Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 55

Books I’ve Loved — Seth Godin and Esther Perel (#402)

Seth’s photo is by Brian Bloom

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types—from startup founders and investors to chess champions to Olympic athletes. This episode, however, is an experiment and part of a shorter series I’m doing called “Books I’ve Loved.” I’ve invited some amazing past guests, close friends, and new faces to share their favorite books—the books that have influenced them, changed them, and transformed them for the better. I hope you pick up one or two new mentors—in the form of books—from this new series and apply the lessons in your own life.

Seth Godin (@thisissethsblog) is the author of 19 bestselling books that have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the way ideas spread, marketing, strategic quitting, leadership, and — most of all — challenging the status quo in all areas. His books include Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, Purple Cow, This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See, and What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn).

He was inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame in 2013 and has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by typing “Seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world.

Seth is also the founder of the altMBA, an intense four-week online leadership and management workshop.

Esther Perel (@estherperel) is a psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Mating in Captivity, which has been translated into 26 languages, and The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity.

The New York Times called her the most important game-changer in sexuality and relational health since Dr. Ruth.

Her TED talks on maintaining desire and rethinking infidelity have more than 17 million views, and she’s tested and been exposed to everything imaginable in 34 years of running her private therapy practice in New York City.

On her podcast Where Should We Begin? Esther brings you into her office to listen to real life couples therapy sessions, and her newest Spotify project, How’s Work?, brings lessons from couples therapy to the corner office.

Enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#402: Books I've Loved — Seth Godin and Esther Perel
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This podcast is brought to you by Hu. Founded by family trio Jason Karp, his wife Jessica, and his brother-in-law Jordan Brown, Hu started as a paleo-inspired restaurant in NYC in 2012, and now they make amazing, plant-based healthy snacks, including their award-winning paleo/vegan dark chocolate. Their Simple Bar, of which I’ve devoured several in one sitting without crashing, has only three ingredients: organic cacao, organic cocoa butter, and organic coconut sugar, without any soy or other junk.

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Want to listen to the first episode of “Books I’ve Loved”? — Listen to it here, in which I share some of my must-read selections. (Stream below or right-click here to download):

#400: Books I’ve Loved — Tim’s Four Must-Read Bookshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/11b098d3-05ba-466e-8423-0db166526498.mp3Download

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

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Seth Godin:

Website | Seth’s Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | altMBA | The Marketing Seminar

Seth’s previous appearances on the podcast: 343, 177, 138

The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde
The Pursuit of Wow! Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times by Tom Peters
In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr.
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore
Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke
What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn) by Seth Godin
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz


Connect with Esther Perel:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Esther’s previous appearances on the show: 241, 271

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
How’s Work? with Esther Perel
Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel
The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Fighting for Your Marriage: A Deluxe Revised Edition of the Classic Best-seller for Enhancing Marriage and Preventing Divorce by Howard J. Markman, Scott M. Stanley, and Susan L. Blumberg
Can Love Last?: The Fate of Romance Over Time by Stephen A. Mitchell
Liquid Life by Zygmunt Bauman
Family Healing: Strategies for Hope and Understanding by Salvador Minuchin
Structural Family Therapy

SHOW NOTES

Seth tells us why he reads The Gift when he’s feeling burnt out. [05:32]
What Seth learned from The Pursuit of Wow and author Tom Peters about the value of putting energy into his work. [06:50]
Why The Long Tail is a book Seth wishes he had written. [07:51]
The myth that Crossing the Chasm dispels. [08:52]
Why the first chapter of Thinking in Bets will change your life. [10:17]
Seth gets choked up every time he reads Sarah Kay’s B . [11:02]
The Blue Sweater is about a small world of billions. [11:41]
What Seth has learned from a lifetime of being in the book business. [13:40]
Why Esther considers Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life a timeless classic. [16:03]
What Fighting for Your Marriage can teach you about business. [17:11]
The inherent tension of any relationship is explored in Can Love Last?: The Fate of Romance Over Time . [18:09]
How Zygmunt Bauman’s description of nomadism in Liquid Life gave Esther a whole new path of thinking. [19:20]
Family Healing gave Esther a map for thinking about relationships. [20:11]
Esther asks you a couple of relational intelligence questions. [21:43]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Lewis Hyde
David Graeber
John Calvin
Tom Peters
Chris Anderson
Geoffrey Moore
Annie Duke
Sarah Kay
Jacqueline Novogratz
Marcel Proust
Marshall Rosenberg
Sala Ferlegier
Icek Perel
Howard Markman
Scott Stanley
Susan Blumberg
Stephen Mitchell
Zygmunt Bauman
Salvador Minuchin

Gary Keller — How to Focus on the One Important Thing (#401)

“My life is better when I’m spontaneous after I’ve done my most important thing. Being spontaneous before that, that’s where it becomes a distraction and does me harm.” — Gary Keller

Gary Keller (@garykeller) is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count. In 2019, KW, which also ranks number one in units and sales volume in the US, was named by Fast Company as the “most innovative company” in real estate.

In 2015, Gary began driving KW’s evolution into a technology company, now focused on building the real estate platform that agents, buyers, and sellers prefer. He is competing with multi-billion-dollar, venture-backed companies using his own money. Gary is the bestselling author of The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times.

You can find Gary’s podcast, Think Like a CEO, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you typically get your podcasts.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#401: Gary Keller — How to Focus on the One Important Thing
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Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This episode is brought to you by ShipStation. Do you sell stuff online? Then you know what a pain the shipping process is. ShipStation was created to make your life easier — whether you’re selling on eBay, Amazon, Shopify, or over 100 other popular selling channels. ShipStation lets you access all of your orders from one simple dashboard, it works with all of the major shipping carriers, locally and globally, including FedEx, UPS, and USPS. 

Tim Ferriss Show listeners get to try ShipStation free for 60 days by using promo code TIM. There’s no risk and you can start your free trial without even entering your credit card info. Just visit ShipStation.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage, and type in TIM!

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I’ve used Ring for years now. It catches and records all the regular stuff like deliveries and so on, but it’s also saved my ass a few times, catching weirdos and weird things. Ring is key to my peace of mind, and as a listener of The Tim Ferriss Show, you can get a special rate for your own Ring Welcome Kit — which includes a video doorbell and a Chime Pro — by going to Ring.com/Tim. (U.S. Only).

Want to hear another episode with someone who’s an expert in making the most of the hours in the day? — Listen to my conversation with Getting Things Done guru David Allen, in which we discuss next action decisions, the two-minute rule, extra-sensory perception, coping with overwhelm, recovering from broken agreements, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download):

#384: David Allen — The Art of Getting Things Done (GTD)https://rss.art19.com/episodes/dd3a8a84-a547-4afd-9e7c-0b24afdbab87.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Gary Keller:

KW Realty | The ONE Thing Website | Think Like A CEO Podcast | Twitter | Facebook

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It’s Not About the Money…It’s About Being the Best You Can Be! by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan
SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan
Gary Keller, ’79, Baylor Magazine
New York Life
Cerwin-Vega
B. Dalton, Ghost of Retailers Past
Round Rock, TX, Niche
Buy and Sell Agreement Definition, Investopedia
Free, Printable Power of Attorney Forms By State
McDonald’s: Behind the Arches by John F. Love
Franchise Definition, Investopedia
The Cone with the Curl on Top : The “Dairy Queen” Story by Caroline H. Otis
The Founder
RE/MAX
Understanding the Pareto Principle (The 80/20 Rule), Better Explained
The ONE Thing Quotes, GoodReads
7 Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Healthline
Whole Foods
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

SHOW NOTES

Gary tells us about the summer his father had him shadow an accountant, a lawyer, a banker, and a realtor. What did he take away from this experience? [06:30]
How did an infuriatingly bad interview for an insurance company secure the trajectory of Gary’s real estate career? [09:57]
What series of events — including completing a list of Herculean tasks as a condition for employment, navigating sneaky policy changes by management on Christmas Eve, and getting a six-figure raise when all he wanted to do was quit — eventually compelled Gary to strike out on his own and start what would become KW? [12:02]
Gary and his partner Joe Williams have never borrowed beyond the initial $44,000 they needed to launch KW. Since this is somewhat atypical of businesses trying to grow, why did they not take on debt to grow faster? [25:07]
After ony operating for two years, KW became the largest real estate office in Austin. To what does Gary attribute this early success in such a competitive industry? [27:20]
Gary says he plays a game of “red light, green light” when making financial decisions for the company. I ask him to recall a time when he saw a red light and how he did a post-game analysis. [30:13]
Does Gary feel that the resulting need for his partner to shut a company down was handled well, or — in retrospect — should it have been handled differently? [31:12]
Most business partners have agreements by which they run their businesses. So why does Gary prefer to call them disagreements, and what are the biggest questions that need to be answered in these documents? [32:29]
What is a buy-sell agreement? [35:26]
Why separate counsel is particularly important between partners whether you’re founding a marriage or a business. [36:08]
How this hard-won lesson helped when his current wife’s mother-in-law tried to clean out her dementia-suffering father’s estate, and what we’ve both learned about having power of attorney documents ready well before they’re actually needed. [38:13]
Gary explains how he redefined franchising through regional ownership, and how it’s just one of the many ways a business can grow without having to borrow money — as long as you don’t make the same mistake that Dairy Queen made at a crossroads in its history from which it never really recovered. [43:02]
An interesting franchising aside: The McDonald’s French fry story. [50:27]
Gary talks about the year he took off from the business in ’89, the circumstances that led up to it, and the franchise document crafted over the course of that year that Gary considers “the most valuable asset of the company.” [53:15]
Even though KW is heavily investing in technology, Gary still uses a month-at-a-glance paper calendar and a pencil for his own scheduling purposes. A story about an impromptu calendar fight with a well-known musician in an airport explains why. [1:04:17]
Gary explains his movie analogy for blocking time to get things done in a day. [1:11:03]
What is the focusing question (as outlined in The ONE Thing), and what is it really designed to do — as well as keep you from doing? [1:14:12]
Some real-life examples of how someone might use the focusing question. [1:17:09]
An example of how Gary used the focusing question to resolve a business decision in 1994. [1:22:03]
What Gary means when he says “A clear path to a lesser goal is the problem,” why The ONE Thing is really “the 80/20 principle on steroids,” and why you don’t have to maximize every minute of every day in order to get maximum results. [1:23:38]
How does someone go about prioritizing life’s important categories not easily answered by the focusing question? [1:27:51]
How Gary used the focusing question to ensure the relationship with his sometimes acerbic mother went as smoothly as possible. [1:29:51]
How frequently does Gary exercise, and at what time of the day? What do his workouts look like? Who are his fitness prophets, and how might you adapt the focusing question to find your own? [1:32:22]
Finding true north and how I’ve used “What would Matt Mullenweg do?” as my own focusing question of sorts when I’m in situations that require patience and calmness. [1:37:06]
To avoid potential time-sucks that might negate the benefits of cultivating a life around the focusing question, is there anything to which Gary categorically says no? What’s his preferred language for doing so? What scripts does his team use to fend off most correspondence from the unknown? [1:38:53]
Want to avoid the awkwardness of talking yourself up in front of a crowd when you win an award? Easy solution: send a proxy! [1:46:40]
What would Gary’s billboard say? [1:47:49]
Why is thinking big and aiming high so important to Gary? [1:48:32]
As a lifelong habit hacker, what has Gary found to be most effective for developing and sticking with new habits? [1:51:32]
As someone who politely declines just about any such invitation, why did Gary agree to do this interview? [1:55:25]
Closing thoughts. [1:56:53]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Joe Williams
Robert Kiyosaki
Mary Pfluger
Michael Keaton
Ray Kroc
Larry Braggs
Kenny Loggins
Clarence Bass
Jack LaLanne
Matt Mullenweg
John Mackey
Warren Buffett
Jack Sprat
Jay Papasan

It’s Time to Get Back to Basics

It’s time to get back to basics.

This blog has been dominated by podcast-related posts for quite a few years now. I’ve done very little writing.

Now, please don’t get me wrong; I absolutely love doing the podcast — currently 400 episodes and counting — and I’m thrilled to make it even better in 2020. There are super exciting things planned. I’m incredibly lucky to work on something every week that gives me so much joy and fulfillment, and it won’t slow down.

But that’s not what got me here. 

This blog launched in 2006, before my first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, was published in 2007. The first version of the homepage was comically bad (here it is), but The 4-Hour Ugly Betty Blog did an honorable job. In the years that followed, we improved the design (here’s v2), and I wrote 500+ posts that helped enable everything else. Without the blog, there would be no angel investing career, no podcast, no documented hair loss, etc.

Equally important, those early years of regular writing helped me to think more clearly and to hone a craft I deeply revere. For me, to write is to become more human. To the extent that I’m sane, writing helped keep me in that lane.

But starting around 2013, I began saving my scribing for a big book every few years. 

That’s worked out on many levels, but without a regular writing practice, books eventually became terrifying. It was like committing to an Ironman every few years without doing any training in between. Even if you can muscle things on game day, and even if the outcome looks great from the outside, the lead-up and the internal experience are likely to be anxiety-ridden and unpleasant. 

All because I stopped blogging. 

Private journaling is a step in the right direction, but it’s not a replacement. I need to face the squirmy discomfort that comes both before and after publishing. So…

I’m getting back in the writing game, and I’m going to publish something on this blog at least once per week. And by making a highfalutin pronouncement here, I’m ensuring that I’ll get grief on the Internet if I don’t follow through. That’s helpful.

To further grease the wheels, allow me to set expectations extremely low.

I hope that some of the writing will be decent, but a lot of it will be worth taking behind the barn and shooting in the head. Some of it will be long (e.g., unpublished chapters from secret book projects), and some of it will be short (e.g., terrible haiku out of desperation). As long as I publish something — anything — once a week, it doesn’t matter. 

I love em dashes — too often you see them, so practice I must. 

Suffice to say, this old man wants to limber up and get back on the playing field.

Thanks for reading this far, friends. Much more to come…

Timbo

P.S. You might notice that this website has a brand-new look and feel! It’s only about 10 years overdue, but who’s counting? Please let me know in the comments if anything is broken or if you like/dislike anything in particular. Like me, it’s a work in progress, and I’d love your feedback.

Books I’ve Loved — Tim’s Four Must-Read Books (#400)

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Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types—from startup founders and investors to chess champions to Olympic athletes. This episode, however, is an experiment and part of a shorter series I’m doing called “Books I’ve Loved.” I’ve invited some amazing past guests, close friends, and new faces to share their favorite books—the books that have influenced them, changed them, and transformed them for the better. I hope you pick up one or two new mentors — in the form of books — from this new series and apply the lessons in your own life.

To kick things off, here are four of my recommendations, which I had originally included in the back of The 4-Hour Workweek. I called them “The Fundamental Four.”

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #400: Books I’ve Loved — Tim’s Four Must-Read Books
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Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This podcast is brought to you by The Ready State Virtual Mobility Coach. The first person I call for help with my athletic recovery or mobility training is Dr. Kelly Starrett at The Ready State. Kelly is a mobility and movement coach for Olympic gold medalists, world champions, and pro athletes.

Kelly created a program called Virtual Mobility Coach. It’s like carrying a virtual Kelly Starrett in your pocket. Every day, Virtual Mobility Coach gives you guided mobility videos. It walks you step-by-step through Kelly’s proven techniques to relieve pain and improve your range of motion. Right now, listeners of this podcast can try Virtual Mobility Coach totally risk-free for two weeks without paying a penny. And after that, you can get 50% off your first six months. Just go to thereadystate.com/tim and use code TIM50 at checkout. Relieve pain, recover faster, and improve your performance in the gym with The Ready State Virtual Mobility Coach. Visit thereadystate.com/tim and check it out.

Inspired to read more? Listen to two chapters from the book Essentialism — Listen here to learn more about saying “no” gracefully and cutting losses in the aftermath of a premature “yes.” (Stream below or right-click here to download):

#328: How to Say “No” Gracefully and Uncommithttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/1f1a99a8-c998-4983-9b19-7de1148d6335.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur’s Guide by Dan S. Kennedy
One Simple Idea: Turn Your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work  by Stephen Key
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality  by Anthony de Mello.

Adam Grant — The Man Who Does Everything (#399)

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Photo by Pasi Salminen

“When you feel like you’re not productive, it’s not necessarily because you’re lazy or because you have bad habits, it’s because you’re not working on the right projects and you haven’t found the ones that are intrinsically motivating and meaningful to you.” — Adam Grant

Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, where he has been the top-rated professor for seven straight years. He is an expert in how we can find motivation and meaning, and lead more generous and creative lives. He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of four books that have sold over two million copies and been translated into 35 languages: Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His books have been recognized as among the year’s best by Amazon, The Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal and been praised by J.J. Abrams, Richard Branson, Bill and Melinda Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, and Malala Yousafzai.

Adam hosts the TED podcast WorkLife, and his TED talks have been viewed more than 20 million times. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, and The Gates Foundation. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers, Fortune’s 40 under 40, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation. Adam writes for The New York Times on work and psychology and serves on The Department of Defense Innovation Board.

He received his B.A. from Harvard and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and he is a former magician and junior Olympic springboard diver.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #399: Adam Grant — The Man Who Does Everythinghttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/3a024b72-91de-4662-9f21-f98671be23ed.mp3Download

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.

New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.

Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.

This episode is also brought to you by Zapier. If you run your own business, think about all of the hours you spend moving information from one software program to another, or one window to another, one social media platform to another, copy and pasting, all because those things don’t easily work together. With Zapier, now they do, automatically.

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Want to hear an episode with the author of one of Adam’s most-gifted books? — Listen to my conversation with Susan Cain about her love for minor key music and how she became a public speaking introvert. (Stream below or right-click here to download):

#357: Susan Cain — How to Overcome Fear and Embrace Creativityhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/627d570d-a0c4-4ac8-9f04-f062512162be.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Adam Grant:

Website | WorkLife Podcast | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant and Sheryl Sandberg
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Power Moves: Lessons from Davos by Adam Grant
Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead? The New York Times
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Adam Grant Is (Not) Superman, Philadelphia Magazine
Bridgewater Associates
How to Love Criticism, WorkLife with Adam Grant
The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers by Adam Grant, TED 2016
A CV of Failures by Melanie Stefan, Nature
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
OCD Types, OCD Institutes
How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being? by Sonja Lyubomirsky and Kristin Layous, APS
Productivity Isn’t About Time Management. It’s About Attention Management. by Adam Grant, The New York Times
Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule by Paul Graham
Who said, “Those Who Mind Don’t Matter, and Those Who Matter Don’t Mind?” Quote Investigator
Research on Behavioral Integrity: A Promising Construct for Positive Organizational Scholarship, Cornell University
No, You Can’t Ignore Email. It’s Rude. by Adam Grant, The New York Times
A Case for Inbox Infinity, The Atlantic
Yesterbox by Tony Hsieh
Superhuman
Gmail
Microsoft Outlook
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle
Career Advice by Scott Adams, Dilbert Blog
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
Tim Ferriss’s Deal with Amazon Is Both an Outlier and a Harbinger, The Idea Logical Company
Nielsen BookScan, Wikipedia
Nerdist
What About Bob?
Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Insight: The Surprising Truth About How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves, and Why the Answers Matter More Than We Think by Tasha Eurich
Your Hidden Personality, WorkLife with Adam Grant
Bain & Company
Reflected Best Self Exercise, Center for Positive Organizations, University of Michigan
360 Degree Feedback: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Balance Careers
The Center for Creative Leadership
Team USA Diving

SHOW NOTES

Adam began his career as a professor who was so nervous he made his students physically shake in their seats. What was he teaching, and how did soliciting feedback from these students help him improve his form? [08:04]
What is Adam’s challenge network, how did he assemble it, and what tips does he have for our listeners who want to not only survive criticism but grow from it? [18:03]
What kind of informal challenge network do I currently utilize — especially when I’m writing? [27:36]
What do the structure and frequency of Adam’s challenge network look like? [29:35]
How does Adam turn praise — faint or otherwise — into something he can actually use? [31:53]
Why does Adam keep a resume of his failures? [32:48]
How did Adam accidentally write his first book, why did he throw away the majority of its first draft, and what simple advice did his agent offer that made him a more engaging writer by the time he was ready to write a viable second draft? [34:15]
In spite of the fact that Adam doesn’t consider himself a wizard of time management, he still manages to get a lot done in a day. What does he manage well instead? [39:25]
The efficacy of chunking or sprinkling good deeds, how Adam minimizes the chance he’ll break a time commitment, and how he makes up for it when it does happen. [46:19]
How has the way I renegotiate broken commitments changed over time, and how has this changed the way I react when others have to break commitments to me? [54:19]
What’s proper email protocol: inbox zero, or inbox infinity? [59:36]
What are Adam’s processes for dealing with email? [1:02:55]
How does Adam prioritize who gets time out of his day? What correspondence earns a categorical no? What common lie does Adam refuse to tell? [1:06:17]
How does Adam ensure he’s not spending the majority of his life answering emails? What would prompt an intervention from his triage team, and where does an email go from there? Who makes up the triage team? [1:08:21]
How does Adam choose projects? What’s the appeal of writing a book over a series of articles? [1:12:51]
How does Adam determine if a project has succeeded or failed? For that matter, how do I? [1:15:49]
In what ways can projects that seem like failures lead to success — or pay unexpected dividends? [1:21:50]
What books does Adam recommend and gift most often? [1:26:10]
Other tools and questions that have helped Adam further seek out his own blind spots. [1:30:43]
Adam points out that not only do we have blind spots about our weaknesses, but we often have them about our strengths. He calls them bright spots. We compare how the Reflected Best Self Exercise and 360 interview process examine our blind and bright spots and guide us toward appropriate use of the information uncovered. [1:34:33]
I reveal the typical structure of my weekly routines, and Adam weighs in on routines he’s changed up lately — including a conscious attempt to become less routine-driven. [1:41:40]
What does Adam’s workout regimen look like, and what prompted the former junior Olympic springboard diver to recently revisit diving after a hiatus of more than a decade? [1:46:44]
What would Adam’s billboard say? [1:48:22]
A common productivity mistake Adam sees people make and how to navigate around it. [1:49:24]
Adam asks me what big projects are currently in my sights, and what dream guests would I love to interview in the not-too-distant future? [1:51:34]
Parting thoughts. [1:56:48]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

J.J. Abrams
Richard Branson
Bill Gates
Melinda Gates
Malcolm Gladwell
Malala Yousafzai
Ray Dalio
Melanie Stefan
Barry Schwartz
Richard Pine
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Paul Graham
Tony Hsieh
Dr. Seuss
Warren Buffett
George Lucas
Chip Heath
Dan Heath
Daniel Coyle
Scott Adams
Marc Andreessen
Joe Rogan
Marc Maron
Chris Hardwick
Carol Tavris
Elliot Aronson
Susan Cain
Tasha Eurich
Or Skolnik
Joe Gebbia
Rick Price
Jack Dorsey
LeBron James
Mike Mancias
Oprah Winfrey
Howard Stern

Adam Grant — The Man Who Does Everything (#399)

[image error]

Photo by Pasi Salminen

“When you feel like you’re not productive, it’s not necessarily because you’re lazy or because you have bad habits, it’s because you’re not working on the right projects and you haven’t found the ones that are intrinsically motivating and meaningful to you.” — Adam Grant

Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, where he has been the top-rated professor for seven straight years. He is an expert in how we can find motivation and meaning, and lead more generous and creative lives. He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of four books that have sold over two million copies and been translated into 35 languages: Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His books have been recognized as among the year’s best by Amazon, The Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal and been praised by J.J. Abrams, Richard Branson, Bill and Melinda Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, and Malala Yousafzai.

Adam hosts the TED podcast WorkLife, and his TED talks have been viewed more than 20 million times. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, and The Gates Foundation. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers, Fortune’s 40 under 40, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation. Adam writes for The New York Times on work and psychology and serves on The Department of Defense Innovation Board.

He received his B.A. from Harvard and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and he is a former magician and junior Olympic springboard diver.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #399: Adam Grant — The Man Who Does Everything
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/3a024b72-91de-4662-9f21-f98671be23ed.mp3Download

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.

New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.

Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.

This episode is also brought to you by Zapier. If you run your own business, think about all of the hours you spend moving information from one software program to another, or one window to another, one social media platform to another, copy and pasting, all because those things don’t easily work together. With Zapier, now they do, automatically.

Zapier is one of the best pieces of automation software I’ve ever come across, and it supports more than fifteen hundred business applications, so the possibilities are virtually endless. It is the easiest way to automate your work. Best of all, it’s easy to build the exact solution you need in minutes, without writing code or asking a developer for help. Join more than 4.5 million people who are saving an average of 40 hours per month by using Zapier. Go to Zapier.com/tim and try Zapier for a free, 14-day trial.

Want to hear an episode with the author of one of Adam’s most-gifted books? — Listen to my conversation with Susan Cain about her love for minor key music and how she became a public speaking introvert. (Stream below or right-click here to download):

#357: Susan Cain — How to Overcome Fear and Embrace Creativityhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/627d570d-a0c4-4ac8-9f04-f062512162be.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Adam Grant:

Website | WorkLife Podcast | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant and Sheryl Sandberg
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Power Moves: Lessons from Davos by Adam Grant
Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead? The New York Times
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Adam Grant Is (Not) Superman, Philadelphia Magazine
Bridgewater Associates
How to Love Criticism, WorkLife with Adam Grant
The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers by Adam Grant, TED 2016
A CV of Failures by Melanie Stefan, Nature
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
OCD Types, OCD Institutes
How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being? by Sonja Lyubomirsky and Kristin Layous, APS
Productivity Isn’t About Time Management. It’s About Attention Management. by Adam Grant, The New York Times
Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule by Paul Graham
Who said, “Those Who Mind Don’t Matter, and Those Who Matter Don’t Mind?” Quote Investigator
Research on Behavioral Integrity: A Promising Construct for Positive Organizational Scholarship, Cornell University
No, You Can’t Ignore Email. It’s Rude. by Adam Grant, The New York Times
A Case for Inbox Infinity, The Atlantic
Yesterbox by Tony Hsieh
Superhuman
Gmail
Microsoft Outlook
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle
Career Advice by Scott Adams, Dilbert Blog
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
Tim Ferriss’s Deal with Amazon Is Both an Outlier and a Harbinger, The Idea Logical Company
Nielsen BookScan, Wikipedia
Nerdist
What About Bob?
Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Insight: The Surprising Truth About How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves, and Why the Answers Matter More Than We Think by Tasha Eurich
Your Hidden Personality, WorkLife with Adam Grant
Bain & Company
Reflected Best Self Exercise, Center for Positive Organizations, University of Michigan
360 Degree Feedback: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Balance Careers
The Center for Creative Leadership
Team USA Diving

SHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.

Adam began his career as a professor who was so nervous he made his students physically shake in their seats. What was he teaching, and how did soliciting feedback from these students help him improve his form?
What is Adam’s challenge network, how did he assemble it, and what tips does he have for our listeners who want to not only survive criticism but grow from it?
What kind of informal challenge network do I currently utilize — especially when I’m writing?
What do the structure and frequency of Adam’s challenge network look like?
How does Adam turn praise — faint or otherwise — into something he can actually use?
Why does Adam keep a resume of his failures?
How did Adam accidentally write his first book, why did he throw away the majority of its first draft, and what simple advice did his agent offer that made him a more engaging writer by the time he was ready to write a viable second draft?
In spite of the fact that Adam doesn’t consider himself a wizard of time management, he still manages to get a lot done in a day. What does he manage well instead?
The efficacy of chunking or sprinkling good deeds, how Adam minimizes the chance he’ll break a time commitment, and how he makes up for it when it does happen.
How has the way I renegotiate broken commitments changed over time, and how has this changed the way I react when others have to break commitments to me?
What’s proper email protocol: inbox zero, or inbox infinity?
What are Adam’s processes for dealing with email?
How does Adam prioritize who gets time out of his day? What correspondence earns a categorical no? What common lie does Adam refuse to tell?
How does Adam ensure he’s not spending the majority of his life answering emails? What would prompt an intervention from his triage team, and where does an email go from there? Who makes up the triage team?
How does Adam choose projects? What’s the appeal of writing a book over a series of articles?
How does Adam determine if a project has succeeded or failed? For that matter, how do I?
In what ways can projects that seem like failures lead to success — or pay unexpected dividends?
What books does Adam recommend and gift most often?
Other tools and questions that have helped Adam further seek out his own blind spots.
Adam points out that not only do we have blind spots about our weaknesses, but we often have them about our strengths. He calls them bright spots. We compare how the Reflected Best Self Exercise and 360 interview process examine our blind and bright spots and guide us toward appropriate use of the information uncovered.
I reveal the typical structure of my weekly routines, and Adam weighs in on routines he’s changed up lately — including a conscious attempt to become less routine-driven.
What does Adam’s workout regimen look like, and what prompted the former junior Olympic springboard diver to recently revisit diving after a hiatus of more than a decade?
What would Adam’s billboard say?
A common productivity mistake Adam sees people make and how to navigate around it.
Adam asks me what big projects are currently in my sights, and what dream guests would I love to interview in the not-too-distant future?
Parting thoughts.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

J.J. Abrams
Richard Branson
Bill Gates
Melinda Gates
Malcolm Gladwell
Malala Yousafzai
Ray Dalio
Melanie Stefan
Barry Schwartz
Richard Pine
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Paul Graham
Tony Hsieh
Dr. Seuss
Warren Buffett
George Lucas
Chip Heath
Dan Heath
Daniel Coyle
Scott Adams
Marc Andreessen
Joe Rogan
Marc Maron
Chris Hardwick
Carol Tavris
Elliot Aronson
Susan Cain
Tasha Eurich
Or Skolnik
Joe Gebbia
Rick Price
Jack Dorsey
LeBron James
Mike Mancias
Oprah Winfrey
Howard Stern

Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and More (#398)

[image error]

Photo by Tyler Ruiz

“If you’re really committed to brain health, you want to be exercising every day.” — Peter Attia

Dr. Peter Attia (peterattiamd.com, TW: @PeterAttiaMD, IG: @peterattiamd, FB: @peterattiamd) is a former ultra-endurance athlete (e.g., swimming races of 25 miles), a compulsive self-experimenter, and one of the most fascinating human beings I know. He is one of my go-to doctors for anything performance- or longevity-related. He is also easily the best quarterback and sherpa for the US medical system I’ve ever met.

But here is his official bio to do him justice:

Peter is the founder of Attia Medical, PC, a medical practice with offices in San Diego and New York City, focusing on the applied science of longevity. The practice applies nutritional biochemistry, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, techniques to increase distress tolerance, lipidology, pharmacology, and four-system endocrinology to increase lifespan (delaying the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life).

Peter trained for five years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in general surgery, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including resident of the year, and the author of a comprehensive review of general surgery. He also spent two years at NIH as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute where his research focused on immune-based therapies for melanoma. He has since been mentored by some of the most experienced and innovative lipidologists, endocrinologists, gynecologists, sleep physiologists, and longevity scientists in the United States and Canada.

Peter earned his M.D. from Stanford University and holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics.

Peter also hosts The Drive, a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking, and a few other things. Topics include fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #398: Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and Morehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/a2c25d5a-5130-47a0-a746-f2bdcae67dc1.mp3Download

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This podcast is brought to you by HumanN’s BeetElite, the endurance superfood and nitric oxide activator. HumanN’s BeetElite can help extend endurance, improve energy and stamina, and increase oxygen delivery throughout the body. It provides the nitric oxide equivalent of six whole beets, and BeetElite is trusted by hundreds of elite teams, athletes, and organizations all over the world, so you know you’re getting a top-notch performance product.

BeetElite is Informed-Sport Certified, and the team at HumanN is making an offer exclusive to my listeners: Take your performance to the next level with BeetElite by going to LiveHuman.com/Tim to get 20% off your first purchase!

This podcast is also brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.

New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.

Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.

Want to hear the first time Peter was on the podcast? — Listen to our conversation here. In that interview, we discuss optimizing blood testing, drinking “jet fuel,” training for ultra-endurance sports, consuming synthetic ketones, using metabolic chambers, extending longevity by avoiding certain types of exercise, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download.)

#50: Dr. Peter Attia on Life-Extension, Drinking Jet Fuel, Ultra-Endurance, Human Foie Gras, and Morehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/0f32a7a5-718f-4328-8706-d7f75d794045.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Peter Attia:

Website | Podcast | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Dr. Peter Attia vs. Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show #352
My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island, The Tim Ferriss Show #193
Dr. Peter Attia on Life-Extension, Drinking Jet Fuel, Ultra-Endurance, Human Foie Gras, and More, The Tim Ferriss Show #50
Training for the Centenarian Olympics, Dr. Mark Hyman
Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic
How to Goblet Squat, Men’s Health
Sarcopenia, Wikipedia
My Dog Toaster was Attacked by a Raccoon, Kevin Rose
7 Things You Didn’t Know about Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS), Athletes Edge
Hex Deadlift Bar, Rogue Fitness
Isometric vs. Concentric vs. Eccentric, James Braithwaite
Intra-Abdominal Pressure: An Integrative Review, NCBI
Metformin: Side Effects, Dosages, Treatment, Interactions, RxList
Nir Barzilai, M.D.: How to Tame Aging, The Drive #35
The 5 Training Zones, Vinnie Tortorich
Mitochondria, Nature Education
The Role of Glycogen in Diet and Exercise, Verywell Fit
Acarbose: Side Effects, Dosage, Uses, and More, Healthline
Egg Boxing, Peter Attia
The World’s Largest Psychedelic Research Center, The Tim Ferriss Show #385
F1.com: The Official Home of Formula 1
What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB)? Oregon State University
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Autophagy: Definition, Diet, Fasting, Cancer, Benefits, and More, Healthline
AMA #2: The Nothingburger — Results from Peter’s Week-Long Fast between Two Weeks of Nutritional Ketosis — and Answering Questions on All Things Fasting, The Drive #11
Wanna Know What Keeps Me Up at Night? Peter Attia
What Are the Differences between an Isocaloric Diet and a Eucaloric Diet? Quora
Ketosis — Advantaged or Misunderstood State? Peter Attia
SlowMag
L-Threonate
APOE Gene, Genetics Home Reference, NIH
Tim Ferriss: Depression, Psychedelics, and Emotional Resilience, The Drive #01
I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression by Terrence Real
Peter Demonstrates How to Tear a Phone Book in Half, Instagram
Sitka Gear
Performance Archery, San Diego
Peter Attia, The Joe Rogan Experience #1108
Tim Ferriss Learns Archery, Archery Tag
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies, The Cornell Lab
Nock On Podcast by John Dudley
RX-3 Bow, Hoyt
Compound Bow, Wikipedia
Nock 2 It Custom Release, Nock On Archery
Silverback Tension Release, Nock On Archery
Meditation, Mindset, and Mastery, The Tim Ferriss Show #201
Sam Harris, Ph.D. — How to Master Your Mind, The Tim Ferriss Show #342
Waking Up (Sam Harris’ Meditation App)
10% Happier (Dan Harris’ Meditation App)
Intimacy, Emotional Baggage, Relationship Longevity, and More — Esther Perel, The Tim Ferriss Show #271
Taming Your Temper: The 10-Day Stoic Guide to Controlling Anger by Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic
This is Water by David Foster Wallace
Phenotype / Phenotypes, Nature Education
Xenon | Xe, PubChem
Airgas
Praxair
Russian Athletes Admit Xenon Doping at Winter Olympics, Irish Times
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List, USADA
Detection of Epitestosterone Doping by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, Clinical Chemistry
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More, The Tim Ferriss Show #66
Senna (Documentary)
What Is Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor? (And Why You Should Care), Brainline
How Exercise Beefs Up the Brain, Science
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic: How Do Workouts Change the Body? ISSA
Stability and Strength Training a La Maffetone, Running in Systems
The “Real” Limitless Pill and the Nootropics Boom, Vox
Modafinil: Side Effects, Dosages, Treatment, Interactions, RxList
Matthew Walker, Ph.D., on Sleep – Part I of III: Dangers of Poor Sleep, Alzheimer’s Risk, Mental Health, Memory Consolidation, and More, The Drive #47
Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy
Felix Grey
Relax Like A Pro: 5 Steps to Hacking Your Sleep, tim.blog
Phosphorylation, ThermoFisher Scientific
Alaska Bear Eye Mask
chiliPAD
OOLER
Oura Ring
Clase Azul Reposado
Is Sugar Toxic? Peter Attia
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Promotes Colon Tumor Growth in Mice, Weill Cornell Medicine
Dance Scene, Sixteen Candles
Smurfs
The Darwin Awards
Ed Catmull, President of Pixar, on Steve Jobs, Stories, and Lessons Learned, The Tim Ferriss Show #22
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
Freakonomics
Inside The Actor’s Studio
This American Life
Bushnell’s Law, Wikipedia
Meet The Parents
Studying Studies, Peter Attia

SHOW NOTES

Something Peter’s been excited about lately: The concept of Centenarian Olympics. [09:00]
Peter describes one of his favorite exercises for all ages: The goblet squat. [18:12]
How Peter is training with dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS) to correct some of the weightlifting quirks he’s picked up over the years. [21:40]
Why is the ability to control our intra-abdominal pressure — especially as we age — so important? [25:25]
Something Peter has changed his mind about lately: The use of anti-diabetic drug metformin in healthy individuals for enhancing longevity. [27:30]
What are mitochondria, what role do they play in our metabolism, and how could taking metformin — a mitochondrial toxin — possibly be good for us? [31:22]
While certain drugs for certain people under certain conditions can improve and even save lives, never underestimate the power of fasting, exercise, and sleep. [34:51]
What is egg boxing? [37:54]
Something else Peter’s been excited about lately: The space and potency of fasting. We know it’s effective, but how can we scientifically quantify it for greater efficiency and secure the funding to do it? [42:28]
Peter’s current fasting regimen, diet, and supplement intake. [49:42]
Something else Peter has changed his mind about recently: The fate of one’s personality may not actually be set. [54:06]
A stupid and absurd thing Peter likes: Tearing phone books in half. [1:00:44]
Another thing Peter’s been excited about lately: Archery hunting, the consumption of wild game, and a 2021 goal to only eat food that he’s killed. [1:07:35]
What type of gear does Peter use currently? [1:16:31]
In archery, what is the significance of back tension? [1:17:43]
Something else Peter has changed his mind about recently: Childhood experiences that seem minor in the moment can linger long after the fact in unexpected ways — and we, as adults, need to make sure we’re not inadvertently creating negative experiences by behaving badly around the children in our lives (e.g., road raging). [1:21:18]
Tying in with Peter’s acknowledgment of the possibility that personality isn’t fixed in place, how has he managed his own relationship with anger? [1:26:47]
As someone who’s been historically skeptical of therapists, what are the characteristics of a therapist Peter would trust to help him reduce his own suffering? [1:37:00]
Another stupid and absurd thing: Since he was eight years old, Peter has played a game called Forks and Knives. [1:42:26]
Peter’s thoughts on The World Anti-Doping Agency’s efforts to stay ahead of performance-enhancing drugs not yet labeled as such or with restrictions that would be difficult to enforce — like xenon gas and growth hormone. [1:46:04]
Something else Peter’s been excited about lately: Racing cars. [1:51:02]
Something else Peter has changed his mind about recently: The benefits of exercise being much greater than he ever envisioned. But how does he think about type and dose for getting the most out of the effort involved? [1:55:53]
Since taking sleep expert Matt Walker’s advice to heart, how has Peter helped his patients improve their sleep quality, and how has his own sleep protocol changed? [2:00:35]
Another stupid and absurd thing: The What If? game. [2:10:37]
We discuss another game that comes with its own Kevin Rose story: “The How Much Would I Have to Pay You To…” game. How many times in human history has this game been played by women? What’s the worst thing Peter ever agreed to do when he played it in high school? [2:14:39]
Peter and I discuss what we’ve struggled with, enjoyed, and learned in the process of hosting our own podcasts, and what we’ve observed from the interviewing styles of others in the sphere. [2:19:51]
The sometimes intense prep work that goes into an interview, plus pointers for aspiring podcasters eager to get their feet wet before diving in headfirst. [2:31:15]
Parting thoughts. [2:36:53]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Borat
Kevin Rose
Beth Lewis
Michael Stromsness
Michael Rintala
Nir Barzilai
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Nick Stenson
Jocko Willink
Bob Kaplan
Jill Attia
David M. Sabatini
Navdeep S. Chandel
Terrence Real
Cookie Monster
Jonathan Hart
John Dudley
Sam Harris
Dan Harris
Esther Perel
Marcus Aurelius
Ryan Holiday
David Foster Wallace
Thomas Merrill
Sebastian Vettel
Ayrton Senna
Matt Walker
Kirk Parsley
Lew Cantley
Anthony Michael Hall
Molly Ringwald
Hefty Smurf
Ed Catmull
Stephen Dubner
Katie Couric
James Lipton
Larry King
Joe Rogan
Marc Maron
Steve Rinella
Ryan Flaherty

Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and More (#398)

[image error]

Photo by Tyler Ruiz

Dr. Peter Attia (peterattiamd.com, TW: @PeterAttiaMD, IG: @peterattiamd, FB: @peterattiamd) is a former ultra-endurance athlete (e.g., swimming races of 25 miles), a compulsive self-experimenter, and one of the most fascinating human beings I know. He is one of my go-to doctors for anything performance or longevity-related. He is also easily the best quarterback and sherpa for the US medical system I’ve ever met.

But here is his official bio to do him justice:

Peter is the founder of Attia Medical, PC, a medical practice with offices in San Diego and New York City, focusing on the applied science of longevity.  The practice applies nutritional biochemistry, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, techniques to increase distress tolerance, lipidology, pharmacology, and four-system endocrinology to increase lifespan (delaying the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life).

Peter trained for five years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in general surgery, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including resident of the year, and the author of a comprehensive review of general surgery. He also spent two years at NIH as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute where his research focused on immune-based therapies for melanoma. He has since been mentored by some of the most experienced and innovative lipidologists, endocrinologists, gynecologists, sleep physiologists, and longevity scientists in the United States and Canada.

Peter earned his M.D. from Stanford University and holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics.

Peter also hosts The Drive, a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking and a few other things. Topics include fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #398: Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and More
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/a2c25d5a-5130-47a0-a746-f2bdcae67dc1.mp3Download

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This podcast is brought to you by HumanN’s BeetElite, the endurance superfood and nitric oxide activator. HumanN’s BeetElite can help extend endurance, improve energy and stamina, and increase oxygen delivery throughout the body. It provides the nitric oxide equivalent of six whole beets, and BeetElite is trusted by hundreds of elite teams, athletes, and organizations all over the world, so you know you’re getting a top-notch performance product.

BeetElite is Informed-Sport Certified, and the team at HumanN is making an offer exclusive to my listeners: Take your performance to the next level with BeetElite by going to LiveHuman.com/Tim to get 20% off your first purchase!

This podcast is also brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.

New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.

Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.

Want to hear the first time Peter was on the podcast? — Listen to our conversation here. In that interview, we discuss optimizing blood testing, drinking “jet fuel,” training for ultra-endurance sports, consuming synthetic ketones, using metabolic chambers, extending longevity by avoiding certain types of exercise, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download.)

#50: Dr. Peter Attia on Life-Extension, Drinking Jet Fuel, Ultra-Endurance, Human Foie Gras, and Morehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/0f32a7a5-718f-4328-8706-d7f75d794045.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Peter Attia:

Website | Podcast | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Dr. Peter Attia vs. Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show #352
My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island, The Tim Ferriss Show #193
Dr. Peter Attia on Life-Extension, Drinking Jet Fuel, Ultra-Endurance, Human Foie Gras, and More, The Tim Ferriss Show #50
Training for the Centenarian Olympics, Dr. Mark Hyman
Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic
How to Goblet Squat, Men’s Health
Sarcopenia, Wikipedia
My Dog Toaster was Attacked by a Raccoon, Kevin Rose
7 Things You Didn’t Know about Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS), Athletes Edge
Hex Deadlift Bar, Rogue Fitness
Isometric vs. Concentric vs. Eccentric, James Braithwaite
Intra-Abdominal Pressure: An Integrative Review, NCBI
Metformin: Side Effects, Dosages, Treatment, Interactions, RxList
Nir Barzilai, M.D.: How to Tame Aging, The Drive #35
The 5 Training Zones, Vinnie Tortorich
Mitochondria, Nature Education
The Role of Glycogen in Diet and Exercise, Verywell Fit
Acarbose: Side Effects, Dosage, Uses, and More, Healthline
Egg Boxing, Peter Attia
The World’s Largest Psychedelic Research Center, The Tim Ferriss Show #385
F1.com: The Official Home of Formula 1
What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB)? Oregon State University
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Autophagy: Definition, Diet, Fasting, Cancer, Benefits, and More, Healthline
AMA #2: The Nothingburger — Results from Peter’s Week-Long Fast between Two Weeks of Nutritional Ketosis — and Answering Questions on All Things Fasting, The Drive #11
Wanna Know What Keeps Me Up at Night? Peter Attia
What Are the Differences between an Isocaloric Diet and a Eucaloric Diet? Quora
Ketosis — Advantaged or Misunderstood State? Peter Attia
SlowMag
L-Threonate
APOE Gene, Genetics Home Reference, NIH
Tim Ferriss: Depression, Psychedelics, and Emotional Resilience, The Drive #01
I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression by Terrence Real
Peter Demonstrates How to Tear a Phone Book in Half, Instagram
Sitka Gear
Performance Archery, San Diego
Peter Attia, The Joe Rogan Experience #1108
Tim Ferriss Learns Archery, Archery Tag
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies, The Cornell Lab
Nock On Podcast by John Dudley
RX-3 Bow, Hoyt
Compound Bow, Wikipedia
Nock 2 It Custom Release, Nock On Archery
Silverback Tension Release, Nock On Archery
Meditation, Mindset, and Mastery, The Tim Ferriss Show #201
Sam Harris, Ph.D. — How to Master Your Mind, The Tim Ferriss Show #342
Waking Up (Sam Harris’ Meditation App)
10% Happier (Dan Harris’ Meditation App)
Intimacy, Emotional Baggage, Relationship Longevity, and More — Esther Perel, The Tim Ferriss Show #271
Taming Your Temper: The 10-Day Stoic Guide to Controlling Anger by Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic
This is Water by David Foster Wallace
Phenotype / Phenotypes, Nature Education
Xenon | Xe, PubChem
Airgas
Praxair
Russian Athletes Admit Xenon Doping at Winter Olympics, Irish Times
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List, USADA
Detection of Epitestosterone Doping by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, Clinical Chemistry
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More, The Tim Ferriss Show #66
Senna (Documentary)
What Is Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor? (And Why You Should Care), Brainline
How Exercise Beefs Up the Brain, Science
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic: How Do Workouts Change the Body? ISSA
Stability and Strength Training a La Maffetone, Running in Systems
The “Real” Limitless Pill and the Nootropics Boom, Vox
Modafinil: Side Effects, Dosages, Treatment, Interactions, RxList
Matthew Walker, Ph.D., on Sleep – Part I of III: Dangers of Poor Sleep, Alzheimer’s Risk, Mental Health, Memory Consolidation, and More, The Drive #47
Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy
Felix Grey
Relax Like A Pro: 5 Steps to Hacking Your Sleep, tim.blog
Phosphorylation, ThermoFisher Scientific
Alaska Bear Eye Mask
chiliPAD
OOLER
Oura Ring
Clase Azul Reposado
Is Sugar Toxic? Peter Attia
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Promotes Colon Tumor Growth in Mice, Weill Cornell Medicine
Dance Scene, Sixteen Candles
Smurfs
The Darwin Awards
Ed Catmull, President of Pixar, on Steve Jobs, Stories, and Lessons Learned, The Tim Ferriss Show #22
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
Freakonomics
Inside The Actor’s Studio
This American Life
Bushnell’s Law, Wikipedia
Meet The Parents
Studying Studies, Peter Attia

SHOW NOTES

NOTE FROM THE EDITOE: Timestamps will be added shortly. 

Something Peter’s been excited about lately: The concept of Centenarian Olympics.
Peter describes one of his favorite exercises for all ages: The goblet squat.
How Peter is training with dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS) to correct some of the weightlifting quirks he’s picked up over the years.
Why is the ability to control our intra-abdominal pressure — especially as we age — so important?
Something Peter has changed his mind about lately: The use of anti-diabetic drug metformin in healthy individuals for enhancing longevity.
What are mitochondria, what role do they play in our metabolism, and how could taking metformin — a mitochondrial toxin — possibly be good for us?
While certain drugs for certain people under certain conditions can improve and even save lives, never underestimate the power of fasting, exercise, and sleep.
What is egg boxing?
Something else Peter’s been excited about lately: The space and potency of fasting. We know it’s effective, but how can we scientifically quantify it for greater efficiency and secure the funding to do it?
Peter’s current fasting regimen, diet, and supplement intake.
Something else Peter has changed his mind about recently: The fate of one’s personality may not actually be set.
A stupid and absurd thing Peter likes: Tearing phone books in half.
Another stupid and absurd thing: Archery hunting, the consumption of wild game, and a 2021 goal to only eat food that he’s killed.
What type of gear does Peter use currently?
In archery, what is the significance of back tension?
Something else Peter has changed his mind about recently: Childhood experiences that seem minor in the moment can linger long after the fact in unexpected ways — and we, as adults, need to make sure we’re not inadvertently creating negative experiences by behaving badly around the children in our lives (e.g., road raging).
Tying in with Peter’s acknowledgment of the possibility that personality isn’t fixed in place, how has he managed his own relationship with anger?
As someone who’s been historically skeptical of therapists, what are the characteristics of a therapist Peter would trust to help him reduce his own suffering?
Another stupid and absurd thing: Since he was eight years old, Peter has played a game called Forks and Knives.
Peter’s thoughts on The World Anti-Doping Agency’s efforts to stay ahead of performance-enhancing drugs not yet labeled as such or with restrictions that would be difficult to enforce — like xenon gas and growth hormone.
Something else Peter’s been excited about lately: Racing cars.
Something else Peter has changed his mind about recently: The benefits of exercise being much greater than he ever envisioned. But how does he think about type and dose for getting the most out of the effort involved?
Since taking sleep expert Matt Walker’s advice to heart, how has Peter helped his patients improve their sleep quality, and how has his own sleep protocol changed?
Another stupid and absurd thing: The “What If?” game.
We discuss another game that comes with its own Kevin Rose story: “The How Much Would I Have to Pay You To…” game. How many times in human history has this game been played by women? What’s the worst thing Peter ever agreed to do when he played it in high school?
Peter and I discuss what we’ve struggled with, enjoyed, and learned in the process of hosting our own podcasts, and what we’ve observed from the interviewing styles of others in the sphere.
The sometimes intense prep work that goes into an interview, plus pointers for aspiring podcasters eager to get their feet wet before diving in headfirst.
Parting thoughts.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Borat
Kevin Rose
Beth Lewis
Michael Stromsness
Michael Rintala
Nir Barzilai
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Nick Stenson
Jocko Willink
Bob Kaplan
Jill Attia
David M. Sabatini
Navdeep S. Chandel
Terrence Real
Cookie Monster
Jonathan Hart
John Dudley
Sam Harris
Dan Harris
Esther Perel
Marcus Aurelius
Ryan Holiday
David Foster Wallace
Thomas Merrill
Sebastian Vettel
Ayrton Senna
Matt Walker
Kirk Parsley
Lew Cantley
Anthony Michael Hall
Molly Ringwald
Hefty Smurf
Ed Catmull
Stephen Dubner
Katie Couric
James Lipton
Larry King
Joe Rogan
Marc Maron
Steve Rinella
Ryan Flaherty

Two Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Answer (#397)

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Mike Maples, Jr. (Photo by Christopher Michel)

“If the customer doesn’t scream, you don’t have product-market fit.” — Andy Rachleff

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. This time, we have a slightly different episode—a takeover by Mike Maples, Jr.

Mike Maples, Jr. (@m2jr) and his firm, Floodgate, have invested in and supported many of the startups you might recognize — including Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Chegg, and Okta, among others — long before they were household names. He’s been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade, but he’s much more than a successful investor. Mike has also succeeded as both a founder and operating executive.

He’s also simply a great guy and the first person who really taught me how to angel invest. For more on that background, listen to my interview with Mike at tim.blog/mikemaples.

In this episode, however, Mike speaks with Andy Rachleff (@arachleff), co-founder of Wealthfront and Benchmark Capital, about two of the biggest questions that should be on every start-up founder’s mind: How do you reach “product-market fit” (a term that Andy coined), and how do they know when you’ve achieved it?

Andy has known many of the start-up world’s giants and synthesized their lessons, so you will also hear what Andy learned from Don Valentine of Sequoia, Scott Cook of Intuit, Reed Hastings of Netflix, Geoffrey Moore, Clay Christensen, Eric Ries, and Steve Blank.

The audio from this conversation is from the premiere episode of Mike’s brand-new podcast, Starting Greatness, which I encourage you check out. There are some incredible guests coming.

So, if you like this conversation between Mike and Andy, be sure to subscribe to Starting Greatness on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also check out the website at greatness.floodgate.com, and on Twitter you can follow Mike at @m2jr and Andy at @arachleff.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #397: How to Win in the Startup World — Mike Maples and Andy Rachleff
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/f0f6d83f-20b7-4736-8e71-a36eb1b79db1.mp3Download

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.

New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.

Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.

This podcast is also brought to you by 99designs, the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs.

You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas, or hire the perfect designer for your project based based on their style and industry specialization. It’s simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you’ll end up with a design that you’re happy with. Click this link (99designs.com/tim) and get $20 off plus a $99 upgrade.

Want to hear an interview with Mike’s business partner? — Check out my conversation with Floodgate co-founding partner Ann Miura-Ko in which we discuss what counts as “world class effort,” how an introvert becomes a debating competitor, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download.)

#331: Ann Miura-Ko — The Path from Shyness to World-Class Debater and Investorhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/1befb595-f5fc-45e7-8892-e3a2f0263029.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE


Connect with Mike Maples, Jr.:

Floodgate | Starting Greatness | Twitter | Medium

Connect with Andy Rachleff:

Wealthfront | Twitter

Benchmark Capital
Stanford Business School
Sequoia Capital
Steve Blank On Making Lean Startups Out Of Scientists, Forbes
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
Value Hypothesis and Growth Hypothesis, Constantly Learning
Organic Growth, Investopedia
Net Promoter Score, Medallia
The Sales Learning Curve by Mark Leslie and Charles A. Holloway, Harvard Business Review
Yield, Investopedia
The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Projects to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore
What Is Catch-22? The Meaning behind the Famous Paradoxical Phrase at the Heart of Joseph Heller’s Novel, inews.co.uk
A Brief History of Facebook, The Guardian
The 5 Customer Segments of Technology Adoption, On Digital Marketing
Google AdWords Turns 15: A Look Back At The Origins Of A $60 Billion Business, Search Engine Land
The Fascinating History of Netflix, Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering
Pure Software, Wikipedia
Instagram — A Brief History, The Next Web
Chegg
Oaktree Capital
Why Investors Must Be Contrarians to Outperform The Market, 25iq
Intuit
Unforced Error, Merriam-Webster
The Ivy Lee Method: The Daily Routine for Peak Productivity by James Clear
The Customer Development Manifesto: Reasons for the Revolution (Part 1) by Steve Blank
Equinix
OpenTable
eBay
Andreessen Horowitz
Kleiner Perkins
Secondary Stock, Investopedia
LinkedIn
Quora
Tax-Loss Harvesting, Investopedia

SHOW NOTES

Andy explains the meaning and origin story behind the term “product market fit.” [08:48]
The four heuristics Andy uses to test if product market fit has been achieved. [10:24]
Two counterintuitive lessons. [14:19]
Andy outlines the second biggest mistake he sees entrepreneurs making. [15:08]
Questions you’ll hear from potential customers, venture capitalists, and others who are in on your “secret” when you’ve got product market fit. [15:56]
Why does Andy think more people should be reading Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore, and what makes it as current for today’s world as it was when first published in 1991? [16:41]
How Facebook’s growth is a perfect example of Crossing the Chasm philosophy. [19:36]
Why successful companies and entrepreneurs — from Facebook to Google to Netflix’s Reed Hastings — tend to revise their own history. [21:04]
Andy and Mike share their thoughts on pivots and restarts. [26:57]
Andy explains why it’s not imperative for everybody to like your product — in fact, it may even be better if some people don’t. [29:39]
What does the term “savored surprises” mean to Scott Cook and the company culture of Intuit? Why should you be concerned if nothing surprises you about a project? [31:54]
What does Andy consider his biggest “unforced error” at Wealthfront, and when did he have the epiphany to correct course? [35:04]
How did Andy nail his niche early on? What worked — and didn’t work — in the effort to spread the word to potential clients? [39:43]
What a recent insight yielded for Andy’s company, and how this appeals to a demographic its competition has been neglecting. [43:48]
Mike reiterates Andy’s point about entrepreneurship succeeding by being non-consensus and right — defying common wisdom to create something people don’t even know they need until you’ve arrived to bring it to them. [45:45]
The startup law of the jungle, insight development, and what we can expect from Mike and his guests in future episodes of Starting Greatness. [47:12]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

James Bond
Angus MacGyver
Wonder Woman
Don Valentine
Steve Blank
Eric Ries
Scott Cook
Chamath Palihapitiya
Mark Leslie
Chuck Holloway
Doug Leone
Geoffrey Moore
Bill Barnett
Mark Zuckerberg
Howard Marks
Jeff Jordan
Clay Christensen
Doug Mackenzie
Adam D’Angelo
Marc Andreessen
Reid Hoffman

Marcela Ot’alora — How to Become a Psychedelic Therapist (#396)

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Photo by Travis Lilley (@travislilleyphoto)

“The only way to not be afraid of someone’s suffering is if you’re not afraid of your own.”

— Marcela Ot’alora G.

Marcela Ot’alora G. is a psychotherapist and an installation artist. Her interest and focus on trauma has led her to understand the healing process as an intimate reconnection with one’s essence through love, integrity, acceptance, and honoring of the human spirit. In addition to working with trauma and PTSD, she has dedicated her professional life to teaching and research. She uses art as a vehicle for deepening the relationship to self, others, and the natural world.

Marcela worked as a co-therapist in MAPS’ very first government regulated MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Madrid, Spain. She served as the principal investigator for MAPS’ phase two MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study, and is currently in the MDMA healthy volunteer study and phase three in Boulder, Colorado.

She is also a trainer and supervisor for therapists working on MAPS studies for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

You can find additional resources from this episode in the show notes below. They are also separately curated on this page: tim.blog/therapyresources.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

[image error] [image error] [image error] #396: Marcela Ot’alora — The Art and Science of Psychedelic Therapy and Healinghttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/354d9d1f-92b9-469c-8c1d-86191c8b8e6b.mp3Download

Listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

This episode is brought to you by Ring. You might already know about its smart video doorbells and cameras that protect millions of people everywhere. Ring helps you stay connected to your home from anywhere in the world. So if there’s a package delivery or a surprise visitor, you’ll get an alert and be able to see, hear, and speak to whoever is at your door—all from your phone. Ring’s core mission is to make neighborhoods safer.

I’ve used Ring for years now. It catches and records all the regular stuff like deliveries and so on, but it’s also saved my ass a few times, catching weirdos and weird things. Ring is key to my peace of mind, and as a listener of The Tim Ferriss Show, you can get a special rate for your own Ring Welcome Kit — which includes a video doorbell and a Chime Pro — by going to Ring.com/Tim. (U.S. Only).

This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep. I recently moved into a new home and needed new beds, and I purchased mattresses from Helix Sleep. It offers mattresses personalized to your preferences and sleeping style without costing thousands of dollars. Visit HelixSleep.com/TIM and take the simple 2-3 minute sleep quiz to get started, and the team there will build a mattress you’ll love.

Their customer service makes all the difference. The mattress arrives within a week, and the shipping is completely free. You can try the mattress for 100 nights, and if you’re not happy, it’ll pick it up and offer a full refund. To personalize your sleep experience, visit HelixSleep.com/TIM and you’ll receive up to $125 off your custom mattress.

Want to hear another episode about the future of psychedelic science? — Listen to this panel I moderated in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference 2019. It includes a great overview of psychedelic science, investing opportunities, anecdotal personal benefits, legal challenges, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download.)

#377: Psychedelics — Microdosing, Mind-Enhancing Methods, and Morehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/7fd077cc-c8f5-4dfc-b87a-46933d9769bd.mp3Download

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Marcela Ot’alora G.:

Website

Extensive Psychedelic Therapist Training Resources and Recommended Reading (Also available later on this page.) 
MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)
Books by Tim Ferriss
History of The Modern Fire Truck, DriveZing
How Medellin Went from Murder Capital to Hipster Holiday Destination, The Telegraph
15 Fun Facts About Dick and Jane, Mental Floss
Is Ecstasy Really That Dangerous? All Your Questions Answered, The Guardian
Schizophrenia Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic
The Arhuacos
The Healing Journey: Pioneering Approaches to Psychedelic Therapy by Claudio Naranjo
IFS (Internal Family Systems)
What is the Hakomi Method? Hakomi Institute
About Holotropic Breathwork, Grof Transpersonal Training
Training Protocol for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Researchers (Open Label Phase 1 Study), MAPS
Ketamine, Wikipedia
Veterans Try Alternative Treatments from Yoga to Marijuana, News 21
The Basics of Becoming a State Licensed Therapist, Good Therapy
Zendo Project
Burning Man
Trip of Compassion
LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide), Wikipedia
All 169 Seinfeld Episodes, Ranked From Worst to Best, Vulture
Chia Pets
Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), National Center for PTSD
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research Certificate, CIIS
Already Free: Buddhism Meets Psychotherapy on the Path of Liberation by Bruce Tift
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre
Studying Studies by Peter Attia, MD

SHOW NOTES

Marcela shares her childhood dreams of growing up to be a fire truck while playing cards with the inmates at the mental health hospital where her mother worked — the place she felt safest in violence-torn Medellín, Colombia. [09:03]
After arriving in the United States, how did Marcela’s interest in psychedelic therapy begin? [12:50]
What happened in the days and weeks following her first breakthrough MDMA experience with MAPS founder Rick Doblin? What made her own experiences so powerful, and how, specifically, did she believe MDMA could be of help to others? [18:26]
Influences outside of Rick and MAPS that have shaped Marcela’s approach to becoming the therapist she is today. [23:01]
Interested in becoming a psychedelic therapist? Here’s some advice from Marcela (and a link to a page of resources to guide you). [27:02]
What is the WAIT acronym, and why should therapists always keep it in mind? [32:23]
We touch on Hakomi therapy and other modalities that translate well into MDMA psychotherapy, and Marcela explains how communicating with parts of ourselves in non-ordinary states can differ depending on how they’re approached. [33:49]
What is the MT-1 study, and how does it help aspiring psychedelic therapists train for what they can expect in sessions ahead by using MDMA and alternative methods of reaching non-ordinary states such as holotropic breathwork and yoga? [36:29]
What are the qualification checkboxes needed if one wants to become a psychedelic therapist within the structure of current legal restrictions, and how does Marcela feel about where the FDA is leaning in negotiations over licensing? [39:41]
Before committing to years of academic work (and funding) to secure a PhD in psychology, how might someone get a basic feel for what psychedelic therapy work entails? [45:30]
A realistic look at just how difficult and un-sexy psychedelic therapy work can be. [49:38]
The therapist can’t rely on the medicine to carry the session. He or she needs to be prepared if things don’t go according to plan in order to make sure the situation doesn’t actually worsen the condition being treated. [53:49]
What other worries does Marcela have looking forward as things continue to become more popular and more people hope to become involved in psychedelic therapy to some capacity? What questions still need to be answered? [58:14]
What is the role of the therapist when a subject is so inner-directed that they’re silent throughout the entire session? [1:00:23]
As a therapist, what does Marcela remember as her hardest sessions, and what made them so difficult? [1:03:02]
What does preparation look like for a session directed under MAPS protocol? What are the rules that must be followed once a session has begun, and how might a therapist deal with someone in a non-ordinary state who no longer wants to comply with these rules? [1:04:46]
How is psychedelic therapy like alchemy — especially when trying to help someone work with their own overwhelming feelings of self-judgment? [1:09:16]
In Marcela’s experience, what separates a good psychedelic therapist from a great psychedelic therapist? [1:11:02]
In order to ensure the subject’s treatment isn’t somehow contaminated by external factors, where does the psychedelic therapist draw the line between self-disclosure and professional distance? [1:14:56]
What are the rules of engagement when Marcela and her co-therapist (who also happens to be her husband) have a disagreement during a session? What might cause such a disagreement, and how has it affected the outcome when it has happened? [1:17:01]
How many preparatory sessions lead up to an eight-hour MDMA session, what is their duration, and how many/how long are the post sessions that exit the experience? [1:19:22]
Just to alleviate the misconception some might have about MDMA being a quick and painless fix for what ails you: trauma hurts whether it’s coming or going. Expect hard work and no small amount of suffering. [1:20:47]
Where can people learn more about the options that are available for exploring this work and understanding what’s involved? (Find the big list here.) [1:24:14]
“Science is an organized kind of wonder.” Marcela’s work is informed as much by poetry, art, and imagery as it is by science. Here’s a short list of reading we both recommend (the much longer list can be found here). [1:30:08]
Parting thoughts. [1:36:58]


Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (Resources)


Training Resources

Individuals interested in the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy and research can visit the MAPS Public Benefit Corp Therapy Training webpage to sign up for the training newsletter to receive updates on training opportunities and view application procedures and requirements for the MDMA Therapy Training Program.

The MAPS PBC Therapy Provider Connect Portal is a community discussion forum for therapy providers, physicians, and facilities to connect with one another to develop a site or treatment staff, in order to become eligible to participate in a MAPS Public Benefit Corp MDMA PTSD protocol.

Another training opportunity for practitioners interested in the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy is the CIIS Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research Certificate. Additionally, there are alternative therapeutic approaches available now that can be complementary to psychedelic-assisted therapy, such as Internal Family Systems, Holotropic Breathwork, Hakomi, and Somatic Experiencing.

Other useful experiences on the path to becoming a psychedelic therapist may include volunteering to provide psychedelic peer harm reduction through the Zendo Project, opportunities to work with the individuals at the end of life as a chaplain or death doula, mediating peer support groups, or supporting individuals impacted by trauma.

Information for students interested in the field of psychedelic therapy and research can be found on the MAPS website.

Recommended Reading List

The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Volume One) and (Volume Two) by Stan Grof

The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness by Stan Grof

Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy by Stan Grof

Consciousness Medicine: Indigenous Wisdom, Entheogens, and Expanded States of Consciousness for Healing and Growth by Françoise Bourzat and Kristina Hunter

The Ethics of Caring: Honoring the Web of Life in Our Professional Healing Relationships by Kylea Taylor

The Healing Journey: Pioneering Approaches to Psychedelic Therapy by Claudio Naranjo

War and the Soul: Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by Edward Tick

Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach

A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life by Jack Kornfield

The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace by Jack Kornfield

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

From Fixation to Freedom: The Enneagram of Liberation by Eli Jaxon-Bear

Essential Enneagram: The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide by David Daniels and Virginia Price

Doing Not Doing: A Facilitator’s Guide by Tav Sparks

The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence — from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith Herman

Body-Centered Psychotherapy by Ron Kurtz

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

Soulcollage: An Intuitive Collage Process for Individuals and Groups by Seena B. Frost

Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them by Hans Biedermann

The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary by Angeles Arrien

The Transforming Power Of Affect: A Model For Accelerated Change by Diana Fosha

Right Use Of Power: The Heart of Ethics by Cedar Barstow

The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment by Adyashanti

In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter A. Levine

The Inner World of Trauma by Donald Kalsched

Confrontation with the Unconscious: Jungian Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Experience by Scott J. Hill

Additional Reading Focused on Cultural Trauma and Culturally Informed Care

Toward Psychologies of Liberation by Mary Watkins and Helene Schulman

My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

Embodied Social Justice by Rae Johnson

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Joy DeGruy

Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation by Angel Kyodo Williams, Lama Rod Owens, and Jasmine Syedullah

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

What Does It Mean to Be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy by Robin DiAngelo

Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy by Chris Crass

The Way of Tenderness: Awakening through Race, Sexuality, and Gender by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel