Anything You Want

About the Author

Derek Sivers is a visionary who started his journey as a professional musician and unexpectedly found himself becoming an entrepreneur. His story is a testament to the idea that passion and purpose can lead to success in the most unexpected ways. Sivers founded CD Baby in 1998 to sell his CDs online when the major music companies wouldn’t give him the time of day. What began as a small project to address his own needs rapidly grew into a business that helped thousands of independent musicians sell their music directly to fans. By the time he sold CD Baby in 2008, it had generated over $100 million in sales for more than 150,000 artists. The proceeds from the sale of the company went into a charitable trust dedicated to music education, reflecting Sivers’s commitment to giving back to the community that had supported him. Sivers’s book, Anything You Want, published in 2011, is a reflection of the lessons he learned along the way—lessons about business, life, and staying true to one’s values.

Main Idea

Anything You Want is not just a guide to entrepreneurship; it’s a guide to living a life that is true to who you are. Derek Sivers shares 40 lessons he learned from his experience with CD Baby, offering insights into how to build a business that aligns with your passions and values. The central theme of the book is that success is not about following someone else’s blueprint, but about creating your own path based on what makes you happy. Sivers challenges conventional wisdom about business, arguing that the most important thing is to stay true to yourself and to focus on what matters most to you. He emphasizes that a business should not be about making money for the sake of it, but about doing something you love and helping others in the process.

Know What You Love to Know What You Want

The first lesson Sivers shares is the importance of knowing yourself and what you love. He argues that the foundation of any successful business is a deep understanding of your own passions and desires. Sivers believes that the purpose of starting a business is to make yourself happy, and that your passions should guide every decision you make.

"Your role matters: Sivers says that as the owner of your own business, you can make your role anything you want, so you should pay attention to which tasks make you happy and only do the ones you love, which will fuel you." — Derek Sivers

In practice, this means focusing on the aspects of your business that you enjoy and delegating the tasks that don’t excite you. Sivers argues that doing work you don’t love will sap your energy and ultimately lead to burnout. For example, if you enjoy the creative aspects of your business but dislike managing the financials, you should consider hiring someone to handle the accounting. By focusing on what you love, you keep your passion alive and maintain the drive necessary to sustain your business in the long term.

However, Sivers also warns against growing your business beyond what you can comfortably manage. He suggests that it’s more important to build a business that suits your lifestyle and personal goals than to chase growth for growth’s sake. He argues that bigger isn’t always better, and that the pursuit of superficial goals like making money can lead you away from what you truly want.

"Size also matters: Sivers warns against growing your business bigger than you truly want it to be, even if your company is successful." — Derek Sivers

For Sivers, success is about staying the course and focusing on what you love, even in the face of criticism. He shares a personal story about how he was told as a teenager that he was a terrible singer. Despite this, he continued to sing because he loved it. Over time, through persistence and practice, he improved and eventually became a professional musician. This story illustrates the power of passion and perseverance in achieving success, even when others doubt you.

Staying True to Your Passions:

• A small business owner who loves crafting and spends her time creating unique handmade products while outsourcing the marketing and sales aspects of her business.
• A software developer who enjoys coding and focuses on product development, leaving the business operations to a trusted partner.
• An artist who loves painting and dedicates most of his time to creating art, hiring an assistant to manage commissions and client interactions.

Develop Your Business Plan

Once you’ve identified your passions, Sivers advises turning them into a business by developing a plan. However, he emphasizes that planning should not become a barrier to action. The most important thing, according to Sivers, is to start. He believes that taking the first step, even without a perfect plan, is better than getting stuck in analysis paralysis.

"Sivers says the most important thing is to not get hung up on everything that could prevent you from pursuing your dream, like a lack of money or fear of something going wrong." — Derek Sivers