The reason why this book ended up in my home library was because I have been following the “Yes Theory“ YouTube channel for years. When I first heard that one of the original co-founders would be working on a project to tell their unique story, I instantly knew that I’d like to support them by purchasing and reading the book once it came out. I really agree with Yes Theory‘s ideas and their missions, so I was glad to see that the book managed to give an interesting insight onto the “behind the scenes” moments of the channel. Additionally, the author openly shared his journey about being a content creator and a business owner with his friends, which is something that you can’t easily find put in writing.

What I was positively surprised with, was how well edited it was. The story was coherent, there weren’t any mistakes within it that I could spot and this is something that even well established authors sometimes struggle with. For a first time author, this was a great achievement! I probably also enjoyed the book so much because I watched all the podcasts leading up to its publication date before reading it (“watched” because I’m so visual and wouldn’t have been able to just listen to them). These ranged from interviews with the three other co-founders of the YouTube channel (Thomas Brag, Ammar Kandil and Derin Emre), the author’s coaches, the head of Operations of the channel (Pedro Paiva), investors (Tom Wright) and other people that were big influences, such as the author Mark Manson (on the YesTheory channel, as well as on the author’s own YouTube channel). If the book spoke to you, I highly suggest you to watch those videos in addition to it.

Most of all though, it was a story that invited you to reflect and to think. To question the things that you feel like you need to do in life, that people expect from you and weigh them out with the things that might bring you more happiness.

I thought of […] the expectations from our families, our society […]. They weren’t malicious. They were doing their best. They just wanted to control it, to plan everything so that no mistakes were made.

p. 91

I came across the book at exactly the right moment in life and welcomed it as a much needed push in that direction. The author beautifully depicted how no successful person is a “one man show”. It is all about the people you surround yourself with, who could help you reach your full potential or even go beyond it.

[…] I was more sure of myself and knew that with the right people around me, I could achieve anything.

p. 198

Through the author’s personal story, he invited his readers to reflect on the idea of success, how we always feel the obligation to be moving forward, to be working on ourselves to become better but how we also need moments to stop, digest and reflect on everything that is happening in our fast-paced lives.

‘You know, being still is a superpower. You live and you do and you bang around and you get knocked and you have all of those experiences and then you need huge amounts of time to just sit with it. To just be quiet and be still. Growth and expansion doesn’t come from doing. Growth and expansion comes from relaxing and allowing it to sit.’ [- Will Smith]

p. 172

Another thing that I personally took away was the topic of social media, capturing moments through videos and photos and especially the feeling of an obligation to do so in our modern society. I now have a very different view onto it than just one year ago, having quit the social media channel I was most addicted to, Instagram. Reading about Matt’s story motivates me to stick with my gut feeling that this world is simply not for me anymore and a reminder was shared that making changes in one’s life is never going to be comfortable.

Whenever there is a big moment in my life, there was a lens there, constantly reminding me that my most cherished experiences had to be shared with others.

p. 199

‘Goodbyes are the ultimate discomforts, Matt,’ she said.

p. 205

All in all, this was a quick read, within which the narrative flowed well and which I can see both fans of the “Yes Theory”, as well as those who have never heard of Matt Dahlia taking something away from. This book doesn’t draw you in with its unusual or remarkable style, it’s a story that’s told in a very straightforward and simple way. Nevertheless, you can feel how the author opened up and put his most genuine self on the pages. Whereas realistically, I would have rated it with 3/5★ (having wished for it to be longer, going into more details fans haven’t heard about before), I’m bumping it up to 4/5★ knowing how much heart and hard work went into putting it together.

★★★★☆ (4/5)

_{Edition: ISBN 978-8-9888498-0-3
Mandala Tree Press, 2023}