“Short life advice from the best in the world” is a very fitting subtitle. Tim Ferriss has indeed contacted best in the world and asked them a roster of specially designed questions. They came back with surprising, wise and quirky answers.
The array of personalities presented on these pages is immensely diverse and that makes it so much easier to find gold nuggets for every stage of life and every field. I would definitely recommend the book to a motivated college graduate about to enter a „real world”. Especially because Tim asked specifically for advice for those folks!
Contrary to Tools of Titans, it is hard for me to tease out common themes. Let my highlights speak for themselves.
Ah, one very common theme:
There are many definitions of success. Don’t let someone else’s ambition guide you through life.
My Kindle Highlights
- In my experience, going from 1x to 10x, from 10x to 100x, and from 100x to (when Lady Luck really smiles) 1000x returns in various areas has been a product of better questions.
- Often, all that stands between you and what you want is a better set of questions.
- an easier search query (easier to recall),
- success can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations we are willing to have, and by the number of uncomfortable actions we are willing to take.
- What would it look like if it were easy?
- If I were the security professional tasked with protecting me from bogus, sociopathic, and clueless asks, which ones would I screen and dump into the trash? That has helped a lot.
- I do not believe in work-life balance. I believe that if you view your work as a calling, it is a labor of love rather than laborious.
- If you are doing something you love, you don’t want work-life balance.
- Suffering is a moment of clarity, when you can no longer deny the truth of a situation and are forced into uncomfortable change.
- say and why? “Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”
- The Rational Optimist
- FINIS swim paddles (under $20; hat
- The best advice is more like, “I can’t answer your question, but this might be a good way for you to think about it.”
- “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
- Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg.
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
- The Baroque Cycle
- The best skill is to be able to communicate efficiently both in writing and speaking.
- But my favorite concoction, which I created three years ago, is a medley of cabbage, onion, avocado, and pear. It’s incredibly delicious, extremely healthy, and fast to prepare.
- The first sign of negativity, for me, is irritation. When I recognize it, right away I save myself and my loved ones a lot of emotional pain by taking time alone. Breathing deeply helps. In between breaths, I have time to slow down and see the thoughts running through my mind as well as see the other person in front of me. I say no to blame, no to complaints, and no to gossip. I also teach my daughter these three rules. If I have nothing positive to say, I don’t say anything. It makes my life easier and happier.
- backpack [Incase City Collection].
- Hearos Xtreme Protection NRR 33 work best and are the most comfortable. If you really want to go to extremes to also control light, Lonfrote Deep Molded Sleep Mask is the best for airplanes or anywhere else.
- I think moving away from my hometown was one of the most fruitful things I ever did. We can’t help but define ourselves in terms of how others see us. So being around nothing but new people allowed me to define myself anew. I’ve since moved back, but the growth I got out of living away was huge.
- probably understanding how to interpret things that other people are saying in situations where their goals do not fully align with yours. A
- “What policy was I following that produced this bad outcome, and do I still expect that policy to give the best results overall, occasional bad outcomes notwithstanding?” If yes, then carry on!
- Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, focuses on strategies for great decision-making.
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
- Always take the time to acknowledge people—and not just when you know you have something to gain. If you show interest in them, they will be interested in you. People react to kindness with kindness, to respect with respect. Relationships
- “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”—Harry Truman
- Whenever I am trying to decide whether to accept an invitation, I just pretend it is going to happen tomorrow morning. It is easy to say yes to something happening six months from now, but it has to be super fantastic to get me to go tomorrow morning.
- The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp. If you want to be a hands-on parent and also have some version of a career, this book is gold.
- I decided that I was going to live my life in three parts—one-third for my business, one-third for my family, one-third for myself.
- The Scientist in the Crib by Alison Gopnik. I give this to any fellow geek about to have their first child.
- Raising for Effective Giving, a fundraising organization that raises money for the world’s most cost-effective and globally impactful charities.
- Map and Territory
- I write down my goals on my bathroom mirror. I’ve done it with my target body weight, to how much I want to bench, etc. By writing it down every single day, it turns those dreams into obtainable goals.
- disagreements, and recording all meetings. His estimated net worth is nearly $17 billion. Along with Bill Gates and
- “Is what I am doing right now aligned with my life’s calling?”
- Don’t be afraid to ask a question, don’t be afraid to sound stupid.
- I’ve gotten better at telling my brain “no” when it wants to relate to conversation with a “bigger” story. What I mean is, somebody might be telling me a story about an experience they had, while I have a related story that sounds even bigger or more dramatic than theirs. Rather than wait for a moment to jump in with mine, I’ll just let that desire go and ask them more questions about their experience. What I’ve discovered is incredible: the loss of the opportunity to possibly impress someone is far outweighed by what I learn when I ask more questions.
- “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
- task, you must do something extraordinary. I have found that my absolute best is the best possible outcome. That is a “win.” To do your best may sound easy, but it is anything but. It requires everything you’ve got . . . and no less. The beauty of it is that it is totally within your control. You can always give your absolute best effort regardless of physical state or circumstances. That, to me, is always a win.
- Imago Dialogue, created by Dr. Harville Hendrix and Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt. It’s a structured way to talk with your spouse or significant other,
- I aim for six to ten reps ranging from 70 to 85 percent of my one-rep max. Then, I’ll do three or four supersets of either (a) 15 to 20 reps of pull-ups and dips, (b) ten reps of bicep curls and tricep extensions, or (c) ten reps of shoulder presses, lateral raises, and front raises. Last, I’ll do my core workout, which includes either (a) four sets of one-minute planks alternated with four sets of sit-ups, leg raises, suitcases, and bicycles or (b) one set each of sit-ups, planks, side planks, and ball knee tucks followed by three sets of side bends.
- In 2016, I started doing New Month Resolutions [as opposed to New Year Resolutions]. Here’s some of what I did:
- “If you only engage with people about problems, pretty soon, you’ll become the problem for them,”
- But I do want to get that culty Japanese journal that all the designers use, a Hobonichi Techo.
- Bucky neck pillow
- up saying the same things over and over. Thinking of things that made me happy helps me put aside all the baggage I’ve packed throughout the day,
- The culture at WWE is a “can do” or “yes” environment.
- iMask Sleep Eye Mask
- Being on the road, you deal with lots of traveling that can bog you down, and a lot of bad food options, which means you can’t control all the variables around you. At home, you would have your juice spot, your gym, and your market where you can shop every day, so you can eat the right foods and keep your life in balance. One thing that I do on the road is “Aoki Bootcamp,” which utilizes accountability between the people I travel with to meet a certain goal every single day. We set a certain number of repetitions to complete each day, such as push-ups, sit-ups, etc., and even have a WhatsApp group chat to show evidence that we did the workouts. Beyond exercise, it also crosses into food, because it is not just about the workout you do but also about your diet. We have a list of foods that we can’t eat, and if you eat them, then you have to add 15 more repetitions to your workout to account for it. So, each day, we do our best to eat properly and exercise and meet these goals. That’s the underlying philosophy of Aoki Bootcamp: to use group accountability to meet these goals for food, nutrition, and workouts.
- Writing out the distractions list was a real game changer and what finally made the concept of a Premack work for me. Makes it all so fácil.
- I’m rarely too busy, if you can keep the right attitude about it, which is, “I can definitely say I am living my life to the fullest.”
- It was called Nine Gates Mystery School.
- The Wisdom of the Enneagram
- Honor your moods not by forcing a different reality, but by just letting them be.
- Then I have a one- to two-minute, three-step process: I spend about 15 to 30 seconds affirming that it’s natural to feel this discomfort. I may have a big talk coming up or a deadline. You are supposed to be scared when you’re doing big things—okay? Acknowledging this can be life-changing. I spend the next 15 to 30 seconds being curious about what my current relationship is with that discomfort. If the anxiety seems out of proportion to the situation, or if it seems irrational in any way, that means I’ve been ignoring fear and thus it’s starting to speak louder or act out. If this is the case, I give it my full attention then, and ask what it’s been trying to say to me that I haven’t acknowledged (e.g., “Write a new speech; the one you have sucks.” Or, “You forgot to call your mother”). Being such a great advisor, I use this time with fear to juice its knowledge like you would juice an orange. Then, I spend as long as it takes to feel it. Now, this is important: I don’t try to get rid of it. That is not what this is about, because that would be disrespectful to fear. The key is to feel the feeling by spending some time with it, like you would with your dog, friend, or lover. I usually do this for about 30 to 60 seconds. After which, fear, feeling acknowledged and heard, often dissipates.
- The power broker in your life is the voice that no one ever hears. How well you revisit the tone and content of your private voice is what determines the quality of your life. It is the master storyteller, and the stories we tell ourselves are our reality.
- focus on what’s in front of you, design great days to create a great life, and try not to make the same mistake twice.
- What would this look like if it were easy?
- tim.blog/booklist
- tim.blog/spin