Useful Not True - Derek Sivers

Another great little book to regularly revisit.

You are your actions. Your beliefs drive you emotions, which drive your actions. So choose beliefs that make you act in the way you'd like to act, be who you'd like to be, or feel at peace. It doesn't matter if those beliefs are true.

Don't hold on to your beliefs too strongly. Different situations require different beliefs, so make it as easy as possible to change them. Come up with different perspectives, ask questions, experiment, until you find one that works for you.

Log

People communicate for social and emotional reasons. That's why people rarely share objective and unbiased facts. They're boring. Nobody bonds over them.

Feelings matter. Get the facts. Feelings and meanings are left. We can change the meaning, which changes how we feel.

Consider what incentives a person has to hold a particular belief. It helps you understand someone, which helps you empathize and connect with them.

Your brain invents explanations so you can believe them.

The only true facts are actions.

Doubt your memory.

Misunderstandings amplify over time.

One story based on one point of view is considered "the past".

Science is often not fact. Science just aims to be less wrong. It's intellectual humility.

Don't worry about the truth. Worry about your actions.

We're held back by meanings we give to information.

My beliefs aren't true.

We rarely reconsider inherited beliefs. Those established during childhood or our formative years. They may have been useful then, but could be problematic now.

All beliefs are make believe. They simply help us take certain actions.

A belief is something you think is true. No proof. If it were proven true, it would no longer be a belief. It would be a fact.

The more emotional the belief, the less likely it is to be true.

I like that belief.

Get past your first thought. Instincts are easily fooled. Use your wisdom.

Choosing beliefs that are not true can help compensate for bias.

Ideas and beliefs are just tools.

Beliefs -> Emotions -> Actions

Choose a belief for the action it creates.

Useful is whatever ultimately helps you do what you need to do, be who you want to be, or feel at peace.

When someone refuses to use a tool because it's not perfect, they're probably not actually doing the work.

True is the enemy of useful.

Meanings are entirely in your mind, but their effect on you is real.

The reverse also works. If a meaning is holding you back, find a way to stop believing it.

You project your own meaning onto things. Nothing has inherent meaning.

Every philosophy is an instrument. Use the right one at the right time.

The hard part of reframing is getting past you first emotional reaction.

You choose how you think and feel.

Control your thoughts or be controlled.

Ask great questions instead of leaning on beliefs. But make sure to answer them.

We resist good ideas that require us to change.

Traits of useful perspectives: direct, energizing, self-reliant, balancing, selfless, selfish, lucid and lasting, test first, healthy, long-term, compensating for bias and prejudice

A choice becomes the best when you choose it.

You need to switch between explorer and leader. When you make a choice, switch to leader and ignore the explorer. Go back when you've reached your destination.

Your choice will be wrong for someone, so don't bother defending it. Just make sure it's right for you right now.

Taking action tests your thought in reality.

You are your actions.

When you realize what you need to do, it doesn't mean that's who you need to be.