Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter. The editor, Tim Herrera, emails readers with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

That one little piece of advice is really all you ever need to know, if you ask me.

The idea is an obvious one, but it’s incredibly powerful, and it’s something we’ve talked about in this newsletter before: Figure out what’s core to your identity, the things you’re truly passionate about, and dive into them head-first.

If an opportunity inspires genuine excitement in you — whether it’s at work, in your personal life or anywhere else — then dive in 100 percent and don’t look back. But if that spark isn’t there, even if you’re pretty excited about it, it’s a no. The binary here is a little dramatic, sure, but the lesson is crucial: If you don’t love it, don’t do it.

This particular variation of this philosophy — “If it’s not a ‘hell yeah,’ it’s a ‘no’” — comes from Derek Sivers, who said years ago: “We’re all busy, we’ve all taken on too much. Saying yes to less is the way out.”