Hell Yeah or No | Derek Sivers

by | okt 26, 2023 | Books, Insights

A few months ago, I read this little book and we were impressed. So much so that we might have preached about it a bit too much to our close family.

And just now, I listened to an (older) Podcast between Ali Abdaal and the author Derek Sivers about general topics. The podcast dates from before the publication of Hell Yeah or NO. And I was impressed. Maybe I get impressed too easily 😊

But this guy, Derek Sivers, really has a good take on various matters. Here are some excerpts written in my own words:

Setting Goals

Everyone knows about it, SMART etc… Let’s take an example:

When buying a car, you could focus on saving fuel through adjusted driving behavior. Nothing wrong with that. But the main purpose of a car is to get you somewhere, not to save fuel.

The same applies when you start a company with a certain purpose. You can try to run this company as efficiently as possible. But in doing so, you risk losing the enthusiasm for why you started the company in the first place.

About the Future

Our future is nothing more than a fantasy about what could, may, or will happen. Today is when we live, that’s the only reality.

A good goal is something that drives you to take action NOW, TODAY, not tomorrow, not… I recently heard a similar approach in Tony Robbins’ Unshakeable 5-day virtual meeting: Don’t leave the territory of your goals, but DO something NOW. Call someone, make an appointment, DO something NOW. Take massive action!!!

And when I think about it, this also appears in Atomic Habits or was it GTD. The next step is to commit to something NOW so that your goal is achieved or your action can become a habit (or something like that).

The goal is not to read 100 books in the next year starting now. Why would you set such a goal? Read my other text about this as well. And of course, a reference to Naval Ravikant belongs here too.

Een paar maanden geleden dit boekje gelezen en we waren onder de indruk. Zodanig dat we het misschien ietsje te veel verkondigd hebben aan onze naaste familie.

En zonet een (oudere) Podcast tussen Ali Abdaal gehoord met de schrijver Derek Sivers over algemene onderwerpen. De podcast dateert van voor de verschijning van Hell Yeah or NO. En ik was onder de indruk. Misschien ben ik wel te snel onder de indruk 😊

Maar die gast, Derek Sivers heeft toch een goede insteek op verschillende zaken. Hier enkele uittreksels geschreven in eigen woorden:

Doelen stellen

Iedereen kent het wel, Smart enz… Laten we een voorbeeld nemen:

Bij de aankoop van een auto kun je je richten op het besparen van brandstof door aangepast rijgedrag. Niks verkeerd daarmee. Maar het hoofddoel van een auto is om je ergens te brengen, niet om brandstof te besparen.

Hetzelfde geldt als je een firma opricht met een bepaald doel. Deze firma kun je dan proberen zo efficiënt mogelijk te runnen. Maar daarbij loop je het risico dat de begeestering verdwijnt waarom je die firma hebt opgericht.

Over de toekomst

Onze toekomst is niet meer dan een fantasie over wat mogelijk kan, mag, gaat gebeuren. Het is vandaag dat we leven, dat is de enige realiteit.

Een goed doel is iets dat je aanzet om NU, VANDAAG actie te ondernemen, niet morgen, niet… Een gelijkaardige insteek heb ik ook recent gehoord in de Tony Robbins Unshakeable 5-daagse virtuele meeting: Verlaat het terrein niet van je doelen, maar DOE NU iets. Telefoon naar iemand, maak een afspraak, DOE NU iets. Take massive action!!!

En als ik er over nadenk dat komt dat ook voor in Atomic Habits of was het GTD. De volgende stap is om NU iets vast te leggen zodat je doel bereikt wordt of je actie een gewoonte kan worden (of zoiets).

Het doel is niet om vanaf nu 100 boeken te lezen in het volgende jaar. Waarom zou je zo’n doel stellen? Lees ook mijn andere tekstjes hierover. En natuurlijk hoort daar ook een verwijzing naar Naval Ravikant bij.

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