This is Derek Sivers.

In 2008, he sold CD Baby for $22 million, giving 95% to charity.

Since then, he’s written 5 books and given hundreds of talks.

Here are 7 of his best tips on writing, publishing your work, and going all in on your craft: In this thread, we'll cover:

• How to stress-test your ideas with writing
• Why hitting Publish is the most important act as a writer
• The “Useful, But Not True” belief all writers must internalize

And more!

Let's dive in:

In the last 18 months, my team has tripled.

But school taught me *nothing* about leadership.

So I spent over 100 hours studying legendary coaches & CEOs.

World-class leadership is simple—if you follow these 7 principles: 1. Lead From the Front

Most "leaders" are actually bosses.

They see leadership as "telling" people what to do.

But this quickly creates a toxic culture of:

• Slow feedback loops
• Shaky operations
• Resentment
• Poor results

Instead, here's what great leaders do:

A podcast episode that changed my life:

Modern Wisdom with George Mack (Mental Models 101)

I listened to this 5 years ago and still apply the lessons from it every day.

Here are 5 of my favorite mental models from the episode (that you can use to make better decisions): In this thread, we’ll cover:

1. What is a mental model?
2. My 5 favorite mental models from this episode
3. And the 7 habits to avoid in your 20s

Let’s dive in!

The *ONLY* shortcut in life:

Learning from the people ahead of you.

But most people have no idea what questions to ask.

So here are the 7 questions I put to all my mentors (these helped me quit my job and escape the Wall Street rat race): Why should you ask people ahead of you these questions?

So you can:

• Avoid mistakes
• Break false beliefs
• Acquire the correct skills
• Develop potent character traits

But don't ask to "pick their brain."

Ask these instead:

This simple 3-minute evening habit has helped me write every day for 1,261 days in a row.

Here’s how it works: For the last 1,261 days, I've woken up and written for 90 straight minutes.

But I don't wake up, crack open a fresh blank page, and start typing.

If I did, the dreaded blinking cursor on a blank page would crush me.

Overcoming this friction day after day would be impossible.

How I made my first $10,000 online:

Ghostwriting.

It was the first step I took to break free from my corporate prison on Wall Street.

So I sat down with @calum_johnson9 to tell the story of landing my first client.

Here’s my 3-step process (that you can easily copy today): In this thread, I’ll cover:

• Why I started writing online (& how I fell into ghostwriting)
• How to get started in the lucrative world of ghostwriting
• The mindset you should take with anything new you start

Let’s dive in!

A controversial writer you've never heard of:

Henry Miller.

The US banned some of his books from publication for 30 years (!)

But in 1930, Miller made a list of 11 Commandments that are a must-read for any aspiring writer.

Here's the breakdown: Before we dive in, a bit about Miller's work.

His autobiographical novel, The Tropic of Cancer, was banned in the US soon after it was published in 1934.

Here's what Miller had to say about his book (and how he chose the title):

One of my favorite podcasts from 2023:

Tim Ferriss <> James Clear

I spent a few hours last weekend revisiting the episode & taking notes.

Here are my 5 biggest takeaways (on journaling, breaking bad habits, and writing a best-selling book): 1/ 5 helpful reflection questions:

• What am I optimizing for?
• What’s bringing me energy?
• What’s draining my energy?
• Will my current habits carry me to my desired future?
• How can I create an environment that naturally brings about my desired change?

Here’s why Clear answers these questions:

A book I recommend to all entrepreneurs:

Good To Great by Jim Collins.

Here are 5 golden nugget frameworks every digital builder should know (and start using in their business right away): 1. Level 5 Leadership

The best leaders strike the perfect mix of personal humility and professional will.

Rather than being mercenaries focused on value extraction, they’re missionaries focused on value creation.

My paid “Write With AI” newsletter just hit $295k/year.

This is nearly *triple* my old Wall Street salary.

But that job required 80-hour weeks under fluorescent lights.

This newsletter requires two weekly emails which take less than 4 hours.

Here's how it works: In this thread, we’re going to cover:

1. Why we went with a paid newsletter (hint: because we’re in a free newsletter bubble)

2. An overview of the organic content funnel we use to drive subscribers

3. Our gameplan to grow it to $100k / month in 2024

Let’s dive in.

I studied the writing routine of 500 legendary writers.

Turns out, great writing is simple—if you do these 6 things every day: 1. Take long walks

For each of these legends, daily walks were the *staple* of their creative process.

• Thinking
• Listening
• Outlining
• Observing

95% of their writing happened during long walks.

By the time they sat down to type, they knew exactly what to say.

Over the last 5 years, I lost 100 pounds and wrote every morning for 90 minutes.

No hacks. No shortcuts.

Just monotonous, daily consistency.

These 3 small mindset shifts made sticking with it easy (despite wanting to give up *hundreds* of times): The brutal truth:

99% of people know exactly what they *should* be doing.

And it's following a simple, boring process.

But no one wants to hear that.

So they spend time (and waste money) on complex "solutions."

Luckily, this 2-minute read will help you avoid that trap:

The highest-paid copywriter in history:

Gary Halbert.

His legendary sales letters generated over $1,000,000,000 in revenue.

And in one of his very last letters, he shared 10 time-tested strategies for writing better copy, faster.

Here's a breakdown of each one: 1. Set up a proper writing space

Gary was a big fan of writing anywhere.

• His desk
• Local bar
• Bookstore
• Coffee shop

The location didn't matter.

But he made sure to stick with the same one for long stretches.

The goal was to signal to his brain "it's time to write."

19 inconvenient truths I never want to forget: 1. No one cares what you do, they care what you can do for them.

The best book I've read on money:

How To Live by Derek Sivers.

Buried inside this gem are 4 short pages packed with insights on building wealth.

Here are 23 quotes that will change the way you think about money: 1. "Making money isn't evil, greedy, shallow, or vain.

Your biggest obstacle to getting rich is the harmful meaning you've attached to it."

The Godfather of Advertising:

Eugene Schwartz.

In 1966, he published Breakthrough Advertising, a book so good the original hardcover sells for $247.

Inside, he shared the daily writing routine that helped him write effortless, high-converting copy.

Here's the breakdown: Eugene's secret: he treated his writing like athletes treat going to the gym.

It started with accepting a simple truth:

Writing every day is one of the hardest things in the world.

And so if he wanted to do it consistently, he needed a system that didn't rely on willpower.

8 mental models you can use to actually make decisions (instead of just reading about mental models and staying stuck): Let's start with a harsh truth:

99% of mental models are a waste of time.

And reading about them is nothing but procrastination disguised as productivity.

Why?

Because most aren't actionable.

Luckily, here are 8 you can start using in the next 3 minutes:

The single most *powerful* habit for personal growth:

Daily journaling.

Over the past 5 years, I've journaled every single morning.

And along the way I've tested:

• Over 1,000 questions
• Every app, pen, & notebook

But I always return to a pen, paper, and these 5 prompts: For notebook & pen, I use:

• Muji 0.5 pens
• Leuchtturm1917 soft-covers

(More about these at the end!)

For my prompts, I use:

• The 80/20 Audit
• The Morning Kickstart
• The Evening Shutdown
• The Bottleneck Analysis
• The Compounding Projection

Let's dive into each:

For years, I rushed through my days without any self-awareness.

I repeated the same mistakes. I made zero progress towards my goals.

This all changed when I started my 15-minute End-Of-Day Check-In Survey.

Here are the 5 questions I use (and exactly why I ask them): 1. Rate the day -2 to +2.

I picked this up from Jim Collins.

This simple rating system allows me to end the day with a gauge of how it went.

This lets me track over time:

• How I'm feeling
• And look for patterns for improvement

The Father Of Advertising: David Ogilvy

In 1982, he penned an internal memo to his staff titled "How to Write."

In just 10 bullets he put together a masterclass in effective writing.

Here's a breakdown of each one: The memo starts with a clear *why*:

"The better you write, the higher you will go in Ogilvy & Mather.

People who think well, write well.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well."

Replace "Ogilvy & Mather" with any company and this holds true.

X is a constant stream of free education.

But the algorithm buries all the best posts after 24 hours.

Here are 10 of my favorite posts (written by my friends) from March (these racked up millions of views): 1. @george__mack breaks down why envy is the reason we’re not getting happier as the quality of life improves:

https://twitter.com/2166434343/status/1764274146278519228