đź“š Hell Yeah or No Book Review
I recently read Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers. Derek labels himself as someone who’s been a “musician, producer, circus performer, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and book publisher.” He frequently writes on his blog and has a podcast. “Hell Yeah or No” is a collection of his writings, made into chapters, and organized into sections. The book is about life, about what’s worth doing, saying no and saying yes, fixing faulty thinking, and making things happen. Everything in this book is freely available online, you can read the entire book on his website.
I’ve consumed Derek’s work for years. I’ve read most of his blog, listened to all of his podcasts, and read his first book. So, it was only natural that I’d read his latest book. Although there’s nothing “new” in this book, Derek’s writings are worth re-reading, regularly. His writings are, as he puts it, a “counterpoint meant to complement the popular point”. I’m happy I took the time to re-read Derek’s work and I’ll continue to read everything that Derek publishes.
Since each chapter stands on its own, I want to highlight a few of my favorite chapters below.
“How you do anything is how you do everything. It all matters.”
“Say no to almost everything. … Saying no makes your yes more powerful.”
“You can do everything you want to do. You just need foresight and patience.”
“If we hate doing something, we think of it as hard. We picture it having many annoying steps. If we love doing something, it seems simple.”
“To assume you’re below average is to admit you’re still learning.”
“The purpose of goals is not to improve the future. … Judge a goal by how well it changes your actions in the present moment.”
“Legendary psychologist Abraham Maslow said it well: “Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth). Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.””
My rating is a 9 out of 10.