A curated collection of interview notes on health, wealth and wisdom from over 100 conversations with top performers and curious characters – by author, podcaster and life-hacker Tim Ferriss.
The Premise
This book is derived from many episodes and interviews of The Tim Ferriss Show, and includes information on a huge variety of topics, including productivity, athletic training, psychedelics, life extension, and more.
Ideas from Seth Godin
- If You Generate Enough Bad Ideas, a Few Good Ones Tend to Show Up
- So the goal isn’t to get good ideas; the goal is to get bad ideas. Because once you get enough bad ideas, then some good ones have to show up.
- Can You push something downhill?
- If you think about how hard it is to push a business uphill, particularly when you’re just getting started, one answer is to say: ‘Why don’t you just start a different business, a business you can push downhill?
Talent Stack by Scott Adams
Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. You make yourself rare by combining two or more “pretty goods” until no one else has your mix. At least one of the skills in your mixture should involve communication, either written or verbal.
Specialization is for insects.
Sales cures all
If you go out there and start making noise and making sales, people will find you. Sales cure all. You can talk about how great your business plan is and how well you are going to do. You can make up your own opinions, but you cannot make up your own facts. Sales cure all
Life
Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, and you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.
- It’s not what you know, it’s what you do consistently.
- Once You Have Some Success—If It’s Not a “Hell, Yes!” It’s a “No”
- “Busy” = Out of Control
- A lack of time equates to a lack of priorities.
- I believe you shouldn’t start a business unless people are asking you to
You’re not responsible for the hand of cards you were dealt. You’re responsible for maxing out what you were given.
Mastery: Ideas from Tony Robbins
Sometimes, you think you have to figure out your life’s purpose, but you really just need some macadamia nuts and a cold shower.
Think about your state when trying to solve problems or do anything else difficult.
You realize that you will never be the best-looking person in the room.
You’ll never be the smartest person in the room. You’ll never be the most educated, the most well-versed. You can never compete on those levels. But what you can always compete on, the true egalitarian aspect of success, is hard work. You can always work harder than the next guy.
Purpose
Haven’t you found your overarching, single purpose? Maybe you don’t have to.
Forget purpose. It’s okay to be happy without one. The quest for a single purpose has ruined many lives.
Can you squat?
If you can’t squat all the way down to the ground with your feet and knees together, then you are missing full hip and ankle range of motion. This is the mechanism causing your hip impingement, plantar fasciitis, torn Achilles, pulled calf, etc. You should be focussed on this!
Patience
Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear process. The secret is to show up, do the work, and go home. A blue collar work ethic married to indomitable will. It is literally that simple. Nothing interferes. Nothing can sway you from your purpose.
Once the decision is made, simply refuse to budge. Refuse to compromise. And accept that quality long-term results require quality long-term focus. No emotion. No drama. There is no need to beat yourself up over minor setbacks. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the process.
