Hell Yeah or NO by Derek Sivers
Use this rule if you’re often over-committed or too scattered. If you’re not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, say “no”. 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!” Every event you get invited to. Every request to start a new project. If you’re not saying “HELL YEAH!” about it, say “no.” We’re all busy. We’ve all taken on too much. Saying yes to less is the way out.
We are presented with hundreds of options a day. Essentialists look at those options and ask themselves “What trade-offs am I willing to make?” What problem do I want to solve? How does this benefit you?
You want to make sure everything you say yes to has a positive effect to your priorities and on your goals in life. If it doesn’t, say no. If you want to be highly disciplined and take on less, but do more, you need to say no to the majority of things and yes to only a few.
On a scale of 1-10, there are many things that come in at a 7 or 8 and are good opportunities that we hate to let pass, but we need to adopt what Derek Sivers says a hell yes or a no approach. We need to learn the art of letting go to 7s or 8s to only do 9s and 10s.
You can use this method for anything. Only consider the highest grade values. This helps make sure you only acquire what you need, not what you want. (90-10 Model)
New Perspective on “No” In learning to see No in a new way, I first need to realize that when I’m saying no to someone, I’m saying no to the request. We commonly associate the rejection of the request to mean the rejection of that person. Realize that saying no doesn’t have to damage the relationship. It could actually strengthen it if you come across in a sincere way and able to articulate your priorities and conviction maintaining them. People respect and may even be inspired by that.
For every 100 great opportunities that are brought to me, I say no to 99 of them.