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2x Olympic Archery Medalist Jake Kaminski — Behind-the-Scenes Stories of Coaching Tim, What Archery Teaches About High Performance, and Excellence Under Pressure (#811)

“I’m well over a million shots the same way—same technique, same thought process, same thought at full draw. … Sustained effort is what really makes you good.”
— Jake Kaminski

Jake Kaminski (@jake_kaminski_) is a two-time Olympic silver medalist in archery and a longtime member of the US Archery Team, with more than a decade of international competition experience. Known for his technical precision and deep knowledge of the sport, Jake helped lead the US to team silver medals at both the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Since retiring from Olympic competition, Jake has become a leading voice in the archery world through content creation, product innovation, and educational events. He runs a successful YouTube channel, writes training guides, and develops high-performance gear under the Kaminski Archery brand.

Sign up for the Kaminski Archery Backyard Championship here.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube.

This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep premium mattresses; AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement; and Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast2x Olympic Archery Medalist Jake Kaminski — Behind-the-Scenes Stories of Coaching Tim, What Archery Teaches About High Performance, and Excellence Under Pressure

This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

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Want to hear an episode with MeatEater kingpin Steven Rinella? Listen to our conversation, in which we discuss how Steven got me to overcome my lifetime aversion to hunting, why the conservation-minded non-hunting crowd should care about the decline in hunting and fishing license sales in the United States, the politics of reintroducing predator species to popular hunting grounds, close encounters of the grizzly kind, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Jake Kaminski:

Website | YouTube | Patreon | Kaminski Archery Backyard Championship

Archery Concepts, Techniques, & TerminologyOlympic Recurve: Specific discipline/bow style used in the Olympics.Barebow: Discipline/bow style with minimal aids, uses string walking.Compound Bow: Bow style using cams/pulleys.Longbow: Simple, traditional bow style.Horse Bow / Asiatic Bow: Shorter recurve bow, often shot with a thumb release.Target Panic: Psychological issue affecting aiming/release.Clicker: Mechanical device used as a draw check and release trigger (primarily recurve).Shot Cycle / Shot Sequence: The repeatable physical and mental process of shooting an arrow.KSL Method: Biomechanically focused archery technique developed by Kisik Lee.Ape Index: The ratio of an individual’s arm span relative to their height.Biomechanics: Study of movement and structure in biological systems.Anchor: Consistent placement of the draw hand on the face/jaw.Let Down: Aborting a shot before release.Follow Through: Maintaining tension and direction after the arrow is released.Tension and Direction: Key principle of maintaining force towards the target (bow hand) and away (draw hand).Release: The act of letting the string go (viewed by KSL as a result of follow through).Blank Bale Practice: Shooting at a target butt with no face/aiming point, focusing on form.String Walking: Technique in barebow where the archer moves their fingers down the string to adjust elevation.Instinctive Aiming: Aiming without a dedicated sight or aiming reference point, relying on subconscious coordination.Cross Eye Dominant: When a person’s dominant eye is opposite their dominant hand.Hook: Specific placement and tension of fingers on the bowstring.Grouping: The proximity of arrows to each other on the target.Khatra: Specific movement/technique used in thumb draw/horse bow shooting.Archery EquipmentIndo Board: Balance training tool.Stabilizers: Rods attached to bows (Olympic recurve, compound) to add weight and reduce vibration.Riser: The central handle section of a bow.Limbs: The flexible parts of the bow that store energy.Arrow Rest: Device that supports the arrow before/during the shot.Zniper Fall-Away Arrow Rest: Specific magnetic fall-away rest mentioned for barebow.Plunger / Button: Adjustable device on recurve/barebow risers that helps tune arrow flight.Finger Tab: Protective leather/material worn on draw fingers.Peep Sight: Small aperture on compound bow string used as a rear sight.Mechanical Release / Release Aid: Device used to draw and release the string on compound bows.Arrows: Projectiles shot from the bow.Easton RX7: Specific model of large-diameter aluminum arrow.Easton Avance: Specific model of smaller-diameter carbon arrow.Fletching: Feathers or vanes on the back of an arrow for stabilization.Nock: Attachment point on the back of the arrow that clips onto the string.Sight: Aiming device (used on Olympic recurve and compound).Bowstring: Cord connecting the limb tips.Bag Target: Type of archery target filled with material.Target Bale: The backstop material archery targets are attached to.TheraBand: Elastic resistance band used for training.General Brands & ProductsMuscle Milk: Protein shakes.Maui Nui Venison: Sustainably sourced meat snacks.Pique Tea: Instant tea crystals.Momentous: Science-backed supplements.Fuel: A carbohydrate/electrolyte supplement by Momentous.Kinesiology Tape: Elastic therapeutic tape.Rick Simpson Oil (RSO): Specific type of full-spectrum cannabis oil (used topically).SAM (Sustained Acoustic Medicine) Device: Sustained acoustic medicine for soft-tissue injuries.LICUS (Low-Intensity Continuous Ultrasound): Therapy for numerous clinical disorders.Institutions, Organizations, & PlacesOlympic Training Center (San Diego): Facility where Jake lived and trained.Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD): Youth archery program in the US.Korea Archery Team: National archery system/team of South Korea.United States Archery Team: National archery system/team of the USA.Lancaster Archery Supply: Large archery distributor and host of the Lancaster Classic.Elma, NY: Jake’s home town.MeatEater: Outdoor lifestyle company founded by Steven Rinella.ShotIQ: Archery training system/company by Joel Turner.Gotham Archery: Archery range in Brooklyn, NY.Easton Archery Center of Excellence (Salt Lake City): Archery range and facility.Park City Fit: CrossFit gym in Park City, UT.Buffalo Bills: NFL team.Buffalo Sabres: NHL team.Events & CompetitionsOlympic Games: Major international multi-sport event (specifically London 2012 mentioned).Lancaster Classic: Major annual indoor archery tournament in Lancaster, PA.Empire State Games: Multi-sport competition within New York State.Junior World Championships (Archery): International competition for junior archers.: National archery competition in the US.World Cup (Archery): Series of international archery competitions.Kaminski Archery Backyard Championship: Digital archery tournament created by Jake.X Games: Extreme sports competition.World Championships (Tango): Competition.National Championships (Sanshou): Competition.Books & Media The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss Robin Hood (Disney Film) The Karate Kid Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery PeopleSusan Garrett: Dog agility champion.The Rock: Actor and professional wrestler.Lady Gaga: Singer, songwriter, and actress.Steven Rinella: Hunter, writer, founder of MeatEater.Robin Hood: A legendary outlaw archer from English folklore.Joel Turner: Archery coach, founder of ShotIQ.Bodie Turner: Son of Joel Turner, highly successful compound archer.Harry Staebell: Jake’s childhood coach/mentor.Nariyoshi Miyagi: The wise, Okinawan-born karate master from The Karate Kid.Kisik Lee (KSL): Jake’s coach, former Korean National Head Coach, influential archery figure.Austin Powers: International man of mystery.Dan Schuller: Jake’s childhood competitor and fellow resident athlete.Brady Ellison: Jake’s Olympic teammate, famous competitor.Jacob Wukie: Jake’s Olympic teammate.Eeyore: Winnie-the-Pooh’s sad donkey friend.: Jake’s sister.Heather Kaminski: Jake’s wife, manual therapist.LeBron James: Basketball player.Kobe Bryant: Basketball player.Michael Jordan: Basketball player.Rick Simpson: Associated with Rick Simpson Oil (RSO).Henk Kraaijenhof: Famous track coach.Chris Spealler: Owner of Park City Fit.Relevant ResourcesBow and Arrow | WikipediaArchery Beginner Gear Guide | Jake KaminskiNew to Archery? Five Tips for your First Day of Shooting | Jake KaminskiThe Ethical Bow Hunting Shot | Bow LifeSouth Korea’s Archery Invincibility Explained | Land of LegendsStaying Sane with Meditative Archery | Spirituality+HealthWhat Top Archers Think About at Full Draw | Jake KaminskiArchery Strength Training Playlist | Jake Kaminski100 Positive Affirmations for Better Self-Care | Crisis Text LineParis 2024 Olympics: Republic of Korea Continue Dominance, Winning Tenth Straight Archery Gold Medal in Women’s Team | OlympicsThe Olympic Experience of Silver Medallist Jake Kaminski | World ArcherySHOW NOTES[00:00:00] Start.[00:06:50] A glimpse into the high-precision world of Olympic archery.[00:11:04] How Jake and I connected.[00:18:27] Jake’s auspicious introduction to archery.[00:21:15] Why you (Yes! You!) should try archery.[00:22:01] The differences between bows.[00:25:19] The admirable proficiency of Shot IQ’s Bodie and Joel Turner.[00:26:24] Ethical bow hunting, performing under pressure, and transitioning from rifle to bow.[00:29:22] Why I wouldn’t have cut it as a competitive archer in Korea.[00:30:14] Mindful archery and training hard to make competition easy.[00:37:00] What Jake did when compound bow archery started to get boring.[00:40:00] Meeting legendary Coach Kisik Lee (KSL).[00:43:06] The upsides of having no social life as a kid.[00:45:20] The welcoming weirdness of archery communities.[00:46:33] For the sake of form, Coach Lee shakes things up.[00:51:21] “I am.” — an affirmation for apathy adjustment.[00:58:11] London, 2012 Olympics: when it all starts coming together.[01:08:28] How does teamwork play out in archery?[01:15:40] My own experience with Coach Lee.[01:19:23] The trials of training and traveling.[01:27:33] Blank bale practice.[01:31:14] Layering, biomechanics, and other early points of focus.[01:33:03] The underrated importance of follow through.[01:36:40] Coach Lee’s take on follow through vs. release.[01:37:29] Gauging tension and intention as an instructor.[01:38:52] Attention to grouping over hitting the bullseye.[01:40:57] Making adaptations for physical limitations.[01:43:30] The ups and downs of our patented “Jesus take the wheel” instinctive approach.[01:46:24] Warm-up tournaments, barebowing, black bales, and string walking.[01:50:54] Recovering from the disaster that made me rethink Lancaster.[01:55:15] Rebalancing gear: arrows and arrow rests.[02:00:50] The importance of practicing in tournament-like conditions.[02:04:03] Securing convenient fuel.[02:08:17] Lancaster preparation logistics (with special thanks to Heather Kaminski and Rick Simpson Oil).[02:13:17] The glue that holds us together: note-taking and training logs.[02:16:47] Even counterintuitive consistency is key.[02:18:45] Our experience at Lancaster.[02:28:00] “The goal is to do the least necessary, not the most possible.” — Henk Kraaijenhof[02:31:44] Learning by observation and conversation on the practice range.[02:35:35] What’s the Kaminski Archery Backyard Championship, and why should you get involved?[02:40:30] How can you (and why should you) get started with archery today?[02:42:48] Parting thoughts.MORE JAKE KAMINSKI QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Anything you can do to make things more difficult—to shoot in the rain, to shoot in the wind, to shoot in the heat—I would do because, I don’t know, maybe I just enjoy torturing myself. But I found it to be really important. And once I got to the training center, listening to some of the other successful athletes giving talks at the training center about their success and how things went and what made them successful, a lot of them were leaning into the same kind of thing—training hard to make competition easy.”
— Jake Kaminski

“Practice scores don’t matter.”
— Jake Kaminski

“Ultimately, nobody’s going to prevent you from succeeding or failing except for yourself. So you’ve just got to get out of your own way and let it happen. You’ve already put in the time, you put in the effort, just go have fun. Just shoot some arrows and maintain composure.”
— Jake Kaminski

“If I were to wave a magic wand and try to make things better the next time, it would be doing archery more often. It’s not about how many arrows you do in one session; it’s how many sessions in a week can you do and how many days in between each session are there? Anything more than one is too many, in my opinion.”
— Jake Kaminski

“You look experienced from experience. You don’t just get it. You’ve got to make that groove in the brain, and really make that neuromotor connection strong enough to where it just fluidly happens. That’s why an expert is an expert. They’ve done the same thing thousands and thousands and thousands of times. I’m well over a million shots the same way—same technique, same thought process, same thought at full draw. So it’s an immense amount of effort and work over time. Sustained effort is what really makes you good.”
— Jake Kaminski

The post 2x Olympic Archery Medalist Jake Kaminski — Behind-the-Scenes Stories of Coaching Tim, What Archery Teaches About High Performance, and Excellence Under Pressure (#811) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Terry Real — The Therapist Who Breaks All The Rules (#810)

“A boy’s question of the world is ‘What do you got for me?’ A man’s question of the world is ‘What’s needed here?'”
— Terry Real

Terry Real is a nationally recognized family therapist, author, and teacher. He is known for his groundbreaking work on men and male psychology as well as his work on gender and couples.

His book I Don’t Want To Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression, the first book ever written on the topic of male depression, is a national bestseller. His new book, Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship is a New York Times bestseller.

Terry’s Relational Life Institute offers training for therapists and workshops for couples and individuals.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs; Ramp easy-to-use corporate cards, bill payments, accounting, and more; and Wealthfront high-yield cash account.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastTerry Real — The Therapist Who Breaks All The Rules

This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is a financial services platform that offers services to help you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn 4.00% APY—that’s the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Brokerage Cash Account from its network of partner banks. That’s nearly ten times more interest than a savings account at a bank, according to FDIC.gov as of 03/17/2025 (Wealthfront’s 4.00% APY vs. 0.41% average savings rate). It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you’ll immediately start earning 4.00% APY interest on your short term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when new clients open an account today, they can get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more. Terms & Conditions apply. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started. 

APY as of 03/17/2025 and is subject to change. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset Family Office! Listeners have heard me talk about “making before you manage” for years. And for me—as a writer and entrepreneur—I definitely gravitate toward making. So it’s important that I find the right people who are great at managing. That’s why I trust this episode’s sponsor, Cresset Family Office. 

Cresset is a prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs. They handle the complex financial planning, uncertain tax strategies, timely exit planning, bill pay and wires, and all the other parts of wealth management that would otherwise pull me away from doing what I love most: making things, mastering skills, and spending time with the people I care about.  Experience the freedom of focusing on what matters to you with the support of a top wealth management team. Schedule a call today at cressetcapital.com/Tim to see how Cresset can help streamline your financial plans and grow your wealth.

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Want to hear five chapters from the audiobook Fierce Intimacy by Terry Real? Listen here — it will help you identify both your and your partner’s losing strategies in relationships and help you move from disharmony to repair.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Terry Real:

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

Books Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship by Terry Real I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression by Terry Real Fierce Intimacy by Terry Real Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic by James Gilligan The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler Hard-Boiled: Great Lines from Classic Noir Films by Peggy Thompson and Saeko UsukawaTherapeutic Approaches & ModalitiesRelational Life Therapy (RLT): Terry Real’s primary approach.Internal Family Systems (IFS): Mentioned as having some similarities to RLT’s parts work; Terry discusses similarities and differences.Men’s Intensive Group Therapy: Run by Terry. Format includes check-ins, emerging themes, and deep trauma work.12-Step Programs (e.g., Al-Anon): Mentioned in context of addiction and support.Core RLT Concepts & FrameworksThree Parts of the Human Psyche (RLT Model):Wise Adult (prefrontal cortex, choosing part)Wounded Child (flooded, emotional part)Adaptive Child (kid’s version of an adult, automatic/knee-jerk responses, self-protection)Relational Mindfulness: Core skill of shifting out of the adaptive child.Remembering Love: First skill; remembering you care about the person you’re speaking to.Miserable Comfortable vs. Happy Uncomfortable: States related to staying in old patterns vs. embracing growth.Taking a Position (as a therapist): Contrasted with neutral mirroring.Objectivity Battles: Arguments over who is “right” or whose reality is accurate (RLT argues objectivity has no place in personal relations).Relational Answer (to who’s right/wrong): Focus on collaborative solutions.Repair: Critical process in relationships; a “one-way street” initially.Normal Marital Hatred: The idea that it’s normal to go through phases of intense dislike or “hatred” for one’s partner in a long-term relationship.Deal-Breakers & Relational Reckoning: A process/question (“Am I getting enough…to make grieving what I’m not getting worth my while?”) to assess relationship viability.Preconditions for RLT Couples Therapy: Issues like active addiction, violence, or untreated psychiatric conditions that need addressing before RLT can be effective for the couple.Leverage (Negative and Positive): Therapeutic technique to motivate clients.Covert Depression (in Men): Depression masked by behaviors like rage, philandering, withdrawal, self-medication.Normal Boyhood Trauma (under patriarchy): The trauma of boys being taught to disconnect from vulnerability and emotions.Psychological Patriarchy: Traditional masculinity’s impact on individuals and relationships (distinct from political patriarchy).Toxic Individualism: Overemphasis on the self at the expense of relational connection.One Up / One Down Positions: Dynamics of superiority/inferiority in relationships (builds on Pia Mellody’s work).Love Avoidant: A pattern of behavior stemming from early experiences, often involving fear of engulfment.Full-Respect Living: Holding others in respect even when disagreeing.Poisoned Privilege: The negative impact of entitlement, often seen in “one-up” positions.Relational Joy vs. Gratification: Deep, connected pleasure vs. short-term pleasure.Loving Power: Asserting oneself while maintaining connection and care for the relationship.General Psychological & Relational ConceptsRelational Heroism (coined by Belinda Berman)Male Depression (and Overt Depression)Couples TherapyCodependency (described as “fawn” or “fix” response)Fight, Flight, Fawn (stress responses)Harmony, Disharmony, and Repair (Ed Tronick’s rhythm of all relationships)Dual Diagnosis (e.g., addiction and depression)TraumaPatriarchyIndividualismEnmeshmentPolyamoryManosphereGrandiosityCompanionable Marriage (as a historical norm)Organizations & InstitutionsAl-Anon: Support group for families of alcoholics.The Meadows: Treatment center where Pia Mellody worked.Sounds True: Publisher of Terry Real’s Fierce Intimacy audio program.Movies & ShowsThe Hurt LockerAdolescenceThe Big SleepPeoplePeter Attia: Doctor, author, friend of Tim Ferriss, mentioned in relation to male depression and his book Outlive.Kevin Rose: Friend of Tim Ferriss, mentioned in relation to couples therapy.Belinda Berman: Terry Real’s wife, a family therapist, coined “relational heroism.”Gregory Bateson: Anthropologist, influential in family therapy, husband of Margaret Mead, known for concept of “humankind’s epistemological error.”Margaret Mead: Anthropologist, wife of Gregory Bateson.Edward Tronick: Infant observational researcher, known for the “harmony, disharmony, and repair” rhythm in relationships.T. Berry Brazelton: Pediatrician and researcher, worked alongside Tronick.Sigmund Freud: The father of psychoanalysis.James Framo: Considered a father of couple’s therapy.Esther Perel: Therapist, mentioned as working with Peter Attia.Pia Mellody: Therapist, mentor to Terry Real, influential in 12-step community, associated with The Meadows, concepts like “one up, one down.”Riane Eisler: Scholar, author, known for concepts like “power over vs. power with.”Carol Gilligan: Psychologist, ethicist, known for work on gender studies (e.g., “the binary,” “no voice without relationship”).Olga Silverstein: Therapist, known for “the halving process” (splitting human qualities by gender).Keith Richards: Guitar hero.Richard “Dick” Schwartz: Founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy.Adolf Hitler: The gold standard of human villainy.Erik Erikson: Child psychoanalyst.Elon Musk: Mentioned as an example in a discussion about aspirational masculinity vs. relational well-being.James Gilligan: Psychiatrist, author of Violence, worked with criminally insane.Sam Harris: Neuroscientist, author, podcaster (mentioned for his meditation app).Mahatma Gandhi: Political ethicist who led the campaign for India’s independence from British rule.Martin Luther King Jr.: Civil rights champion.Raymond Chandler: Noir author (The Big Sleep).Sam Spade: Fictional detective from Raymond Chandler’s work.Humphrey Bogart: Actor.Lauren Bacall: Actress.Relevant ResourcesTerry Real — Breaking the Rules of Traditional Couples Therapy for Superior Results, A Few Frameworks That Work | The Tim Ferriss Show #798Is Marital Hate Really “Normal”? | CoveteurWhen to End a Relationship | Terry RealTerry Real: Breaking the Cycle of Shame, Anger, and Depression | The Peter Attia DriveQuiet Desperation: The Male Manifestation of Depression | Hudson Clinical CounselingTerry Real: Gender, Power and Relationships: The Crushing Effects of Patriarchy | Finding Brave with Kathy CaprinoThe Power of Partnership: Riane Eisler’s Gifts to the World Are Needed Now More Than Ever | MenAliveCarol Gilligan: Why I Changed My Mind on the Gender Binary | New StatesmanMasculinity: A Civilization at War With Itself | Imago Relationship TherapyWhy Do Trans Women Face So Much Violence? | American Civil Liberties UnionRLT Conference 2025Maasai in Tanzania | Minority Rights GroupMorani: The Warriorhood Tradition of the Kenyan Tribes | Dietmar Temps PhotographyThe Great Divide with Terry Real | Making Polyamory WorkTreating “The Untreatable”: How to Transform Narcissistic Relationships | Terry RealSHOW NOTES[00:00:00] Start.[00:05:51] The pumpernickel story.[00:09:44] Wise adult, wounded child, and adaptive child.[00:11:25] Relational mindfulness.[00:12:11] Remembering love.[00:13:29] Why do we remain loyal to bad relationships?[00:16:58] The RLT stance on taking a position as a therapist.[00:18:46] Objectivity battles.[00:24:11] Entering into compassionate curiosity about your partner’s subjective experience.[00:29:40] Normal marital hatred.[00:34:19] Taking the first steps toward repair.[00:37:03] Empathizing with someone whose reality doesn’t match yours.[00:39:45] Should you stay or should you go? Understanding relational reckoning.[00:43:41] Leveraging a resistant partner toward therapy.[00:46:03] The preconditions that must be addressed before RLT can be effective.[00:48:37] Understanding covert depression in men.[00:52:52] Determining underlying depression.[00:54:36] Favored modalities for working with trauma.[00:55:04] Parsing the patriarchy.[00:59:35] Taking care of your relationship’s biosphere without being codependent.[01:03:23] Terry’s prescription for overcoming my own faulty childhood templates.[01:07:05] Pondering gender expectations and expressions.[01:13:06] Were Terry’s distinctly different boys raised similarly?[01:15:05] A good Morani vs. a great Morani.[01:16:53] The greatest achievement of Terry’s life.[01:18:44] Advice for people who want to be better parents than the ones they had.[01:21:17] The typical format of Terry’s men’s group therapy.[01:23:56] Full-respect living, group guidelines, and boundaries.[01:25:07] Comparing and contrasting Relational Life Therapy (RLT) with Internal Family Systems (IFS).[01:27:54] Modern relationship challenges — from polyamory to monogamy.[01:29:53] The research is clear: Humans are born to be intimate.[01:32:16] Toxic femininity and the new world order.[01:34:40] Relational empowerment vs. individual empowerment.[01:35:45] One up, one down.[01:37:50] From grandiosity to baseline: Relational joy vs. gratification.[01:43:06] How to learn more about Terry’s work.[01:45:16] Recommended reading.[01:49:09] Terry’s billboard.[01:49:34] Parting thoughts.MORE TERRY REAL QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“A boy’s question of the world is ‘What do you got for me?’ A man’s question of the world is ‘What’s needed here?'”
— Terry Real

“Family pathology rolls from generation to generation like a fire in the woods taking down everything in its path until one person in one generation has the courage to turn and face the flames. That person brings peace to their ancestors and spares the children that follow.”
— Terry Real

“Have the courage to move beyond the defaults you were handed, and do it with help.”
— Terry Real

“Part of the reason why we don’t change is we’re loyal to the relationships that we learn how to be screwed up in. And it feels odd. I say we’re immigrants. We leave the old country and the old people behind.”
— Terry Real

“Enter into compassionate curiosity about your partner’s subjective experience. They’re nuts? Okay, but find out what kind of nut they are.”
— Terry Real

“Repair is a one-way street. … If you have a disgruntled partner, you are at their service. … Somebody comes to the customer service window and says, ‘My microwave doesn’t work.’ They don’t want to hear you say, ‘Well, my toaster doesn’t work.’ They don’t want your excuses. Fix the goddamn microwave. … Put yourself aside and tend to them.”
— Terry Real

“Boys and men get depressed because of what I call normal boyhood trauma under patriarchy. We are taught at three, four, five years old to deny our vulnerability, to disconnect from our feelings, to disconnect from others, all in the name of autonomy. We cut off half of our humanity, the feelings, the vulnerability, connection, really, in some ways, the most rich, nourishing parts of what it means to be a human. And that cutoff, which is imposed on boys, that cutoff is traumatic. And it also renders you isolated and lonely. So there’s a lot of trauma. That trauma becomes depression, that depression becomes acting out or self-medication. And if you really want to heal someone, you hit all three layers. First the defenses, then the depression, then the childhood trauma.”
— Terry Real

“Moving men, women, non-binary folk into true intimacy is synonymous with moving them beyond traditional gender roles, beyond patriarchy. Men have to move into vulnerability and open their hearts. Women have to move into assertion with love — not with harshness, but with love. And doing that on both sides moves beyond anything that this culture teaches us. It’s pioneer work.”
— Terry Real

“It absolutely kills me when people describe my work as ‘Terry’s trying to feminize men.’ No, I want whole human beings. I want smart, sexy, competent women. I want powerful, big-hearted, compassionate men. We don’t need to halve ourselves in compliance to the world order. We can be whole.”
— Terry Real

“There’s a saying: ‘Therapists are people who need to be in therapy 40 hours a week.’ I became a professional therapist to heal myself and then I became a family therapist to learn how to have a relationship.”
— Terry Real

“Not being intimate is as bad for your body as smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day. This is hard, black and white research. We are born to be intimate. Moving beyond traditional gender roles is the only way to get there. So stop whining, stand up, and learn a few relational skills. It’s good for you, it’s good for your body, you’ll live longer, it’s good for your marriage, and it’s good for your children.”
— Terry Real

The post Terry Real — The Therapist Who Breaks All The Rules (#810) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

“What might this look like if it were easy?” — A Conversation at Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School (HBS) reached out last year to create a case study on my entrepreneurial journey, which tracks me from childhood to the current day. The case study, titled “Tim Ferriss: What Might This Look Like If It Were Easy?” is roughly 40 pages, and you can buy it for $11.95 here. I don’t earn a penny. The whole experience culminated in two classes at HBS in Professor Satchu’s “Founder Mindset” course.

Following one of the classes, student Jay Bhandari interviewed me for the “Between Two Classes” series at The Harbus, a publication by Harvard Business School students, who kindly gave permission to share it with you here.

I hope you find something below useful.

In a Q&A with your fans, you talked about the value of identity diversification. This approach is antithetical to advice we often get to commit and focus on a domain. How do you reconcile those two competing philosophies?

I think they complement each other rather than compete. Identity diversification simply means cultivating multiple, independent areas of growth in your life where you can chart progress. This is engineered so that your self-worth isn’t entirely dependent on one thing, such as the regular ups and downs of your own startup. Being overinvested gets a lot of media play and X threads, but there’s a nasty survivorship bias at work. I’ve seen dozens of founders implode because their “startup as self-worth” metrics went sideways for a few months. I prefer an approach with more margin of safety, and it’s entirely compatible with domain mastery. For instance, you could very well spend 40 to 80 hours per week on your startup, but if you supplement that with indoor rock climbing, weight training, chess club, or something else that has its own metrics for growth, even if new regulations or a competitor tank your startup for a short stretch, you can still offset the blow with progress outside of the office. It’s cheap psychological insurance. I think of identity diversification as a huge competitive advantage in games that depend on endurance. At the highest levels, that’s pretty much everything. If Michael Jordan could afford to play copious amounts of golf and poker, you can afford to have side interests.

Is there anything about your life you wish you had focused on sooner? If you could spend time with 28-year-old you, what would you tell him?

To my younger self: meditate twice daily—10 minutes is plenty—and get accelerated TMS as soon as it’s ready for showtime. See my other answers for elaboration. I’d probably also share an embroidered quote I bought at a thrift shop in Marfa, Texas: “Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”

What do you think young ambitious people are over- and under-indexed on?

I think HBS students are over-indexed on buying the implicit investment banking and management consulting pitch of something like “get broad exposure to industries and then you can pick your lane and do anything!” If you’re non-technical and stay in either of those for more than a few years, the odds of you leaving to start your own startup (outside of finance or consulting) is roughly the same as the likelihood of a five- to 10-year entrepreneur joining investment banking or consulting. In other words, low. I’ve seen this play out 100+ times. Sure, there are some exceptions, but I wouldn’t bet on being one of them unless you’ve committed to an exit plan before you enter those games. And if you want to be an edge case, find and study at least five to 10 edge cases you could emulate before you accept the job. If you can’t find them, that tells you something.

Many in the HBS, Type-A crowd are no stranger to stress, anxiety, and depression. What are tips, mantras, and systems you’ve developed for managing your mental health when you’re actively in a dark place?

To be clear, I’m not a doctor and don’t play one on the internet. The “actively in a dark place” makes this a very dicey question. That said, having spent some time in dark places, especially in college, I’ll share a few things that I’ve seen work. Please do your own homework and speak with your medical professionals.

For acute suicidal ideation, I would call the 988 helpline first and potentially consider a series of ketamine infusions/injections per the protocols suggested by John Krystal, MD, professor of neuroscience at Yale University. Ketamine can be very addictive, and I’ve seen people unravel their lives with it, but in dangerous self-harm circumstances, it can be a life-saving intervention. It effectively pauses the incessant thought loops driving the desperation. For more of my thoughts on suicide, including my description of a close brush in 1999, read tim.blog/suicide.

If we’re talking about general prevention and self-care, I would highly suggest daily cold exposure (e.g., I do 3–5 minutes in a 40–45° F bath daily) and short meditation sessions 2x/daily (e.g., Transcendental Meditation for 20 minutes twice a day or The Way App with Henry Shukman for two 10-minute sessions). I typically meditate immediately upon waking and then again before dinner or bed. This is less than 30 minutes a day. Do your pre-hab, and you’ll need less rehab.

If you have a history of trauma, see tim.blog/trauma for a list of resources that I and designer Debbie Millman have found effective. Trigger warning: it’s not a fun read, but it might be helpful for some. Your mileage may vary.

For treatment-resistant depression, I would consider accelerated TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation), à la the SAINT protocol co-developed by Dr. Nolan Williams at Stanford University. BrainsWay and MagVenture both make compelling devices with different approaches. I firmly believe TMS and other forms of brain stimulation can have near-immediate and durable effects that rival the effects of psychedelics in outcomes. I say that as someone who’s funded a lot of the science related to psychedelics since 2015 through my non-profit, Saisei Foundation.

Once legal, and assuming you have no family history of schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, etc., I might suggest investigating various psychedelic-assisted therapies for depression (e.g., psilocybin) on a once-annual cadence, but there are more known risks than with brain stimulation like TMS. For instance, and I’ve seen this firsthand, combining ayahuasca and SSRIs increases the risk of serotonin syndrome, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. Regard any of these compounds with the same respect you would treat major neurosurgery. For more education on the science, applications, and possible mechanisms of action, I suggest the research of Dr. Gül Dolen and Dr. Nolan Williams, as well as the Netflix miniseries based on Michael Pollan’s book of the same name, How to Change Your Mind. The MDMA and psilocybin/mushroom episodes are particularly strong.

Last but not least, don’t ignore diet. Read up on “metabolic psychiatry” and Dr. Chris Palmer, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Ketosis and other interventions can produce nearly miraculous results for a number of psychiatric conditions, including those that are strongly contraindicated with psychedelics, like schizophrenia.

If you were starting over today in 2025 and were in your late twenties, what would you be doing?

I would be looking for fast-growing industries that are unsexy and under the radar, and I’d aim to join a startup of fewer than 100 people, where I’d be able to watch deal-makers making deals and making decisions. In contrast, if you’re trying to create an AI startup like everyone else, it’s going to be a crabs in a bucket scenario for 99% of the people involved. Sure, you might be the super crab 1%, but I generally prefer less crowded spaces, where you can typically get more regular interaction with the A+ players.

Let’s take luck out of the picture. What skills, habits, mantras, or areas of personal growth would you most attribute your success to?

Playing the long game and not being in a rush. I choose projects and a lot of investments based on the learning, skill development, and relationships that will transcend them. If you allow such things to snowball over time, eventually the critical mass makes success almost inevitable. This might sound hand-wavy, but you can approach it systematically. Go to tim.blog/mba or Google “Tim Ferriss real-world MBA” for some angel-investing examples of how I’ve applied this. This isn’t the only approach I’ve seen work for “success” (dangerous word, that!), but it seems replicable.

If you could put a message on a billboard that reaches HBS students, what would it be?

I would borrow from Dr. BJ Miller, a hospice physician who’s helped thousands of people to navigate death, whose answer was “Don’t believe everything that you think.”

Reprinted with permission from The Harbus News Corporation. All rights reserved.     

The post “What might this look like if it were easy?” — A Conversation at Harvard Business School appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

The 4-Hour Workweek Tools That Still Work — The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet (#809)

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? This episode features two of the most important chapters from the audiobook of The 4-Hour Workweek. The chapters push you to defend your scarce attention—one by saying no to people, the other by saying no to excess information.

The chapter is narrated by the great voice actor Ray Porter. If you are interested in checking out the rest of the audiobook, which is produced and copyrighted by Blackstone Publishing, you can find it on Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, Downpour.com, or wherever you find your favorite audiobooks.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

This episode is brought to you by David Protein Bars, with 28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar; Our Place’s Titanium Always Pan® Pro, using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals”; and AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastThe 4-Hour Workweek Tools That Still Work — The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet

This episode is brought to you by David Protein Bars! I’m always on the hunt for protein sources that don’t require sacrifices in taste or nutrition. That’s why I love the protein bars from this episode’s sponsor, David. With David protein bars, you get the fewest calories for the most protein, ever. David has 28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar. I was first introduced to David by my friend Peter Attia, MD, who is their Chief Science Officer. Many of you know of Peter, and he does his due diligence. And David tastes great. Their bars come in six delicious flavors, all worth trying, and I’ll often throw them in my bag for protein on the go. And now, listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show who buy four boxes get a fifth box for free. Try them for yourself at DavidProtein.com/Tim.

This episode is brought to you by Our Place’s Titanium Always Pan® Pro! Many nonstick pans can release harmful “forever chemicals”—PFAS—into your food, your home, and, ultimately, your body. Teflon is a prime example—it is *the* forever chemical that most companies are still using. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to major health issues like gut microbiome disruption, testosterone dysregulation, and more, which have been correlated to chronic disease in the long term. This is why I use the Titanium Always Pan Pro from today’s sponsor, Our Place.  It’s the first nonstick pan with zero coating. This means zero “forever chemicals” and a durability that will last a lifetime. That’s right—no degradation over time like traditional nonstick pans.

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Want to hear another episode that features content straight from The 4-Hour Workweek? Listen here for the chapter preceding this one that includes tools and frameworks that I use to this day, including Pareto’s Law and Parkinson’s Law.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEBooks, Publications, and Movies The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | Amazon Calculating God by Robert J. SawyerResponse Magazine (Defunct)Inc. MagazineThe Matrix Revolutions | Prime VideoTools MentionedFirefox BrowserLeechBlockSkypeEvernoteFujitsu ScanSnap S300M Mobile ScannerDialpadGrandCentral (Now Google Voice)YouMailDoodleTimeDriver (Defunct) Alternatives: Calendly | Acuity Scheduling | EngagewareXobni (Defunct) Alternatives: Lookeen | Clearbit Connect | ContactuallyJott (Defunct) Alternatives: Otter.ai | Google Assistant / Google Keep + Voice InputCopytalkFreedomRelevant ResourcesThe Low-Information Diet: How to Eliminate Email Overload and Triple Productivity in 24 Hours | Tim FerrissLearn How to Triple Your Reading Speed in 5 Minutes (Seriously) | Tim FerrissThe Puppy Dog Close | Masit Communications Science Blog Mixed up with the ArtsThe Cost of Not Paying Attention: How Interruptions Impact Knowledge Worker Productivity by Jonathan B. Spira and Joshua B. FeintuchThe 4-Hour Workweek: Empowerment Failure | Corrie HafflyMedical Tourism | WikipediaPeopleRay PorterHerbert A. SimonAlbert EinsteinRalph Waldo EmersonRobert J. SawyerKathy SierraRalph CharellDave BarryDan GableAnnie DillardBill GatesCalvinShow Notes[00:00:00] Start.[00:07:24] The low-information diet.[00:09:45] Cultivating selective ignorance.[00:14:32] How to read 200% faster in 10 minutes.[00:17:09] Questions and actions: Go on an immediate one-week media fast.[00:21:05] Develop the habit of asking yourself, “Will I definitely use this information for something immediate and important?”[00:22:03] Practice the art of nonfinishing.[00:22:49] Comfort challenge: Get phone numbers.[00:25:14] Interrupting interruption and the art of refusal.[00:28:16] Not all evils are created equal.[00:29:36] Time wasters: Become an ignoramus.[00:30:09] Limit email consumption and production.[00:33:05] Screen incoming and limit outgoing phone calls.[00:36:10] Master the art of refusal and avoiding meetings.[00:38:33] In order of preference, steer people toward email, phone, and in-person meetings.[00:38:59] Respond to voicemail via email whenever possible.[00:40:50] Meetings should only be held to make decisions about a predefined situation, not to define the problem.[00:41:53] If you absolutely cannot stop a meeting or call from happening, define the end time.[00:43:00] The cubicle is your temple — don’t permit casual visitors.[00:44:24] Use the Puppy Dog Close to help your superiors and others develop the no-meeting habit.[00:46:48] Time consumers: Batch and do not falter.[00:50:05] How much is your time worth?[00:50:45] Estimate the amount of time you will save by grouping similar tasks and batching them.[00:51:14] Determine how much problems cost to fix in each period.[00:53:02] Empowerment failure: Rules and readjustment.[00:59:44] Questions and actions: Create systems to limit your availability.[01:01:55] Batch activities to limit setup cost and provide more time for dreamline milestones.[01:02:25] Set or request autonomous rules and guidelines with occasional review of results.[01:03:18] Tools for eliminating paper distractions, capturing everything.[01:05:28] Tools for screening and avoiding unwanted calls.[01:07:12] Tools for scheduling without back-and-forth.[01:08:23] Tools for choosing the best email batching times.[01:09:13] Tools for emailing without entering the inbox black hole.[01:10:20] Tools for preventing web browsing/internet use.[01:11:10] Comfort challenge: revisit the terrible twos.[01:12:07] Lifestyle design in action.

The post The 4-Hour Workweek Tools That Still Work — The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet (#809) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Stephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast, and from Stocking Groceries to Reading Philosophy for a Living (#808)

“Nietzsche said ‘amor fati’ is how he’s going to live his life henceforth. Everything he’s going to say yes to. He will be a yes-sayer, is what he says. This is an affirmative stance towards reality where, even if things are bad or uncomfortable or horrible, we’re going to affirm reality as it is and not idealize it into something that it’s not. It’s very common for people to do, even when they’re not religious, to think of reality as though it owes you something. But to affirm reality fully is to accept the good, the bad. It’s not to rationalize about it and try to make excuses for it or frame your suffering in a way where it makes it go away. To truly affirm life and reality is just to be in it and to have life itself be enough, truly.”
— Stephen West

Stephen West (@iamstephenwest) is a father, husband, and host of the Philosophize This! podcast. He attempts to explain, translate, and humanize philosophy in a way that doesn’t ever aim to tell people what to think but to invite them to better understand their own thoughts by exploring alternatives.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

This episode is brought to you by Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses; Momentous high-quality supplements; and Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastStephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast, and from Stocking Groceries to Reading Philosophy for a Living

This episode is brought to you by Gusto! I asked millions of you about Gusto on social media, and I’ve never seen such overwhelmingly positive responses. More than 400,000 small businesses already trust Gusto, and it’s been named the #1 Payroll Software by G2 for Winter 2025. If you’re a small business owner looking to simplify payroll and HR tasks, Gusto could be the game-changer you need. Gusto is an all-in-one payroll, benefits, and HR platform designed specifically for small businesses. Gusto automatically files federal, state, and local payroll taxes, handles W-2s and 1099s, and offers straightforward health benefits and 401(k) options for nearly any budget. With an intuitive interface and features like time tracking, onboarding tools, and direct access to certified HR experts, Gusto saves time and eliminates headaches so you can focus on what matters—growing your business. ​As a special offer to listeners, new customers get Gusto free for their first 3 months. This is the perfect time to choose Gusto to take care of your team and stay compliant. See for yourself why 9 out of 10 businesses recommend it. Get started now! Terms apply at Gusto.com/terms.

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Temperature is one of the main causes of poor sleep, and heat is my personal nemesis. I’ve suffered for decades, tossing and turning, throwing blankets off, pulling them back on, and repeating ad nauseam. But a few years ago, I started using the Pod Cover, and it has transformed my sleep. Eight Sleep has launched their newest generation of the Pod: Pod 4 Ultra. It cools, it heats, and now it elevates, automatically. With the best temperature performance to date, Pod 4 Ultra ensures you and your partner stay cool in the heat and cozy warm in the cold. Plus, it automatically tracks your sleep time, snoring, sleep stages, and HRV, all with high precision. For example, their heart rate tracking is at an incredible 99% accuracy.

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This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements! Momentous offers high-quality supplements and products across a broad spectrum of categories, and I’ve been testing their products for months now. I’ve been using their magnesium threonate, apigenin, and L-theanine daily, all of which have helped me improve the onset, quality, and duration of my sleep. I’ve also been using Momentous creatine, and while it certainly helps physical performance, including poundage or wattage in sports, I use it primarily for mental performance (short-term memory, etc.).

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Want to hear another podcast episode focusing on philosophy and the nature of reality? Listen to my conversation with Galileo’s Error author Philip Goff, in which we discussed panpsychism, quantum consciousness, Integrated Information Theory, mystical traditions within Christianity and Islam, psychedelics and numinous experiences, the matter of matter, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Stephen West/Philosophize This!:

Website | Patreon | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Podcasts and Radio ShowsPhilosophize This! with Stephen WestLoveline with Adam Carolla and Dr. DrewHardcore History with Dan CarlinWrath of the Khans with Dan CarlinHistory of Philosophy Without Any Gaps with Peter AdamsonThe Partially Examined Lifefear{less} with Tim FerrissBooks, Articles, and Written WorksThe Warehouse Worker Who Became a Philosopher by Thomas Chatterton Williams | The AtlanticBeing and Nothingness by Jean-Paul SartreGorgias by PlatoLetters from a Stoic / Moral Letters to Lucilius by SenecaLetter to a Christian Nation by Sam HarrisThe Principia: The Authoritative Translation and Guide: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Sir Isaac NewtonOn Anger by Lucius Annaeus SenecaNature by Ralph Waldo EmersonSelf-Reliance by Ralph Waldo EmersonThe 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy FerrissThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy FerrissThe God Delusion by Richard DawkinsThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam HarrisThe Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan HolidayA Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. IrvineThe Wealth of Nations by Adam SmithThink: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon BlackburnTractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig WittgensteinVagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf PottsWalden by Henry David ThoreauAdvantageous Apps and ResourcesThe Way: Sanbo Zen Master Henry Shukman’s meditation app.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: A free treasure trove of philosophical knowledge.ArtMona Lisa by Leonardo da VinciThe Starry Night by Vincent van GoghPeopleDave Elitch: Professional drummer.Thomas Chatterton Williams: Writer (The Atlantic article).Ernest Hemingway: Writer.Adam Carolla: Radio host (Loveline).Dr. Drew Pinsky: Radio host (Loveline).Howard Stern: Radio host.Socrates: Ancient Greek philosopher.Plato: Ancient Greek philosopher.Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian.Ralph Waldo Emerson: Writer, poet, lecturer, and philosopher.Jimmy Whisenhunt: eSports shoutcaster friend of Stephen’s.John Madden: An professional American football coach and sports commentator.Dan Carlin: Podcaster (Hardcore History).General Subutai: Historical figure.Dave Chappelle: Comedian.Miles Davis: Musician.Dizzy Gillespie: Musician.Peter Adamson: Podcaster/philosopher (History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps).Bill Burr: Comedian.Fyodor Dostoevsky: Writer.Epicurus: Hellenistic philosopher, founder of Epicureanism.Seneca: Stoic philosopher (Letters from a Stoic, On Anger).Henry Shukman: Meditation teacher (The Way app).Kevin Rose: aka KevKev. Introduced me to Henry Shukman.Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher associated with amor fati.Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and logician associated with atheist arguments.Vincent Van Gogh: Artist.Richard Dawkins: Writer/biologist, associated with New Atheism (The God Delusion).Sam Harris: Writer/philosopher/neuroscientist, associated with New Atheism (The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation).Søren Kierkegaard: 19th-century philosopher.Simone Weil: 20th-century philosopher/mystic, major influence on Stephen West, concept of “attention.”Simon Blackburn: Contemporary philosopher (Think), concept of “conceptual engineering.”Paracelsus: Historical figure (source of “dose makes the poison” idea).Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosopher (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus).Diogenes: Cynic philosopher.Gilles Deleuze: 20th-century philosopher.Mahatma Gandhi: Leader.Jack Kornfield: Buddhist teacher/writer.Albert Camus: Writer/artist/philosopher associated with Absurdism.William B. Irvine: Writer (Guide to the Good Life).Ryan Holiday: Writer (The Obstacle is the Way).Julian of Norwich: Mystic writer.Dogen Zenji: Founder of the Soto school of Zen.Thomas Aquinas: Philosopher and theologian.Henry David Thoreau: Writer/philosopher (Walden).Rolf Potts: Writer (Vagabonding).Jean-Paul Sartre: Philosopher (Being and Nothingness).Isaac Newton: Scientist and natural philosopher (Principia Mathematica).Adam Smith: Ethical philosopher and economist (The Wealth of Nations).Kanye West: Musician.Institutions and CompaniesSafeway: Grocery store where Stephen worked.Jo-Ann Fabrics: Craft store where Stephen worked.Counter-Strike: A series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games.StarCraft: A military science fiction media/gaming franchise.MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Duke’s Chowder House: Seattle seafood restaurant where Stephen’s friend worked.Barnes & Noble: American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States.Kennedy Space Center: NASA’s main launch site.Lilly Library at Indiana University: Mentioned as housing archives of Sylvia Plath’s works.Philosophical ConceptsAbsurdism: Philosophical concept associated with Camus that addresses the conflict between the human search for meaning and the universe’s meaninglessness.Amor Fati: (“Love of Fate”) Philosophical concept, notably used by Nietzsche, that involves embracing all aspects of one’s life, including hardships and suffering.Assemblage: Deleuzian concept describing dynamic compositions of heterogeneous elements that form temporary functional wholes through processes of coding and territorialization.Attention: Concept from Simone Weil involving self-emptying focus on others, described as a form of waiting and receptivity rather than active concentration.Conceptual Engineering: Metaphor for philosophy (Simon Blackburn) involving the analysis, assessment and improvement of concepts.Conceptual Tracings: Idea of forming new ways to see reality through the development and refinement of concepts.Concepts vs. Machines: Deleuzian distinction between abstract thought forms and functional assemblages that produce effects.Cynicism: Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on living virtuously in accordance with nature and rejecting conventional desires.Deliberate Practice: Focused approach to skill development requiring specific goals, feedback, and concentrated effort.Disruption of Common Sense: Description of philosophy’s function to challenge accepted ways of thinking and unexamined assumptions.Divine: Concept related to ultimate reality/God and the transcendent qualities that exist beyond ordinary experience.Epistemology: Branch of philosophy focused on the theory of knowledge, examining how we know what we know and the justification of belief.Ethics: Branch of philosophy concerning moral principles, values, and the concepts of right and wrong conduct.Epicureanism: Hellenistic school of philosophy founded by Epicurus that emphasized the pursuit of pleasure (defined as absence of pain) and tranquility.Fascism: Political philosophy/system characterized by ultranationalism, authoritarian power, and suppression of opposition.Freedom: Philosophical concept concerning the ability to act according to one’s will without constraint or coercion.Lucid Revolt: Camus’s concept of rebelling against the Absurd through conscious recognition and defiance without false hope.Marxism: Political/economic philosophy developed by Karl Marx that analyzes class relationships, historical materialism, and critique of capitalism.Mysticism: Approach to spirituality emphasizing direct experience of ultimate reality beyond ordinary understanding.Narcissism: Psychological/philosophical concept involving excessive self-love, self-centeredness, and lack of empathy for others.Natural Philosophy: Historical precursor to modern science focused on understanding nature through philosophical inquiry.New Atheism: 21st-century movement critical of religion, characterized by scientific rationalism and public criticism of religious belief.New Rich: Concept from The 4-Hour Workweek describing people who prioritize lifestyle design over traditional wealth accumulation.Numinous: Concept relating to awe-inspiring spiritual/divine quality that evokes both fascination and fear.Out of Africa Theory: The most widely accepted model explaining the origin and spread of modern humans.Phenomenology: Philosophical movement focusing on structures of experience and consciousness from the first-person perspective.Philosophical Fiction: Literary genre that explores philosophical ideas through narrative storytelling.Philosophy: The discipline itself, concerned with fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, existence, and values.Philosophy of Language: Branch of philosophy examining the nature of language, meaning, and the relationship between language and reality.Philosophy of Mind: Branch of philosophy exploring the nature of mind, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical world.Presocratics: Earliest Western philosophers who investigated nature and reality before Socrates, laying foundations for philosophical inquiry.Religious Phenomenology: Study of religious experience from a phenomenological perspective, focusing on how the sacred appears to consciousness.Sanbo Zen: A specific lineage/style of Zen Buddhism emphasizing direct experience of enlightenment through meditation.Skepticism: Hellenistic school of philosophy questioning the possibility of certainty in knowledge and suspending judgment.Stoicism: Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on virtue ethics, emotional regulation, and accepting what is beyond one’s control.Sufism: Mystical branch of Islam emphasizing direct personal experience of God through practices like meditation and poetry.Transcendentalism: A literary, philosophical, religious, and political movement of the early 19th century.Zen: School of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing meditation, intuition, and direct experience of reality beyond conceptual thinking.SHOW NOTES[00:00:00] So it begins.[00:06:11] Stephen’s challenging childhood — from San Diego to Child Protective Services.[00:07:55] How Stephen supported himself after dropping out of school at 16.[00:09:37] The physical wear and tear of warehouse work (and unexpected upsides of the job).[00:11:48] How Stephen discovered philosophy through googling “wisest person in history.”[00:14:07] Defining philosophy as a “disruption of common sense” and “gym for rethinking.”[00:16:06] The 4-Hour Workweek as a philosophical text.[00:19:27] A philosophical shift around Ralph Waldo Emerson.[00:22:18] The transition from warehouse work to starting Philosophize This! with friendly encouragement.[00:27:47] Authenticity as the secret sauce to Philosophize This![00:32:24] The discomfort of comparing old episodes with new.[00:34:15] The current state of Philosophize This!: 225 episodes, Patreon, ads, upcoming book deal.[00:37:18] The value of focusing on content quality before monetization.[00:38:44] Most popular Philosophize This! episodes thus far.[00:40:00] Philosophize This! episodes I’d like to hear.[00:41:20] Thinking of philosophy as a verb, not a noun.[00:46:44] The concept of amor fati (love of fate) and its practical application.[00:48:41] Wittgenstein’s ladder as a metaphor for philosophical growth.[00:51:36] Stephen’s perspective on philosophy as a process rather than a set of protocols.[00:54:43] Philosophies that have personal meaning to Stephen: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Simone Weil.[00:56:40] Simone Weil’s concept of attention and self-emptying.[00:59:26] Stephen’s approach to simplicity and sacrificing efficiency for meaning.[01:04:07] Valuing time and playing the long game.[01:06:01] How philosophy lives “in the shadow” of what we give credit to (science, psychology).[01:08:31] The value of philosophy in generating better questions.[01:10:06] Stephen’s future plans: possibly writing philosophical fiction.[01:19:05] Stephen’s billboard.[01:21:41] Recommendations for getting started with philosophy.[01:24:29] Gilles Deleuze and concepts as machines.[01:26:55] Why do we believe what we believe?[01:30:40] Stephen’s evolving relationship with religion after starting as a New Atheist.[01:32:33] Exploring mysticism and religious phenomenology.[01:37:51] Parting thoughts.MORE STEPHEN WEST QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Why do we need old men yelling at each other about unverifiable speculation? Why do you need philosophy? And what that point misses is that philosophy is how we got to the point where we’re looking at the world in the way we do now.”
— Stephen West

“I don’t give advice, because if a person is asking for advice, typically, they’re not the person that really takes the advice, so it’s almost always a waste of your time. But if you’re the one that genuinely takes advice, and it’s ironically me giving you advice to be the one that takes advice—if you can do that, if you can manage that, then you won’t need advice here in six months; you’ll be the one giving it.”
— Stephen West

“The highest level of abstraction in any field is going to be philosophy. If you’re somebody well-educated in a field, at the top of your field, in order to make progress in that field, you have to subvert the existing set of protocols and assumptions, axiomatically, that are going on in that field. To move the field forward, you have to be doing philosophy.”
— Stephen West

“I really do sacrifice efficiency for meaning pretty often.”
— Stephen West

“You don’t need to be a genius; you just need to be saying something that resonates with other people.”
— Stephen West

“Simon Blackburn … describes philosophy as conceptual engineering. It’s a great metaphor. If an engineer looks at a bridge and they know about the raw materials of the bridge and they know how they connect to other parts of the bridge and everything, if you can show an engineer one bridge, a particular bridge, and he’d be like, ‘Well, it holds weight over here, but if we put weight over on this side, it’s going to all start crumbling down.’ Philosophers do this with world views.”
— Stephen West

“A way I’ve heard [philosophy] described is it’s the disruption of common sense. I mean, what is looking at the world at all? It’s an approximation. We are works in progress. I look at the world one way for a while, and everybody knows what it’s like to change the way that you see everything in the world. I just think that philosophy is the method of doing that.”
— Stephen West

“Nietzsche said ‘amor fati’ is how he’s going to live his life henceforth. Everything he’s going to say yes to. He will be a yes-sayer, is what he says. This is an affirmative stance towards reality where, even if things are bad or uncomfortable or horrible, we’re going to affirm reality as it is and not idealize it into something that it’s not. It’s very common for people to do, even when they’re not religious, to think of reality as though it owes you something. But to affirm reality fully is to accept the good, the bad. It’s not to rationalize about it and to try to make excuses for it or frame your suffering in a way where it makes it go away. To truly affirm life and reality is just to be in it and to have life itself be enough, truly.”
— Stephen West

The post Stephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast, and from Stocking Groceries to Reading Philosophy for a Living (#808) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Stephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast (Plus: Life Lessons from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Simone Weil, and More) (#808)

“Nietzsche said ‘amor fati’ is how he’s going to live his life. Henceforth, he decided everything he’s going to say yes to. He will be a yes-sayer, is what he says. This is an affirmative stance towards reality where, even if things are bad or uncomfortable or horrible, we’re going to affirm reality as it is and not idealize it into something that it’s not. It’s very common for people to do, even when they’re not religious, to think of reality as though it owes you something. But to affirm reality fully is to accept the good, the bad. It’s not to rationalize about it and try to make excuses for it or frame your suffering in a way where it makes it go away. To truly affirm life and reality is just to be in it and to have life itself be enough, truly.”
— Stephen West

Stephen West (@iamstephenwest) is a father, husband, and host of the Philosophize This! podcast. He attempts to explain, translate, and humanize philosophy in a way that doesn’t ever aim to tell people what to think but to invite them to better understand their own thoughts by exploring alternatives.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

This episode is brought to you by Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses; Momentous high-quality supplements; and Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastStephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast (Plus: Life Lessons from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Simone Weil, and More)

This episode is brought to you by Gusto! I asked millions of you about Gusto on social media, and I’ve never seen such overwhelmingly positive responses. More than 400,000 small businesses already trust Gusto, and it’s been named the #1 Payroll Software by G2 for Winter 2025. If you’re a small business owner looking to simplify payroll and HR tasks, Gusto could be the game-changer you need. Gusto is an all-in-one payroll, benefits, and HR platform designed specifically for small businesses. Gusto automatically files federal, state, and local payroll taxes, handles W-2s and 1099s, and offers straightforward health benefits and 401(k) options for nearly any budget. With an intuitive interface and features like time tracking, onboarding tools, and direct access to certified HR experts, Gusto saves time and eliminates headaches so you can focus on what matters—growing your business. ​As a special offer to listeners, new customers get Gusto free for their first 3 months. This is the perfect time to choose Gusto to take care of your team and stay compliant. See for yourself why 9 out of 10 businesses recommend it. Get started now! Terms apply at Gusto.com/terms.

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Temperature is one of the main causes of poor sleep, and heat is my personal nemesis. I’ve suffered for decades, tossing and turning, throwing blankets off, pulling them back on, and repeating ad nauseam. But a few years ago, I started using the Pod Cover, and it has transformed my sleep. Eight Sleep has launched their newest generation of the Pod: Pod 4 Ultra. It cools, it heats, and now it elevates, automatically. With the best temperature performance to date, Pod 4 Ultra ensures you and your partner stay cool in the heat and cozy warm in the cold. Plus, it automatically tracks your sleep time, snoring, sleep stages, and HRV, all with high precision. For example, their heart rate tracking is at an incredible 99% accuracy.

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Want to hear another podcast episode focusing on philosophy and the nature of reality? Listen to my conversation with Galileo’s Error author Philip Goff, in which we discussed panpsychism, quantum consciousness, Integrated Information Theory, mystical traditions within Christianity and Islam, psychedelics and numinous experiences, the matter of matter, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Stephen West/Philosophize This!:

Website | Patreon | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Podcasts and Radio ShowsPhilosophize This! with Stephen WestLoveline with Adam Carolla and Dr. DrewHardcore History with Dan CarlinWrath of the Khans with Dan CarlinHistory of Philosophy Without Any Gaps with Peter AdamsonThe Partially Examined Lifefear{less} with Tim FerrissBooks, Articles, and Written WorksThe Warehouse Worker Who Became a Philosopher by Thomas Chatterton Williams | The AtlanticBeing and Nothingness by Jean-Paul SartreGorgias by PlatoLetters from a Stoic / Moral Letters to Lucilius by SenecaLetter to a Christian Nation by Sam HarrisThe Principia: The Authoritative Translation and Guide: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Sir Isaac NewtonOn Anger by Lucius Annaeus SenecaNature by Ralph Waldo EmersonSelf-Reliance by Ralph Waldo EmersonThe 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy FerrissThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy FerrissThe God Delusion by Richard DawkinsThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam HarrisThe Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan HolidayA Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. IrvineThe Wealth of Nations by Adam SmithThink: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon BlackburnTractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig WittgensteinVagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf PottsWalden by Henry David ThoreauAdvantageous Apps and ResourcesThe Way: Sanbo Zen Master Henry Shukman’s meditation app.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: A free treasure trove of philosophical knowledge.ArtMona Lisa by Leonardo da VinciThe Starry Night by Vincent van GoghPeopleDave Elitch: Professional drummer.Thomas Chatterton Williams: Writer (The Atlantic article).Ernest Hemingway: Writer.Adam Carolla: Radio host (Loveline).Dr. Drew Pinsky: Radio host (Loveline).Howard Stern: Radio host.Socrates: Ancient Greek philosopher.Plato: Ancient Greek philosopher.Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian.Ralph Waldo Emerson: Writer, poet, lecturer, and philosopher.Jimmy Whisenhunt: eSports shoutcaster friend of Stephen’s.John Madden: An professional American football coach and sports commentator.Dan Carlin: Podcaster (Hardcore History).General Subutai: Historical figure.Dave Chappelle: Comedian.Miles Davis: Musician.Dizzy Gillespie: Musician.Peter Adamson: Podcaster/philosopher (History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps).Bill Burr: Comedian.Fyodor Dostoevsky: Writer.Epicurus: Hellenistic philosopher, founder of Epicureanism.Seneca: Stoic philosopher (Letters from a Stoic, On Anger).Henry Shukman: Meditation teacher (The Way app).Kevin Rose: aka KevKev. Introduced me to Henry Shukman.Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher associated with amor fati.Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and logician associated with atheist arguments.Vincent Van Gogh: Artist.Richard Dawkins: Writer/biologist, associated with New Atheism (The God Delusion).Sam Harris: Writer/philosopher/neuroscientist, associated with New Atheism (The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation).Søren Kierkegaard: 19th-century philosopher.Simone Weil: 20th-century philosopher/mystic, major influence on Stephen West, concept of “attention.”Simon Blackburn: Contemporary philosopher (Think), concept of “conceptual engineering.”Paracelsus: Historical figure (source of “dose makes the poison” idea).Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosopher (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus).Diogenes: Cynic philosopher.Gilles Deleuze: 20th-century philosopher.Mahatma Gandhi: Leader.Jack Kornfield: Buddhist teacher/writer.Albert Camus: Writer/artist/philosopher associated with Absurdism.William B. Irvine: Writer (Guide to the Good Life).Ryan Holiday: Writer (The Obstacle is the Way).Julian of Norwich: Mystic writer.Dogen Zenji: Founder of the Soto school of Zen.Thomas Aquinas: Philosopher and theologian.Henry David Thoreau: Writer/philosopher (Walden).Rolf Potts: Writer (Vagabonding).Jean-Paul Sartre: Philosopher (Being and Nothingness).Isaac Newton: Scientist and natural philosopher (Principia Mathematica).Adam Smith: Ethical philosopher and economist (The Wealth of Nations).Kanye West: Musician.Institutions and CompaniesSafeway: Grocery store where Stephen worked.Jo-Ann Fabrics: Craft store where Stephen worked.Counter-Strike: A series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games.StarCraft: A military science fiction media/gaming franchise.MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Duke’s Chowder House: Seattle seafood restaurant where Stephen’s friend worked.Barnes & Noble: American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States.Kennedy Space Center: NASA’s main launch site.Lilly Library at Indiana University: Mentioned as housing archives of Sylvia Plath’s works.Philosophical ConceptsAbsurdism: Philosophical concept associated with Camus that addresses the conflict between the human search for meaning and the universe’s meaninglessness.Amor Fati: (“Love of Fate”) Philosophical concept, notably used by Nietzsche, that involves embracing all aspects of one’s life, including hardships and suffering.Assemblage: Deleuzian concept describing dynamic compositions of heterogeneous elements that form temporary functional wholes through processes of coding and territorialization.Attention: Concept from Simone Weil involving self-emptying focus on others, described as a form of waiting and receptivity rather than active concentration.Conceptual Engineering: Metaphor for philosophy (Simon Blackburn) involving the analysis, assessment and improvement of concepts.Conceptual Tracings: Idea of forming new ways to see reality through the development and refinement of concepts.Concepts vs. Machines: Deleuzian distinction between abstract thought forms and functional assemblages that produce effects.Cynicism: Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on living virtuously in accordance with nature and rejecting conventional desires.Deliberate Practice: Focused approach to skill development requiring specific goals, feedback, and concentrated effort.Disruption of Common Sense: Description of philosophy’s function to challenge accepted ways of thinking and unexamined assumptions.Divine: Concept related to ultimate reality/God and the transcendent qualities that exist beyond ordinary experience.Epistemology: Branch of philosophy focused on the theory of knowledge, examining how we know what we know and the justification of belief.Ethics: Branch of philosophy concerning moral principles, values, and the concepts of right and wrong conduct.Epicureanism: Hellenistic school of philosophy founded by Epicurus that emphasized the pursuit of pleasure (defined as absence of pain) and tranquility.Fascism: Political philosophy/system characterized by ultranationalism, authoritarian power, and suppression of opposition.Freedom: Philosophical concept concerning the ability to act according to one’s will without constraint or coercion.Lucid Revolt: Camus’s concept of rebelling against the Absurd through conscious recognition and defiance without false hope.Marxism: Political/economic philosophy developed by Karl Marx that analyzes class relationships, historical materialism, and critique of capitalism.Mysticism: Approach to spirituality emphasizing direct experience of ultimate reality beyond ordinary understanding.Narcissism: Psychological/philosophical concept involving excessive self-love, self-centeredness, and lack of empathy for others.Natural Philosophy: Historical precursor to modern science focused on understanding nature through philosophical inquiry.New Atheism: 21st-century movement critical of religion, characterized by scientific rationalism and public criticism of religious belief.New Rich: Concept from The 4-Hour Workweek describing people who prioritize lifestyle design over traditional wealth accumulation.Numinous: Concept relating to awe-inspiring spiritual/divine quality that evokes both fascination and fear.Out of Africa Theory: The most widely accepted model explaining the origin and spread of modern humans.Phenomenology: Philosophical movement focusing on structures of experience and consciousness from the first-person perspective.Philosophical Fiction: Literary genre that explores philosophical ideas through narrative storytelling.Philosophy: The discipline itself, concerned with fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, existence, and values.Philosophy of Language: Branch of philosophy examining the nature of language, meaning, and the relationship between language and reality.Philosophy of Mind: Branch of philosophy exploring the nature of mind, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical world.Presocratics: Earliest Western philosophers who investigated nature and reality before Socrates, laying foundations for philosophical inquiry.Religious Phenomenology: Study of religious experience from a phenomenological perspective, focusing on how the sacred appears to consciousness.Sanbo Zen: A specific lineage/style of Zen Buddhism emphasizing direct experience of enlightenment through meditation.Skepticism: Hellenistic school of philosophy questioning the possibility of certainty in knowledge and suspending judgment.Stoicism: Hellenistic school of philosophy focused on virtue ethics, emotional regulation, and accepting what is beyond one’s control.Sufism: Mystical branch of Islam emphasizing direct personal experience of God through practices like meditation and poetry.Transcendentalism: A literary, philosophical, religious, and political movement of the early 19th century.Zen: School of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing meditation, intuition, and direct experience of reality beyond conceptual thinking.SHOW NOTES[00:00:00] So it begins.[00:06:11] Stephen’s challenging childhood — from San Diego to Child Protective Services.[00:07:55] How Stephen supported himself after dropping out of school at 16.[00:09:37] The physical wear and tear of warehouse work (and unexpected upsides of the job).[00:11:48] How Stephen discovered philosophy through googling “wisest person in history.”[00:14:07] Defining philosophy as a “disruption of common sense” and “gym for rethinking.”[00:16:06] The 4-Hour Workweek as a philosophical text.[00:19:27] A philosophical shift around Ralph Waldo Emerson.[00:22:18] The transition from warehouse work to starting Philosophize This! with friendly encouragement.[00:27:47] Authenticity as the secret sauce to Philosophize This![00:32:24] The discomfort of comparing old episodes with new.[00:34:15] The current state of Philosophize This!: 225 episodes, Patreon, ads, upcoming book deal.[00:37:18] The value of focusing on content quality before monetization.[00:38:44] Most popular Philosophize This! episodes thus far.[00:40:00] Philosophize This! episodes I’d like to hear.[00:41:20] Thinking of philosophy as a verb, not a noun.[00:46:44] The concept of amor fati (love of fate) and its practical application.[00:48:41] Wittgenstein’s ladder as a metaphor for philosophical growth.[00:51:36] Stephen’s perspective on philosophy as a process rather than a set of protocols.[00:54:43] Philosophies that have personal meaning to Stephen: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Simone Weil.[00:56:40] Simone Weil’s concept of attention and self-emptying.[00:59:26] Stephen’s approach to simplicity and sacrificing efficiency for meaning.[01:04:07] Valuing time and playing the long game.[01:06:01] How philosophy lives “in the shadow” of what we give credit to (science, psychology).[01:08:31] The value of philosophy in generating better questions.[01:10:06] Stephen’s future plans: possibly writing philosophical fiction.[01:19:05] Stephen’s billboard.[01:21:41] Recommendations for getting started with philosophy.[01:24:29] Gilles Deleuze and concepts as machines.[01:26:55] Why do we believe what we believe?[01:30:40] Stephen’s evolving relationship with religion after starting as a New Atheist.[01:32:33] Exploring mysticism and religious phenomenology.[01:37:51] Parting thoughts.MORE STEPHEN WEST QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Why do we need old men yelling at each other about unverifiable speculation? Why do you need philosophy? And what that point misses is that philosophy is how we got to the point where we’re looking at the world in the way we do now.”
— Stephen West

“I don’t give advice, because if a person is asking for advice, typically, they’re not the person that really takes the advice — so it’s almost always a waste of your time. But if you’re the one that genuinely takes advice, and it’s ironically me giving you advice to be the one that takes advice, but if you can do that, if you can manage that, then you won’t need advice here in six months — you’ll be the one giving it.”
— Stephen West

“The highest level of abstraction in any field is going to be philosophy. If you’re somebody well-educated … at the top of your field, in order to make progress in that field, you have to subvert the existing set of protocols and assumptions, axiomatically, that are going on in that field. To move the field forward, you have to be doing philosophy.”
— Stephen West

“I really do sacrifice efficiency for meaning pretty often.”
— Stephen West

“You don’t need to be a genius. You just need to be saying something that resonates with other people.”
— Stephen West

“Simon Blackburn … describes philosophy as conceptual engineering. It’s a great metaphor. If an engineer looks at a bridge and they know about the raw materials of the bridge and they know how they connect to other parts of the bridge and everything, if you can show an engineer one bridge, a particular bridge, and he’d be like, ‘Well, it holds weight over here, but if we put weight over on this side, it’s going to all start crumbling down.’ Philosophers do this with world views.”
— Stephen West

“A way I’ve heard [philosophy] described is it’s the disruption of common sense. I mean, what is looking at the world at all? It’s an approximation. We are works in progress. I look at the world one way for a while, and everybody knows what it’s like to change the way that you see everything in the world. I just think that philosophy is the method of doing that.”
— Stephen West

“Nietzsche said ‘amor fati’ is how he’s going to live his life. Henceforth, he decided everything he’s going to say yes to. He will be a yes-sayer, is what he says. This is an affirmative stance towards reality where, even if things are bad or uncomfortable or horrible, we’re going to affirm reality as it is and not idealize it into something that it’s not. It’s very common for people to do, even when they’re not religious, is to think of reality as though it owes you something. But to affirm reality fully is to accept the good, the bad. It’s not to rationalize about it and to try to make excuses for it or frame your suffering in a way where it makes it go away. To truly affirm life and reality is just to be in it and to have life itself be enough, truly.”
— Stephen West

The post Stephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast (Plus: Life Lessons from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Simone Weil, and More) (#808) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

How Rich Barton Built Expedia and Zillow from $0 to $35B — Audacious Goals, Provocation Marketing, Scrabble for Naming, and Powerful Daily Rituals (#806)

Rich Barton (@Rich_Barton) is the co-founder and co-executive chairman of Zillow, a company transforming how people buy, sell, rent, and finance homes. Rich has been a member of Zillow’s board since its inception in 2004 and has served as both its CEO and executive chairman. 

Before Zillow, Rich founded Expedia within Microsoft in 1994 and successfully spun the company off as a public company in 1999. He served as president, CEO, and board director of Expedia and later co-founded and served as non-executive chairman of Glassdoor.Rich was a venture partner at Benchmark Capital and continues to be a board director for Qurate, Stanford Board of Trustees, and Zillow Group.

Rich has been married to Sarah since 1993 and has three grown, kick-ass children, who couldn’t be more awesome and different.  He loves to snowboard, surf, play tennis, golf, hike, and fish with his family and friends and has to spend an increasing amount of time keeping strong and fit in order to be so active.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

This episode is brought to you by Ramp easy-to-use corporate cards, bill payments, accounting, and more; Cresset prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs; and Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastHow Rich Barton Built Expedia and Zillow from $0 to $35B — Audacious Goals, Provocation Marketing, Scrabble for Naming, and Powerful Daily Rituals

This episode is brought to you by Ramp! Ramp is corporate card- and spend-management software designed to help you save time and put money back in your pocket. Ramp has already saved more than 25,000 customers—including other podcast sponsors like Shopify and Eight Sleep—more than 10 million hours and more than $1 billion through better financial management of their corporate spending.

With Ramp, you’re able to issue cards to every employee with limits and restrictions and automate expense reporting, allowing you to close your books 8x faster on average. Your employees will no longer need to spend hours submitting expense reports. In less than 15 minutes, you can get started issuing virtual and physical cards and making payments, whether you have 5 employees or 5,000. Businesses that use Ramp save an average of 5% on total card spending and related expenses in the first year. And now, you can get $250 when you join Ramp. Just go to ramp.com/Tim.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset Family Office! Listeners have heard me talk about “making before you manage” for years. And for me—as a writer and entrepreneur—I definitely gravitate toward making. So it’s important that I find the right people who are great at managing. That’s why I trust this episode’s sponsor, Cresset Family Office. 

Cresset is a prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs. They handle the complex financial planning, uncertain tax strategies, timely exit planning, bill pay and wires, and all the other parts of wealth management that would otherwise pull me away from doing what I love most: making things, mastering skills, and spending time with the people I care about.  Experience the freedom of focusing on what matters to you with the support of a top wealth management team. Schedule a call today at cressetcapital.com/Tim to see how Cresset can help streamline your financial plans and grow your wealth.

I’m a client of Cresset. There are no material conflicts other than this paid testimonial. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

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Want to hear an episode with someone who’s worked closely with Rich Barton? Listen to my conversation with Benchmark’s Bill Gurley, in which we discussed sell-side analysts versus buy-side analysts, financial models, repurposing good ideas for alternative applications, the conviction of network effects, undervalued competitive advantages, cultivating anti-tribalism, America’s future, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Rich Barton:

LinkedIn

Institutions/Companies/Places Zillow : Real estate marketplace company co-founded by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink.Expedia: Microsoft-originating travel technology company that went public under Rich’s leadership.Glassdoor: Job/company review site co-founded by Rich Barton and Bob Hohman. Mentioned for its provocative data (salaries, CEO reviews) and “give to get” model.CNBC: Rich’s favorite source of news because “business news is generally happy.”Hyperice: Company making wellness/recovery products (like the Venom).Marvel: New York City-based comic book publisher and media juggernaut.Abercrombie & Fitch: American lifestyle retailer.Four Seasons: Worldwide luxury hotel chain.Microsoft: Multinational corporation and technology conglomerate — one of Rich’s first jobs out of college.Egghead: Defunct software retail store chain. Rich’s first job involved getting MS-DOS 5 into Egghead.Barnes & Noble: Company operating approximately 600 retail bookstores across the United States.Borders: Once mighty, now defunct American bookselling chain.Bear Stearns: American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008.BCG (Boston Consulting Group): American global management consulting firm.Alliance Consulting Group: Strategy consulting firm where Rich worked right out of college.Stanford University: Highly selective, private research university.Apple: American multinational corporation and technology company.Patagonia: Retailer of outdoor clothing focused on environmental sustainability.Disney: American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate.Northwestern University: Private research university in Evanston, Illinois.Prodigy: Early online service provider where Rich used Easy Sabre.University of Washington: Research-intensive public university with a strong focus on STEM fields.GE (General Electric): An American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892.Honeywell: Publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation.IAC (InterActiveCorp): Media and internet conglomerate founded by Barry Diller, acquired Expedia. Rich served on its board.Gurney’s: Immerse yourself in coastal elegance and seaside charm at this iconic beach resort. Sorry, but day passes for locals no longer honored.Italy: The 10th-largest country in Europe by area.Idealab: Startup incubator founded by Bill Gross. Mentioned as potential origin place of the AdWords concept.TCV (Technology Crossover Ventures): Venture capital firm, co-invested with Benchmark in Zillow’s A round.Avvo: Online legal marketplace co-founded by Rich Barton and Mark Britton. Mentioned for rating attorneys and subsequent lawsuits (“provocation marketing”).Sand Hill Road: This stretch of roadway serves as the home to firms that have funded some of the largest tech companies in the market.Tripadvisor: Travel review site, used as a comparison/model for Avvo.FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation): Mentioned metaphorically in the Die Hard analogy regarding the Avvo launch strategy.SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission): US government agency where Mark Britton worked.ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services): Firm that rates public company boards/directors. Rich mentioned having low ratings but not caring.Stripe: Financial technology company, mentioned as an example of a late-stage private company likely compensating directors well.Automattic: Company founded by Matt Mullenweg (WordPress), known for its distributed workforce model.Shopify: E-commerce platform company, mentioned as another example that handled the pandemic/remote work well.MindHead: Fictional cult-like religion/organization from the movie Bowfinger.Burning Man: A week-long, large-scale desert event focused on “community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.”Books and Written WorksDOS For Dummies by Dan GookineBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work by Randall E. StrossThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy FerrissThe 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy FerrissIn Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark HelprinA Soldier of the Great War by Mark HelprinWinter’s Tale by Mark HelprinFreddy and Fredericka by Mark HelprinThe Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore CooperSnow Crash by Neal StephensonCryptonomicon by Neal StephensonTermination Shock: A Novel by Neal StephensonPolostan: Volume One of Bomb Light by Neal StephensonStories of Your Life and Others by Ted ChiangExhalation: Stories by Ted ChiangThe Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken LiuThe Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor TowlesHopper and Dropper: Rich’s mostly defunct blog.Movies/TV Shows/MusicThelma & LouiseField of DreamsBack to the FutureDie HardUp in the AirGame of ThronesArrivalAppetite For Destruction by Guns N’ RosesBillionsRoundersBowfingerPeopleEddy Cue: Apple executive mentioned in the context of Apple’s product “magic” (specifically Universal Control).Sarah Barton: Rich’s wife, mentioned in relation to her residency match, the birth of their twins, and family decisions (moving to Italy, getting tattoos).Brad Chase: Rich’s first significant boss at Microsoft. Encouraged him to take big swings, supported him despite the failure of the DOS for Dummies bundle project.Leonard and Stephen Riggio: Mentioned in relation to Barnes & Noble leadership during the DOS for Dummies bundle project.John Kilcullen: Creator of the For Dummies book series, met with Rich for the failed bundle project.Nina Marton: Stanford engineering classmate who got a job at Microsoft first and encouraged Rich to join.Michael Porter: Academic associated with competitive strategy concepts learned by Rich during his consulting stint.Bill Gates: Co-founder of Microsoft. Mentioned specifically for greenlighting the internal venture that became Expedia and promising to consider spinning it out.Steve Ballmer: CEO of Microsoft at the time Expedia was spun out.Jack Welch: Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001.Greg Maffei: CFO of Microsoft, became Chairman of Expedia after the spin-out.Barry Diller: Media executive, founder of IAC. Acquired Expedia. Was Rich’s chairman for a period.Dara Khosrowshahi: Worked for Barry Diller/IAC, key strategist involved in the Expedia acquisition. Later became CEO of Expedia after Rich.Ermelinda Campani: Ran the Stanford program in Florence, helped Rich’s family when they moved there.Lloyd Frink: Rich’s Stanford classmate, Expedia colleague, and co-founder of Zillow.Bill Gurley: Has been a general partner at Benchmark for more than 20 years.Garrett Camp: Implied co-founder/early figure at Uber. Mentioned self-funding early stages.Travis Kalanick: Implied co-founder/early figure at Uber.Jason Calacanis: Implied early figure/investor at Uber.Bill Gross: Founder of Idealab, mentioned in relation to the potential origin of the AdWords concept.David Beitel: CTO at Expedia and Zillow.Walt Mossberg: Influential tech columnist who reviewed Zillow favorably at launch, causing a surge in traffic. Compared to Oprah in terms of influence at the time.Oprah Winfrey: Iconic American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor.Amy Bohutinsky: Head of Marketing at Zillow during launch, credited with the “lemonade out of lemons” approach to the launch day crash and the data-driven PR strategy.Bob Hohman: Expedia colleague, co-founder of Glassdoor with Rich.Mark Britton: Expedia colleague (former General Counsel), co-founder of Avvo with Rich.Bruce Dunlevie: Venture capitalist at Benchmark Capital.George Clooney: Actor mentioned regarding his role in the movie Up in the Air.Chris Sacca: A mutual friend of ours.Wile E. Coyote: If he catches you, you’re through.Matt Mullenweg: Founder of Automattic (WordPress). Influenced Barton’s thinking on remote work (“Cloud HQ”) during the pandemic.Mark Helprin: Author of fiction books including The Oceans and the Stars, Soldier of the Great War, A Winter’s Tale.John Mearsheimer: Political scientist associated with “offensive realism,” mentioned in relation to Mark Helprin’s writing themes.Haruki Murakami: Japanese author of magical realism fiction.Neal Stephenson: Science fiction author (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, Termination Shock, Polostan).Ted Chiang: Science fiction author of short story collections (Stories of Your Life and Others, Exhalation). His story was the basis for the movie Arrival.Jeremy Renner: Actor mentioned for his role in Arrival.Ken Liu: Science fiction/fantasy author (The Paper Menagerie).Amor Towles: Author (Lincoln Highway) who formerly worked in finance.Hugh Howey: Author mentioned in passing.Brian Koppelman: Co-creator of Billions, co-writer of Rounders, host of The Moment podcast, discovered Tracy Chapman.Tracy Chapman: Musician discovered by Brian Koppelman.Eddie Murphy: Actor/comedian mentioned for his roles in Bowfinger.Steve Martin: Actor/comedian mentioned for his role in Bowfinger.Heather Graham: Actress mentioned for her role in Bowfinger.Christiane King: Procreate tutorial instructor.ConceptsUniversal Control (Apple): Described as “magic” when Rich’s mouse moved seamlessly from Mac to iPad.Anaconda Diet: Rich’s 12-egg strategy for getting his son to gain weight.640k Barrier: Technical limitation in early MS-DOS overcome by MS-DOS 5.COGS (Cost of Goods Sold): Business term mentioned regarding the “DOS for Dummies” bundle cost.Intrapreneurs: Individuals who act like entrepreneurs within a larger organization.Rich identifies with this and discusses protecting them.Corporate Immune System: Metaphor for how large organizations can reject innovators.Clients and Servers: Software architecture concept used by Rich as an analogy for dividing the world into service providers and builders.Internet Bubble: a speculative bubble that developed following the popularization of the World Wide Web in 1991.Competitive Strategy / Michael Porter Five Forces: Business strategy frameworks learned/referenced by Rich.Conglomerate Discount: Financial concept where diversified companies are valued less than the sum of their parts.Compensation-Accountability Disconnect: Issue Rich saw at Microsoft that the Expedia spin-out aimed to address (partly).S-1: Document filed for an IPO (Initial Public Offering). Mentioned regarding Expedia’s IPO.IPO (Initial Public Offering): Term for the first time a private company sells shares of its stock to the public on a stock exchange.IPO Roadshow: Process of pitching a company to institutional investors before an IPO. Rich described his experience.Zestimate: Zillow’s proprietary home valuation algorithm/feature. Key innovation and “provocation marketing” tool.TAM (Total Addressable Market): Business concept discussed in relation to Uber’s market size perception.AdWords (Google): Advertising platform/model admired by Rich and Frink, potentially inspired auction ideas for Zillow (which failed for housing). Mentioned potential origin from Overture/GoTo.com (Idealab).Price Discovery: Economic concept, goal of Zillow’s early auction idea and later the Zestimate.Vertical Integration (Google): Strategic concern for marketplaces relying on Google traffic, as Google enters their business areas (travel, reviews, etc.).Super App (Zillow Strategy): Zillow’s long-term goal to be a one-stop integrated platform for renting/buying.High Point Scrabble Letters (Z, X, Q): Used in Rich’s company naming strategy for distinctiveness.(Rich’s): Prefer made-up words, rare letters (Z, X, Q), fewer syllables (2 ideal), evocative of positive things, potential verb use, double letters/palindromes.Board of Directors Role: Discussed functions in private (coaching, strategy, recruiting) vs. public companies (shareholder representation, CEO hiring/firing, capital allocation). Discussed potential pitfalls (process focus, CYA, ISS ratings).Cloud HQ / Cloud Headquarters: Rich’s term (influenced by Matt Mullenweg) for Zillow’s distributed/remote work model post-pandemic.Offensive Realism (John Mearsheimer): Political science concept mentioned regarding Mark Helprin’s writing themes.A&R (Artists and Repertoire): Music industry role (talent scouting/development), mentioned regarding Brian Koppelman’s past.“Don’t Panic”: A phrase from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, often used as a general advice in challenging or unexpected situations.Products/Brands/Services/G...iPad: Apple tablet computer.Pocari Sweat: Japanese electrolyte drink favored by Barton (recommended by his nutritionist).Hyperice Venom: Heated vibrating back wrap used by Barton during his morning routine.MS-DOS 5: Microsoft operating system Barton worked on early in his career.Windows 95: Major Microsoft operating system release Barton worked on before moving to the consumer division.Windows NT: A family of operating systems developed by Microsoft that use the “NT” (New Technology) core.CD-ROM: Optical disc format, mentioned regarding multimedia products (Encarta) and the failed travel guide idea.Encarta: Microsoft’s multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM. Barton managed a portfolio including an Encarta travel guide concept.easySABRE: Software tool used by travel agents (accessed by Barton via Prodigy) that inspired the Expedia concept.Peloton: Exercise bike/platform used by Barton.Scrabble: Board game, used as an analogy for letter frequency/value in Barton’s naming strategy.Taco Cat (Goat Cheese Pizza): Card game mentioned as simple fun during disconnected time.Google Maps: Online mapping service, integrated with Zillow’s Zestimate concept (prices on roofs).Kindle: Amazon’s e-reader device/platform, how Barton primarily reads now.Starlink: Satellite internet service, mentioned as making disconnection harder.Airstream: Brand of travel trailers.Procreate: Digital painting app for iPad used by Barton.WordPress: Content management system/platform associated with Matt Mullenweg/Automattic.Balenciaga: Luxury fashion brand.Prada: Another luxury fashion brand.Zoom: Video conferencing software, mentioned regarding IPO roadshows potentially moving online.AwardsHugo Award: Annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year.Nebula Award: Annual award for the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States.Relevant ResourcesThe Man Who Escaped Microsoft and Took a Whole Company With Him | WIREDImproving Workplace Culture, One Review at a Time | The New YorkerThis Company Made Google a Trillion Dollars. Why Have You Never Heard of It? | Inc. | Hopper and DropperAmor Towles | The Moment with Brian KoppelmanSHOW NOTES[00:00:00] Start.[00:05:30] Eddy Cue magic.[00:06:14] Rich’s morning routine and workout philosophy.[00:13:38] How Brad Chase at Microsoft taught Rich to swing big.[00:15:46] The failed DOS for Dummies book bundle project.[00:18:52] Steering a company toward a culture of innovation.[00:20:26] Rich’s journey from management consulting to Microsoft.[00:24:34] How Expedia came to be.[00:32:32] Pitching and recruiting team talent.[00:37:18] Degree design at Stanford.[00:39:45] Realizing the value of real work as a youth.[00:41:44] A fascination with Italy.[00:43:01] Selling Expedia to Barry Diller/IAC.[00:43:51] Dara Khosrowshahi’s role in Expedia’s acquisition.[00:45:23] From a post-Expedia sale sabbatical in Italy to the birth of Zillow with Lloyd Frink.[00:55:41] “Big pond, good fishermen” as business criteria.[00:56:50] Early Zillow mistakes.[01:00:05] The Zestimate: Zillow’s killer feature.[01:01:29] Making lemonade from the lemons of Zillow’s launch day server crash.[01:03:49] Rich’s provocation marketing playbook.[01:05:30] Regulatory battles and resistance to industry disruption.[01:10:44] Founding Glassdoor and its “give to get” data collection model.[01:12:58] Avvo and rating attorneys — legal challenges as marketing.[01:16:11] Digital marketplaces and Google disintermediation concerns.[01:19:52] How Rich names companies to be memorable.[01:25:28] Why Rich recommends leaving fear out of the provocation marketing equation.[01:26:48] Working with Benchmark Capital.[01:30:37] What serving on a board looks like and Rich’s membership criteria: “Is it local? Is it fun? Is it lucrative?”[01:39:00] Rich’s motivation and regimen for staying healthy in his 50s.[01:47:13] Cultivating leadership through absence — the two-week disconnected trip.[01:49:34] Building a good company by keeping good company.[01:51:42] Developing the skill to fire people as a win/win proposition.[01:54:41] Rich’s family tattoo design and symbolism.[01:57:29] Advice for balancing family and professional life.[02:01:08] The benefits of distributed workforces post-pandemic.[02:03:23] Recommended reading.[02:12:17] Rich’s billboard.[02:14:25] The importance of sabbaticals and disconnecting from digital devices.[02:17:41] Taking up Procreate digital art during COVID.[02:19:05] Parting thoughts.RICH BARTON QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Great organizations encourage innovation, encourage big idea people to take big swings and do not punish them when it doesn’t work out according to plan.”
— Rich Barton

“Power to the people, baby. You build magic stuff for masses of consumers that they want to talk about with their friends, unprompted on the sidelines of the soccer game or what have you.”
— Rich Barton

“[Almost] all of my mistakes as a leader have been leaving the pitcher on the mound too long hoping that the arm would get better.”
— Rich Barton

“If you’re not happy with the performance of this person, I guarantee you the person isn’t happy either. Therefore, you can increase love in the world by releasing that person to find where that person belongs.”
— Rich Barton

“I’ve developed a pretty good playbook around what I would call provocation marketing. When you have a really provocative feature that you know people are going to feel emotional about one way or the other and they’re going to talk about it, you’re on to something.”
— Rich Barton

The post How Rich Barton Built Expedia and Zillow from $0 to $35B — Audacious Goals, Provocation Marketing, Scrabble for Naming, and Powerful Daily Rituals (#806) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Philip Goff — Exploring Consciousness and Non-Ordinary Religion, Galileo’s Error, Panpsychism, Heretical Ideas, and Therapeutic Belief (#805)

“Panpsychism is the view that consciousness goes all the way down to the fundamental building blocks of reality.”
— Philip Goff

Philip Goff (@Philip_Goff) is a professor of philosophy at Durham University. His main research focus is consciousness, but he is interested in many questions about the nature of reality. He is most known for defending panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the physical world. Fifteen years ago, panpsychism was laughed at, if it was thought of at all. Goff has led a movement that has made panpsychism a mainstream position, taught to undergraduates and widely discussed in academic journals.

Goff is the author of Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness and Why? The Purpose of the Universe. He has published 50 academic articles and has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, including Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Aeon and the Times Literary Supplement.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

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Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastPhilip Goff — Exploring Consciousness and Non-Ordinary Religion, Galileo's Error, Panpsychism, Heretical Ideas, and Therapeutic Belief

This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

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Want to hear how writer and producer Michael Schur brought philosophy to prime time with his critically acclaimed NBC comedy The Good Place? Listen to our conversation here, in which we discuss how performing live comedy is like Roman gladiator combat, the F = ma of sitcom writing, rare-book collecting, what qualifies the legitimacy of a philosopher, two philosophers Michael would choose to have on speed dial for his own personal instruction, worthwhile failures, why we should all strive to better understand ethics, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Philip Goff:

Website | Mind Chat (Podcast) | Twitter | Bluesky

Books, Publications, and Written WorksGalileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness by Philip GoffWhy? The Purpose of the Universe by Philip GoffDoes Consciousness Pervade the Universe? Philosopher Philip Goff Answers Questions About “Panpsychism” | Scientific AmericanLights On: How Understanding Consciousness Helps Us Understand the Universe by Annaka HarrisMind Beyond Brain: Buddhism, Science, and the Paranormal by David PrestiA Brief History of Time by Stephen HawkingThe Analysis of Matter by Bertrand RussellThe Will to Believe, Human Immortality, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William JamesThe Varieties of Religious Experience by William JamesThe Varieties of Spiritual Experience: 21st Century Research and Perspectives by David YadenWhy I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand RussellReality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy by David J. ChalmersThe Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name by Brian C. MurareskuWhat Would Teleological Causation Be? by John Hawthorne and Daniel Nolan | Metaphysical EssaysThe Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. JacobsWhy Strict Churches Are Strong by Laurence R. Iannaccone | AJSThe Power of the Mustard Seed: Why Strict Churches Are Strong by Judith Shulevitz | SlateThe Case for God by Karen ArmstrongAll’s Well That Ends Well by William ShakespeareThe Holy BibleDominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom HollandMind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False by Thomas NagelDune by Frank HerbertGold by RumiThe Angels Knocking on the Tavern Door: Thirty Poems by HafezI Now Think a Heretical Form of Christianity Might Be True by Philip Goff | AeonWhat Is It Like to Be a Bat? by Thomas Nagel | The Philosophical ReviewReview of ‘Why? The Purpose of the Universe’ by Brian Clegg | Popular SciencePeopleGareth Cook: Pulitzer Prize-winning author who interviewed Philip for Scientific American.Annaka Harris: Author, friend of Philip, sympathetic to Panpsychism.Roger Penrose: Nobel Prize-winning physicist, proponent of quantum consciousness theories.Stuart Hameroff: Scientist who collaborated with Penrose on consciousness theories.Kurt Gödel: Logician known for incompleteness theorems.Christof Koch: Neuroscientist involved in consciousness research, made a bet with Chalmers, associated with IIT.David Chalmers: Philosopher known for work on consciousness, made a bet with Koch, proponent of Panpsychism, author of Reality+.Giulio Tononi: Neuroscientist, key figure in Integrated Information Theory — IIT.Max Planck: Physicist, father of quantum theory, quoted on consciousness being fundamental.Galileo Galilei: Scientist pivotal in the scientific revolution, discussed for separating consciousness from physical science.David Presti: Neuroscientist at UC Berkeley, editor of Mind Beyond Brain.Steve Jurvetson: Venture capitalist discussed regarding quantum computing (Tim Ferriss Show #317).Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and logician, key influence on Philip, proponent of ideas foundational to modern Panpsychism, author of Why I Am Not a Christian.Charles Darwin: Biologist, used as a comparison for Russell’s impact.Arthur Eddington: Scientist who confirmed Einstein’s theory, worked on consciousness/Panpsychism with Russell.Albert Einstein: Physicist, creator of the theory of general relativity.Isaac Newton: Physicist whose theory of gravity was updated by Einstein.Stephen Hawking: Physicist, author of A Brief History of Time.William James: Philosopher and psychologist, major influence on Philip, known for Varieties of Religious Experience and The Will to Believe.Karen Armstrong: Historian of religion, author of The Case for God.Meister Eckhart: Christian mystic.William Lane Craig: Christian philosopher and apologist debated by Philip.Dale Allison: Biblical scholar known for work on the resurrection.Jesus: Central figure of Christianity, also referred to as Yeshua.Tom Holland: Historian, author of Dominion.William Shakespeare: Playwright.Bertram: Character in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well.Helena: Character in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well.Origen: Early Christian theologian known for allegorical interpretation.Thomas Aquinas: Philosopher and theologian, mentioned as initially radical.St. Francis of Assisi: Christian saint associated with mysticism and nature.Thomas Merton: Trappist monk and mystic writer.Brian Muraresku: Author of The Immortality Key.Bart Ehrman: Atheist Bible scholar mentioned regarding early Christian experiences.St. Peter: Apostle of Jesus mentioned regarding resurrection experiences.Mary Magdalene: Follower of Jesus mentioned regarding resurrection experiences.Thomas Nagel: Philosopher, author of Mind and Cosmos.Richard Dawkins: Biologist and prominent atheist.Nick Bostrom: Philosopher known for the simulation hypothesis.John Hawthorne: Philosopher mentioned for work on teleological laws.Daniel Nolan: Philosopher mentioned for work on teleological laws.Blaise Pascal: Mathematician and philosopher known for Pascal’s Wager.Thomas Bayes: Mathematician, originator of Bayes’ Theorem.David Hume: Philosopher known for skepticism, challenged by Bayes regarding miracles.John Maynard Keynes: Economist, quoted on changing one’s mind.Constantine: Roman Emperor associated with Christianity’s rise.Socrates: Ancient Greek philosopher, used as a comparison for Bohr’s charisma.Niels Bohr: Physicist, pioneer of quantum mechanics.Knut Nordby: Late neuroscientist, expert color scientist who was colorblind.Eugene Wigner: Nobel Prize-winning physicist who explored consciousness in quantum mechanics.W.K. Clifford: Mathematician and philosopher mentioned by William James regarding belief and evidence.Joanna Leidenhag: Panpsychist theologian.Plato: Ancient Greek philosopher.Joe Rogan: Podcaster who interviewed Philip.Luke Roelofs: Philosopher, panpsychist who believes everything is conscious.Angela Mendonovici: Philosopher mentioned as a secular panpsychist.Hedda Hassel Mørch: Philosopher mentioned as seeing consonance between Panpsychism and spirituality.Itai Shani: Philosopher mentioned as seeing consonance between Panpsychism and spirituality.A.J. Jacobs: Author and journalist known for his immersive journalism and experiments in living.Hafez: Persian Sufi poet.Jalal al-Din Rumi: Persian Sufi poet.Haleh Liza Gafori: Performance artist, translator, vocalist, poet, and musician.David Yaden: Scientist, author of The Varieties of Spiritual Experiences.Stanislas Dehaene: Neuroscientist associated with Global Neuronal Workspace Theory.Erwin Schrödinger: Physicist known for the Schrödinger equation and thought experiment.Gottlieb Frege: Logician and philosopher who worked with Russell.Kelvin McQueen: Philosopher who explored consciousness’s role in quantum mechanics with Chalmers.Concepts (Philosophy/Religion/Spirituality)Consciousness: Subjective experience, “what it’s like to be.” Core topic.Panpsychism: Philosophical view that consciousness is fundamental and ubiquitous.Mystical Experiences: Experiences of unity, transcendence, deep insight.Animism: Belief system mentioned as distinct from Panpsychism.Cosmopsychism: View that the universe itself is conscious.Emergent Property: Idea that complexity arises from simplicity, contrasted with fundamental consciousness.Materialism: Philosophical view that matter is fundamental.Fundamental Reality: The basic level of existence.Observation (in Quantum Mechanics): Act of measurement, potentially linked to consciousness.Qualia: The qualitative character of experience.Explanatory Gap: Difficulty explaining subjective experience from physical processes.Galileo’s Error (Concept): Philip’s idea about the exclusion of quality from science.Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT): A functional architecture that relates consciousness to cognitive abilities such as perception, attention, memory, and evaluation.Soul: Immaterial essence, traditionally seat of consciousness.Dualism: Philosophical view of mind and matter as distinct.Occam’s Razor: Principle favoring simpler explanations.Miracles: Events attributed to supernatural intervention.Platonic Heaven: Metaphor for Plato’s realm of Forms/Numbers.Combination Problem: Challenge for Panpsychism regarding combining simple consciousnesses.Bayes’ Theorem: A mathematical rule for inverting conditional probabilities, allowing one to find the probability of a cause given its effect.Pascal’s Wager: Argument for believing in God based on outcomes.The Will to Believe / The Right to Believe: James’s concept about belief beyond evidence.Double-Standard (Epistemological): James’ argument about trusting different types of experience.Cosmic Purpose / Goal-Directedness: Idea of inherent direction in the universe.Teleological Laws: Hypothetical laws of nature incorporating purpose.Telos: Greek word for ‘purpose’ or ‘goal.’The Simulation Hypothesis: Are we living in a computer simulation?Stoicism: An ancient philosophy that teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions.Sufism: Islamic mysticism which, through belief and practice, helps Muslims attain nearness to Allah by way of direct personal experience of God.Epicureanism: A philosophical system founded by Epicurus, centers on the pursuit of pleasure and the absence of pain as the path to happinessEucharist: Christian sacrament.Pistis: Greek word for ‘belief’/’trust.’Belieben: German word related to ‘love’/’believe.’Salvation: Theological concept of deliverance.The Good Samaritan: A biblical parable from Luke 10:29–37 that demonstrates the virtue of caring for even the most despised among us.Freeloader Problem: Concept regarding group contribution.Literal vs. Moral vs. Allegorical Meaning (Origen): Levels of scriptural interpretation.First Shall Be Last, Last Shall Be First: Biblical saying from Matthew 20:16.The More (William James): Term for transcendent reality.Burning Bush: Biblical story from Exodus 3.Lisan al Gaib: From Arabic — in Dune, this is the Fremen term for their offworld prophet or messiah.Concepts (Science/Math/Psychology)Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems: Mathematical theorems showing limits of provability in formal systems, with deep implications for mathematics and logic.Predicate Logic: A branch of formal logic incorporating quantifiers, variables, and predicates to express relationships and make inferences about objects.Microtubules: Cellular structures in neurons’ cytoskeleton proposed by some theorists to play a role in consciousness through quantum processes.Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC): The minimal neural systems sufficient for specific conscious experiences, forming a key research program in neuroscience.Integrated Information Theory (IIT): Scientific theory proposing that consciousness emerges from complex integrated information systems in the brain.Phi: Measure of integrated information used in IIT to quantify the amount of consciousness in a system.Schrödinger Equation: Fundamental equation in quantum mechanics describing how quantum states evolve over time.Schrödinger’s Cat: Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment in quantum mechanics that is simultaneously kind and unkind to a feline frenemy.Superposition: Quantum mechanical principle where particles exist in multiple states simultaneously until measured.Born Rule: Fundamental rule in quantum mechanics that determines probability distributions of measurement outcomes.General Relativity: The geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915.Cosmological Constant: The simplest possible explanation for dark energy, used in the standard model of cosmology known as the ?CDM model.MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors): Class of chemicals that inhibit monoamine oxidase enzymes, used in antidepressants and found in ayahuasca.MoviesThe MatrixDuneDune: Part TwoInstitutions and OrganizationsDurham UniversityScientific AmericanWadham College, OxfordJohns Hopkins UniversityDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC BerkeleyOlive GardenEventsAsh Wednesday / LentBar MitzvahEleusinian MysteriesRelevant ResourcesChilean Sea Bass: How Patagonian Toothfish Was Saved | MSCAnnaka Harris: Is Consciousness Everywhere? | Mind ChatThe Mystical Experience Questionnaire (30 Questions) | TrippinglyMax Planck: “I Regard Consciousness as Fundamental…” | Big ThinkAI-Powered Answer Engine | PerplexityScientists Unveil New Results in Hunt to Pinpoint the Seat of Consciousness | Singularity HubThe Radical New Experiments That Hint at Plant Consciousness | New ScientistThe Great Schism That Divided East and West | EWTNThe Reformation | HistoryWhat Can Psychedelics Tell Us About Mind and Reality? | Mind ChatSHOW NOTES[00:00:00] Start.[00:06:24] What is panpsychism?[00:11:19] Common misunderstandings about panpsychism.[00:16:08] Roger Penrose and quantum consciousness.[00:17:26] Gödel’s incompleteness theorem.[00:19:22] The challenges of scientific consensus on consciousness.[00:21:35] Integrated Information Theory (IIT).[00:27:17] What early quantum pioneers like Max Planck and Niels Bohr thought about consciousness.[00:33:15] Defining consciousness and qualia.[00:35:41] Galileo’s Error: How science removed consciousness from study.[00:41:03] Materialist vs. panpsychist.[00:43:30] The neuroanatomical seat of consciousness debate.[00:45:41] Scientific challenges around the public observation of consciousness.[00:50:35] Exploring potential payoffs and ethical considerations of figuring out consciousness.[00:57:01] How virtual reality reminded Philip to appreciate ordinary reality.[01:00:31] Bertrand Russell and William James as philosophical heroes.[01:02:05] Science seems mum on the matter of matter.[01:06:53] William James and mystical experiences.[01:09:20] Philip’s journey as a “heretical Christian.”[01:19:23] Why Philip left Christianity at age 14.[01:20:20] Rediscovering mystical traditions within Christianity.[01:31:41] Karen Armstrong on the modern corruption of religious belief.[01:33:56] Is true belief a prerequisite for building a community through religion and enjoying its therapeutic benefits?[01:48:40] Psychedelics and numinous experiences.[01:51:36] Sufism and mystical poetry.[01:56:10] Renaming traditional religious terms for broader accessibility.[02:01:09] The potential resurgence of religion and new spiritual movements.[02:05:42] Philip’s billboard.[02:08:36] Parting thoughts.MORE PHILIP GOFF QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Panpsychism is the view that consciousness goes all the way down to the fundamental building blocks of reality.”
— Philip Goff

“Don’t start from ‘What do I want?’ Start from ‘How can I contribute?’ I think happiness flows from that.”
— Philip Goff

“The way the word ‘consciousness’ is standardly used, I think in both science and philosophy, it just means subjective experience. Your consciousness is just what it’s like to be you.”
— Philip Goff

“I’m not here saying, ‘Oh, this is the one true faith you’ve got to believe.’ … I’m interested in different experiments in living, and I think there’s a way of engaging religion that perhaps not everyone is fully aware of.”
— Philip Goff

“Physical science doesn’t really tell us what matter is … ultimately, at base, physics just gives us mathematical structure. And so in a sense, physics doesn’t care what matter is, it doesn’t care what physical reality is, it just cares what its mathematical structure is.”
— Philip Goff

“We don’t know if we can get consciousness out of physics, but we know we can get physics out of consciousness.”
— Philip Goff

[On the integrated information theory:] “The proposal is that at the exact moment when a system has more integrated information in the whole than in the parts, that’s when the lights come on. That’s when you get consciousness.”
— Philip Goff

The post Philip Goff — Exploring Consciousness and Non-Ordinary Religion, Galileo’s Error, Panpsychism, Heretical Ideas, and Therapeutic Belief (#805) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

How to Heal the Anxious Self — David Whyte

David Whyte (davidwhyte.com) is the author of twelve books of poetry and five books of prose. He holds a degree in marine zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading expeditions in the Andes, Amazon, and Himalayas. He has also hosted a live online series, Three Sundays, every other month since 2020.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with David for an interview a few months ago, and he proved as wonderful in person as he is on the page. During our conversation, he read from his most recent work, Consolations II. Now, I have a dog-eared hardcover copy by my bedside. It’s indispensable. No matter the challenge, dream, mystery, or feeling of stuckness, he has a poem or essay within that will help you.

I’ve recently been rereading one of his essays in particular, and David kindly agreed to allow me to share it with you here. I’ve bolded some of my favorite parts. If a sentence is bolded and underlined, I found it particularly impactful.

Enter David…Anxiety

is the mask that truth wears when we refuse to stop and uncover its face: the disembodied state I feel when I pretend to put things right by worrying about them instead of conversing with them. Anxiety is my ever-present excuse for not truly resting into the body or the breath or a world where I might find out the truth. Anxiety is the temporary helper going by the name of worry, who, when turned into our constant live-in companion, becomes our formidable jailor.

In the midst of anxiety we always haunt the body like an unhappy ghost from the past instead of living in it as a live anticipation of our future: anxiety creates the ghost-like sense of living timidly in our mortal frames so that we begin living in the world in the same way: as a troubled guest; a guest who does not believe they deserve the rest and hospitality that the body, the breath or the world can offer. Anxiety is the mind refusing to be consoled and nourished either by the body itself, or the beauty of the world that this body inhabits: anxiety is an extended state of denial; the refusal to put right something that needs to be put right, because putting it right often means feeling real anguish, a real sense of the unknown and the need to change at a fundamental level.

Anxiety always tells us we are somehow just about to be injured by reality, by another or by the body itself: that nothing is to be trusted fully: our continued nervousness wasting the body’s powers by keeping up a heightened but unsustainable level of alertness. Nervousness loves further nervousness to confirm its fears; on the Internet I will find everything I need to feed my anxiety because anxiety is what makes me click as much as curiosity. Anxiety is difficult to shed because anxiety always refuses rest and rest is where the answer to anxiety lies. Rest feels as if we are letting down our guard and refusing to defend what we instinctively feel must be constantly defended to the last. Rest feels like a traitorous activity ignoring the fears that have come to make up our identity, anxiety is a dead end exactly because it refuses to look for real consolation.

Temporary worry is useful to us and allows us to identify and innumerate what has not yet been fully answered or done and therefore outlines what is important to us and what we care about: constant worry always goes over and over the same territory and becomes, in the refusal to move on, the anxiety that cripples: anxiety is the illusory state of non-attention where we imagine that the very worrying itself is a way of paying deeper attention, but anxiousness actually becomes our unconscious way of refusing to go any deeper with the very things we are spending our days, worrying about.

Constant anxiety is an unconscious defence against what is calling us to a deeper understanding. Ever-present anxiety actually covers over and prevents me from feeling fully what is praying on my mind. Constant anxiety is our constant way of not paying attention. Anxiety is the trembling surface identity that finds the full measure of our anguish too painful to bear, constant fretting is our way of turning away from and attempting to make a life free from the necessities of heartbreak. Anxiety is our greatest defence against the vulnerabilities of intimacy and a real understanding of others. Allowing our hearts to actually break might be the first step in freeing ourselves from anxiety.

Anxiety is a way of being temporarily absent that almost always turns into a permanent exile. The exile that anxiety creates is most grievously felt in the way we both live in our bodies and don’t live in our bodies at the same time. In order not to feel the full measure of my heartbreak, I refuse to let my body breathe in its own, easy natural way, I refuse to let myself feel I am in the right place at the right time; I refuse almost every invitational aspect of the world and see it only through the inverted telescope of my worries, where everything is made smaller, harder to see and harder to understand. My defence against a painful reality is to live in an unreal body in an unreal, besieged kind of time, and often in an unreal place; a place I don’t care about; I disallow myself the ability to stop and rest and the spacious silence needed for a full, easy, coming to ground in a new understanding.

In an anxious state I actually do not wish to understand, I only wish to worry: and in my worries, everything feels as if it is squeezed through the narrow aperture of my anxious body, causing it to tremble, to constrict and to hide inside that rheumatic constriction. I hurry from one thing to another, never actually landing, never feeling there is enough time, never making time to feel fully what is occurring both inside and outside my body. Anxiety, when I am lost, is often the only merciful way I can find to turn away from the pain the world caused me, is causing me and will cause me.

Anxiety is both my protection and the sure indication of my deepest vulnerabilities, all at the same time. What seems completely wrong with my life, with the world and with the time in which I live, is often my greatest, manufactured, defence against being fully part of this body, this world and this time. What I worry about and fret about for my children’s future is often what keeps me from helping them into that future. What I worry about and what I am anxious about keeps me in an insulated, busy state of mind that stops me feeling the true depth and vulnerability of how much I care, how much I want to make a difference and how much I feel powerless to do it. Anxiety is my temporary ally and my daily saviour from the abiding pain of real heartbreak. I am not anxious because I worry so much as I am anxious because I do not want to feel the full vulnerability of being visible and touchable in a difficult world.

Our anxiety is constantly calibrated by the sense of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, inhabiting one moment while thinking about another, thinking one thing while doing another, trying to live in another abstracted, ideal body while forgetting to eat or breathe in this one. Loss of weight and loss of the breath are two abiding symptoms of anxiety. Gaining weight and breathing in a laboured way are also magnified by the abstractions of anxiety. Anxiety is my way of not fully feeling the vulnerability of my body, and my world.

Constant fretting is my refuge but also, often the source of my loneliness, doubling as it does as a defence by keeping people at a distance. Anxiety begins in helpless worry, and then becomes a means of protection against our own ability to help others, a state which provides me with distance from my real, foundational sorrow, by keeping an equal distance from the grief of others. I worry but other people’s worries do not count.

Anxiety is a way of feeling constantly besieged and therefore allows me to be helpless to do anything about what lies beyond my walls. When I see everything as impinging on my life, I find it hard to have a sense of humour about the fundamentally amusing absurdities of every human life; when I see everything as an ecological threat, I find it difficult to live with the blessings of birdsong or the beauties of a passing cloud scape. When I worry constantly about the imperfections of my relationship, I keep my love at an equally constant distance. Anxiety is my ongoing excuse for not being intimate, anxiety is how I keep what I am worrying about from coming too close, anxiety enables me to stay well clear of my heartache. 

Over time, constant anxiety is a form of amnesia, a forgetting and an absence. Anxiety becomes my beloved abstraction where I can keep myself in suspension, when I am afraid of getting to the bottom of things and allowing myself a true understanding. Emotional immobility is the state in which we find ourselves when we have lost sight of the silent, pivotal centre from which to speak, to take action or to harvest the wisdom of the spacious, the timely and the timeless.

Our vulnerability to constant worry is produced by a dynamic of the mind whose chief evolutionary task is actually to make us more anxious: to worry, to fret, and out of that worry and fret, to get things done, and out of getting things done, to survive; constant anxiety always in the end raises even the tiniest little threat to the level of existential survival. Anxiety makes every little thing a matter of life and death.

The cure for anxiety is almost always found in some kind of radical simplification, a simplification that slowly opens up a very physical, rested experience of timelessness. Often the heart of our simplification is the freeing realisation that we can do nothing about the worry except to let it go. From this place we learn not to leave our worries behind but to consciously worry only for brief necessary periods when worry is needed as a way of paying deeper attention. To briefly, consciously, worry in a way that brings things to a proper harvest of presence is always far more helpful than days of vague anxiety.

One of the greatest gifts we can give to our friends, our partners, our children or our colleagues might be to forsake anxiety: to realise how much we use our worrying as a barrier to our becoming and a protection against real intimacy, real friendship and real engagement with our work. One of our greatest gifts as a provider might be to stop all the worrying about those we are providing for; to provide something else, something that is more difficult to give but something they might actually want—a deeper, more rested, and invitational sense of presence and the gift of timelessness in that presence.

Luckily, all of our great contemplative traditions tell us that the way out of anxiety is always very close and abides just beneath the very surface of our worries, waiting for us to drop down into the body again to a better place. Every meditational tradition of mindfulness in the world tells us that our doorway to freedom is as simple and as close as learning to take the next breath; to take that breath as fully as possible, and then to learn how to give it easily back into the world. In breath and out breath, when taken and when given and when completed without a controlling, worrying thought is an instant doorway to release from anxiety. A mindful easing away from the restless, bullying, fretful mind, into the restful, invitational calmness of easy breathing is always the foundation from which we will re-inhabit the mind in a more spacious, generous, less worrisome way.

Anxiety and all the ways we feel the tremulous symptoms of anxiety tell us just how far away we are from inhabiting a real sense of the timeless. Anxiety is not an answer to a problem we are worrying about but the measure of our distance from the place where the answer lies. Our ability to escape from anxiety is found in our ability to do the simplest thing and to do it well: to breathe and to live easily in our breathing. This truth is too simple for the anxious mind to believe, therefore it is best to breathe in silence first and tell ourselves that we’ll get to curing our anxiety later. Anxiety cannot cure itself, the cure arrives while we are giving ourselves a real sense of rest. Anxiety is often created by trying to remember everything and keep it straight in our harried minds. No wonder then, that the cure for anxiety is found in learning to forget the very sense of self that first felt the fateful need to worry.

From Consolations II by David Whyte. ©2024 David Whyte & Many Rivers Press. All rights reserved. Shared with permission. www.davidwhyte.com.

P.S. David also happens to be good friends with past podcast guest Henry Shukman, one of only a few dozen masters in the world authorized to teach Sanbo Zen. If you’d like an extra dose of calm, I recommend checking out Henry’s app, The Way. It has changed my life. I’ve been using it daily, often twice a day, and it’s lowered my anxiety more than I thought possible. For 30 free sessions, just visit thewayapp.com/Tim. No credit card required.

The post How to Heal the Anxious Self — David Whyte appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Robert Rodriguez, The Wizard of Cinema Returns — The “Fear-Forward” Way of Life, How to Overcome Self-Doubt, Learning to Love Limitations, and Counter-Intuitive Parenting That Works (#804)

“Living is reliving.”
— Robert Rodriguez

Robert Rodriguez (@rodriguez) is a film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor, and composer. 

While a student at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991, Rodriguez wrote the script to his first feature film while sequestered at a drug research facility as a paid subject in a clinical experiment. That paycheck covered the cost of shooting his $7,000 film El Mariachi, which won the coveted Audience Award at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and became the lowest budget movie ever released by a major studio. Rodriguez wrote about these experiences in Rebel Without a Crew, a perennial guide for the independent filmmaker.

Rodriguez went on to write, produce, direct, and edit a series of successful films including Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Faculty, the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Frank Miller’s Sin City, and We Can Be Heroes and collaborated with director James Cameron on the film adaptation of Alita: Battle Angel. His films have grossed more than $1.5B at the box office.

In 2000, Rodriguez founded Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas. He recently directed the Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande video “Rain on Me” and episodes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett and launched Brass Knuckle Films, an investable action film slate. If you’ve ever wanted to pitch Robert Rodriguez a film idea or get profit participation in action films and sequels, he’ll tell you all about it.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs; AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement; and Wealthfront high-yield cash account.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercastRobert Rodriguez, The Wizard of Cinema Returns — The Fear-Forward Way of Life, How to Overcome Self-Doubt, Learning to Love Limitations, and Counter-Intuitive Parenting That Works

This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset Family Office! Listeners have heard me talk about “making before you manage” for years. And for me—as a writer and entrepreneur—I definitely gravitate toward making. So it’s important that I find the right people who are great at managing. That’s why I trust this episode’s sponsor, Cresset Family Office. 

Cresset is a prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs. They handle the complex financial planning, uncertain tax strategies, timely exit planning, bill pay and wires, and all the other parts of wealth management that would otherwise pull me away from doing what I love most: making things, mastering skills, and spending time with the people I care about.  Experience the freedom of focusing on what matters to you with the support of a top wealth management team. Schedule a call today at cressetcapital.com/Tim to see how Cresset can help streamline your financial plans and grow your wealth.

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APY as of 03/17/2025 and is subject to change. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.

Want to hear the first time Robert Rodriguez was on the show? Listen to our conversation here, in which we discussed journaling as a crucial component of personal and professional life, keeping crew morale high during a project, how applied creativity dissolves the separation between work and play, the legendary financing of El Mariachi, overcoming budgetary and technological constraints, maintaining momentum when lack of resources is no longer a creative driver, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Robert Rodriguez:

Twitter | Instagram | Threads | Facebook

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

BooksRebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Robert RodriguezThe ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay PapasanGetting Your First Job For Dummies by Roberto AnguloThe 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy FerrissThe Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick RubinCompanies, Projects, and Platforms Brass Knuckle Films Troublemaker StudiosDouble R ProductionsSouth by SouthwestRobert’s Films and ShowsEl MariachiDesperadoFrom Dusk Till DawnFour RoomsSpy KidsSpy Kids 2: The Island of Lost DreamsSpy Kids 3: Game OverSpy Kids 4: All The Time In The WorldSpy Kids: ArmageddonFrank Miller’s Sin CityThe Adventures Of Shark Boy & Lava Girl In 3-DThe FacultyOnce Upon a Time in MexicoRed 11The LimitWe Can Be HeroesAlita: Battle AngelRebel Without a CrewLady Gaga, Ariana Grande — Rain On Me (Official Music Video)The Mandalorian — Chapter 14: The TragedyThe Book of Boba FettOther Films and ShowsJohn WickThe BeekeeperBeing ThereClerksDogmaForged in Fire: Wind and Fire Wheels (S5 E19)The Family StalloneProductsPositive Grid Spark NEO Wireless Guitar Headphone Amp and AI-Powered Guitar Rig | AmazonRelevant ResourcesThe “Wizard” of Hollywood, Robert Rodriguez | The Tim Ferriss Show #98Robert Rodriguez on Freedom of Limitations | Screenwriting from IowaRobert Rodriguez’s $7,000 El Mariachi Is Still One of His Best Films | ColliderRobert Rodriguez’s ‘Spy Kids’ Showed Us That Kids Have Something to Say. It’s Time to Listen. | Texas MonthlyRobert Rodriguez and Daughter Rhiannon Perform at Troublemaker Studios During SXSW | Deadline HollywoodInvest in Robert Rodriguez’s Brass Knuckle Films | RepublicLatino Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez Launches New Path for Independent Cinema | Austin VidaHow to Pitch a Movie in Seven Steps | MasterClassGary Keller — How to Focus on the One Important Thing | The Tim Ferriss Show #401Robert Rodriguez’s Unrealized Projects | WikipediaAbout the Directors’ Fortnight | Quinzaine des CinéastesRick Rubin, Legendary Producer — Timeless Methods for Unlocking Creativity, Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight, The Future with AI, Helpful Distractions, Working with Strong Personalities, Breaking Out of “The Sameness,” and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #649Robert Rodriguez: “Don’t Fear Failure” | Gulf TimesKevin Smith’s ‘Dogma’ Movie Returning to Theaters in June | The Hollywood ReporterRick Rubin on Cultivating World-Class Artists (Jay-Z, Johnny Cash, etc.), Losing 100+ Pounds, and Breaking Down The Complex | The Tim Ferriss Show #76The Creative Process with Robert Rodriguez | On Creativity #2Keith Richards’ Essential Advice for Songwriting | Far OutBenefits of Journaling and Tips for Getting Started | HealthlineFrom $7k Film Red 11 to Making Spy Kids: Armageddon for Netflix with Racer Max & Rebel Rodriguez | IFH #717Nepotism Definition and Meaning | Merriam-WebsterMaslow’s Hierarchy of Needs | Verywell Mind10 Unforgettable Angus Young Moments | LoudwirePeopleAntonio BanderasTamlyn TomitaDara TorresRhiannon RodriguezAlexa PenaVegaDaryl SabaraTom CruiseJames CameronLady GagaAriana GrandeGary KellerCarlos GallardoRacer RodriguezRebel RodriguezMichelle RodriguezNorman ReedusGeorge LucasSteven SpielbergElijah WoodRicardo MontalbánSylvester StalloneSuperman/Clark KentRick RubinKevin SmithKeith RichardsPeter SellersMiyamoto MusashiJohn WilliamsJames BondGeppettoObi-Wan KenobiJennifer Flavin StalloneAbraham MaslowRebecca RodriguezAngus YoungEddie Van HalenHello KittySHOW NOTES[00:00:00] Start.[00:08:19] Recounting what’s happened in the 10 years since Robert’s last appearance on the show.[00:11:23] The freedom of limitations.[00:14:08] Fruit-bearing “failures.”[00:16:09] How Robert stumbled onto his own brand of counterintuitive parenting.[00:18:42] How fan investing for Brass Knuckle Films works.[00:23:59] How to effectively pitch a movie idea.[00:26:55] The time to start your art is now. Aim high.[00:33:00] The value of learning by doing.[00:43:31] The power of labels to elevate or diminish our ambitions.[00:47:51] Why lack of access is a myth.[00:49:08] No human doubts — when not knowing is half the battle.[00:54:25] Fear forward past the confines of the comfort zone.[00:59:02] Interactions with the enigmatic Rick Rubin.[01:01:53] Harnessing the creative spirit: action first, inspiration second.[01:07:00] Living is reliving: why Robert wants you to start journaling.[01:15:38] “Don’t just parent. Partner.”[01:22:47] In defense of what some call nepotism.[01:28:27] Why the double R naming scheme in the Rodriguez household?[01:30:04] Tribe talk.[01:33:38] Robert’s favorite exercise-related life hack: the rock walk.[01:36:15] Parting thoughts.MORE ROBERT RODRIGUEZ QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“A lot of times, when you can do anything, you can’t do anything.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“Two of my biggest movies came directly from a movie that you would consider a failure. … Sometimes the only way across the river is to slip on the first two rocks.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“You’re not ready for anything life has thrown at you, but you become ready on the spot. Why is it that we think art and life should not be the same?”
— Robert Rodriguez

“You used to ask me, ‘How do you get so much done?’ It’s like I set the bridge on fire and then I run across. Otherwise, it’s not enough at stake. If you have a way out … you’ll take the escape route.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“They say knowing is half the battle. What’s the other half? Not knowing. I think that’s more important. That’s where the magic is. You don’t know what the other half is.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“Creative spirit … doesn’t have hands. It’s waiting for you to get off your ass and pick up the pen, and then it can help take over. … That’s why I say always take action. Don’t wait to be inspired. Action first, inspiration second.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“Living is reliving.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“Don’t just parent; partner.”
— Robert Rodriguez

“I don’t take any job, any assignment, unless it’s going to involve my children, because life is so good that way. You’re checking all the boxes. You’re preparing them for life. You’re learning from them, they’re learning from you, and it’s family time.”
— Robert Rodriguez

The post Robert Rodriguez, The Wizard of Cinema Returns — The “Fear-Forward” Way of Life, How to Overcome Self-Doubt, Learning to Love Limitations, and Counter-Intuitive Parenting That Works (#804) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.