7 ms·

Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.

by sivers 15y ago

aamar 15y ago
I've seen this post before, but I was glad to reread it. A bit off-topic, but could you tell us about your sleep schedule?
- sivers 15y ago
  6 hours has always been enough for me. At Berklee, I'd get a piano room every night at 10pm until midnight, when they closed. Then I'd sleep from 1am to 7am, practice some more, and go to class. I was quite driven. Kind of like someone who really feels if they just work their ass off they can be the next Zuckerberg, 20 years ago, being a successful musician felt more attainable. It felt like if I just practiced my ass off, wrote a lot of great songs, and put myself where the action is, I could be successful. That kind of "I can almost taste it" feeling is the most amazing motivation, isn't it? My friends called me "the robot" because I never hung out, never partied, never sat around in the cafeteria eating with them. I'd just grab a peanut butter sandwich and get back to work. Couldn't waste a single minute on the road to success!
  - bh42222 15y ago
    6 hours has always been enough for me. Yep, that's at least one genetic advantage you have on most of us.
    - EvilTerran 15y ago
      Yeah, that "I have no innate abilities" line didn't quite sit right with me -- there's one, at least. My first thought there was "attribution error".
    - joering2 15y ago
      > Yep, that's at least one genetic advantage you have on most of us. I think I kind of have the same problem as you do: not enough/too much sleep that messes up my day. But is this "genetic" like you saying? I don't think so. Can you point to any directions where to read about this, or at least, how to get better on sleeping enough hours? Thnx.
      - bh42222 15y ago
        http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/12/short.sleepers.daylight/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/12/short.sleepers.daylight... I am not sure how you can get better at something which is most likely genetic. I work full time and have a not terrible commute, and if I want to eat healthy and get a bit of exercise and spend just a tiny amount of time with friends and family... well, it's hard to get the hours of sleep I genetically need to function 100%. Now, I can go for a very long time sleeping no more than 6 hours a night, but I can feel it slowly killing me.
  - mtrimpe 15y ago
    Were there times when you considered giving up 'being the robot?' And looking back, do you feel that it was all worth it? Or would you make different decisions if you knew then what you know now?
    - sivers 15y ago
      I'd do it all again the same way. It was wonderful. I was following my interests 100% without letting peer pressure convince me to do something I didn't want to do. (Hang out.) I showed myself what I could do. Priceless.
  - msalvati 15y ago
    I remember a little hanging out and/or partying. This ring a bell Derek... "Don't give a f--k about roaches....tryin get em out of my mother f--kin head.....can't get em out of my mother f--kin head"
  - msalvati 15y ago
    I remember a little hanging out. This ring a bell Derek? "Don't give a f--k about roaches....tryin get em out of my mother f--kin head......can't get em out of my mother f--kin head"
    - sivers 15y ago
      hey Mark! You still remember our classic song! ☺
  - isurfbecause 15y ago
    Yeah I was wondering how you balanced your personal life. Glad you had friends even though you were a robot haha
narag 15y ago
I had read this story the first time, and now I've remembered right away the question I couldn't ask then: without a Kimo near, is there any book that explain the same harmony knowledge and allows a no-speed-limit approach?
- sivers 15y ago
  Closest book I've found on the "no speed limit" approach was Tony Robbins' “Awaken the Giant Within”. It could have just been the timing of when I read it. Tim Ferriss told me the book that changed the way he saw the world was “Maximum Achievement” by Brian Tracy, but when I read it, it seemed like conventional wisdom. So maybe it's just timing. What I liked about Tony Robbins' message was this: * - Change happens in an instant. People act like change takes years, but really it's almost always a key moment, an instant where you change the way you think about something, or make a promise to yourself to change the way you act (even though it feels strange at first). It may have taken years of procrastination to get to that pain point, but the change itself is instant. * - You can change the way you think, so you can change the way you feel. People say, "I can't help the way I feel." or "This is just who I am." But you were an almost-blank slate when born, and most of what you think was just taught into you by someone, so you can un-do it, and replace it with any beliefs or even emotions that support your goal. He gives a great example of funerals in New Orleans: how they play sad music for a few minutes, then break into celebration. We think that death is universally sad, right? But this shows there's another way to think about it. So you can choose to feel happy about each person that rejects you ("one step closer!"), or choose to feel disgusted by the thought of procrastinating ("it's my mortal enemy!"), or whatever you choose to feel. Actually there were probably 100 other things like this that changed the way I think, but just seem commonplace to me now because I've been thinking them so long. Grab any of those classic self-help books like "Think and Grow Rich" or "Maximum Achievement" or "Awaken the Giant Within". When read at the right time in your life, it can really change everything. (( Oh, just noticed you asked about harmony. All the stuff he taught be was very basic jazz harmony that almost any book on the subject will teach. The key was how fast he taught it. ))
  - lusr 15y ago
komeng 15y ago
How do you handle stress and burnout? Even playing video games leads me to burnout. Thanks in advance. :)
- sivers 15y ago
  Power through it. Bitch and scream, but then do what needs to be done. Read “The Power of Full Engagement” : http://sivers.org/book/PowerOfFullEngagement http://sivers.org/book/PowerOfFullEngagement The authors worked with the best athletes and executives for years, and found that the best ones knew how to push themselves, then recuperate, push, recuperate. Take this same approach to your emotional, mental, physical, and even spiritual life, and it's a powerful metaphor. Think of sprints, not marathons. Be fully in whatever you're in, then give time to recuperate. But push futher each time, past your comfort zone, like a good exercise plan.
  - EvilTerran 15y ago
    That book looks... reasonably promising, I guess; however... "How do you handle stress and burnout?" "Power through it." I'm sorry, but that's terrible advice. You might as well tell someone with depression to "just get over it already".
    - sivers 15y ago
      I wasn't saying "stop being stressed and burned-out". I mean that any time any of us get to that point, there are a few approaches we could take. (1) - Go take a long vacation. (2) - Quit and change your approach. (3) - Don't change a thing. Sleep tonight, but tomorrow just keep pushing the same direction as you've been doing. It'll be painful, you'll scream and complain, but just keep working anyway. I've tried all three. When I do (1) or (2), it throws me so far off course that I never come back. But powering through it is also the advice that ultra-marathon runners advise. They say you feel the pain, but just ignore it and go anyway. You don't take a break. You just keep running. When I've taken this approach to the work I'm doing, I tend to find joy and an easier road ahead, past the painful burnt-out feeling I felt the day/week before. I'm glad I didn't take a vacation or change course.
maheshs 15y ago
How to you focus? Do you also face issue with your focus some time in life?
- sivers 15y ago
  See my other comment here about the drive to "be the next Zuckerberg". Then look into the conditions of "flow" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29 1. A clear set of goals : you know exactly what needs to be done next. 2. The task is not too easy, but not too hard. It's just at the edge of your ability. 3. The task gives you immediate feedback. When you're engaged in that kind of work, you FOCUS! That's why video games are so addictive! They play up these 3 conditions so well. You have no problem focusing when playing a video game! Also it's pretty crucial to have all this work be leading to a goal that you want so badly - whether it's to be a millionaire, to be famous, to be in Y Combinator, whatever. Then it's also crucial to have this goal be so close that you know if you just keep working well that it's very likely you'll get there. Get those situations lined up, and you'll have no problem focusing! (( And yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I have a major problem with focus in my life right now. Apparently it's kind of common for recent mutli-millionaires who have surpassed all their previous goals. What's next? How can I top this? Do I want to? Do I just retire now? I have some new goals, but they're not burning goals. And I just realized they aren't matching steps #1, 2, 3, above. Hmmm.... ))
  - aclark 15y ago
    Surely there must be more "cool stuff" to do? Also, how satisfying is helping others achieve their goals, and how much does it motivate you? Trying to "top" yourself doesn't sound right, but trying to find the things that match #1, 2, 3 sounds more like it.
    - sivers 15y ago
      Yeah, honestly I'm learning Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, Nginx, JavaScript, jQuery, and Backbone, all back-to-back from books and test projects, quite intensely, and not really matching those 1,2,3 steps, because I'm often in too deep over my head without a clear vision of what I need to do next. It's discouraging. But I am quite driven to turn my next app/business ideas into reality : http://50pop.com/code http://50pop.com/code Definitely not trying to "top" CD Baby. Just following what fascinates me. Just not quite as intensely as when I was so driven to be a rock star. ☺
belnyc 15y ago
Hi Derek, Do you have any experiences with or knowledge of speed learning being used to learn the physical skills of playing an instrument?
- sivers 15y ago
  No, but my buddy Josh Kaufman, author of the great “Personal MBA” book, is doing a new project (and book) about exactly that! He's using speed-learning techniques to learn 6 different skills fast, and one of them is learning a new instrument. Contact him here - http://joshkaufman.net/about/ http://joshkaufman.net/about/ - to see if he could give you some starter points for now, until his book comes out much later.
  - belnyc 15y ago
    Thanks, Derek!
whyleyc 15y ago
Great post - two questions: 1) What occupies your time these days Derek ? 2) Possibly related - what unfulfilled dreams do you still have ?
- sivers 15y ago
  (1) : I'm spending most of my time learning Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, Nginx, JavaScript, jQuery, and Backbone, all back-to-back from books and test projects, quite intensely. ... because ... (2) : If I die before turning these projects into reality, I'm going to be pissed-off! http://50pop.com/code http://50pop.com/code It's really my main drive these days, to finally launch these ideas I've had spec'd out for a long time. I know I could just hire someone else to make them, but the joy (to me) is in the process, not the goal. I want to learn these programming techniques so well that I can quickly create all my future ideas, too.
  - whyleyc 15y ago
    Thanks for answering, looks like you have some interesting projects on the go. My favourite was http://50pop.com/karmalist http://50pop.com/karmalist if only because someone needs to kill Yelp ! An open source, non company-controlled business review service is a killer proposition. The challenges will be how to incentivise users to submit reviews to the service (what's their motivation ?) and how to successfully moderate extreme or unhelpful reviews in a scalable manner.
    - 18pfsmt 15y ago
      Interesting. I took karmalist as a response to closed-off data sources like 'celebrity access [.com]' where you have to pay just to read it. It is a collection of venue managers, promoters, talent agents, and musicians. At least Yelp let's you lurk for free.
  - Timothee 15y ago
    I know I could just hire someone else to make them, but the joy (to me) is in the process, not the goal. I want to learn these programming techniques so well that I can quickly create all my future ideas, too. Very interesting for me to read this now. My wife is pushing me to outsource the development of an idea that I've been talking about raising from a demo to a real site, because I'm taking my sweet time (learning Python, Flask et al). I'm not making efforts to find someone to outsource it, but instead I'm still trying to learn what I need to to get it up the ground. (just don't tell my wife) "the joy is in the process, not the goal"… I'll have to keep that in mind.
brimpa 15y ago
How do I find my Kimo Williams?
- pepijndevos 15y ago
  It's sad we don't generally have this master-apprentice system anymore. Be the change you want to see, right? So maybe just start by being a Kimo yourself?
- sivers 15y ago
  I don't know. Any ideas, anyone?
  - zumda 15y ago
    Find driven people. Go to conferences and other such events where the really passionate people are. Now? Just copy them! It might not be a one on one coaching, but seeing how much others do while slacking of on the couch and reading about all their doings on Twitter should make you more productive.
    - mikeleeorg 15y ago
      And once you find one, ASK. I've known people who are perfectly willing and capable mentors, but never got asked. Ironically, they were surrounded by people who were looking for mentors, but were afraid to ask. I happened to know both sides and made the connection, but I'm sure many others fall through the cracks just because they didn't ask someone to be their mentor. Note: Not everyone has the time, willingness, or ability to be a mentor. But I still don't think it hurts to ask. The worst you can get is no mentor, which is what you started out with anyways.
  - fumar 15y ago
    Columbia College has some good teachers. http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/kimo+williams+of+columbia+colleges+music+business+program+on+keeping+his+curriculum+current http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/kimo+williams+of+col...
  - 15y ago
pepijndevos 15y ago
Good to find this article again. I'm very autodidactic, and found universities so far disappointing for the lack of speed. After you where taught everything, fast, why did you still go to Berklee? How was your time there?
- sivers 15y ago
  College hardly taught me anything. There were only a few good teachers. Most were half-assing it. But once I realized that they weren't going to teach me anything, I got inspired. I realized that I was in an amazing place that held all the knowledge I want. I just had to go get it! I treated it like a library. I pulled information out of people, recordings, books. More than anything, it was a great environment for learning. It kept me 100% focused, every minute of every day, on getting better at music. No job or real-world stuff to distract me. But that was also before the internet! Now, I imagine that since the environment is the most important thing, you could find your killer environment in many places that don't charge tuition. Whether it's moving to Silicon Valley to be surrounded by your peers, or moving to India to study with a teacher. Same reason some people go to a health spa retreat to get healthy. They could have just stayed at home to do it, but going to a dedicated place can really help.
  - pnathan 15y ago
    > I realized that I was in an amazing place that held all the knowledge I want. I just had to go get it! > I treated it like a library. I pulled information out of people, recordings, books. As a note, this is the way to get the most out of University. Put a vacuum up against the U and turn it on... get everything you can. University should not just happen to you: you need to create the happening.
kamaal 15y ago
How do you manage your time and track your productivity. If its not too personal can you give us a framework of your daily time table.
- sivers 15y ago
  I was wondering that myself! So I wrote my first Android app, to track every minute of every day. See https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow if interested. Most of my time these days is spent studying some new programming languages and techniques (Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone). Less time spent turning that learning into real creation. Soon... soon....
  - mkl 15y ago
    That app sounds interesting. Is it in the Android Market/Play Shop?
    - oliverhunt 15y ago
      +1 for interest in this app. From what I can find it is a private app created for himself.
    - sivers 15y ago
      It's not in Android market. Just installed directly on to my phone. I should probably package it and put it up there. In the meantime, feel free to fork it and use it yourself.
      - oliverhunt 15y ago
        This is probably asking too much but for those of us who are not familiar do you have a link for this?
andmcgregor 15y ago
Great post Derek! What would be your best advice for someone with no technical skills (except html/css) who is going to start to learn how to code? Since our interview in Singapore I've decided to devote myself 100% to learning to code (Rails to start with) during the second half of the year (I applied the 80/20 principal to my documentary re-interviews and travel). When someone asks: "I really want to learn how to code, what should I do?" the answer is always the same: It's possible + you've just got to devote the time toward learning. If you are passionate about it you will stick with it. The answer has always been pretty clear for me: you just sit down and start learning how to code. Basically, learning technical skills for me are kind of an inevitability rather than something I'm thinking about. I'm just looking for advice in regards to learning and efficiency. I really like your ideas + philosophy about self-learning, and remember you talking about learning methods in a Mixergy interview, e.g. spaced repetition software for language learning. Any similar advice about coding? Basically, is there a way to increase the speed limit when learning to code? Would you also recommend working on a web application while learning to code (since you started CD Baby in a similar way)? Thanks in advance for the reply :)
- sivers 15y ago
  The best approaches I've found are: http://www.codeschool.com/ http://www.codeschool.com/ and http://eloquentjavascript.net/ http://eloquentjavascript.net/ But I do think it's crucial to have some little project that's actually live and launched, that people are using, that you can add things to and constantly improve. It helps you get immediate feedback, and remember why you're doing what you're doing: to make other people's lives better! You don't want to just be learning in a vaccuum for months or years, not being of benefit to anyone except some maybe-future-self years from now. Even if you start with some plain HTML site, and add nothing but a dumb "The time is now " + Time.now() -- then at least you've started, and you can improve from there. As you go through Code School, or Eloquent JavaScript, or whatever other ways you learn, try to find a way to apply what you've learned to your site. And lastly: learning by NECESSITY is the most effective way. If you HAVE to figure out how to make your site do some kind of function because you have people complaining to you that it's not, then you'll go figure out how to do it, and remember it with an intensity that you just don't get from, "OK, now it's time for Chapter 7."
rlander 15y ago
I guess this is a good opportunity to thank you. I read it a few years ago and it really changed the way I live. My current startup only exists because of this post.
- sivers 15y ago
  Whoo-hoo! That's awesome to hear. Thank you. Sometimes I wonder why I take hours to write up and edit (and edit and edit) these blog posts on my site. Thanks for the reminder. I really appreciate it.
deleted 15y ago
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noname123 15y ago
Hi Derek, I looked up your post when it first came out in 2009 and along with a bunch of other things, it pushed me to learn how to play guitar. Fast forward to 3+ years later, I'm now trying to move from simply drilling the different scale/modal patterns to really knowing how to improvise and solo. Was wondering what's your take on this? I've always been a very systematic person but I don't think drilling patterns are helping me very much. Let me know what you think.
- sivers 15y ago
  Take the advice of Benny from http://www.fluentin3months.com/ http://www.fluentin3months.com/ Click around and read some of his stuff there. Apply his language advice to playing. One of his main points is to just throw yourself into conversation in a strange country. Even if you only know 3 words and aren't prepared. Be scared. Mess up. Be embarrassed, but keep going. You can't just stay in the shed. You have to get out and play with others, be scared, mess up, get embarrassed, and keep going.
  - noname123 15y ago
    Thanks for the advice. I'll go to the guitar meetup in my area and try to solo during the jam sessions. Also, it's always very intriguing to see how people are learning my first language (Mandarin).
- tricky 15y ago
  Here's a random guy on the internet's take... Start simply by limiting yourself to 4 notes. Wail, hammer-on, pull-off, and bend them until you can make them talk. Add extra notes out of the scale after you get better... For ex., under a minor chord pick the IV-V-VII-I notes (For Amin that's D-E-G-A, play that A an octave above root.) Just sit there and play those 4 notes with bends, pull offs, slide ups and mix up the rhythm until it gets some soul. Whatever you do, don't be systematic. beer helps... and record yourself so you can review for what works and what doesn't.
jcampbell1 15y ago
Are you still studying foreign languages? Do you have any tips for how to uncap the speed limit?
- sivers 15y ago
  Still learning Chinese. The best tips for beating the language-learning speed limit are from Benny : http://www.fluentin3months.com/about/ http://www.fluentin3months.com/about/
  - jcampbell1 15y ago
    Wow, Benny's Chinese is impressive for 10 weeks. I have seen students that studied for 2-3 years that are less comfortable speaking. If you are looking to mix up you studies, you should checkout my site. http://chinese.yabla.com/ http://chinese.yabla.com/ It is not free, but if you are interested, shoot me an email, and I'll send you an account.
db42 15y ago
Hi Derek, I can't describe how much motivated I feel everytime I read something similar to this. But I just can't convert this motivation into actual practice/habits. Any advice ?
- sivers 15y ago
  A young man went to Socrates and asked how he could gain wisdom. Socrates walked the young man into a nearby lake. When the water was a few feet deep, Socrates suddly grabbed the young man and pushed his head under water and held it there. At first the young man thought it was a joke, but as he was held under longer and longer, he became frantic. He struggled desperately to get free and his lungs burned for lack of oxygen. Finally Socrates let him up, coughing and gasping for air. Socrates then said, "When you desire wisdom with the same intensity that you desired to breathe, nothing will stop you from getting it." It's the same with your motivation/practice/habits.
  - unimpressive 15y ago
    >It's the same with your motivation/practice/habits. First of all. Excellent blog post. Just reading it made me want to leave behind the things capping the speed limit on my life. However, I see that story used in a lot of contexts. (And the characters involved change often.) And what I always find myself asking every time I read it (Or rather skim it as the case may be.) is "Well yes, I knew that much already, but how do you desire something that's not air as much as the ability to breathe itself.". It would seem that therein lies the rub. Getting that excited about anything is tough. In a way it's a non-answer. Which is always disappointing to receive.

Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.

by sivers 15y ago

Surprised to see a post of mine here on Hacker News. (First time in a long time. Thanks!) Feel free to ask me absolutely anything here.

aamar 15y ago

I've seen this post before, but I was glad to reread it. A bit off-topic, but could you tell us about your sleep schedule?

sivers 15y ago
6 hours has always been enough for me. At Berklee, I'd get a piano room every night at 10pm until midnight, when they closed. Then I'd sleep from 1am to 7am, practice some more, and go to class. I was quite driven. Kind of like someone who really feels if they just work their ass off they can be the next Zuckerberg, 20 years ago, being a successful musician felt more attainable. It felt like if I just practiced my ass off, wrote a lot of great songs, and put myself where the action is, I could be successful. That kind of "I can almost taste it" feeling is the most amazing motivation, isn't it? My friends called me "the robot" because I never hung out, never partied, never sat around in the cafeteria eating with them. I'd just grab a peanut butter sandwich and get back to work. Couldn't waste a single minute on the road to success!
- bh42222 15y ago
  6 hours has always been enough for me. Yep, that's at least one genetic advantage you have on most of us.
  - EvilTerran 15y ago
    Yeah, that "I have no innate abilities" line didn't quite sit right with me -- there's one, at least. My first thought there was "attribution error".
  - joering2 15y ago
    > Yep, that's at least one genetic advantage you have on most of us. I think I kind of have the same problem as you do: not enough/too much sleep that messes up my day. But is this "genetic" like you saying? I don't think so. Can you point to any directions where to read about this, or at least, how to get better on sleeping enough hours? Thnx.
    - bh42222 15y ago
      http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/12/short.sleepers.daylight/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/12/short.sleepers.daylight... I am not sure how you can get better at something which is most likely genetic. I work full time and have a not terrible commute, and if I want to eat healthy and get a bit of exercise and spend just a tiny amount of time with friends and family... well, it's hard to get the hours of sleep I genetically need to function 100%. Now, I can go for a very long time sleeping no more than 6 hours a night, but I can feel it slowly killing me.
- mtrimpe 15y ago
  Were there times when you considered giving up 'being the robot?' And looking back, do you feel that it was all worth it? Or would you make different decisions if you knew then what you know now?
  - sivers 15y ago
    I'd do it all again the same way. It was wonderful. I was following my interests 100% without letting peer pressure convince me to do something I didn't want to do. (Hang out.) I showed myself what I could do. Priceless.
- msalvati 15y ago
  I remember a little hanging out and/or partying. This ring a bell Derek... "Don't give a f--k about roaches....tryin get em out of my mother f--kin head.....can't get em out of my mother f--kin head"
- msalvati 15y ago
  I remember a little hanging out. This ring a bell Derek? "Don't give a f--k about roaches....tryin get em out of my mother f--kin head......can't get em out of my mother f--kin head"
  - sivers 15y ago
    hey Mark! You still remember our classic song! ☺
- isurfbecause 15y ago
  Yeah I was wondering how you balanced your personal life. Glad you had friends even though you were a robot haha

narag 15y ago

I had read this story the first time, and now I've remembered right away the question I couldn't ask then: without a Kimo near, is there any book that explain the same harmony knowledge and allows a no-speed-limit approach?

sivers 15y ago
Closest book I've found on the "no speed limit" approach was Tony Robbins' “Awaken the Giant Within”. It could have just been the timing of when I read it. Tim Ferriss told me the book that changed the way he saw the world was “Maximum Achievement” by Brian Tracy, but when I read it, it seemed like conventional wisdom. So maybe it's just timing. What I liked about Tony Robbins' message was this: * - Change happens in an instant. People act like change takes years, but really it's almost always a key moment, an instant where you change the way you think about something, or make a promise to yourself to change the way you act (even though it feels strange at first). It may have taken years of procrastination to get to that pain point, but the change itself is instant. * - You can change the way you think, so you can change the way you feel. People say, "I can't help the way I feel." or "This is just who I am." But you were an almost-blank slate when born, and most of what you think was just taught into you by someone, so you can un-do it, and replace it with any beliefs or even emotions that support your goal. He gives a great example of funerals in New Orleans: how they play sad music for a few minutes, then break into celebration. We think that death is universally sad, right? But this shows there's another way to think about it. So you can choose to feel happy about each person that rejects you ("one step closer!"), or choose to feel disgusted by the thought of procrastinating ("it's my mortal enemy!"), or whatever you choose to feel. Actually there were probably 100 other things like this that changed the way I think, but just seem commonplace to me now because I've been thinking them so long. Grab any of those classic self-help books like "Think and Grow Rich" or "Maximum Achievement" or "Awaken the Giant Within". When read at the right time in your life, it can really change everything. (( Oh, just noticed you asked about harmony. All the stuff he taught be was very basic jazz harmony that almost any book on the subject will teach. The key was how fast he taught it. ))
- lusr 15y ago

komeng 15y ago

How do you handle stress and burnout? Even playing video games leads me to burnout. Thanks in advance. :)

sivers 15y ago
Power through it. Bitch and scream, but then do what needs to be done. Read “The Power of Full Engagement” : http://sivers.org/book/PowerOfFullEngagement http://sivers.org/book/PowerOfFullEngagement The authors worked with the best athletes and executives for years, and found that the best ones knew how to push themselves, then recuperate, push, recuperate. Take this same approach to your emotional, mental, physical, and even spiritual life, and it's a powerful metaphor. Think of sprints, not marathons. Be fully in whatever you're in, then give time to recuperate. But push futher each time, past your comfort zone, like a good exercise plan.
- EvilTerran 15y ago
  That book looks... reasonably promising, I guess; however... "How do you handle stress and burnout?" "Power through it." I'm sorry, but that's terrible advice. You might as well tell someone with depression to "just get over it already".
  - sivers 15y ago
    I wasn't saying "stop being stressed and burned-out". I mean that any time any of us get to that point, there are a few approaches we could take. (1) - Go take a long vacation. (2) - Quit and change your approach. (3) - Don't change a thing. Sleep tonight, but tomorrow just keep pushing the same direction as you've been doing. It'll be painful, you'll scream and complain, but just keep working anyway. I've tried all three. When I do (1) or (2), it throws me so far off course that I never come back. But powering through it is also the advice that ultra-marathon runners advise. They say you feel the pain, but just ignore it and go anyway. You don't take a break. You just keep running. When I've taken this approach to the work I'm doing, I tend to find joy and an easier road ahead, past the painful burnt-out feeling I felt the day/week before. I'm glad I didn't take a vacation or change course.

maheshs 15y ago

How to you focus? Do you also face issue with your focus some time in life?

sivers 15y ago
See my other comment here about the drive to "be the next Zuckerberg". Then look into the conditions of "flow" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29 1. A clear set of goals : you know exactly what needs to be done next. 2. The task is not too easy, but not too hard. It's just at the edge of your ability. 3. The task gives you immediate feedback. When you're engaged in that kind of work, you FOCUS! That's why video games are so addictive! They play up these 3 conditions so well. You have no problem focusing when playing a video game! Also it's pretty crucial to have all this work be leading to a goal that you want so badly - whether it's to be a millionaire, to be famous, to be in Y Combinator, whatever. Then it's also crucial to have this goal be so close that you know if you just keep working well that it's very likely you'll get there. Get those situations lined up, and you'll have no problem focusing! (( And yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I have a major problem with focus in my life right now. Apparently it's kind of common for recent mutli-millionaires who have surpassed all their previous goals. What's next? How can I top this? Do I want to? Do I just retire now? I have some new goals, but they're not burning goals. And I just realized they aren't matching steps #1, 2, 3, above. Hmmm.... ))
- aclark 15y ago
  Surely there must be more "cool stuff" to do? Also, how satisfying is helping others achieve their goals, and how much does it motivate you? Trying to "top" yourself doesn't sound right, but trying to find the things that match #1, 2, 3 sounds more like it.
  - sivers 15y ago
    Yeah, honestly I'm learning Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, Nginx, JavaScript, jQuery, and Backbone, all back-to-back from books and test projects, quite intensely, and not really matching those 1,2,3 steps, because I'm often in too deep over my head without a clear vision of what I need to do next. It's discouraging. But I am quite driven to turn my next app/business ideas into reality : http://50pop.com/code http://50pop.com/code Definitely not trying to "top" CD Baby. Just following what fascinates me. Just not quite as intensely as when I was so driven to be a rock star. ☺

belnyc 15y ago

Hi Derek, Do you have any experiences with or knowledge of speed learning being used to learn the physical skills of playing an instrument?

sivers 15y ago
No, but my buddy Josh Kaufman, author of the great “Personal MBA” book, is doing a new project (and book) about exactly that! He's using speed-learning techniques to learn 6 different skills fast, and one of them is learning a new instrument. Contact him here - http://joshkaufman.net/about/ http://joshkaufman.net/about/ - to see if he could give you some starter points for now, until his book comes out much later.
- belnyc 15y ago
  Thanks, Derek!

whyleyc 15y ago

Great post - two questions: 1) What occupies your time these days Derek ? 2) Possibly related - what unfulfilled dreams do you still have ?

sivers 15y ago
(1) : I'm spending most of my time learning Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, Nginx, JavaScript, jQuery, and Backbone, all back-to-back from books and test projects, quite intensely. ... because ... (2) : If I die before turning these projects into reality, I'm going to be pissed-off! http://50pop.com/code http://50pop.com/code It's really my main drive these days, to finally launch these ideas I've had spec'd out for a long time. I know I could just hire someone else to make them, but the joy (to me) is in the process, not the goal. I want to learn these programming techniques so well that I can quickly create all my future ideas, too.
- whyleyc 15y ago
  Thanks for answering, looks like you have some interesting projects on the go. My favourite was http://50pop.com/karmalist http://50pop.com/karmalist if only because someone needs to kill Yelp ! An open source, non company-controlled business review service is a killer proposition. The challenges will be how to incentivise users to submit reviews to the service (what's their motivation ?) and how to successfully moderate extreme or unhelpful reviews in a scalable manner.
  - 18pfsmt 15y ago
    Interesting. I took karmalist as a response to closed-off data sources like 'celebrity access [.com]' where you have to pay just to read it. It is a collection of venue managers, promoters, talent agents, and musicians. At least Yelp let's you lurk for free.
- Timothee 15y ago
  I know I could just hire someone else to make them, but the joy (to me) is in the process, not the goal. I want to learn these programming techniques so well that I can quickly create all my future ideas, too. Very interesting for me to read this now. My wife is pushing me to outsource the development of an idea that I've been talking about raising from a demo to a real site, because I'm taking my sweet time (learning Python, Flask et al). I'm not making efforts to find someone to outsource it, but instead I'm still trying to learn what I need to to get it up the ground. (just don't tell my wife) "the joy is in the process, not the goal"… I'll have to keep that in mind.

brimpa 15y ago

How do I find my Kimo Williams?

pepijndevos 15y ago
It's sad we don't generally have this master-apprentice system anymore. Be the change you want to see, right? So maybe just start by being a Kimo yourself?
sivers 15y ago
I don't know. Any ideas, anyone?
- zumda 15y ago
  Find driven people. Go to conferences and other such events where the really passionate people are. Now? Just copy them! It might not be a one on one coaching, but seeing how much others do while slacking of on the couch and reading about all their doings on Twitter should make you more productive.
  - mikeleeorg 15y ago
    And once you find one, ASK. I've known people who are perfectly willing and capable mentors, but never got asked. Ironically, they were surrounded by people who were looking for mentors, but were afraid to ask. I happened to know both sides and made the connection, but I'm sure many others fall through the cracks just because they didn't ask someone to be their mentor. Note: Not everyone has the time, willingness, or ability to be a mentor. But I still don't think it hurts to ask. The worst you can get is no mentor, which is what you started out with anyways.
- fumar 15y ago
  Columbia College has some good teachers. http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/kimo+williams+of+columbia+colleges+music+business+program+on+keeping+his+curriculum+current http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/kimo+williams+of+col...
- 15y ago

pepijndevos 15y ago

Good to find this article again. I'm very autodidactic, and found universities so far disappointing for the lack of speed. After you where taught everything, fast, why did you still go to Berklee? How was your time there?

sivers 15y ago
College hardly taught me anything. There were only a few good teachers. Most were half-assing it. But once I realized that they weren't going to teach me anything, I got inspired. I realized that I was in an amazing place that held all the knowledge I want. I just had to go get it! I treated it like a library. I pulled information out of people, recordings, books. More than anything, it was a great environment for learning. It kept me 100% focused, every minute of every day, on getting better at music. No job or real-world stuff to distract me. But that was also before the internet! Now, I imagine that since the environment is the most important thing, you could find your killer environment in many places that don't charge tuition. Whether it's moving to Silicon Valley to be surrounded by your peers, or moving to India to study with a teacher. Same reason some people go to a health spa retreat to get healthy. They could have just stayed at home to do it, but going to a dedicated place can really help.
- pnathan 15y ago
  > I realized that I was in an amazing place that held all the knowledge I want. I just had to go get it! > I treated it like a library. I pulled information out of people, recordings, books. As a note, this is the way to get the most out of University. Put a vacuum up against the U and turn it on... get everything you can. University should not just happen to you: you need to create the happening.

kamaal 15y ago

How do you manage your time and track your productivity. If its not too personal can you give us a framework of your daily time table.

sivers 15y ago
I was wondering that myself! So I wrote my first Android app, to track every minute of every day. See https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow https://github.com/50pop/NowNowNow if interested. Most of my time these days is spent studying some new programming languages and techniques (Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Sequel, JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone). Less time spent turning that learning into real creation. Soon... soon....
- mkl 15y ago
  That app sounds interesting. Is it in the Android Market/Play Shop?
  - oliverhunt 15y ago
    +1 for interest in this app. From what I can find it is a private app created for himself.
  - sivers 15y ago
    It's not in Android market. Just installed directly on to my phone. I should probably package it and put it up there. In the meantime, feel free to fork it and use it yourself.
    - oliverhunt 15y ago
      This is probably asking too much but for those of us who are not familiar do you have a link for this?

andmcgregor 15y ago

Great post Derek! What would be your best advice for someone with no technical skills (except html/css) who is going to start to learn how to code? Since our interview in Singapore I've decided to devote myself 100% to learning to code (Rails to start with) during the second half of the year (I applied the 80/20 principal to my documentary re-interviews and travel). When someone asks: "I really want to learn how to code, what should I do?" the answer is always the same: It's possible + you've just got to devote the time toward learning. If you are passionate about it you will stick with it. The answer has always been pretty clear for me: you just sit down and start learning how to code. Basically, learning technical skills for me are kind of an inevitability rather than something I'm thinking about. I'm just looking for advice in regards to learning and efficiency. I really like your ideas + philosophy about self-learning, and remember you talking about learning methods in a Mixergy interview, e.g. spaced repetition software for language learning. Any similar advice about coding? Basically, is there a way to increase the speed limit when learning to code? Would you also recommend working on a web application while learning to code (since you started CD Baby in a similar way)? Thanks in advance for the reply :)

sivers 15y ago
The best approaches I've found are: http://www.codeschool.com/ http://www.codeschool.com/ and http://eloquentjavascript.net/ http://eloquentjavascript.net/ But I do think it's crucial to have some little project that's actually live and launched, that people are using, that you can add things to and constantly improve. It helps you get immediate feedback, and remember why you're doing what you're doing: to make other people's lives better! You don't want to just be learning in a vaccuum for months or years, not being of benefit to anyone except some maybe-future-self years from now. Even if you start with some plain HTML site, and add nothing but a dumb "The time is now " + Time.now() -- then at least you've started, and you can improve from there. As you go through Code School, or Eloquent JavaScript, or whatever other ways you learn, try to find a way to apply what you've learned to your site. And lastly: learning by NECESSITY is the most effective way. If you HAVE to figure out how to make your site do some kind of function because you have people complaining to you that it's not, then you'll go figure out how to do it, and remember it with an intensity that you just don't get from, "OK, now it's time for Chapter 7."

rlander 15y ago

I guess this is a good opportunity to thank you. I read it a few years ago and it really changed the way I live. My current startup only exists because of this post.

sivers 15y ago
Whoo-hoo! That's awesome to hear. Thank you. Sometimes I wonder why I take hours to write up and edit (and edit and edit) these blog posts on my site. Thanks for the reminder. I really appreciate it.

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noname123 15y ago

Hi Derek, I looked up your post when it first came out in 2009 and along with a bunch of other things, it pushed me to learn how to play guitar. Fast forward to 3+ years later, I'm now trying to move from simply drilling the different scale/modal patterns to really knowing how to improvise and solo. Was wondering what's your take on this? I've always been a very systematic person but I don't think drilling patterns are helping me very much. Let me know what you think.

sivers 15y ago
Take the advice of Benny from http://www.fluentin3months.com/ http://www.fluentin3months.com/ Click around and read some of his stuff there. Apply his language advice to playing. One of his main points is to just throw yourself into conversation in a strange country. Even if you only know 3 words and aren't prepared. Be scared. Mess up. Be embarrassed, but keep going. You can't just stay in the shed. You have to get out and play with others, be scared, mess up, get embarrassed, and keep going.
- noname123 15y ago
  Thanks for the advice. I'll go to the guitar meetup in my area and try to solo during the jam sessions. Also, it's always very intriguing to see how people are learning my first language (Mandarin).
tricky 15y ago
Here's a random guy on the internet's take... Start simply by limiting yourself to 4 notes. Wail, hammer-on, pull-off, and bend them until you can make them talk. Add extra notes out of the scale after you get better... For ex., under a minor chord pick the IV-V-VII-I notes (For Amin that's D-E-G-A, play that A an octave above root.) Just sit there and play those 4 notes with bends, pull offs, slide ups and mix up the rhythm until it gets some soul. Whatever you do, don't be systematic. beer helps... and record yourself so you can review for what works and what doesn't.

jcampbell1 15y ago

Are you still studying foreign languages? Do you have any tips for how to uncap the speed limit?

sivers 15y ago
Still learning Chinese. The best tips for beating the language-learning speed limit are from Benny : http://www.fluentin3months.com/about/ http://www.fluentin3months.com/about/
- jcampbell1 15y ago
  Wow, Benny's Chinese is impressive for 10 weeks. I have seen students that studied for 2-3 years that are less comfortable speaking. If you are looking to mix up you studies, you should checkout my site. http://chinese.yabla.com/ http://chinese.yabla.com/ It is not free, but if you are interested, shoot me an email, and I'll send you an account.

db42 15y ago

Hi Derek, I can't describe how much motivated I feel everytime I read something similar to this. But I just can't convert this motivation into actual practice/habits. Any advice ?

sivers 15y ago
A young man went to Socrates and asked how he could gain wisdom. Socrates walked the young man into a nearby lake. When the water was a few feet deep, Socrates suddly grabbed the young man and pushed his head under water and held it there. At first the young man thought it was a joke, but as he was held under longer and longer, he became frantic. He struggled desperately to get free and his lungs burned for lack of oxygen. Finally Socrates let him up, coughing and gasping for air. Socrates then said, "When you desire wisdom with the same intensity that you desired to breathe, nothing will stop you from getting it." It's the same with your motivation/practice/habits.
- unimpressive 15y ago
  >It's the same with your motivation/practice/habits. First of all. Excellent blog post. Just reading it made me want to leave behind the things capping the speed limit on my life. However, I see that story used in a lot of contexts. (And the characters involved change often.) And what I always find myself asking every time I read it (Or rather skim it as the case may be.) is "Well yes, I knew that much already, but how do you desire something that's not air as much as the ability to breathe itself.". It would seem that therein lies the rub. Getting that excited about anything is tough. In a way it's a non-answer. Which is always disappointing to receive.