If it's not a "hell, yes", it's a "no"
Yeah, it's that simple
Hey!
Man, I didn’t send Simple Insights since June 2023. More than half a year. It’s been a while!
Despite the fact I wasn’t writing regularly my mailing list has been growing. There are 350 of you now. That’s a lot. More than I could ever imagine.
Thank you for being here and welcome if you’ve just subscribed. I won’t waste your time telling you who I am, you can read about me here and on my website. I also launched a short version of the Now page where you can see what I’m working on these days.
Let’s get straight to the insights. I can’t wait to share them with you!
Insight of the week. In the end, it’s all a judgement call
When having a hard choice in front of me, I use this simple principle to make a call:
If it's not a “hell, yes”, it's a “no”.
Sounds radical. Like black or white, like good or evil. But those are very shallow concepts. I am not asking you to simplify the world and narrow your choice to two options. This principle is not about that.
It’s considered to think that we make decisions based on data, facts and arguments. But in fact, we make decisions based on our gut or simply the feeling that prevails at the moment. We act the way we feel, not the way we think.
Sometimes you can have all the data in the world telling you to go a certain way, and yet you know it’s not right, it’s not your way. How do you know that? Where did this knowledge come from? Most of the time we can’t explain it. We just have a feeling.
When the decision you’re making puts a lot on the line the right question to ask yourself is not “What do you think of it?” but “How do you feel about it? How does it feel?” Let’s get it down to a few real life examples:
How do you feel about moving in together? Does it feel like we’re rushing or does it feel right and proper?
How does this color tint feel on the wall? Does it feel right or too much?
How do you feel about having pizza tonight? Or does it feel more like a Mexican restaurant?
When it comes down to this mundane questions we know exactly how we feel. We know for sure even though we can’t say how this knowledge came to us. ‘Cause it’s a judgement call. It works perfectly both with small and big decisions.
Just ask yourself how you feel about your the choice you’re making, and you’ll know the answer right away. And if it’s not a “hell, yes”, it's a “no”. As simple as that.
Leadership principle. You have to happen to things
There’s an illusion that to get something or to reach a certain level in life you have to wait for a chance and then be smart enough not to blow it. This way of approaching life seems weird to me. Besides it has two huge disadvantages:
There is no guarantee you’ll get any chance at all. It may never come. Such an attitude justifies your inaction and gives a right to blame an evil fate for all calamities that fall on your shoulders.
There’s a high probability you’ll blink at the very moment the chance arrives to you door and miss the opportunity. Whom to blame then? How long to wait for another chance?
Being patient is a good strategy when something you’re waiting for is out of your control. Most things require actions from us so they could happen. I say don’t wait for the things to happen on their own, happen to those things.
Doing something is better than doing nothing. No matter how small or huge that something is. Have an intention to act, make the first step: write an email, ask a question, seek knowledge or advice. It will lead you somewhere.
There’re no right moment. As Lemony Snicket wrote:
“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting the rest of our lives.”
Writing trick. Add or shed
There are two ways to editing your texts: by adding or by shedding. So ask yourself while working on your next article, post, or any other type of copy:
Do I need to add something or do I need to shed something?
In the end, it boils down to one of these two options.
Photo of the week
When you’re wife is literally the best. Three weeks ago Arzu gave me this stickers with Pepe the Frog which I regularly use for replies on Telegram. Well, now I have a physical version of those. Simple and silly gift, but that’s what we do for people we love, I guess. We accept and support their passion even though we can’t fathom their ideas for something stupid like these Pepe stickers.
That’s it for today. Hope you’ve enjoyed this email. And if you have, share it with your friends and people who may like it. I’ll appreciate your support and feedback.
Take care!
Evgeny
Tyumen, 28 April 2024
Ask me anything via email: evgeny@lepekhin.me
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