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hell yeah or no

concept · in 14 sources (2017–2021)

Derek Sivers's rule for commitments: anything less than an enthusiastic yes is a no.

Sources by year: 2017: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2021: 9

Questions

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Derek Sivers (4)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2021

  • 2021-01-03 · The Most PRODUCTIVE Thing I Do Each Year — Ali: The most important thing to come out of visualising your future, Ali says, is what you are not doing in that vision: what is no longer a priority, and why you are still doing it now. — 00:09:33
  • 2021-02-26 · Brandon Sanderson on Writing, Storytelling and Fantasy Books — recommendation: Brandon Sanderson says coming up with rules and criteria that let you say no is a really good plan, since you cannot say yes to everyone. — 01:27:30
  • 2021-03-17 · Is Learning to Rap Useful? — Ali's mental model for deciding whether to do something: does it seem like it would be fun, and would it be an interesting journey to go on? — 00:03:07
  • 2021-03-24 · My Toxic Relationship With Productivity — Ali changed his calendar link so no one can book a meeting with him before 2 p.m., leaving mornings free for creative work and an hour for lunch, with only two or three calls between 2 and 6 p.m. — 00:14:48
    • Ali calls his booking-link limit a system solution to a people problem: he is too keen to say yes, but the link itself does not let him overbook himself. — 00:15:37
    • As you get more famous you get too much inbound, Ali says; spending his working day on meetings would make no sense, because people follow him for the videos he makes time to make. — 00:16:02
  • 2021-03-31 · How to Beat Procrastination — recommendation: Ali: Since 2017 Ali uses fear as a model for decision-making: if he feels scared about doing something, he more often than not tries his very best to do it. — 00:02:49
  • 2021-04-18 · How I Manage My Time - 10 Time Management Tips — recommendation: Ali: Following Derek Sivers's Hell Yeah or No, Ali says to say yes to most things while young with few opportunities, then, once requests exceed your time, to treat anything that is not a "hell yeah" as a no. — 00:01:30
  • 2021-07-04 · Productivity for Lazy People - The RAD System — recommendation: Ali: The first way to reduce in Ali's RAD system, spending less time on what you have to do, is simply to decide not to do things. — 00:01:05
    • Once you have said yes to something, Ali says, you are allowed to change your mind later and withdraw your consent. — 00:03:02
  • 2021-08-18 · 10 Rules I Follow Everyday — recommendation: Ali recommends his friend Derek Sivers's book Hell Yeah or No, calling it very good. — 00:02:22
  • 2021-12-03 · Reflecting On My Fears - Day in the Life — Ali says he has said yes to way too many cool things; had he applied Derek Sivers's "hell yeah or no" filter, he would have said no to most of what is now in his calendar. (hedged) — 00:02:41
  • …and 6 statements more in 2021 — all statements of 2021

2020

  • 2020-04-29 · Productivity, Books and Careers Advice - Ali Abdaal x Noah Kagan // Deep Dive — Noah Kagan: Noah calls success a horrible word and says decide your own metric: when he chased money he was less fulfilled and earned less, and when he did what he loved he earned most. — 00:58:47
    • Ali's first question about anything is whether it is fun: he does what is fun and skips what only makes money; early on he took on unfun work for money, but now doing what fills him with joy makes more sense. — 00:59:13
  • 2020-06-21 · A HUGE Unboxing Day — Ali is trying to get better at saying no, which is always hard because people's requests are usually so reasonable; he likes Derek Sivers's framing of when to say no. — 00:02:48
    • Derek Sivers (quoted): Derek Sivers says that early in a career it helps to say yes to everything to maximise opportunities, but once demands on your time pile up you switch to "hell yeah or no", with no middle ground. — 00:03:18
  • 2020-07-06 · How To Find Opportunities EVERYWHERE — recommendation: Bobby Siegel: After University Challenge, Bobby Seagull was very much a yes man: whatever opportunity he was given, such as a 6 a.m. studio slot, he made it happen, though he has since changed his view slightly. — 00:03:04
    • Ali sees Bobby Seagull as a door knocker: he says yes to random opportunities without worrying whether they are good for his career, and eventually good things happen. — 00:04:43
  • 2020-12-20 · 20 Lessons that Improved My Life — recommendation: Ali: To grow as a person Ali leans into the fear: unless his life is in physical danger, being scared of doing something is for him a very strong indicator that he should do it. — 00:02:09

2017