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    Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing
    Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing
    Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing

    By Derek Sivers

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Useful wisdom. Simple profound mental models to guide your decisions.


    Overwhelmed? If you feel anything less than "hell yeah!" about something, say no. We say yes too often. By saying no to almost everything, you leave space and time in your life to throw yourself completely into the

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHit Media
    Release dateMay 1, 2022
    ISBN9781988575070
    Author

    Derek Sivers

    After making a living as a professional musician, Derek Sivers went looking for ways to sell his own CD online and ended up creating CD Baby, once the largest seller of independent music on the web with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. Since 2008, Derek has traveled the world and stayed busy creating and nurturing creative endeavors, like Muckwork, his newest company where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their “uncreative dirty work.” Derek writes regularly on creativity, entrepreneurship, and music on his blog: https://sivers.org/.

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    Reviews for Hell Yeah or No

    4.5/5

    14 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A great read and a quick one. Occasionally, the advice goes against conventional wisdom and that I love. A great book to keep close at hand and open to a random page. The “universe” might just give you the right boot of inspiration one needs to hear.
    • 5/5
      Short, sweet, and also familiar. Derek has the ability of pointing out nuggets of wisdom that go unnoticed by us busy, inexperienced folk. I will definitely re-read the highlights and bookmarks I made from this book. Perfect for those starting out, confused in making a major life decision, and creatives.

    Book preview

    Hell Yeah or No - Derek Sivers

    book cover

    Hell Yeah or No

    what’s worth doing

    Derek Sivers

    Copyright © 2020 by Sivers Inc

    All rights reserved

    Editor: Catherine Oliver

    Producer: Saeah Lee Wood

    Hell Yeah or No

    Hit Media logo

    Hit Media

    OPENING

    About this book

    UPDATING IDENTITY

    What if you didn’t need money or attention?

    You don’t have to be local

    Actions, not words, reveal our real values

    Keep earning your title, or it expires

    Why are you doing?

    Some will always say you’re wrong

    Imitate. We are imperfect mirrors.

    Loving what I used to hate

    The public you is not you

    Character predicts your future

    Fish don’t know they’re in water

    Are you present-focused or future-focused?

    Small actions change your self-identity

    SAYING NO

    If you’re not feeling hell yeah! then say no

    Saying no to everything else

    Art is useless, and so am I

    I’m a very slow thinker

    Tilting my mirror (motivation is delicate)

    Quitting something you love

    How will this game end?

    Solitary socialite

    Getting out of a bad state of mind

    MAKING THINGS HAPPEN

    There’s no speed limit

    Relax for the same result

    Disconnect

    Unlikely places and untangled goals

    When you’re extremely unmotivated

    Think like a bronze medalist, not silver

    Imagining lots of tedious steps? Or one fun step?

    Procrastination hack: change and to or

    There are always more than two options

    Beware of advice

    Switch strategies

    Don’t be a donkey

    CHANGING PERSPECTIVE

    I assume I’m below average

    Everything is my fault

    I love being wrong

    Singing the counter-melody

    What are the odds of that?

    two three four ONE, two three four ONE

    232 sand dollars

    My favorite fable

    WHAT’S WORTH DOING?

    Obvious to you. Amazing to others.

    Happy, Smart, and Useful

    How to do what you love and make good money

    What do you hate not doing?

    You don’t need confidence, just contribution.

    Let pedestrians define the walkways

    Don’t start a business until people are asking you to

    Parenting : Who is it really for?

    OK Milt, I’ll start writing again

    FIXING FAULTY THINKING

    Unlearning

    Subtract

    Smart people don’t think others are stupid

    The mirror: It’s about you, not them.

    Assume men and women are the same

    Moving for good

    Learning the lesson, not the example.

    Overcompensate to compensate

    Projecting meaning

    SAYING YES

    After fifteen years of practice

    Goals shape the present, not the future.

    Seeking inspiration?

    Possible futures

    If you think you haven’t found your passion…

    Whatever scares you, go do it

    OPENING

    About this book

    About this book

    In my first book, Anything You Want, I told the story of how I started, grew, and sold my company.

    As part of selling the company, I signed a non-compete agreement that said I couldn’t do the one thing I’d been doing since I was twenty-seven years old. So I had to make a real change in my life.

    I thought a lot about what’s worth doing, fixing faulty thinking, and making things happen. For the next ten years, I wrote for hours a day in my private journal, asking myself questions and answering them. When these thoughts seemed useful to others, I’d turn them into articles, which are now the chapters of this book.

    I write succinctly because I’m only introducing ideas. You can apply them to your life better than I can. But if you want to hear more thoughts or talk about them, go to the URL at the end of each chapter: (sivers.org/_____) There you’ll find many interesting comments about that idea, and you can post your own.

    Or just say hello at sive.rs/contact I love hearing from people who have found my work. I reply to every email.

    — Derek Sivers, Oxford, England, 2019

    UPDATING IDENTITY

    What if you didn’t need money or attention?

    You don’t have to be local

    Actions, not words, reveal our real values

    Keep earning your title, or it expires

    Why are you doing?

    Some will always say you’re wrong

    Imitate. We are imperfect mirrors.

    Loving what I used to hate

    The public you is not you

    Character predicts your future

    Fish don’t know they’re in water

    Are you present-focused or future-focused?

    Small actions change your self-identity

    What if you didn’t need money or attention?

    You know that feeling you have after a big meal? When you’re so full that you don’t want anything more?

    Ever wonder what that would feel like in other parts of your life?

    We do so many things for the attention, to feel important or praised. But what if you had so much attention and so much praise that you couldn’t possibly want any more? What would you do then? What would you stop doing?

    We do so many things for the money, whether we need it or not. But what if you had so much money that you couldn’t possibly want any more? What would you do then? What would you stop doing?

    And then if you stopped doing all these things you’re doing just for the money or the attention, what would be left? Who would you be if you didn’t do these things? If you were completely satiated, then what? After an understandable period of relaxing, what would you pursue?

    Don’t say sit around and do nothing, because that’s still just relaxing. I mean after that, when you’re ready to be useful to others again.

    What would you do then, if you didn’t need the money and didn’t need the attention?

    You don’t have to be local

    You can focus your time locally or globally.

    If you’re local, you focus on your community, doing things in-person. But this means you have less time to focus on the rest of the world.

    If you’re global, you make things for the whole world. But this means you have less time to be part of your local community.

    Neither approach is right or wrong, but you need to be aware of the trade-off.

    I lived in Woodstock, New York for three years. There I started my company, entirely online. I never met anyone in Woodstock. I just lived there, but didn’t socialize there. My attention was focused globally, which helped my business grow quickly.

    Then I lived in Portland, Oregon for three years. I worked every waking hour — super productive. I made great friends worldwide, but I never hung out in Portland. It was just my place to work and sleep. My attention was still focused globally.

    Then I lived

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