By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo
The actual title of the book is “Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing” by Derek Severs. I changed the word “Hell” to “Heck” because I have other articles about “Hell” or the place for damned souls after death that I don’t want my readers to get confused with. The word “Heck” is derived from the word “Hell” as I’ve checked the etymology of it in Google so it’s a worthy substitute. “Hell Yeah” is an American expression that means enthusiastic agreement to something that is proposed to you such as when you are asked, “Are you going to the party this weekend? and you reply, “Hell yeah!”
The book is about learning to say “No” on invitations that might make you regret later and the criteria for saying “Yes” to these many opportunities that are offered to us. When you adopt a ‘heck yeah or no’ approach to life, you create space in your life to focus on what really matters most and spend your time doing things that are worth doing. The author Severs says, “Refuse almost everything. Do almost nothing. But the things you do, do them all the way.”
Here are the three questions to help you determine what is worth doing:
What Do You Hate NOT Doing?
The question is supposed to be “What do you love doing?” but this question offers many answers because we have many things we love to do. To help us narrow down our list of the things that are worth doing, this question is better at hitting our target.
If you don’t sleep for days, you realize how badly you need sleep. Think of activities (like sleep) you crave if you cannot do them for an extended period of time. I personally after a few hectic days of meetings and running errands, I crave doing quiet, creative work such as writing news articles or having alone time with God in prayer. What do you hate NOT being able to do after a few busy days? That activity would be worthwhile giving time for it.
Do What Scares You
The author says, “Sometimes people ask me if there’s one motto or rule of thumb I use most often. This is it: Whatever scares you, go do it. Fear is just a form of excitement, and you know you should do what excites you.” When an opportunity is offered to us such as joining a speech club, and you feel scared because you might feel embarrassed talking to a group of people, the author says, it’s a sign that this activity is worthwhile doing because anything that gives you fear is path to personal growth. You would not feel scared to an invitation if it is something you already have done and perhaps already bored with it. Abraham Maslow the famous author of the “Hierarchy of Needs”, said, “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.”
What If You Are Satiated?
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? 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? 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?”
We humans are hard wired to seek attention, praise, and approval from others. We also have an innate desire to accumulate resources because we evolved to believe resources are scarce. However, if we continue to crave attention and money, we will say ‘yes’ to every opportunity to make a buck and get praise from others, which results in doing things we don’t like with people we don’t like.
If we pause and generate a feeling of abundance, we can blunt our knee jerk reaction to say yes to every attention‐grabbing, moneymaking opportunity and start playing the long game. When money and attention are no longer the first things on your mind, you step back and focus on work that is interesting and useful.
When you focus on interesting and useful work, you’re excited to work; you get up early and stay up late. You push yourself harder and further than most people, which often leads to a breakthrough. Therefore, paradoxically, when you feel like you have enough money and
attention, you are more likely to build something remarkable that makes money and garners attention.
