2012 Gift Guide: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

The Domino Project

Anything You Want is the type of writing I have come to describe as a “Real World Example.” It is like sitting across the table of someone as they tell their story…a story that will hopefully change your life.

Over the years I am sure we have all had moments like this. The friend who educated us about the stock market, the soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend who taught us what a relationship should be, and in Sivers’ case, the story of one business — his business — that also encompasses the nature of business as a whole.

Anything You Want is a short book – only 77 pages in printed form – and yet it illustrates a complete journey. It also details Sivers’ attitudes towards business – slow to no growth, doing it all for the customer, and knowing when to get out. In these few short pages he gives us it all, alpha to omega, and we are better for it.

I unabashedly like this book. It matches with my own beliefs about career, business and life at many points. I too believe that money should never be the sole reason for doing anything and that bigger is not always better. Sivers also touches on another important topic, success. While he doesn’t come out and say it directly, I get the sense that he understands that there are levels to success. Too often today, we believe there are only 2 levels of success – Nobody and Rich and Famous. Hopefully people will use Sivers’ example to remind themselves that supporting yourself, providing for your family and being comfortable provides unlimited gradations of success.

Settle in with Anything You Want and your favorite beverage and an hour later you will come back with ideas, plans, hope and a deeper understanding of what it is to run your own business and perhaps, your own life.

Highly recommended

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

  1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
  2. Bulb Planting Tools
  3. Blue Snowball Microphone
  4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
  5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
  6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
  7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
  8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
  9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
  10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
  11. Moleskeine Journals
  12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
  13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
  14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
  15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
  16. The $64 Tomato
  17. Blue Yeti Microphone
  18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
  19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
  20. The Curious Gardener

 

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