# How to Live by Derek Sivers

3 Hacker News commenters recommended How to Live by Derek Sivers and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as distilled wisdom in a choose-your-own-adventure format, offering guiding principles rather than rigid rules.

## Why people recommend it

- Distilled wisdom in short form (2 comments): "Think of it as a distilled wisdom and a choose your own adventure book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48162504)) "he's much better than almost everyone at destillation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48162702))
- Guiding principles rather than rules (1 comments): "Its more of a guiding principle that drives rather than divides." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47801258))
- Strongly recommended by readers (1 comments): "How to Live by Derek Sivers (very very good)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46474428))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people.md): 67 recommend
- [Atomic Habits by James Clear](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atomic-habits.md): 20 recommend
- [The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr](https://hackerapproved.com/p/easy-way-to-stop-smoking.md): 9 recommend
- [Feeling Good by David Burns](https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-good.md): 8 recommend
- [The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-of-money-getting.md): 8 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1991152337?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781991152336) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "How to Live by Derek Sivers", https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-live/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).