If you were to ask different people a question – any question really – you would likely get different answers. Why? The answers would be based on, at a minimum, the knowledge and philosophy of that person. As no two people are quite the same, this would apply to their thinking and response to your questions.

Continuing this logic, if you were to ask one person a single question, you would expect only one answer. Right? One, not 27. The multitude of answers to one particular question, how to live, is the premise of the book aptly titled, How to Live by Derek Sivers.

Sivers is a serial entrepreneur, author and musician whom many people know as the creator of CD Baby. I have been following him and his blog for years, where he shares his opinions on business, tech and life, especially as he has lived in many countries around the world. When How to Live came out, I was intrigued by the topic and picked up a copy from his Web site as he self-published and self-distributed the book.

With a subtitle of “27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion” the book lives up to it, with thorough, well thought-out answers that range in extremes from “do nothing” to “make change” to everything in between. As I read through the answers, I had many takeaways from the book.

It’s good to see things from multiple points of views – This is something that I have recollections of, where I saw all sides of an issue and was able to work a situation to my advantage. On the flip side, there were times I didn’t see an issue from all sides and it came back to bite me or worse yet be an opportunity that slipped away.

The impact of change is relative – When I moved from Boston to Chicago, a friend opined I must have great courage to up and move as I did. I chuckled and responded that it wasn’t courage as much as a desire for a change of scenery, something both my wife and I sought out in our quest to the US Midwest. As I read through the answers in this book, I thought of this and even did a rough measurement of what the impact of might actually be of the answers.

Seek advice but make it your own – I recall a certain comedian/actor known for promoting a certain brand of pudding snacks once saying that when you give someone advice it is now theirs, and what they do with it is up to them and not on you the giver. In all of the answers in How to Live it provides a plethora of suggestions for what you can do, though likely you wouldn’t follow each to the letter.

How to Live is a short (~120 pages), quick and enjoyable read, and one that will get you thinking. Thinking not only of options of how to live your life, but the effort and thought process that went into writing such a book. It’s a good book for anyone to read from teens to well-beyond-teens. As I share all books, I am leaving this at Stateview Commons, the co-working space I currently work from. Perhaps one of my fellow co-workers will find it as interesting as well.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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