Anything You Want is a book by Derek Sivers that was really eye-opening to me to finding a sense of purpose. Below are the notes that I taken

Summary

• If you think your life's purpose needs to hit you like a lightning bolt, you'll overlook the little day to day things that fascinate you - If you think revolution needs to feel like war, you'll overlook the importance of simply serving people better.

  • When you are onto something great, it won't feel like a revolution
  • Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what's not working.
  • When your idea is not a good idea, stop and quit. That is the genius idea.

• Go back and improve idea and reinvent

• Present each new idea to the world. If people are saying 'wow', then you should do it. But if no response, don't pursue it.

• Don't waste time fighting uphill battles, improve until you get that huge response

  • say hell yes or hell no. If hell no, say no. If anything less than hell yes, say no.
  • No business plan survives first contact with customers. It is always changing or new ideas come into play
  • Absolutely everything you do is for the customer. Do it according to what's best for your customer.
  • The way to grow your business is to focus entirely on your existing customers. Just thrill them, and they will tell everyone.
  • He just grab a $25 programming book and started learning because of the necessity. Be like that. Just learn, no need of perfection, just get it out there.

• Start now with only 1 percent of what you have in your grand vision. You'll be in the game, you'll have actually started while millions others only wait.

  • Starting small puts 100% energy into actually solving real problems for real people. It gives you a strong foundation to start.
  • When he started CD BABY, the only thing the site did was create and send a email of customer information. That was all he needed to do and he took care of the rest.
  • He only spent $500 dollar on CD Baby.
  • Your idea doesn't need funding to start. What gets you ahead, is start.
  • He isn't interested in people's ideas until he sees their execution
  • You don't need terms and condition. You don't need privacy policy.
  • He would gladly exclude people who didn't his criteria. he doesn't try to please everyone. He only focus on the people who he really want to be valuing. Only independent artists, no corporation record labels.
  • When you exclude 99% of the people (because you know its wise to only focus on the 1%) the 1% will gladly come to you because you value them
  • In a perfect world, would your website be covered with advertising? Would your customer say "please put more advertising' in the improve service? no. Then don't do it. Never have advertisement.

• Your idea is not the only option. Make ten radically different plans for it. Same with your current life plan. Have ten radically different plans.

  • Now sing a octave lower! Go!
  • Now sing a octave higher! go!
  • Now sing like its 4am and a friend called! Go!
  • Now sing like boy dylan! Go!
  • now sing twice as slow! Go!
  • Now sing twice as fast! Go!
  • now make a plan for ten times as many customers! Go!

• You do not need a grandiose vision. You don't need a huge vision. Just focus on helping people today.

• Never forget why you are really doing what you are doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you making a good living? Isn't that enough?

• How am I grading myself?

• Being part of a group and doing something meaningful together

• creating useful things to this world. Making a difference

• It's always about the customers. You have to care more about the customers than you care about yourself.

• Your company should be willing to die for your customers. Care about your customers and you will do well.

• Care about those who use your habit tracker and give them the best and you will do well

• and my purpose too. Never for money. but to make something useful

• When someone just give out love and smile and joke without asking, we want to give back.

• We want to give to those who give.

• When one customer wrongs you, remember the hundred thousands who did not. You can't prevent bad things from happening. Learn to shrug. Resist urge to punish everyone for one person's mistake.

• Every customer is a real person.

• When you are unclear, you should feel pain. You should learn, not be under silence.

• The tiny details are the ones that really matter.

• CD Baby is great because there is personalization. It's humane. "We will do big favors if you buy us a pizza!'

• There is benefit in naiveness.