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Hell Yeah or No: What's Worth Doing
A collection of thoughts around re-defining yourself, changing focus, and saying yes to less
122 pages, ebook
First published July 12, 2020
398 people are currently reading
12276 people want to read
About the author
Derek Sivers
64 books1,509 followersDerek Sivers is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising quotable insights and pithy succinct writing style.
Formerly a musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, he sold his first company for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.
Sivers’ books (How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want) and newest projects are at his website: https://sive.rs/
Formerly a musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, he sold his first company for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.
Sivers’ books (How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want) and newest projects are at his website: https://sive.rs/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 496 reviews
October 27, 2020
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.
August 13, 2021
The book "Hell Yeah or No" by Derek Sivers is genuinely thought-provoking and fun to read or listen to.
The book's philosophy goes like this: when you have the opportunity to do something, anything, with your time, it needs to be a 'hell yes' or a 'no' — nothing in between. The reasoning is this: if you say yes to the things that are not that important, you won't have time for the hell yeah stuff in your life. The more you say no to something, the more time, energy, and focus you will have for the things that will excite you.
I can especially recommend the audio version of the book. At first, I thought the audio effects were a bit much, but the more I listen, the more I found them enjoyable.
I can recommend this book to everyone; it is a fun and thoughtful book.
The book's philosophy goes like this: when you have the opportunity to do something, anything, with your time, it needs to be a 'hell yes' or a 'no' — nothing in between. The reasoning is this: if you say yes to the things that are not that important, you won't have time for the hell yeah stuff in your life. The more you say no to something, the more time, energy, and focus you will have for the things that will excite you.
I can especially recommend the audio version of the book. At first, I thought the audio effects were a bit much, but the more I listen, the more I found them enjoyable.
I can recommend this book to everyone; it is a fun and thoughtful book.
February 3, 2021
My favorite modern day thinker
June 3, 2023
I always read this kind of books with high expectations and wait for that life-changing moment that unfortunately never comes. This was a quick read so I don't regret reading it but I think I have read it all before that the impact it has on me is very minimal. The title says that we should go for things that make us feel hell yeah but it doesn't say how to do that. I wish it expanded on that aspect.
January 9, 2022
Take 20 self-help books, make notes, extract highlights. Turn them into a short chapters and make readers think about them and you get this book. Sivers is my instant favourite author. No superfluous word. Dense, witty, important.
August 9, 2020
A few interesting insights surrounded by an ocean of drivel. Mercifully brief.
August 8, 2020
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-read every once in a while rather than in just one sit. Buying the book is mostly helpful in sustaining Sivers' work.
August 11, 2020
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...
August 22, 2020
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.
February 1, 2025
This is the second book by Derek Sivers that I have read. What both books have in common is that their chapters are relatively short and concise. I feel like there is a lot of wisdom and experience of life distilled in Sivers' writing. What is interesting that all of the chapters of both books, also exist as articles on his personal blog, which is great for sharing them with friends. I liked How to Live: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion a bit more, as it was more focused and the overarching theme connecting the chapters was clearer. This book felt more like a loose collection of articles. There were nonetheless many interesting insights and ideas, and the stories Sivers tells are always very captivating.
I want to just briefly offer one of the ideas presented in the book which connects to some things that I have currently been thinking about:
"All the best, happiest, and most creatively productive times in my life have something in common: being disconnected... Silence is a great canvas for your thoughts. That vacuum helps turn all of your inputs into output. That lack of interruption helps you flow.
Every business wants to get you addicted to their infinite updates, pings, chats, messages, and news. But if what you want out of life is to create, then those are your obstacles. [...]
You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming.
It’s rare, now, to focus. And it gives such better rewards."
I want to just briefly offer one of the ideas presented in the book which connects to some things that I have currently been thinking about:
"All the best, happiest, and most creatively productive times in my life have something in common: being disconnected... Silence is a great canvas for your thoughts. That vacuum helps turn all of your inputs into output. That lack of interruption helps you flow.
Every business wants to get you addicted to their infinite updates, pings, chats, messages, and news. But if what you want out of life is to create, then those are your obstacles. [...]
You get no competitive edge from consuming the same stuff everyone else is consuming.
It’s rare, now, to focus. And it gives such better rewards."
October 18, 2021
More a series of blogs than a book really but a quick and easy read with some very valuable takeaways which grow on you as you think about them afterwards. One to keep and refer back to often, to keep things in perspective and stop bad habits creeping back in, I think.
September 3, 2020
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.
August 26, 2021
Video review here: https://youtu.be/H9E4uexHSAU
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.
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.
September 11, 2022
I’m not familiar with Derek and his history at all. But this is quite a concise book of his blog articles it seems. It touches a lot of topics and giving his personal thoughts. I could have read this earlier to be a bit fresher. I’ve heard a some of his ideas or ideas like his in other forms already. In conclusion it’s a great collection of interesting questions with valuable personal insights.
August 21, 2021
An amazing book which you don't want to finish rather re-read!
June 23, 2023
3.85 stars
January 9, 2025
This, like most self help books offer a few nuggets of insight. I did write down a quote or two that I wanted to remember. The audio version of this book was a definite “hell no” though! It felt like one big infomercial, I was half expecting a voice to say “but wait, hold on there’s more…”. Seriously, a drum solo at the end of each chapter?!?
June 7, 2023
I chose an audiobook this time and can only recommend this format here!
I really enjoyed listening to the short and brief articles that kept me engaged and think about myself, my work and purpose in the world. Huge bonus was that it all seemed to have nice rhythm and sounded so elegant, even quite poetic at times 😃🥂
I really enjoyed listening to the short and brief articles that kept me engaged and think about myself, my work and purpose in the world. Huge bonus was that it all seemed to have nice rhythm and sounded so elegant, even quite poetic at times 😃🥂
July 18, 2022
Strongly recommend to read. Lots of small bits of wisdom although like the author highlighted, very important to incorporate them in your everyday or else it gets lost.
October 25, 2024
Dit is eigenlijk een DNF, maar ik wil voorkomen dat ik ooit nog eens op het lumineuze idee kom om naar dit boek te luisteren of het te lezen…
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January 17, 2025I loved these
January 21, 2024
One of the best personal development books I’ve read thus far.
Succinct concepts in easy to follow short chapters, with no unnecessary terminology used.
Also a quick read.
Succinct concepts in easy to follow short chapters, with no unnecessary terminology used.
Also a quick read.
February 8, 2025
Bit of a mixed bag of advice from Sivers, some very useful and some not as much, but overall a very enjoyable read due in large part to Siver’s writing style.
February 6, 2025
Wrong title, should be "Hell Yeah"
December 23, 2020
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 is such a refreshing perspective. Society tells us that we need to be doing everything at all times, or we're not doing enough. This is just unsustainable and leads to burnout, dissatisfaction with life, and a feeling that we've neglected the important things.
As someone who struggles with prioritizing my disparate interests and saying “no” to the things that don't truly matter, this book was a much needed kick in pants.
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 whether to do something, if you feel anything less than “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” — then say “no.”
When you say no to most things, you leave room in your life to really throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say “HELL YEAH!”
This is such a refreshing perspective. Society tells us that we need to be doing everything at all times, or we're not doing enough. This is just unsustainable and leads to burnout, dissatisfaction with life, and a feeling that we've neglected the important things.
As someone who struggles with prioritizing my disparate interests and saying “no” to the things that don't truly matter, this book was a much needed kick in pants.
December 28, 2020
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 in the mood for taking more action
3) Your public image is not you, so never take offense to something someone says or thinks about you, positive or negative.
This is one of the books I'll keep coming back to, and is a great book to pick up if you want to think about your life in a different way.
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 in the mood for taking more action
3) Your public image is not you, so never take offense to something someone says or thinks about you, positive or negative.
This is one of the books I'll keep coming back to, and is a great book to pick up if you want to think about your life in a different way.
September 3, 2021
Since reading the Almanack of Naval Ravikand, I love this kind of book that is just compilations of blog posts. Moreover, Sivers wrote his blogs in such a direct and concise manner, making them easier to read. No meandering thoughts - started from intro, experience description, and then lesson learned.
Based on the title, you kinda get what you wish for. This is his reflection and advice about things that are worth doing - according to him. Reading this feels like you sit with him and he gives advice about life. Kinda soothing, but you still have to take advice with caution, just like what Sivers said himself in one of the blogs. No rigorous research to back his advice, just practical wisdom based on his experience. Thus you have to extrapolate his condition to yours to make sense of his advice.
Overall, a quite pleasant read. Very short, you can finish it in one sitting or two.
Based on the title, you kinda get what you wish for. This is his reflection and advice about things that are worth doing - according to him. Reading this feels like you sit with him and he gives advice about life. Kinda soothing, but you still have to take advice with caution, just like what Sivers said himself in one of the blogs. No rigorous research to back his advice, just practical wisdom based on his experience. Thus you have to extrapolate his condition to yours to make sense of his advice.
Overall, a quite pleasant read. Very short, you can finish it in one sitting or two.
January 2, 2021
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 a meaningful life. Notable through its absence is duty. There is no concept of duty to country, class or humanity itself. In his world, even duty to family (in this case childcare) is made meaningful only through its implications for personal growth.
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 a meaningful life. Notable through its absence is duty. There is no concept of duty to country, class or humanity itself. In his world, even duty to family (in this case childcare) is made meaningful only through its implications for personal growth.
September 16, 2020
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...
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...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 496 reviews