designing your business utopia

One of my favorite books on lifestyle design is called “Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers.

If you’re not familiar with Derek…

He’s a musician and entrepreneur who founded the company CD Baby (a music distributor for independent artists) that he later sold for $22 million.

I’ve heard him on various podcasts over the years…

And have always been fascinated by his unique perspective on life and business.

He’s someone who’s not afraid to do things differently.

Or look weird in the eyes of other people.

For example, instead of buying a big house or fancy cars after he sold CD Baby…

He donated the proceeds to a charitable trust…

So the bulk of the money will go towards music education when he dies.

But while he’s alive, the principal grows tax free…

Which allows him to draw $1 million per year in salary to live off without sacrificing the growth of the trust.

I love that.

It’s a totally different approach that reflects his unique values.

Not anyone else’s.

And I’m always trying to approach my business in a similar way.

In fact, in the book, he describes a business as “a little utopia where you control all the laws.”

What’s more:

When you create a utopia for yourself…

It’s bound to be a utopia for other people who share your values too.

I think about this a lot.

Especially when I see coaches and creators Frankenstein their business together from someone else's playbook... then wonder why none of it feels like theirs.

Your business is the one place where your worldview gets to be the law.

Build one worth living in.

That's all I got for ya today ✌️

Jim Hamilton