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Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing
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A collection of thoughts around re-defining yourself, changing focus, and saying yes to less
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Start your review of Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing
I really enjoyed this book. It's a collection of short chapters with a single, digestible lesson in each. I've found myself referring back to quite a few of these. A book worth re-reading too.
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Derek Sivers explains his writing style as "succinct" - editing to the point there are no extraneous words in his posts. And this book is made of of a bunch of of his posts on the topic of "what's worth doing" (chapters: updating identity, saying no, making things happen, changing perspective, what's worth doing, fixing faulty thinking and saying yes). There are gems in there (which you could have also gotten from reading his blog) and they're conveniently grouped. Probably most useful to re-rea
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Best value per page I've gotten from a book in a long long time. You can read this book in a couple of hours but it's not the kind of book you'd want to finish fast but rather read each bit and contemplate how it applies to your life. It was great help in a special time.
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My favorite modern day thinker
Incredible book. A must read for anyone, a bunch of incredibly applicable life lessons. I made a cheeky thread of the main take home messages here: https://twitter.com/yathprem/status/1...
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A collection of essays by Derek that you can find on his website. While at times Derek pushes a bit far into the cult of self (there is no objective right or wrong, it's just whatever you think) a lot of his essays are great thought experiments and exercises to get us out of a rut of lazy thinking. Well worth a read, and best done in short spurts rather than straight through.
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You have to read this gem book!
It's a collection of blogs covering multiple life lessons and things Derek has learned from his past experiences.
It's a short book, go read it! Still, in case you are looking for notes.
You can find them here - https://www.mohitkhare.com/blog/notes... ...more
It's a collection of blogs covering multiple life lessons and things Derek has learned from his past experiences.
It's a short book, go read it! Still, in case you are looking for notes.
You can find them here - https://www.mohitkhare.com/blog/notes... ...more
Random dump of loosely connected short articles being anecdotal at best, with little if any relevance to the main topic. Lost time and money, not recommending at all.
A few interesting insights surrounded by an ocean of drivel. Mercifully brief.
When one struggles with what's worth doing, it often seems like a terrible conundrum. This book makes it seem like maybe, possibly, it could be less of one. Or a solvable quandary at the very least. Full of earnest and delightful quotes, this is the type of book I'd like to have at my nightstand to flip through before bed.
With the consoling essence of a warm cup of tea and a tart zing of inspiration, Sivers seems like that off-beat high school friend who you could always go to for an absolutely ...more
With the consoling essence of a warm cup of tea and a tart zing of inspiration, Sivers seems like that off-beat high school friend who you could always go to for an absolutely ...more
Derek Sivers never fails to impress me with his succinct and insight-dense writing. He somehow manages to distill the essence of a complex (and usually contrarian) idea into a few pages at most. This is truly rare, and something that I admire and strive to learn from.
This book isn't really a book, rather a collection of essays from his blog over the years. However, the essays all have a unifying theme, the timbre of which is felt throughout. From Sivers' essay of the same title:
This book isn't really a book, rather a collection of essays from his blog over the years. However, the essays all have a unifying theme, the timbre of which is felt throughout. From Sivers' essay of the same title:
When deciding whe...more
Derek Sivers popularized the philosophy "Hell Yeah or No", but this book goes beyond that. It is a collection of life advice in the form of short concise chapters, each of which has a lesson or mental model that you can think about how to apply to your own life.
Some of my favorites are:
1) There are always more than 2 options in life. Never think that you only have a binary choice.
2) When you feel unmotivated, do the dull tasks you've been putting off. You won't mind as much and it'll get you i ...more
Some of my favorites are:
1) There are always more than 2 options in life. Never think that you only have a binary choice.
2) When you feel unmotivated, do the dull tasks you've been putting off. You won't mind as much and it'll get you i ...more
There is a lot of good stuff in Sivers' book. I read it as a long series of productivity hacks for achieving more of what one wants out of life. In this reading, the book has some merit. It forces one to reconsider what one wants to achieve and what one is actually doing to achieve those things. I found some useful content here.
However, there is another aspect to the book that troubles me. Sivers' book seems representative of a certain life philosophy where personal growth is the cornerstone of ...more
However, there is another aspect to the book that troubles me. Sivers' book seems representative of a certain life philosophy where personal growth is the cornerstone of ...more
Great book by one of my favorite speakers (and now favorite authors). Derek has a great ability to question that which is the norm and offer counter points to balance against. Short and to the point, really recommended!
Refreshing collection of short stories from a different perspective in the category of "self-help".
Took like 45min to read through it and will be something I revisit from time to time when I want to make a big decision or re-evaluate a core tenet of my life ...more
Took like 45min to read through it and will be something I revisit from time to time when I want to make a big decision or re-evaluate a core tenet of my life ...more
Found this author through his amazingly narrated youtube video "How to start a movement" featuring a dancing shirtless guy.
This read was so refreshing. I stopped myself from reading his book in one sitting, hoping to savour this read for longer.
Will definitely re-read this from time to to time! ...more
This read was so refreshing. I stopped myself from reading his book in one sitting, hoping to savour this read for longer.
Will definitely re-read this from time to to time! ...more
No digging required.
The gold nuggets are quickly and easily accessible in short snippets from every page. Lifetimes worth of advice distilled into 126 pages. The work is in the doing.
The gold nuggets are quickly and easily accessible in short snippets from every page. Lifetimes worth of advice distilled into 126 pages. The work is in the doing.
This was really exciting to read especially as I am interviewing for roles. Helps me understand that I am interviewing potential future employers not just saying yes to the first employer to offer me a contract.
If you've been reading Derek's blog closely, a lot of the chapters & stories in this book will be familiar.
Clear & succinct. Since there's not a lot of words, it won't take much to go through this book beyond the times that you take pause to reflect.
Full of good ideas to chew on, full of treats. Derek's superskill of looking at things in a novel way is on full display 👌 ...more
Clear & succinct. Since there's not a lot of words, it won't take much to go through this book beyond the times that you take pause to reflect.
Full of good ideas to chew on, full of treats. Derek's superskill of looking at things in a novel way is on full display 👌 ...more
A pleasure from the first page until the last.
More like a series of blog posts than a book, it is a collection of some of the author random thoughts. I liked few of them, agreed with some of the others and disregarded the rest.
This book makes you want to transcribe what ever crosses your mind into a bunch of pages znd publish them to get some passive income.
This book makes you want to transcribe what ever crosses your mind into a bunch of pages znd publish them to get some passive income.
Saw this book being recommend by a bunch of people I follow on Twitter which made me take a look into it. Ended up buying it to see what the fuss was all about and because the overall theme of it probably resonates with me at this point in time.
I enjoyed it but somehow felt flat on me, mostly because I already agreed a lot with most of its content (as in it didn't generate any new insight) or because the overall structure of a bunch of blogposts compiled into a book is not the kind of book I lik ...more
I enjoyed it but somehow felt flat on me, mostly because I already agreed a lot with most of its content (as in it didn't generate any new insight) or because the overall structure of a bunch of blogposts compiled into a book is not the kind of book I lik ...more
I like Derek's style of writing. It is very concise, and therefore the takeaways per hour that you read are very high.
Lessons that resonate:
Some will always say you're wrong - https://sivers.org/wrong
When your believes don't match the stereotype people get concused (for example: the enterpreneur who's not into money).
"If you expect criticism in advance and take pride in your unusual stance, you can bash on with a smile, being who you want to be."
I'm a very slow thinker - https://sivers.org/s ...more
Lessons that resonate:
Some will always say you're wrong - https://sivers.org/wrong
When your believes don't match the stereotype people get concused (for example: the enterpreneur who's not into money).
"If you expect criticism in advance and take pride in your unusual stance, you can bash on with a smile, being who you want to be."
I'm a very slow thinker - https://sivers.org/s ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is simple, even from the cover and design. But for such a (seemingly) lack of style, it has substance.
I got to know of Derek from his short book summaries on his blog, recommended by another author who probably was James Clear. At that point I only briefly understood that he was an entrepreneur, founding CD Baby, which I knew back then from my internship at a startup music record label in Stockholm. Then I stumbled upon this book somewhere, looked up the author and realized it was that ...more
I got to know of Derek from his short book summaries on his blog, recommended by another author who probably was James Clear. At that point I only briefly understood that he was an entrepreneur, founding CD Baby, which I knew back then from my internship at a startup music record label in Stockholm. Then I stumbled upon this book somewhere, looked up the author and realized it was that ...more
If you want to learn more about the benefits of imitation, how deliberate changing of your environment can change your thinking, and how changing your context in any aspect of life can help you gain inspiration, then this is the book for you. I have always really liked the pop philosophy that Derek Sivers provides in his talks and books and he again knocks it out of the park in this book. I would suggest this book to two types of people, the first being someone who wants to read or learn more fr
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Hell Yeah or No is a saying I believed I said to many things, but until I read through this book, I realized I wasn't saying it enough.
Much of the book represented a journey of challenging the status quo, interrupting your own patterns, and asking yourself better questions.
It reminds me of the Power of Myth stories about the various actors who are seen as evil in one perspective, but good in another perspective. "Hell Yeah or No" has a fun play on words which to me represents Lucifer's fall from ...more
Much of the book represented a journey of challenging the status quo, interrupting your own patterns, and asking yourself better questions.
It reminds me of the Power of Myth stories about the various actors who are seen as evil in one perspective, but good in another perspective. "Hell Yeah or No" has a fun play on words which to me represents Lucifer's fall from ...more
I love the simple, digestible and yet entertaining writing style of Derek Sivers. While "Anything you want" has tons of small stories on business, "Hell Yeah or No" is the equivalent applied to life & decision making.
Some random learnings which Sivers exemplifies with small life stories:
- Great goals impact your present, not the future: if you don't pursue a long set goal, it's probably not really your goal.
- Inspiration doesn't 'come to you' - you create it by putting what you hear/read/learn ...more
Some random learnings which Sivers exemplifies with small life stories:
- Great goals impact your present, not the future: if you don't pursue a long set goal, it's probably not really your goal.
- Inspiration doesn't 'come to you' - you create it by putting what you hear/read/learn ...more
I LOVE Sivers's writing style. He does a brilliant job distilling concepts into easily digestible, thought provoking, no fluff concepts. It's rare to find an author who uses 100 words to describe a concept that takes 100 words instead of 1,000. Hell Yea or No is thought provoking on both a personal level and business level. My only negative feedback is I think Sivers's is flat out wrong a lot. I sometimes think he represents a point of view to pull people in a direction but doesn't actually agre
...more
Sivers writes these very concise essays that beautifully get to the point in a page, page and a half. That takes skill, to distill lessons and storytelling to such short clips, yet still have valuable things to say, not just aphorisms or repeating the same old thing.
I admire the philosophy behind the book: it is designed for maximum sharing. He sells it for a one-time content charge, then only charges cost on any future paper copies you buy. Each essay in the book includes a short URL so you can ...more
I admire the philosophy behind the book: it is designed for maximum sharing. He sells it for a one-time content charge, then only charges cost on any future paper copies you buy. Each essay in the book includes a short URL so you can ...more
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I’ve been a musician, producer, circus performer, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and book publisher.
I started CDBaby and HostBaby long ago. My short audio/book, Anything You Want, tells you everything I learned while starting, growing, and selling the business.
Monomaniac, introvert, slow thinker, and love finding a different point of view.
California native, I now live in Oxford, England.
I love heari ...more
I started CDBaby and HostBaby long ago. My short audio/book, Anything You Want, tells you everything I learned while starting, growing, and selling the business.
Monomaniac, introvert, slow thinker, and love finding a different point of view.
California native, I now live in Oxford, England.
I love heari ...more
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“People often ask me what they can do to be moresuccessful. I say disconnect. Even if just for a few hours. Unplug. Turn off your phone and Wi-Fi. Focus. Write. Practice. Create. That’s what’s rare and valuable these
days.
You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming.”
—
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days.
You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming.”
“Learning without doing is wasted. If I don’t use what I learn, then it was pointless! How horrible to waste those hundreds of hours I spent learning, and not turn it into action.”
—
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