The Power of Changing Your Mind: A Case Study in Success

I used to think it’s bad to change your mind. “He doesn’t know what he wants” is what most people think when you change your mind. 

But who cares!? It can actually be good for you to change your thoughts. Derek Sivers is a great example of that. If you don’t know Derek, he’s one of my favorite modern-day thinkers. In 1997, he founded a company called CD Baby. That company still exists today.

But Derek sold it in 2008 and eventually became a respected author, blogger, and speaker. In our conversation on my podcast, Derek told me he always changes his mind: 

After he sold his company, he had enough money to retire. He thought about changing his name and living an anonymous life. But instead of changing his name, he changed his mind. He did the exact opposite of what he initially thought. But there’s one important thing to realize.

Own it when you change your mind

If you’re someone who always changes their thoughts, so what? Own it. If you’re the opposite, own that. The risk of changing your thoughts is that you allow others to influence your thinking. 

It’s obvious that the world changes fast. Especially right now. That means we need to adapt all the time. So it’s completely normal to change your thoughts. I’ve probably thought differently more over the last year than usual.

But here’s another thing: YOU also change all the time. If you learn a lot, you’re probably not the same person you were a year, month, week, and even a day ago. So if you think about it more deeply, it’s weird if you never have new thoughts or ideas. It’s the opposite of what most people think.

“Changing your mind means you don’t know what you want.” Really? I don’t think so. It’s more like this: “It’s a sign that you’re learning.” 

You see? It’s all a matter of perspective. I just changed my mind on changing your mind. What did you change about today?

Listen to my full conversation with Derek Sivers:

iTunes · Spotify · Google Play Music · Stitcher · Overcast