From Idea To Execution
Useful Not True
When Simple Gets Hard
How Derek Found Agency By Accepting Blame
Cultivating Insatiable Curiosity
More!

Books Mentioned:

Anything You Want; by Derek Sivers
Hell Yeah Or No; by Derek Sivers
How To Live; by Derek Sivers
Your Music And People; by Derek Sivers
Tao Te Ching; by Lao Tzu
The Two Cultures; by C.P. Snow
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There; by Lewis Carroll
The Cosmic Trigger trilogy; by Robert Anton Wilson
The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life; by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics; by Tim Marshall
Au Contraire!: Figuring Out the French; by Gilles Asselin and Ruth Mastron
Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour; by Kate Fox

Derek Sivers (Part One) — How to Become a Picasso [BONUS EPISODE] (EP.185)

Infinite Loops