No is a Four Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life

Now...about 10 months ago, while at a Fozzy concert, my inebriated husband advised me he has always wanted to go on a Chris Jericho Rock and Wrestling Cruise. And since he has always supported whatever crazy thing I wanted to do, I looked at our budget and made it happen. Which makes this week’s book of the week No is a Four Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life by Chris Jericho.

While my husband is very much a wrestling fan, I....am not. I have nothing against wrestling, and I admire the athleticism and acting skill required to make a match look good. But I am a nerd. Sports....are just not my thing. So, reading this book is sort of like the nerd version of cramming for an athletic test...which as anyone who has ever moseyed their way through high school PE can tell you, there’s really no way to cram for an athletic test. But this was the best I could manage. So here we are.  

So, I jumped into this book and found myself wonderfully entertained by a master storyteller. No sarcasm and no joke, this was a fun book, filled with stories from a life well and truly lived. The book is 20 chapters told in parable style. Each chapter heading is a life lesson, and then the stories in the chapter highlight the lesson.  

Now, this is the fourth book Jericho has published and while I haven’t read the others, I believe they all have anecdotes from his life, some probably in order (I was born on this date, then this happened, then this happened). This book...is not that. This is more like a modern-day philosophy book, with real world examples of the philosophy in action.   

There is the obvious don’t take no for an answer, although Jericho specifies this means professionally and no means no when dating. But then he relays anecdotes from his own life explaining the not accepting no principle and what he got out of that. There are also examples of when you have no choice but to accept the no, and he’s not just talking about rejection in the dating game. He specifically cites when he was up for the role of host with America’s Funniest Home Videos following the retirement of Tom Bergeron. And when the no came in... well, there was no turning that into a yes. The decision had been made and the only option was grace in defeat. The lesson in that chapter was Let It Go. An important message to take away from many of life’s lessons.  

Each lesson is actually named after the person he learned it from, so the Let It Go principal chapter was named Americas Funniest Videos. The Jericho Principle, (Believe in Yourself or Nobody Else Will), the Negro Casas Principle (Know Your Audience), the Brian Pillman Principle (Do Something Different), The Shep Gordon Principle (You Never Know Who’s Watching You), and the Vince McMahon Principle (Work Hard, then Work Harder) are all solid pieces of advice that you would find... hell I HAVE FOUND...in books on entrepreneurship and running a business. I mean, I know nothing about wrestling, but it seems like the first step is getting yourself noticed. So, believing in yourself, knowing the audience, being different enough you stand out, because SOMEONE is watching you and you don’t know if that someone is your break in life, and working damn hard to make it all happen...all are required steps in getting your foot in the door. 

 Those are also all steps required for operating a business.   Which makes sense. In addition to being a professional wrestler with a 30-year career behind him and more to come, Jericho is a published author, sings with the band Fozzy (hence the sudden desire to attend my first ever booze cruise), and headlines/organizes these yearly cruises to keep in touch with his fan base. During the pandemic, he created ANOTHER band called Kuarantine. He is, without a doubt, a hardworking man, who puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to the principles he talks about in this book.  

 And all that hard work has paid off with a lifetime of incredible experiences, which most of us will never experience half of, because, honestly, most of us are too scared of living to even try half the shit he’s done. But one of the lessons is Yoda...you all know the one. Do or do not...there is no try. Or as Jericho calls it, There is no Try, Only Do. He knows his quote is due to faulty memory. And when I saw it, my geek brain (yes....yes....I am a nerd and a geek. Double threat, right here...) blinked and went “that’s not right!” But Jericho IS right....Do or Do Not. There is no Try. The only way to live life, is to jump in with both feet. Being risk averse might be smart for your stock portfolio, but you’ll never get rich. And in this case, get rich doesn’t mean money...it means you’ll miss out on what richness life has to offer.   

So, the title.... word nerds and grammar nazis would look at that and cringe. NO is NOT a four-letter word. But as Jericho explains in his intro No IS a Four-Letter Word...because NO is Evil. Because most people STOP at NO. They let NO stop them...again, for those who weren’t listening earlier, this isn’t about NO in a date situation. Don’t be creepy. This is about finding a way to get what you want out of life. It’s also a very clever pun. Because KNOW IS a four-letter word...a verb, meaning “to be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.” And these lessons are all things that Jericho Knows. And that type of know, leads to knowledge, “facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.” And Knowledge is Power.   

Now, I’m not saying you’ll become more powerful in life by absorbing the knowledge found in this book. But I AM saying it’s a solid piece of philosophy. And a fast read. Jericho has an engaging storytelling style which was enjoyable and pulled out all the feels at all the right moments. And I’m hoping I can get him to autograph my book on the cruise.

This book was originally reviewed on YouTube on January 22, 2023, but is now available on Rumble and PodBean.