How To Be Useful To Others

I was listening to the latest Tim Ferriss Podcast where he interviewed Derek Sivers who I learned was the creator of CDBaby.com. 

I have never heard of Sivers or his website, but I found his interview fascinating, it was one of my favorite ones by far. He had an amazing monologue where he discussed an actionable list he created after reading over 200 books in the past few years. He is creating these lists because he has tons of friends that don't read all the books he recommends but still want to know 'the meat' of the book. 

I really enjoyed this, so I typed it up and am now posting it on my blog.

How To Be Useful To Others 

by Derek Sivers

1. Get Famous

Do everything in public and for the public. The more people you reach the more useful you are. The opposite is hiding which is of no use to anyone.

2. Get Rich

Money is neutral proof that you're adding value to people's lives. So by getting rich you're being useful as a side effect. Once rich spend the money in ways which are more useful to others. Then getting rich is double useful.

3. Share Strong Opinions

Strong opinions are very useful to others. Those who are undecided or ambivalent can just adopt your stance. But those who disagree can solidify their stance by arguing against yours. So even if you invent an opinion for the sole sake of argument boldly sharing a strong opinion is very useful to others.

4. Be Expensive

People given a placebo pill were twice as likely to have their pain disappear when told that the pill was expensive. People who pay more for tickets are more likely to show up to events. So people who spend more for a product or service value it more and get more use out of it. So be expensive.