Your Music and People: Creative and Considerate Fame

Derek Sivers

In 2020, I had the privilege of reviewing the French translation of Derek Sivers’ book. I will tell you, at the outset, that my compensation was to have a free electronic copy. Which I was hoping for… because I found it very interesting.

Remember, I already told you about him: What is a “Now page”?

I discovered this person in Tim Ferriss’ book “Tribe of mentors”. Derek Sivers is one of these mentors.

One day, I subscribed to Mr. Sivers’ email list as I often do for my favourite blogs. And, surprise, he wrote me back! This is his very special way of determining whether you are a robot. At first, I thought HE was the robot! I didn’t know it at that time, but he makes it a point to answer all his emails.

Chat with Derek Sivers

We exchanged a few times. One day, he asked me to take part in the revision of the translation of his book. 

His request honoured me but I had to hesitate. As an optometrist, I was off work because of the pandemic. Little did I know that the lockdown would be so long in Quebec.

When I commit to something, I want to make sure I finish it. And in this case, I wanted to be sure I could finish the job. But Derek knew how many pages his book was.

 

Votre musique et les gens de Derek Sivers(crédit photo Phrenssynnes)

The book Your Music and the People

So, he sent me the work to do. Only to discover that his writing style is very succinct. His writing process seems quite laborious, but it results in an incredible outcome.

Not a word too many.

 I love the subtitle: Success with tact and creativity.

 

It’s inspiring and reflects Sivers’s philosophy.

This is not the sort of book I read at “my age”. To be honest, without giving away the state secret that it is, I can tell I’m old enough to lie about my kids’ ages!

Despite this, I learned from this book. The tips in Derek Sivers’ book have helped me with my blog.

Also, all these principles are consistent with my personal and professional life experience.

I found Derek Sivers’ book to be a good read. Our society, indeed our world, needs leaders who value tact over intimidation. Don’t you agree with everything we see on social media these days?

Divided into eleven chapters, it talks about delicacy, people, and the business world. Important things, like resourcefulness and instinct. It de-dramatizes marketing, business and profitability for those who are allergic to it.

 

Quotes

We desperately need certainty, so we want someone to tell us what will happen. But that’s impossible. No one can know. […] Instead, forget about predictions, and focus on what doesn’t change. We know that there will always be gravity and that the water will always be wet: some things always stay the same.

Derek Sivers.

I’m the type of person who often borrows books from the library, but there are some I buy. Those are the ones I want to look at again if I like them. Your Music and People is one of those.

If you want to discover the secrets of success, Your Music and People is a must-read book. This volume is for you, even if you are not a musician or an artist. Read it, especially if you are a young entrepreneur or starting out in your career.

The book is available on Derek Sivers’ blog (sive.rs).

What about you? Did you know this author? I look forward to your comments.

Phrenssynnes

P.S. The author and publishers mentioned were not made aware of this project before publication.

Edith Wharton, who the hell is Edith Wharton

I chose to talk to you about Edith Wharton because I like to read the works of American women novelists.  I discovered her in this book offered by my sister or my parents during one of my birthdays.

Who is Edith Wharton?

First of all, she was born in New York in 1862 and died in France at the age of seventy-five. Her family belonged to the New York high society; her maiden name is Edith Newbold Jones. She spent a large part of her childhood in Europe.

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