Book Notes : Anything you want

25 Sep 2021 ⏱️ 4 min

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These are highlights/notes from book “Anything you want” by Derek Sivers. This is a short guidebook where author emphasizes on building business focusing on customers and by solving a problem that makes you happy instead of following other entrepreneurs.

These are my personal notes/highlights which I took while reading.I would recommend reading the book, but in case you are short on time - just skim through these notes 😊

In case you are looking for book recommendations! Check Learnshots

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.

Never do anything just for the money.
You will never really know what you want until you actually start doing it.
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.
When you make a business, you get to make a little universe where you control all the laws. This is your utopia.
The best plans start simple. A quick glance and common sense should tell you if the numbers will work.

Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what’s not working.
Improve or invent until you get that huge response.
By not having any money to waste, you never waste money.
Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision—even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone—according to what’s best for your customers.
Starting small puts 100 percent of your energy into actually solving real problems for real people. It gives you a stronger foundation to grow from.
Your idea doesn’t need funding to start.

Ideas are worth nothing unless they are executed. They are just a multiplier.
How do you grade yourself? It’s important to know in advance, to make sure you’re staying focused on what’s honestly important to you, instead of doing what others think you should.
In the moment, you’re angry, focusing only on that one awful person who did you wrong. Your thinking is clouded. You start believing everyone is awful and the whole world is against you.
When you want to learn how to do something yourself, most people won’t understand. They’ll assume the only reason we do anything is to get it done, and doing it yourself is not the most efficient way.
There’s a big difference between being self-employed and being a business owner.
To be a true business owner, make it so that you could leave for a year, and when you came back, your business would be doing better than when you left.
Just do whatever you love the most, or you’ll lose interest in the whole thing.
Pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you.

Make sure you know what makes you happy, and don’t forget it.
Whatever you make, it’s your creation, so make it your personal dream come true.

That’s it folks! I know I made a lot of notes. Check out Derek’s blog for more awesome stuff. Also, listen to his podcast, you’ll learn so much there!

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