Derek Sivers

He said, “Yes, I can ignore what you’re saying and just look at your actions. Our actions always reveal our real values.”
I thought about that, but it sounded wrong to me. What about people who want to learn languages, or create businesses, but haven’t started yet? What about people who want to quit smoking or quit their jobs, but haven’t been able to yet?
He said, “If they really wanted to do it, they would have done it. You’ve been talking about this new company idea since 2008, but never launched it. Looking at your actions, and knowing you, I’d say that you don’t really want to start another company. You actually prefer the simple life you have now, focused on learning, writing, and playing with your kid. No matter what you say, your actions reveal the truth.”

Refuse almost everything. Do almost nothing. But the things you do, do them all the way

Don’t expect your job to fulfill all your emotional needs. Don’t taint something you love with the need to make money from it. Don’t try to make your job your whole life. Don’t try to make your art your sole income. Let each be what it is, and put in the extra effort to balance the two, for a great life

When someone upsets you, it’s human nature to feel it’s their fault. But one day I tried thinking of everything as my fault.
I created the environment that made them feel they had to lie. I mistook their neutral behavior as betrayal. I made it more appealing for them to disappear than to communicate.
It felt so good to think it was all my fault!
This is way better than forgiving. When you forgive, you’re still assuming that they’re wrong and you’re the victim.
But to decide it’s your fault feels amazing! Now you weren’t wronged. People were just playing their part in the situation you helped create.
What power! Now you’re the person who made things happen, made a mistake, and can learn from it. Now you’re in control and there’s nothing to complain about

Learning without doing is wasted. If I don’t use what I learn, then it was pointless! How horrible to waste those hundreds of hours I spent learning, and not turn it into action. Like throwing good food in the trash, it’s morally wrong

The adding mindset is deeply ingrained. It’s easy to think I need something else. It’s hard to look instead at what to remove.
The least successful people I know run in conflicting directions, are drawn to distractions, say yes to almost everything, and are chained to emotional obstacles.
The most successful people I know have a narrow focus, protect themselves against time-wasters, say no to almost everything, and have let go of old limiting beliefs.

But success comes from doing, not declaring.

You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming. It’s rare, now, to focus. And it gives such better rewards.

Time really is limited. We can’t pretend it’s not. Time spent doing one thing is time spent not doing something else.

It’s so easy to waste time doing stuff that’s not important, not really fun, and not useful to anyone, not even yourself.

There are no smart people or stupid people, just people being smart or being stupid.

Being smart means thinking things through. It means trying to find the real answer, not the easiest answer.

Being stupid means avoiding thinking by jumping to conclusions. Jumping to a conclusion is like quitting a game. You lose by default.