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Deep dives, smart tips, and inspiring stories to be calmer, work smarter, and communicate better brought to you by Niklas Goeke, Michael Thompson, Nick Wignall, and friends.

10 Lessons from Derek Sivers on Writing, Creativity, and Personal Growth

His entire book catalog is free until October 18. Here’s what I learned from it

12 min readOct 13, 2025

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Image: “Girl sitting at a writing table” by Malcolm Drummond (1919)

Enjoy complimentary access to this article.

If you’re the first person in your family working as an entrepreneur, artist, or author, you are doing something really difficult. You are like a first generation immigrant of sorts. It is the complete opposite of the parent-child duo who can perform on stage together, or do an art show together. Your parents will practice different crafts. They can help you with many things; however, they will have trouble believing that working as an artist as a profession is possible.

If you look further, you will find the mentorship you need from someone else. This might come from a role model early on in your life who makes things vivid for you. You don’t need to meet them in-person to learn from them though. Through their words, an author can reach across time and space to offer you their guidance.

I didn’t grow up with any writers or editors in my family, which makes me a first generation author. In order to learn, I’ve read a lot of books. I’ve ever professionally reviewed them when I worked full-time at Lifehacker.

has written some of the best I’ve ever read and…

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Deep dives, smart tips, and inspiring stories to be calmer, work smarter, and communicate better brought to you by Niklas Goeke, Michael Thompson, Nick Wignall, and friends.

Herbert Lui
Herbert Lui

Written by Herbert Lui

Covering the psychology of creative work for content creators, professionals, hobbyists, and independents. Author of Creative Doing: https://www.holloway.com/cd

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