You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. – Steve Jobs at his famous Stanford Commencement speech.

Every decision you make comes down to two possible scenarios: it’s either HELL YES! or it’s no. Put another way, if you don’t feel incredibly pulled or excited about saying YES!, then say no.

I first heard this concept from Derek Sivers in his article and then his his book. Both are fantastic and worth a read.

Naval Ravikant set his hourly wage at $5,000/hr. Anything that costs less than $5,000/hr he outsources to someone else. Naval essentially outsources everything then. For reference, $500/hr (without taxes/fees) is about $1 million per year assuming 2,000 hours of work.

  • Shop for groceries? No.
  • Get your car washed? No.
  • Do the dishes? No.
  • Go to Vegas for a friend’s birthday? No.

There’s a huge hidden cost to things that you say yes to. It’s only hidden because you have to spend your time in some way. There’s also the reality that you can’t say no to doing dishes unless you actually have an alternative in place and you can afford that alternative.

The goal is not to be a selfish prick. The goal is to fight vigoursly for the things that truly matter to you. To fight against the things that waste your time and attention.

  • Do you want to read to your kids before bed? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want make dinner with your daughters after they asks? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want to go shopping with your cousin who is visiting for a few days? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want to go to Lake Como in Italy for a friend’s birthday? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want to go to go-kart racing after work on friday? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want to work hard to help your family enjoy a great life? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want to learn as much as you can to enrich your own life? HELL YEAH!
  • Do you want to share what you learned with others? HELL YEAH!

The hidden cost of almost everything is how much time you spend on it. Before long, you’ll have no more time. Before long, you will not get to do the things you’ve been putting off.

Are you with me?