What’s your compass?

2011-07-02

Most people don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own.

They spend decades in pursuit of something that someone convinced them they should want, without realizing that it won’t make them happy.

Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.

You need to know your personal philosophy of what makes you happy and what’s worth doing.

In the following stories, you’ll notice some common themes. These are my philosophies from the ten years I spent starting and growing a small business.

• Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.
• Making a company is a great way to improve the world while improving yourself.
• When you make a company, you make a utopia. It’s where you design your perfect world.
• Never do anything just for the money.
• Don’t pursue business just for your own gain. Only answer the calls for help.
• Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently promoting what’s not working.
• Your business plan is moot. You don’t know what people really want until you start doing it.
• Starting with no money is an advantage. You don’t need money to start helping people.
• You can’t please everyone, so proudly exclude people.
• Make yourself unnecessary to the running of your business.
• The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you happy.

What do these statements mean? What’s the context? How are you supposed to apply them to your own situation?

Well… I don’t love talking about myself, but for the lessons to make sense, I have to tell you my tale.

© 2011 Derek Sivers. ( « previous || next » )

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