How to Live
How to Live by Derek Siversby Derek Sivers
Shares rank 16 of 22 self-help books by recommenders
People recommend it as distilled wisdom in a choose-your-own-adventure format, offering guiding principles rather than rigid rules.
People recommend it as distilled wisdom in a choose-your-own-adventure format, offering guiding principles rather than rigid rules.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Distilled wisdom in short form
“Think of it as a distilled wisdom and a choose your own adventure book”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “We've made the world too complicated” “he's much better than almost everyone at destillation”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “We've made the world too complicated” Guiding principles rather than rules
“Its more of a guiding principle that drives rather than divides.”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “The Future of Everything Is Lies, I Guess: Where Do We Go from Here?” Strongly recommended by readers
“How to Live by Derek Sivers (very very good)”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
Other self-help books people recommend
The four most recommended other self-help books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie | 67 | 25 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Atomic Habitsby James Clear | 20 | 2 | 91% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Easy Way to Stop Smokingby Allen Carr | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David Burns | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| How to Liveby Derek SiversThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“he's much better than almost everyone at destillation”
“Think of it as a distilled wisdom and a choose your own adventure book”
“Its more of a guiding principle that drives rather than divides.”
“How to Live by Derek Sivers (very very good)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.