Wait for Your Hell Yes
It’s easy to feel as if you don’t deserve it.
It’s easy to underestimate the value you can offer.
It’s easy to settle.
When Derek Sivers told me to wait for my “hell yes,” I didn’t believe him. I’m a 19-year-old with a blog, minimal programming experience, and big dreams. I didn’t deserve a “hell yes” — I had to earn it.
Over the past few months, I’ve learned some important lessons:
- Providing value requires intelligence, but it’s far more about connection
- I shape my reality far less than I think I do
The first lesson inspired me to stop waiting. To take permissionless action. I was waiting for someone to tell me I could reach my dreams. I decided to change the paradigm.
I chose permissionless — to do, then learn, and repeat.
The second lesson taught me the role luck plays in the world and how I can attract it. I’m nothing without others. It’s my fellow humans that help me. Then I learned how to attract that luck — by understanding who I am and what I actually want.
To get lucky, you have to know what you’re looking for.
I hopped on any opportunity I received. They weren’t hell-yeses, but they pushed me in the right direction. Once I pursued one, the other opportunities rolled in — opportunities that were hell-yeses.
I felt like I didn’t deserve a hell-yes. But it’s not about me — it’s about what the world needs and what I can offer. It’s about alignment.
Alignment is out there. To find it, though, you need to understand who you are. Once you have clarity, the world starts to give.