How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion

Written by Derek Sivers

Narrated by Derek Sivers

Not quite non-fiction, not quite self-help. It’s a work of art about conflicting philosophies.

Many books believe they know how you should live. But each book disagrees with the next. In “How to Live”, each chapter believes it knows how you should live. And each chapter disagrees with the next.

One chapter makes a compelling argument for why you should be completely independent, keeping all options open. The next chapter argues why you should commit to one career, one place, and one person.

One chapter persuades you to be fully present, and experience each moment. The next, to delay gratification and invest for the future.

Which one is right? Which does the author believe? All of them. It's a philosophy of conflicting philosophies.

A very unique and thought-provoking book. Meant for reflection as much as instruction.

113 incredibly succinct pages of profound insights. No philosophers are quoted. No -isms are named. Only actionable directives. The end result feels more like poetry than prose.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hit Media
• Release date: May 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781991152374

Derek Sivers

After making a living as a professional musician, Derek Sivers went looking for ways to sell his own CD online and ended up creating CD Baby, once the largest seller of independent music on the web with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. Since 2008, Derek has traveled the world and stayed busy creating and nurturing creative endeavors, like Muckwork, his newest company where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their “uncreative dirty work.” Derek writes regularly on creativity, entrepreneurship, and music on his blog: http://sivers.org/.

Reviews for How to Live

[Nancy Steinhausen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What fun! I enjoyed how simple and light the book was. Listen to this before any heavy tome to get into the right frame of mind.

[Jan Sabalvaro · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm diving into all of Derek Sivers' books. They're thought provoking like stoicism meets the buddha.

[Shaizil Sheriff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Derek Severs book through and through. Each line can be framed as a quote!!

[trp488 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Valuable read and I would recommend to friends and family