Review & Rating: 9/10

Hell Yeah or No is a compilation of essays from Derek Sivers’s blog curated to help the reader figure out what’s worth doing. I don’t know if they are identical copies or if Derek made slight tweaks for the book version. The blog is free so I could’ve found a way to get the same information for free. But the curation by the writer is something I’m happy to pay for. 

I read Derek Siver’s Anything You Want every year since picking it up for the first time. It wasn’t a pre-meditated annual task. I somehow found myself holding the small book once a year and I realize I did the same thing the year before. So, when Hell Yeah or No came out, it was as if a book I had been waiting for without knowing had finally arrived. 

The book follows the same pattern as his writing style—minimal, brief, and to the point. It was an easy read because each chapter was so short. It was also a short book. But the sheer number of thoughts I had to jot down from each chapter made the journey one to savour–not rush through in excitement. 

I think I will reread this book multiple times in the future. Its succinct nature gives it the practicality of an instruction manual while the wit and cadence give off an encouraging yet stern tone—like hard truths that don’t feel so hard when a close friend delivers them. 

Much of the book’s messages could be boiled down to the following principles: less is more, fear is the mind-killer, do what scares you, do what you can’t do without, overcompensate to reach equilibrium, small action defines all, and consistent iteration above all else. None of this might make sense to you. But it does to me and maybe it will for you too if you read the book. 

One thing to keep in mind when reading the book is to approach it with a “take it or leave it” mindset. There is no continuing fluidity with the various advice in the essays. Each essay is a tool to be used for different problems for different people. 

I came away disagreeing on some, agreeing on others, and without opinion on many. I learned I was making trade-offs I didn’t know I was making and it was nice to be forced to get honest with myself and accept the tradeoffs I had made. 

If you didn’t read the book but wanted something to take out of it, I think the most important message would be the following:

You know that thing that scares you? Go do it. Better to regret having done something than to regret not having done anything. You can’t learn from the things you haven’t done. 

Book Notes:

Who would you be if you didn’t do things for money or attention? What would you pursue after your month on the beach? 

Local or global, there is no right answer. Scale it, niche it, all the advice is wrong because they aren’t you in this specific moment in time. 

Your actions reveal what your words won’t say. If it was important, you would’ve done it. Our actions show what we really want and our values. 

Start doing what we think is important and we’ll see if they truly are aligned with the priorities and values we’ve set for ourselves. 

Retire outdated titles. Learn to let go of the past instead of anchoring on past achievements and relying on them to form your identity. What are you now? Look at what you are doing. 

Be honest with your goal. Then optimize for it by letting everything else go. if you choose money, let go of everything else that won’t help you maximize earning money. There are no wrong goals, just improper execution for the goal. 

Realize what you want through trial and error, admit it to yourself, and optimize for it. 

Someone will always say you’re wrong because it won’t make sense to THEM. The faster you accept this the better. Every time someone says you’re wrong, look at it as a sign you are right. 

Copy those you admire since you’ll never copy them perfectly. It’ll always be your interpretation of them that you copy. 

We are what we repeatedly do. Small actions form our character. 

The world treats you the way you treat yourself and that’s determined by your actions. It only takes the smallest series of actions to make all the difference. Life often is formed by many small decisions instead of one large decision. The rhythms are life are invisible to the naked eye. 

What we choose to do will change how we think about ourselves. Action is what changes our self-identity. 

Less is more. Think either Hell Yes! or No. If the opportunity doesn’t invoke hell yes, then it’s a no. 

Decide to stop deciding by using Hell Yeah or No. Use it to figure out what’s worth doing. 

Yes to one thing and no to everything else. No to all distractions until you’re done what you set out to do. 

Art is inherently useless. It’s not useful like a tool. Some people make tools. But movies, books, writing, and all forms of art are useless compared to a vehicle that transports, code that computes, or a fork for eating. It’s wonderful to accept this. Change your mindset around thinking goals should focus on only “useful” things or that useful or useless translates to good/bad or worth/not-worth doing. Choose to do useless things! It’ll move culture forward and people will make useful things to fit that culture. 

Quit comfort zones to grow. Move cities and countries. Quit comfortable jobs to figure out something else. Quit comfort to live. 

Don’t rush decisions. Take your time. Say no to environments that rush you. The more you say no, the more time you accumulate and the higher your standards get to eventually do the one great thing with plenty of time—to do it well. 

The standard pace is for chumps. The driven will find a way to do more things faster than everyone else. 

Turn off your wifi and focus on the work. What’s scarce is disconnecting. Focus is rare while connection is overrated. 

Untangle your old dreams and mental associations from the result you really want. Most are reasons to procrastinate. Either that or we haven’t done the work to really hone in on what we think we want. 

Compare down to rid the self of envy. 

“Or” instead of “And” for decision criteria. As long as one of the conditions are met, do it. Don’t make it hard by requiring the perfect condition of “and”s. 

Add more options to A and B. Add “Do Nothing” and “Go Insane” and don’t stop there. There are more options than we think. 

Only you know what to do. Let go of advice. 

Assume you’re below average at everything. It helps let go of past accomplishments and take a learner’s stance on everything. Most people don’t bother doing anything because they don’t think they’ll be great at it. It stems from a belief they are actually better than others—a lack of humility. But if you are below average, there is only up so give it a whirl! 

Everyone is figuring things out and making it up as they go. 

When you’re wrong, you learn.

Take ownership. Accept everything as your fault and go from there. 

Every genius idea felt ordinary and obvious to the creator. It’s all a matter of execution and quieting external voices (i.e. doubt). We’re poor judges of our own creations. I think there is no proper way to “judge” creative work. It all depends on the individuals who consume the work. 

What’s worth doing? Well, ask yourself what’s something you hate NOT doing. What nags at your soul when you don’t do it? 

Time spent doing something is time spent not doing something else. We make tradeoffs with every decision.

“The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” - Alvin Toffler

Focus. Stay away from time wasters. Say no to most. Let go of limiting beliefs. 

Subtract. Less baggage, less consumption, less everything. 

“There are no smart people or stupid people, just people being smart or being stupid.” 

It’s about what the art means to me, not who the artist is and how they lived. I can love a book for the book and prefer not to ever meet the author or know anything about him. 

Surprise means learning. Move away from comfort. Seek the unknown and most unlike what fits your old belief system.

Think in metaphors. Remember the latticework of mental models. Learn to use principles from unrelated disciplines into all manners of application. That’s the advantage. Everyone seeks the direct path. 

Change requires overcompensation. Go extreme. Most people aren’t extreme enough. 

If you need motivation to execute on a goal, it’s a bad goal. Let it go. A great goal would’ve moved you in action already. Goals should move you forward. They aren’t about the result but tools to get you moving on a journey. 

“Judge a goal by how well it changes your actions in the present moment.” 

Great goals result in immediate action and bad goals result in action someday. Great goals are so specific we can almost touch it. You can’t be distracted by the present obligation when it’s a great goal. 

Your work is the inspiration. It’s where you breathe out all the inspiration you’ve breathed in from the world. It’s the vessel for applying all that you’ve taken in. Application is always required. That’s how the equation is made complete. 

Focus on what excites you and scares you from small moment to moment. Take notice of them and let your subconscious guide you. Do what both terrifies and intrigues you. That thing that feels so scary and crazy and weird for someone like YOU to be doing. 

“Whatever scares you, go do it.” 

Fear is a form of excitement. Do what excites you. 

“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.” - Abraham Maslow