Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 7

October 17, 2024

Andrew Roberts on The Habits of Churchill, Lessons from Napoleon, and The Holy Fire Inside Great Leaders (#773)

Illustration via 99desgins

“As soon as you think you understand a period, all it takes is one new set of papers or a new book written by somebody else that can make you look again at the same period and completely change your mind about it. And that’s a little unnerving at the age of 61, I have to say.”
— Andrew Roberts

Andrew Roberts (@aroberts_andrew) has written twenty books, which have been translated into twenty-eight languages and have won thirteen literary prizes.

These include Salisbury: Victorian Titan, Masters and Commanders, The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, Napoleon: A Life, Churchill: Walking with Destiny, The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III, and most recently, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza, which he co-authored with General David Petraeus.

Lord Roberts is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society, the Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and a visiting professor at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. He is also a member of the House of Lords.

Please enjoy!

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Want to hear another episode with a historian who looks to the past in order to understand where the future’s headed? Have a listen to my conversation with Niall Ferguson, in which we discuss the revoking of academia’s license to be outrageous, historical contingency, keeping Cold War II from heating up into World War III, the joys of digging deep into historical correspondence, why an atheist takes his kids to church, life under fatwa, an evolving toolkit for enacting change, and much more.

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

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Andrew Roberts:

Website | Twitter

Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza by David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts | Amazon Secrets of Statecraft with Andrew Roberts | Hoover Institution Other Books by Andrew Roberts | Amazon Discover Yourself | Cranleigh School The Untold Tale of Cambridge’s History of Espionage | Varsity Debrett’s Guide to the Ranks and Privileges of the Peerage | Debretts The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro | Amazon Niall Ferguson, Historian — The Coming Cold War II, Visible and Invisible Geopolitics, Why Even Atheists Should Study Religion, Masters of Paradox, Fatherhood, Fear, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #634 Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire by Niall Ferguson | Amazon How to Write History by Andrew Roberts | National Review Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts | Amazon Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts | Amazon Noblesse Oblige | Learning to Give Why We’d Be Better Off if Napoleon Never Lost at Waterloo by Andrew Roberts | Smithsonian Code Napoleon | The Napoleon Series Guibert’s General Essay on Tactics by Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert | Library Genesis The Development of The Corps D’Armée | The Napoleon Series Napoleon at the Pyramids: Myth Versus Fact | Shannon Selin Winston Churchill Speeches from 1940 | America’s National Churchill Museum Marlborough: His Life and Times Series by Winston S. Churchill | Amazon My Early Life: 1874-1904 by Winston Churchill | Amazon Napoleon, History’s Greatest General or Strategist? | IHEDN Eyeless in Gaza: A Novel by Aldous Huxley | Amazon Brave New World by Aldous Huxley | Amazon The Gathering Storm (The Second World War) by Winston S. Churchill | Amazon “I Shall Be the One to Save London” | The Churchill Project 10 May 1940: A Day to Remember | The National Archives Blog Abdication of King Edward VIII, 1936 | America’s National Churchill Museum The July 20, 1944, Plot to Assassinate Adolf Hitler | Holocaust Encyclopedia Memory of Macabre Cult Massacre Buried in Guyana Jungle | France 24 Winston Churchill Harnessed Many Mistakes Into Victory | Investor’s Business Daily What Today’s Leaders Can Learn from Napoleon’s Mistakes | Inc.Keeping a Diary — Advantages and Challenges | Naturally Balanced When Louis XVI Wrote “Rien” in His Diary… | Tiny-Librarian, Tumblr What is Purple Prose? | Writers.com The Napoleonic Bee | A French Collection Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley | The Poetry Foundation Write, Cut, Rewrite: New Exhibition Sheds Light on the Cutting Room Floor of Modern Literature | Bodleian Libraries Frankenstein by Mary Shelley | Amazon First Edition of Frankenstein | Lambeth Palace Library, Instagram Established In 2017 | Cliveden Literary Festival The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq | Amazon The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger | Randall E. Germain: The Marxist Theory of Imperialism and its Critics (1955) | Marxists.org ‘Too Much Hitler and the Henrys’ by Niall Ferguson | Financial Times Nearly Quarter of Brits Think Churchill a Myth: Poll | ABC News The Majestic Castles of North Wales | Visit Wales Westminster Hall | UK Parliament The Study of History and the Practice of Politics | International Churchill Society The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts | Amazon Is British History Something to Be Proud Of? | The Week 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade | UK Parliament Pros and Cons of British Empire: “Balance Sheet” History Asks Students to Legitimize Imperialism. | Slate The Upside of Empire by Andrew Roberts | National Review Thomas Jefferson Statue Evicted from City Hall Will Go to a Museum | The New York Times Notable Quotations by P.G. Wodehouse | Wikiquote Ukraine in Maps: Tracking the War with Russia | BBC News Gaza Strip in Maps: How a Year of War Has Drastically Changed Life in the Territory | BBC News Napoleonic Marshals of France | French EmpireSHOW NOTES[00:06:14] Expelled from Cranleigh school.[00:07:14] Why MI6 considered Andrew for recruitment.[00:09:56] The teacher who made history exciting to 10-year-old Andrew.[00:13:05] Words Andrew avoids when writing about history.[00:14:20] Are steady-nerved leaders naturally born or nurtured?[00:16:05] The thinkers who influenced Winston Churchill and his sense of noblesse oblige.[00:18:26] What made Napoleon Bonaparte the prime exemplar of war leadership?[00:24:37] Lessons from Winston Churchill’s autobiography, My Early Life.[00:26:22] Napoleon’s relationship with risk.[00:29:26] Andrew’s signed letter from Aldous Huxley.[00:30:49] When historical figures carry a sense of personal destiny.[00:33:07] The meeting Andrew wishes he could’ve witnessed as a fly on the wall.[00:34:30] When historical villains carry a sense of personal destiny.[00:37:14] What Churchill and Napoleon learned from their mistakes.[00:39:38] “Dear Diary…”[00:44:00] Maintaining creative flow during the writing process.[00:47:18] On working with brilliant publisher Stuart Proffitt (aka Professor Perfect).[00:52:53] Why are some significant figures immortalized while others go the way of Ozymandias?[00:57:59] Thoughts on personal legacy.[00:59:18] Fiction favorites.[01:02:05] Being objective about the history of imperialism.[01:03:31] The challenges of teaching and learning history today.[01:06:40] Why “Study history” is Andrew’s coat of arms motto.[01:10:22] What Andrew, as a history expert, sees for the future.[01:14:01] Counteracting natural pessimism.[01:15:34] What to expect from Andrew’s latest book Conflict (co-authored with David Petraeus).[01:19:21] Upcoming book projects.[01:20:26] Parting thoughts.MORE ANDREW ROBERTS QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I don’t think I’m the first person ever as a young man to get drunk and climb up buildings … It led to one of my wife’s most brilliant witticisms. She said, ‘And all Andrew’s done since in life is to get drunk and social climb.'”
— Andrew Roberts

“When I feel pessimism for America, it’s for things like taking the Thomas Jefferson statue down from the New York City Hall. It’s a form of cultural suicide. It strikes me not to admire the founders of your nation. And yes, of course he owned slaves, but he also wrote a constitution that has survived for a quarter of a millennium and he was brave enough, and Washington and all the others, brave enough to stand up against the most powerful empire in the world. These things, you deserve your statue, it seems to me. And if you go around pulling these things down, I think you’re breaking a living link with the past that makes you a great country.”
— Andrew Roberts

“I find it very relaxing and calming to think that my life isn’t just going to be a complete waste of time. And one of the only ways that I can justify this concept that it’s all not just a nihilistic maelstrom is by writing books, obviously, which I hope will survive me. But also, noting down what I’ve done in the day.”
— Andrew Roberts

“As soon as you think you understand a period, all it takes is one new set of papers or a new book written by somebody else that can make you look again at the same period and completely change your mind about it. And that’s a little unnerving at the age of 61, I have to say.”
— Andrew Roberts

“I’m a bit of a pessimist anyway because I’m a Tory and pessimism is an essential part of Toryism.”
— Andrew Roberts

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield
Susan Gilchrist
James Bond
Cookie Monster
Christopher Perry
Charles I
Oliver Cromwell
Elizabeth I
Mary, Queen of Scots
Robert Caro
Niall Ferguson
Napoleon Bonaparte
Winston Churchill
Julius Caesar
Alexander the Great
Edward Gibbon
Thomas Babington Macaulay
Arthur Schopenhauer
Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Sir Francis Drake
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
Randolph Churchill
Jeanette Spencer-Churchill
Aldous Huxley
Adolf Hitler
Neville Chamberlain
George VI
Claus von Stauffenberg
David Koresh
Jim Jones
Xi Jinping
Benjamin Netanyahu
Joe Biden
Louis XVI
Samuel Johnson
Stuart Proffitt
Herodotus
Abraham Lincoln
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Goddard
William Boyd
Salman Rushdie
Robert Harris
Michel Houellebecq
Henry VIII
Denzel Washington
Sherlock Holmes
Eleanor Rigby
Ronald Hutton
Simon Roberts
Edward I
Elizabeth II
Warren Hastings
Nelson Mandela
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Thomas More
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
William Wallace
George III
Thomas Jefferson
P.G. Wodehouse
David H. Petraeus
Matthew Ridgway

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Published on October 17, 2024 07:13

October 8, 2024

Never Play It Safe: 7 Levers to Unlock Your Creative Potential

Tim Ferriss and Chase Jarvis in 2011

The following is a guest post from Chase Jarvis (@chasejarvis), the founder of CreativeLive, the world’s largest live-streaming education platform for creatives and entrepreneurs, which was acquired by Fiverr (FVRR: NYSE) in 2021. He is also a master photographer, Emmy-nominated director, and the bestselling author of Creative Calling.

Chase is the only person ever to be named a Hasselblad Master, Nikon Master, and ASMP Master. He has contributed photography to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism, and his commercial work has spanned campaigns for Nike, Apple, Red Bull, and others, earning him Forbes’ title of “The Photographer Everyone Wants to Work With.” Chase’s fine-art installations appear in prominent galleries and the collections of high-net-worth individuals alike. Chase was also one of the very first guests of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast.

His new book is Never Play It Safe: A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life You Love and is out today.

Please enjoy!

Enter Chase Jarvis…

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” — Helen Keller

In my mid-twenties, my wife Kate and I were living in a tiny apartment in Seattle. I was working in a ski shop to make ends meet. There were a lot of voices in my head telling me how I had screwed up the familiar patterns of school and job, plus I had a boatload of doubt, no money, and few role models. Even though I whispered to those closest to me that I wanted to be a photographer, I was too scattered—and too scared—to actually pay attention to what I might have to do to make that dream a reality.

I spent the first few months of that time dabbling, working in the shop, explaining myself to everyone I knew, and trying but failing to hone my craft. My attention was too fractured to get anywhere, but at a certain point, it was do or die. Yes, I had to earn a living, but more importantly, that rare, humble, honest version of myself that sometimes showed up on morning walks or while gazing at golden-orange sunsets had a point: I had to stop f*ing around and making excuses. I had to stop paying so much attention to the toxic voices in my head telling me I’d never make it as a photographer and instead go all in on the next right step that would get me where I wanted to go.

Those early days were filled with doubt, uncertainty, and countless questions about how to make my dreams a reality. I didn’t know how to make the leap from amateur photographer to full-time artist. I had almost no real-life examples of how to do what I wanted to do. I couldn’t afford the time or money it would have taken to go to art school. But I realized that no one was coming to hand me a guidebook and that if I wanted to succeed, I’d have to forge my own path. Over time, I discovered key principles that helped me transform those doubts into action—tools that reside naturally within us all, that anyone can use to ignite their creative potential and break away from the illusory ‘safe’ life that our culture wants most of us to live.

In this post, I’m going to share 7 ‘levers’ that I’ve discovered that can help you unlock your potential. These aren’t vague motivational phrases—they’re practical, actionable tools that will take you from feeling stuck to finding freedom in your creative work and your life. With AI rapidly taking over jobs that machines can easily do, human creativity has become more crucial, and more valuable, than ever. It’s not just about popsicle sticks and glue guns; it’s about cultivating the habit of thinking differently and operating differently, a way of living that keeps you on the unique frontier, ahead of the machines, and in line with a life worth loving.

Creativity isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore—it’s an essential skill, a must-have that will keep you relevant and thriving in a changing world. Each lever is a tool I personally learned to wield in my journey from being a small-town Seattle artist to working with many of the biggest brands and boldest projects in the world, and I’m going to show you how to use them in your own life.

Lever 1: Constraints—Unlocking Creativity with Limitations

Early in my career, I discovered that creativity thrives under constraints. Whether it was when I couldn’t afford the best camera gear or later when I intentionally set boundaries on projects—like budget, time, or other easily implemented frameworks—I recognized that limitations forced me to innovate. The results were demonstrably better than when I failed to implement, or ignored, constraints.

Constraints aren’t obstacles—they are opportunities to think differently, to find solutions you wouldn’t have considered if you had every resource at your disposal. It was during those times of limitation that I learned the most and pushed both my creativity and my life to places I didn’t think they could go.

Actionable Steps to Constrain for Growth:

1. 7-Minute Creative Challenge

Set a timer for 7 minutes and complete a creative project within that time frame. Whether it’s writing a short story or sketching something, the goal is to create without overthinking. Embrace imperfection. I do this almost every day in some capacity—journaling for 7 minutes in the morning, capturing 7 images on my phone within my immediate surroundings, or crafting a creative social media post. These quick, deliberate bursts of creativity help me stay sharp, spontaneous, and unafraid of imperfection.

2. Resource Limitation Challenge

Choose a project and give yourself a constraint. Use one lens for a week or write with only a notebook and pen. By forcing yourself to work within limits, you foster innovation. For me, I was the first high-end professional to lean into the iPhone as a real photographic tool, publishing the world’s first book of iPhone photos and creating the first iPhone app that used photos as the basis for a social network. Another time, I was featured on a top YouTube channel in China, where I was challenged to shoot professional-level images—skateboarding, portraits, street photography—using a camera literally made out of Legos. These constraints pushed me creatively in ways I simultaneously loved, but couldn’t have imagined, proving that limits can truly unlock new levels.

Lever 2: Failure—A Feature, Not a Bug

Turn back your mental clock to April of 2012, when Facebook acquired Instagram for the staggering sum of $1 billion. It was all over the news, not just in the tech circles but mainstream media too—a true Cinderella story. I watched with amazement like the rest of the world, but that amazement was tempered by a pang of regret. In a not-so-different world, it could have been my company making those headlines.

Back in 2009, I had created a photo-sharing app called The Best Camera that beat Instagram to the market; had millions of downloads; was hailed in ‘App of the Year’ lists in the New York Times, MacWorld, and elsewhere; and was heavily featured in Apple’s global marketing. And yet, despite all of this early success, my app never reached its full potential. A few critical mistakes known by tech-industry insiders and experienced by my community of users derailed acquisition interests and my billion-dollar opportunity.

Nearly all of us from an early age are conditioned to avoid failure. But this mindset is what keeps most people from creating anything at all! Failure isn’t the end; it’s an integral part of almost any process. Early in my career, I tried so hard to succeed without ever taking risks, and it led to nothing but mediocrity. The moment I began embracing failure as a necessary feature of my journey, things started to shift.

The experience with my photo app taught me painful but valuable lessons, and each failure along the way shaped me into a more resilient, more creative, and more confident person today. In just one clear example, I took those Best Camera lessons and used them to launch CreativeLive, which was acquired by a public company and today serves millions of students worldwide.

Embracing failure is what separates those who make a mark from those who never even try. It’s why failure isn’t something to fear; it’s a signal, a signpost that guides you toward growth.

Actionable Steps to Reframe Failure as Growth:

1. Failure Postmortem

Make notes in a journal about a recent failure, but instead of judging yourself, break it down objectively: What went wrong? What did you learn? What can you do differently next time? This practice turns what could feel like a setback into a lesson. When Instagram sold for $1 billion, it was a punch to the gut, because it could have been my app in those headlines. In my postmortem, I realized that the mistakes were simple but costly:

Trusting the wrong development partner. Not enough detail in the legal contract.Failing to keep the app’s code and key assets on my own servers or in the cloud.

These oversights stalled our momentum and left me watching from the sidelines. But analyzing these failures objectively transformed what could have been a career-ending defeat into the blueprint for building CreativeLive—turning painful lessons into invaluable stepping stones for future success.

2. Tiny Experiments

Reframe the thing you’ve been avoiding as a tiny experiment. Instead of fearing failure, think of it as an opportunity to gather information. Commit to taking a step toward it within the next 48 hours, with the goal of learning rather than succeeding. When you view actions as experiments, failures don’t sting as much because they’re part of the process. This approach not only makes the risk feel smaller, but it also conditions you to value learning over outcomes. Taking action, even when facing potential failure, is a crucial step toward unlocking your creativity. Every so-called failure becomes data—a step forward rather than a setback. Failure can either be a wall or a door, and reframing it as an experiment allows you to choose the door every time.

Chase Jarvis standing in the ocean with the water up to his chest while taking photos with a large camera.

Lever 3: Attention—Harnessing Your Superpower

In the age of infinite distractions, focus is a superpower that determines the difference between success and mediocrity. But here’s the catch: no one else can do this work for you. If you let others control your attention—whether through endless scrolling, notifications, or expectations placed on you—you’ll never unlock your true creative potential.

Attention is your most valuable currency. I had to learn this through trial and error, switching from a career that I thought others wanted for me to one I knew deep down I was made for. When I focused, my world expanded in the areas I dedicated my time to. Where I put my attention dictated what I became.

Actionable Steps to Reclaim Your Focus:

1. Define Your “Attention Zones”

Every morning, choose two zones where you want to direct your focus. These could be areas like building a skill or connecting with family. Write down one specific action for each zone that deserves your full attention today. Think of this as a workout for your attention span, developing focus on demand so it’s there when you need it most. Use a Pomodoro timer (there are online options, but I prefer a physical timer)—25 minutes on, no interruptions, then take a break. This kind of deliberate practice is where focus turns into mastery, training your mind to be sharp and responsive whenever you call on it.

2. Daily “Attention Audit”

At the end of each day, do a quick audit. Ask yourself: Where did my attention go today? Which distractions pulled me away? Write them down, and make adjustments to improve your focus tomorrow. I had to make this a ritual to understand what was draining my energy and how I could direct it back into my creative pursuits. For a broader view, consider doing a weekly audit using your iPhone’s built-in screen-time tracker or Toggl Track to get detailed insights into where your attention is going. Apps like Freedom.to and StayFocusd can also help you block distracting websites or apps during creative work sessions, letting you carve out focused time for what truly matters.

Chase Jarvis walking through a city with camera in hand, looking for subjects to shoot.

Lever 4: Time—The Magic of Presence

One of the biggest breakthroughs in my life came when I understood that it wasn’t about finding more time; it was about changing how I perceived and used the time I had. Instead of managing time like a fixed resource, I began to see it as malleable, something that could expand or contract based on my focus and the activities I chose. This meant creating conditions for flow, where time seemed to stretch as I engaged in what I loved. It also meant recognizing that life is long and that the rush to always do more often robbed me of the richness of the present. When I focused on the activities that brought joy and novelty, time seemed to open up, and I became far more effective.

It’s easy to say you’re busy, but what are you busy with? Other people’s expectations or your own meaningful pursuits? Instead of seeing time as something to manage, try seeing it as an experience to craft. When we are present, fully engaged in the now, we find that life becomes less about scarcity and more about depth and richness. Creativity demands presence. It demands moments of undistracted effort where you can go deep, explore, and build. To truly move the needle, stop trying to manage time, and instead cultivate flow and presence—embracing the long view of a life where moments are crafted deliberately and with intention.

Actionable Steps to Redefine Your Relationship with Time:

1. Create a “Time Budget”

Spend a week observing how your time is spent. Instead of focusing on strict management, see time as malleable. Notice the moments when time seems to rapidly slip away—like scrolling on your phone or mindlessly watching something just to kill time. Notice when you engage in activities that you love, where you experience flow—a state where time seems to expand and you’re far more effective. Time-tracking apps like Toggl Track or RescueTime can help you to identify distractions, while a physical notebook or a journal app like Day One can be used to track your reflections on what activities bring you into a state of flow. Tools like Brain.fm or Focus@Will can help enhance focus, making it easier to enter a flow state. By observing and adjusting how your time is spent, you can observe time dilating and constricting and more intentionally choose to shift more of your time into the expansive, rewarding experiences.

2. Deep Time Blocks

Twice a week, schedule a 2-to-4–hour time block to focus deeply on your most creative work—something you love. No interruptions. No ‘tasks.’ Let this be a sacred window where you can disconnect from clock time and its traditional trappings. I’ve learned that if I want to address a problem or go into a special creative headspace, it usually requires a minimum of 90 minutes to make progress. As an extension of this idea, I freakishly protect the first ninety-minute block of my day for my morning routine. It’s the one thing I know can make a huge difference in the success of my day, week, and life. What I do during this time may vary, but it always involves some level of intention, mindfulness, self-care, and some form of movement or exercise to get mentally focused for the day.

Here are some examples:

Intention: I often dedicate time to journaling as a way to reflect on and clarify my thoughts, writing down my intentions each day to stay focused on what matters.Mindfulness: I use a body scan exercise, spending a few minutes checking in with different parts of my body to help me stay present throughout the day. Self-Care: I embrace cold plunge therapy, which refreshes my mind and body, preparing me to take on challenges with a renewed sense of focus. Exercise: My morning workout—a mix of cardiovascular activities and resistance training for 30 to 45 minutes—allows me to start the day mentally sharp and fully energized.Lever 5: Intuition—Trusting Your Gut

Your intuition is like a compass—it always knows where to take you, but you have to be willing to listen. I ignored my gut for a long time, and it led me into a path that was culturally “safe” but deeply unfulfilling. I chased a career in professional soccer and then medical school because it was what others wanted for me, but it was ultimately abandoning both of those directions and returning to photography that set my soul on fire.

It’s hard to trust yourself when society constantly tells you that risk is unhealthy or unreasonable and that you should stay on the well-worn path. But emerging science reveals something fascinating: rational thought is often slow and fumbling, while intuition is quick and comprehensive. The truth is, the people who achieve greatness are those who learn to trust that small voice. The more I listened to my gut, the more it became a reliable source of guidance. Like any muscle, I was strengthening it with use. Once I began leaning into that intuitive pull, my life changed, and my creativity exploded.

Actionable Steps to Reconnect with Your Inner Compass:

Intuition Field Trip

Give yourself a Saturday—reminiscent of Julia Cameron’s “Artist Date” from her legendary masterwork The Artist’s Way—and fill the day with whatever you are drawn to do. First, set aside your technology. And then, since intuition lives in the body, start your day with a walk outside in nature (a park if you are urban) and really tune in to the sensations in your body. What do you feel, smell, and notice? Let your awareness expand to find a calm joy in this state of connection and relaxation as you walk for as long as you desire. Throughout the day, let your guiding question be What next? Listen to the soft, small voice of intuition for guidance. No busyness, no hurry. Simply listen, act, and notice. Go anywhere, and do anything that you’re called to do. At the end of your experiment, reflect on the process. How were you able to listen? What did you feel?

How to Know Your Intuition is Speaking

Here is a non-exhaustive-but-hopefully-helpful list of internal signals that your intuition is at work:

Body signals—Pay attention to the physiological responses, such as a “gut feeling” or a sense of calm, that may indicate intuition at work.Immediate impressions—Notice your spontaneous thoughts or feelings and contrast them with the slower, analytical process of conscious reasoning.Past experiences—Reflect on moments in which your intuition proved accurate, usually in a snap judgment or moment-based experience sort of way.Energy alignment—Look for sparks of energy or little bursts of confidence . . . a genuine feeling that you are on track.Emotional alignment—Intuitive feelings often align with positive or negative emotions. Genuine intuition tends to evoke a sense of rightness or wrongness about a situation.Athletic Mind—A phrase used by renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella, athletic mind describes the moment when someone clearly envisions an outcome and then trusts the subconscious to deliver, as opposed to tediously and consciously reviewing every aspect of a skill. In other words, Yoda had it right: “Do or do not. There is no try.” Chase Jarvis high on an A-frame ladder on a clay tennis court, photographing Serena Williams, as a camera-shoot crew and others look on.

Chase Jarvis high on an A-frame ladder on a clay tennis court, photographing Serena Williams, as a camera-shoot crew and others look on.

Lever 6: Play—The Most Important Work We Do

When we think of work, we think of grinding, pushing through obstacles, and staying serious. But what if the real magic—the breakthroughs, the creative leaps—happens when we allow ourselves to play?

Happiness can often feel temporary and fleeting, with our accomplishments seeming ephemeral, leaving us lost in a sea of seriousness. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To live a more meaningful life, we don’t need another vacation, a new hobby, or another workout routine. We don’t need an endless stream of self-improvement projects piled onto an already overstressed life. What we truly need is a life we’re not trying to escape, a life where play and joy are woven into our everyday work, allowing us to experience deeper fulfillment and uncover the breakthroughs we’ve been searching for.

Play is often undervalued, but it’s one of the most powerful tools a creator can wield. When I loosened my grip on the idea of what creativity was supposed to look like, for example, not just with traditional art or creative pursuits like business, that’s when the best ideas—and highest revenues—flowed. That’s because play is where the best version of ourselves is born, where we experiment without judgment, where failure isn’t feared but embraced. For me, looking back on my career and life, it’s clear that most of my favorite work has come not from overplanning or grinding but from experimenting, having fun, and letting my curiosity lead the way.

Actionable Steps to Integrate Play into Your Creative Life:

1. Weekend Play Session

This is the opposite of the Resource Limitation Challenge (from ‘Lever 1: Constraints’). A Weekend Play Session is a much looser approach, where you’ll spend 15 minutes each day doing something fun—with no goals attached to it. Doodle, explore photography with no rules, or create music just for the joy of it—ideally off your device to get real dopamine. This time is about exploration without the pressure to produce something ‘good.’ If you don’t know where to start, look back at your childhood. Activities like smashing baseballs, building puzzles or Legos, racing RC cars—whatever brought you joy as a kid—often hold the answers. Letting go of the outcome and focusing on the joy of the process will more often lead to breakthroughs.

2. The Mindful Chore Challenge

Let’s take a task that one might label as a chore: folding the laundry. The next time you hear the buzzer on the dryer and it’s time to fetch the clothes, do the following. First, notice that buzzer—really hear it—and be grateful for a device that is smart enough to notify you when it’s done working on your behalf. Next, walk up to the dryer and open it. Feel the warm air on your face as the heat escapes. And listen to the sound—the little creaking sound of the dryer door. Smell the pleasant, clean smell—a combo of detergent and dryer sheet. Then reach your hands into the dryer and grab all the clothes, while paying special attention to the soft feeling of the fabric and, again, the warmth. Notice all the colors in the pile, some bright, others faded. Really be present for the folding experience. Then, have fun with it.

An experimental photography art piece of Chase Jarvis in a shiny silver suit, wearing Goggles, and appearing to float amongst clouds of rich purple, yellow, red, and cyan smoke.

Chase Jarvis in same suit from last photo, standing in an editing bay with computer screens, editing the experimental photo mentioned in the previous photo above.

Lever 7: Practice—Success Leaves Clues

Every successful creator I’ve ever met, studied, or admired has one thing in common: they show up. Day in, day out, they put in the work, even when they don’t feel like it. Consistency and practice are the real magic behind creative success.

The truth is, creativity isn’t about waiting for inspiration to strike—it’s about being there when it does. It’s about creating conditions in which inspiration can find you at work. For me in photography, that meant taking my camera everywhere, shooting every day, even when the conditions were less than perfect, and even when I didn’t feel like it. In business it meant developing systems that were always oriented toward iteration and always ‘shipping’ our products and services before they were perfect.

Actionable Steps to Build a Creative Practice:

1. Create a Daily Practice Routine

Choose one skill or craft that matters to you and dedicate at least 20 minutes to it every day. Whether it’s coding, writing, or anything else, commit to this practice without exception. The goal is momentum, not genius. Tracking your progress, using an app like Habit Tracker or Atoms, helps you stay accountable and see growth over time. I made this commitment to photography years ago—and dozens of other skills since then—and these consistent daily actions have been transformative, whether that was turning my passion into a career or simply growing quickly in an area of interest.

2. Study Who Inspires You

Identify someone whose creative journey inspires you, whether they are in art, science, or entrepreneurship (it’s all part of the creative spectrum!). Study their routines, habits, and approaches. What time do they work? How do they overcome obstacles? What are their key assets? Biographies, biopics, and documentaries are powerful resources that can reveal how creators create, offering insights into their mindset and process.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

Books: Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (Founder of Nike) Just Kids: The Autobiography of Patti Smith Documentaries: Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child Finding Vivian Maier Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Exit Through the Gift Shop Abstract: The Art of Design

Adopt one of their habits into your own daily practice for the next month. Learning from others provides a unique glimpse into what it takes to achieve greatness and offers us the opportunity to weave those practices and mentalities into our own lives.

Choose Your Lever and Start Today

The path to unlocking your creative potential isn’t about extraordinary circumstances—it’s about leveraging the natural tools we all have inside us. These 7 levers can change everything if you put them to use.

So pick one today, and in your own messy, imperfect way just START. Share your vision or journey in the comments, along with the rest of Tim’s community. Your most bold and creative life lies just beyond your comfort zone.

This post was adapted from Chase’s new book Never Play It Safe: A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life You Love.

Chase Jarvis siting at a podcast desk with a microphone next to his new book Never Play It Safe.

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Published on October 08, 2024 07:17

October 4, 2024

Productivity Tactics – Two Approaches I Personally Use to Reset, Get Unstuck, and Focus on the Right Things (#771)

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types to tease out the habits, routines, favorite books, and so on that you can apply and test in your own life.

This time, we have a slightly different format.

In this short and very tactical episode, I share some of my personal methods for how to get out of a rut, re-aim yourself at big outcomes, and make progress on a daily basis, despite the self-defeating tendencies that we all have.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements, Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, and AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement.

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

Listen onApple Podcasts [image error]Listen onSpotify [image error]Listen onOvercast#771: Productivity Tactics – Two Approaches I Personally Use to Reset, Get Unstuck, and Focus on the Right Things

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

Their products are third-party tested (Informed-Sport and/or NSF certified), so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle and nothing else. If you want to try Momentous for yourself, you can use code Tim for 20% off your one-time purchase at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. And not to worry, my non-US friends, Momentous ships internationally and has you covered.

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

Pod 4 Ultra also introduces an adjustable Base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame to add custom positions for the best sleeping experience. Plus, it automatically reduces your snoring when detected. Just add it easily onto any bed.

And now, listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show can get $350 off of the Pod 4 Ultra for a limited time! Click here to claim this deal and unlock your full potential through optimal sleep.

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

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

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

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEMake Before You Manage | Tim Ferriss Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule | Paul Graham Neil Gaiman — The Best Commencement Speech You May Ever Hear (20 Minutes) | Tim Ferriss A 90-Second Video of Calligraphy | Tim Ferriss, Instagram Shakshouka and Caffeine. | Tim Ferriss, Instagram “Productivity” Tricks for the Neurotic, Manic-Depressive, and Crazy (Like Me) | Tim Ferriss A Day in the Life of Tim Ferriss — A Morgan Spurlock Production | Vimeo Rudy | Prime Video The Snooze Button is a Psychological Trick | Jocko Willink Why Moving Didn’t Solve Any of My Problems | Tiny Buddha Meditation, Mindset, and Mastery | The Tim Ferriss Show #201 Pique Tea Organic Fermented Pu’erh Black Tea | Amazon Pique Tea Organic Fermented Pu’erh Green Tea | Amazon Gary Keller — How to Focus on the One Important Thing | The Tim Ferriss Show #401 The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan | Amazon 31 Writing Lessons from Kurt Vonnegut | Industrial Scripts Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell | AmazonSHOW NOTES[00:21] What to expect from this episode.[03:26] How many clowns fit in my clown car?[04:49] Am I solving or exacerbating my problems?[05:54] The saving mantra: “Make before you manage.”[09:11] Neil Gaiman on vulnerability.[09:32] A reality check.[10:13] The dangerous myths of “successful” people.[10:59] You take the good, you take the bad…[12:55] My eight-step process for maximizing efficacy.[16:20] Remember this when you’re feeling far from perfect.PEOPLE MENTIONEDMolly Ferriss Neil Gaiman Paul Graham Gary Keller Kurt Vonnegut

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Published on October 04, 2024 07:56

September 26, 2024

Elizabeth Gilbert — How to Set Strong Boundaries, Overcome Purpose Anxiety, and Find Your Deep Inner Voice (#770)

Illustration via 99designs

“I am good at manifesting what I want, and I’m good at almost dying from getting what I want. So maybe there’s a better question to be asking than, ‘What do I want?'”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love as well as several other international bestsellers. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her latest novel, City of Girls, was named an instant New York Times bestseller—a rollicking, sexy tale of the New York City theater world during the 1940s.

Go to ElizabethGilbert.Substack.com to subscribe to “Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert,” her newsletter, which has more than 120,000 subscribers.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements, ExpressVPN high-speed, secure, and anonymous VPN service, and AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement.

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

Listen onApple Podcasts [image error]Listen onSpotify [image error]Listen onOvercast#770: Elizabeth Gilbert — How to Set Strong Boundaries, Overcome Purpose Anxiety, and Find Your Deep Inner Voice

This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. I’ve been using ExpressVPN to make sure that my data is secure and encrypted, without slowing my Internet speed. If you ever use public Wi-Fi at, say, a hotel or a coffee shop, where I often work and as many of my listeners do, you’re often sending data over an open network, meaning no encryption at all.

A great way to ensure that all of your data are encrypted and can’t be easily read by hackers is by using ExpressVPN. All you need to do is download the ExpressVPN app on your computer or smartphone and then use the Internet just as you normally would. You click one button in the ExpressVPN app to secure 100% of your network data. Use my link ExpressVPN.com/Tim today and get an extra three months free on a one-year package!

Want to hear the first time Elizabeth Gilbert was on the podcast? Have a listen here to our conversation in which we discussed the legs of truth, writing as a source of light, an “interesting” way to defuse drama and trauma, what present Elizabeth endures for future Elizabeth, staying true to one’s inner compass before making commitments, and much more.

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

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Elizabeth Gilbert:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert | Substack City of Girls: A Novel by Elizabeth Gilbert | Amazon Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert | Amazon Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert | Amazon Elizabeth Gilbert’s Creative Path: Saying No, Trusting Your Intuition, Index Cards, Integrity Checks, Grief, Awe, and Much More | The Tim Ferriss Show #430 The Celtic Prayer of Approach | Elizabeth Gilbert, Facebook Jerry Colonna — The Coach with the Spider Tattoo | The Tim Ferriss Show #373 A House of Prayer for All People | Washington National Cathedral Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Lao Tzu and Stephen Mitchell | Amazon Welcome to Letters from Love | Elizabeth Gilbert An 11th Step Tool Rediscovered | Two-Way Prayer Marco Polo | The Genius of Play Song of Myself (1892 Version) | The Poetry Foundation Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman | Amazon The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal: A Companion Volume to the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron | Amazon The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron | Amazon Chip Conley — Building Empires, Tackling Cancer, and Surfing the Liminal | The Tim Ferriss Show #374 A Most Beautiful Thing | Prime Video A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper | Amazon What is Internal Family Systems? | IFS Institute Internal Family Systems Therapy, Second Edition by Richard C. Schwartz and Martha Sweezy | Amazon Richard Schwartz — IFS, Psychedelic Experiences without Drugs, and Finding Inner Peace for Our Many Parts | The Tim Ferriss Show #492 Sharon Salzberg, World-Renowned Meditation Teacher | The Tim Ferriss Show #277 The Self-Hatred Within Us | The On Being Project What is Calvinism? | Christianity.com Hangman God | The Joyce Project Martha Beck — The Amazing and Brutal Results of Zero Lies for 365 Days, How to Do a Beginner “Integrity Cleanse,” Lessons from Lion Trackers, and Novel Tactics for Reducing Anxiety (#732) – The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss Growing and Caring for a Bonsai Tree | Bonsai Empire Why I Cut Off All My Hair by Elizabeth Gilbert | Oprah Daily Bog Witch Aesthetic by Water of Whimsy | Instagram Brené Brown — Striving versus Self-Acceptance, Saving Marriages, and More (#409) – The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss The Revolution Of The Relaxed Woman | Prudence Henschke Eat Pray Love Author Elizabeth Gilbert Mourns Rayya Elias | The Cut Newtonian Physics vs. Special Relativity | Futurism What is Sufism? | The Threshold Society How Physicists Proved the Universe Isn’t Locally Real | Dr. Ben Miles Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on Powerful Books, Mystics, Richard Dawkins, and the Dangers of Safe Spaces | The Tim Ferriss Show #455 The Paradox of Why by Andrea Mignolo | Medium Purpose Anxiety | Life Curator Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley | The Poetry Foundation Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow | Amazon The New Yorker Cartoons | The Cartoon Bank Jackass: The Movie | Prime Video Think About Your Death and Live Better | The Atlantic Yes, Social Media Really Is Undermining Democracy | The Atlantic Letters from Love with Special Guest Toni Collette! | Substack Letters from Love with Special Guest Glennon Doyle! | Substack Letters from Love with Special Guest Moe Miyahara! | Substack Letters from Love with Special Guest BJ Armour! | Substack Studio Route 29 | Instagram Did Einstein Really Ask If the Universe Was Friendly? | Quora The Problem of Religion by Emil Carl Wilm | Google Books Anne Lamott on Taming Your Inner Critic, Finding Grace, and Prayer | The Tim Ferriss Show #522 Radio KFKD | HypergraffitiSHOW NOTES[00:07:14] No cherished outcomes.[00:12:27] Self-compassionate ownership of responsibility.[00:17:24] The daily practice of writing letters from love.[00:23:54] Two-way prayer vs. one-way prayer.[00:32:29] The male approach to this practice.[00:35:59] How do you feel toward yourself vs. about yourself?[00:38:25] Understanding self-hatred to foster self-friendliness.[00:44:52] Setting boundaries and dealing with those who refuse to honor them.[00:51:47] Why (and how) Elizabeth avoids big family holiday gatherings.[00:53:47] Comfort in solitude.[00:55:10] Much abuzz about Elizabeth’s new ‘do.[00:59:24] Boundaries, priorities, and mysticism: a relaxed woman as a radical concept.[01:05:34] What mysticism brings to Elizabeth’s reality.[01:08:58] A better question to ask than “What do I want?”[01:11:04] Elizabeth’s hard-ass approach to project commitment.[01:18:12] Creativity guidance from Elizabeth’s higher power.[01:22:40] How The Morning Pages influenced Eat, Pray, Love.[01:25:59] More productive questions to ask than “Why?”[01:27:48] The pointlessness of purpose anxiety.[01:32:31] Balancing presence with other aspects of a well-lived life.[01:37:49] Comfort with mortality.[01:41:53] What motivates Elizabeth’s Letters from Love newsletter?[01:43:01] What can potential readers expect from this newsletter?[01:48:05] “Is the universe friendly?” — Frederic W. H. Myers[01:51:01] Parting thoughts.MORE ELIZABETH GILBERT QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I believe that I am loved beyond measure by a magnificent, complex, amused God who has given me power over practically nothing.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“Writing gave me the thing that meditation promised, but I could never have it happen in meditation until very recently where time stops or changes, and I’m here but not here.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“I’m basically a bog witch, just rattling around in a house by myself, talking to myself, watering my plants, shaving my head, and it’s so cool.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“What if I’m not on duty all the time? What if I’m only on duty sometimes and I have to follow a deep inner voice that tells me when that is and what that is, and everything else you all can take care of yourselves.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“Martial artists know that the most relaxed person in the room wins the fight.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“I’ve narrowed it down to three things that I need for me, for my system to be relaxed. It’s boundaries, priorities, and mysticism.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“I am good at manifesting what I want, and I’m good at almost dying from getting what I want. So maybe there’s a better question to be asking than, ‘What do I want?'”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“I think ‘It’s hard’ is a really good way to start with self-compassion.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“It’s a very difficult thing to have a human incarnation. This is not an easy ride. Even a good life is a hard life.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“Who told you you were supposed to get it right straight out of the gate? Who told you you were supposed to get it right seven out of seven days, or that you’re constantly supposed to be improving like a Fortune 500 company, constantly going in this upward angle direction, a certain percentage every quarter? There’s billions of systems operating within your body alone, hormonal systems and chemical systems and viruses and bacteria. We’re such a complex mechanism, it’s so hard to figure out how to operate one of these things. I do really well in solitude, I can get this thing humming. I can get this machine and this mind and this heart where we are at a beautiful hum, but the instant you throw another complex human mechanism into my field, then I’ve got to adapt to their chemistry, and it’s hard.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

“I’m much, much, much more afraid of people not liking me than I am of dying. And that’s what I have to suffer with more, is to try to figure out how to disappoint people, and say no to people, and set boundaries with people that they can survive it, and I can survive. This is my work in this lifetime. But death, to me, it doesn’t keep me up at night.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert

PEOPLE MENTIONEDJerry Colonna Rob Bell Carole and John Gilbert Hafez Jalal al-Din Rumi Mary Oliver Walt Whitman Julia Cameron Chip Conley Arshay Cooper Richard Schwartz Sharon Salzberg The Dalai Lama James Joyce Martha Beck Rachel Elizabeth Cargle Michael Chabon Dolly Parton Brené Brow Rayya Elias Albert Einstein Steve Jobs Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks J.P. Morgan Alexander the Great Genghis Khan John D. Rockefeller Yo-Yo Ma Vladimir Putin Toni Collette Glennon Doyle BJ Armour Frederic W.H. Myers Anne Lamott

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Published on September 26, 2024 07:30

September 20, 2024

Q&A with Tim — Reinvention, Visualization Techniques, Making “Risky” Decisions, Parenting Considerations, Intuition, New Hobbies, Dating, and More (#769)

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types to tease out the habits, routines, favorite books, and so on that you can apply and test in your own life.

This time, we have a slightly different format, and I’m the guest!

This past April was the podcast’s 10-year anniversary, and the platform River (getriver.io) helped listeners organize parties around the world in more than 180 cities! More than 4,000 people RSVP’d. I was able to join about 40 cities via Zoom for quick hellos and drinks (huge thanks to Rae and Ana for the quarterbacking), and I had a blast dropping in on the Paris meetup in person. Thanks to everyone who gathered for wine, celebration, and meeting like-minded people!

After all the parties, and as a thank you for their hard work, I invited all of the hosts to a private Q&A. And that’s what you’re about to hear.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements, Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business, and LinkedIn Ads, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness and generate leads.

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

Listen onApple Podcasts [image error]Listen onSpotify [image error]Listen onOvercast#769: Q&A with Tim — Reinvention, Visualization Techniques, Making 'Risky' Decisions, Parenting Considerations, Intuition, New Hobbies, Dating, and More

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

The post Q&A with Tim — Reinvention, Visualization Techniques, Making “Risky” Decisions, Parenting Considerations, Intuition, New Hobbies, Dating, and More (#769) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

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Published on September 20, 2024 14:26

September 18, 2024

What Happens When Israelis and Palestinians Drink Ayahuasca Together? (#768)

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. For this episode, I’m doing something different. I’m featuring a very special episode from a brand-new podcast called Altered States.

Here’s the teaser for the episode you’re about to hear: “For the last couple of years, producer Shaina Shealy has been following Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who have been coming together to drink the psychedelic brew ayahuasca in an effort to heal their collective intergenerational trauma. It seemed to be helping them when suddenly the region erupts into chaos and violence.”

Shaina Shealy was a fellow from the Ferriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship, which offers ten $10,000 reporting grants per year to journalists reporting in-depth print and audio stories on the science, policy, business and culture of this new era of psychedelics. The fellowship is supported by my foundation, the Saisei Foundation, and made possible in collaboration with Michael Pollan, Malia Wollan, and others at UC Berkeley.

Altered States looks at how people are taking psychedelics, who has access to them, how they’re regulated, who stands to profit, and what these substances might offer us as individuals and as a society.

Please enjoy!

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

Listen onApple Podcasts [image error]Listen onSpotify [image error]Listen onOvercast#768: What Happens When Israelis and Palestinians Drink Ayahuasca Together?

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

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Altered States Podcast | UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics Funding Cutting-Edge Scientific Research | Saisei Foundation The Ferriss – UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship | UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | Global Conflict Tracker What Is Ayahuasca? Experience, Benefits, and Side Effects | Healthline The Oslo Accords and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process | US Department of State Fostering Peace, Justice, Healing, and Transformation | Holy Land Trust Nonviolence in the Holy Land | Metta Center for Nonviolence The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin: ‘He Never Knew It Was One of His People Who Shot Him in the Back’ | The Guardian What is the Holocaust? | Anne Frank House Memorial and Museum | Auschwitz-Birkenau The Nakba Did Not Start or End in 1948 | Al Jazeera A Look at How Settlements Have Grown in the West Bank over the Years | AP News How Generational Trauma Among Israelis and Palestinians Fuels the Cycles of Violence | NPR Rwanda’s Resilience: The Power of Forgiveness and Unity | United Nations Development Programme Remembering Israel’s Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem | Middle East Monitor Jewish Institute of Religion | Hebrew Union College Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research Team | Icahn School of Medicine Rachel Yehuda: Intergenerational Trauma and Healing | 18Forty Arrested Neo-Nazis Built a Weapon, Were Making DMT: Court Docs | Vice Sami Awad and Leor Roseman: Ayahuasca as a Peace-Making Tool Among Palestinians and Israelis | Psychedelic Science 2023, MAPS Second Intifada | Wikipedia Ya Fatima | Mesum Abbas October 7 Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes by Hamas-Led Groups | Human Rights Watch Palestinian Poll Finds Big Drop in Support for Oct 7 Attack | Reuters Feeding Families Impacted by the Conflict in Gaza and Israel | World Central Kitchen Shiva: What You Need to Know | My Jewish LearningSHOW NOTES[00:00:00] An intro to the Altered States podcast and its mission.[00:02:24] Shaina Shealy explains what ayahuasca is and how it affects the human brain.[00:03:47] Palestinian Sami Awad’s peace activism and ayahuasca journey.[00:17:18] Dr. Rachel Yehuda and the science of intergenerational trauma.[00:19:27] How the Israeli-Palestinian ayahuasca experiment came about.[00:25:47] Participants share their experiences.[00:38:35] How the violent events of October 7th affected the participants and the project.[00:45:52] Reflections on the experiment’s effectiveness and participants’ continued commitment to peace.[00:50:29] Closing credits.PEOPLE MENTIONED

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Published on September 18, 2024 07:16

September 16, 2024

My New Rules for Podcasting – To Keep Things Interesting

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
— Mark Twain

For nearly 15 years, I started almost every public presentation with the above quote. First and foremost, it was a reminder to myself. It still is.

Four score and 750+ episodes ago, I started a podcast.

In 2023, The Tim Ferriss Show crossed a billion downloads. This past April marked the 10th anniversary of the first episode. It seemed as good a time as any to pause and reflect.

Let’s kick it off with a weird graph and wild numbers:

listennotes.com/podcast-stats/

The dip in 2022 is simply the resumption of pre-COVID trends, as 2020–2021 was an at-home anomaly. That said, the pandemic period saw some of the largest deals in the space, and it helped propel deal comps and mass media attention to new heights, a lot of which stuck around or at least heavily rounded up. The celebrities, the ad dollars, the gazillion-dollar exclusives, the controversies… It’s all been outrageously exciting to watch.

statista.com/chart/10713/podcast-listeners-in-the-united-states/

When I started my podcast in April of 2014, there were fewer than 200,000 podcasts listed on iTunes (as Apple Podcasts was called back then). At the time of writing this post, there are more than 4,200,000.

That represents a 20x+ increase, but there are other interesting metrics to ponder. Here’s one: bigger shows.

If we define a “bigger” show as any show with at least 100,000 downloads per episode, I would guess the total number of such shows has at least 100x’d. This is a massive paradox of choice and discovery issue. Having a good show is no longer good enough. Having a great show is no longer good enough.

If you want to survive in the mindshare of listeners, you need differentiation.

I think this is reflected in how well special-interest podcasts with a focus (e.g., The Drive with Peter Attia, Founders, Huberman Lab, Acquired) have done recently relative to newer interview-format shows where nearly anything goes.

As is so often the case, if you stand for everything, you can end up standing for nothing.

So, how do you differentiate yourself if every person and their grandma is starting a podcast?

If you’re starting from scratch, I think choosing a niche you have a bizarre love for—and therefore endurance for—makes a lot of sense.

If, on the other hand, you have a broader, interview-based legacy show, it can be a little tricky. Perhaps the business is great, but you see the writing on the wall and want to be ahead of the curve. As I see it, there are at least a few options:

(1) Start a new podcast with a niche focus. Sadly, I suspect I would get bored within weeks or months, but it’s not off the table…

(2) Pack up your tent and walk off into the sunset in search of other adventures.

(3) Create new and better rules.

I landed on #3.

In the midst of a weekly ship cycle, it’s hard to escape the collective pull of algo chasing, thumbnail tweaking, and details long enough to zoom out. The waters have been churning at a fever pitch, ever changing and ever faster. When you’re inside the washing machine, it’s very hard to step out and get perspective.

So I decided to take a sabbatical of roughly four months. It ended a few weeks ago.

During the sabbatical, I stopped recording new episodes, republished some of the greatest hits (e.g., Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Margaret Atwood, Jerry Seinfeld, and more), and did a lot of thinking.

The full break allowed me and my team enough breathing room to think about the long game. What do we want to do, and furthermore, why are we doing this at all?

Since nearly all the rules are made up anyway, I asked myself a bunch of questions, including:

What might this look like if it were maximally fun?

What might this look like if it were easy?

If I get to do this for another decade, or had to do this for another decade, what new rules might I create to keep it interesting?

Of course, these are implicitly “for me.” It’s a highly personal thing.

In my experience, keeping it interesting for me generally keeps it interesting for my lovely listeners. At the very least, it’s the only way to ensure I have the enthusiasm required for endurance.

Sure, sometimes what-Tim-likes is too strange and misses the mark, but trying to cater to the tastes of an abstract “audience” or the YouTube gods, without paying attention to what you like, has sent a lot of podcasts to the elephant graveyard.

And even if you manage to “win” that game, winning might be the most dangerous.

Rather than getting Old Yeller’d behind the barn, you have just enough income or traction or validation or growth to make it seem crazy to stop. How could you shut it down? Then you adjust to the creeping boredom and incremental gains, and you convince yourself that it’s all a cost of doing business. You start by feeding the machine through the cage, only to wake up one day and realize that you’re the one inside the cage. For an extreme example, read this article on audience capture, but it can take many forms. Some are very subtle.

Media is a great tool and a merciless master.

Fortunately, this is NOT how things need to be.

Based on all of the above, here are some new rules that I’ll be implementing starting today:

No more book-launching episodes.

The podcasting circuit has largely become the same authors appearing on 15–30 podcasts in any given week or two for book launches. It’s the modern equivalent of a radio satellite tour. For authors, I totally get it, but I’m over it, and I know a lot of my podcast friends are over it. It’s boring for everyone.

So, I’m opting out. No more book-launch episodes for a while.

If I make an exception, it will likely require that both of the following conditions are true:

– You’re a truly close friend, meaning we’ve known each other for at least 10 years, we’ve stayed at each other’s homes, see each other multiple times a year, etc.

AND

– The episode will come out a minimum of three months before the book’s publication date. Early can be a great strategy for authors. This is exactly what I’ve done with past guests like Jocko Willink, who made his first-ever podcast appearance (in fact, first public interview) on The Tim Ferriss Show in September of 2015. I suggested we publish well before his pub date because this space would allow his publisher to gauge pre-order demand and substantially increase the initial print run. His first book, Extreme Ownership, hit the New York Times bestseller list, and the rest is history. Even one month is quite tight if overseas printing is involved, and sadly, a lot of podcasters don’t respect embargos (crabs in a bucket!), so… at least three months in advance it is.

90/10 barbell strategy for future guests.

The barbell strategy is an approach to investing popularized by past guest, author, and self-described flâneur Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

The metaphor of the barbell is apt because weights are placed at the far ends. In the investing context and in simple terms, the majority of your assets might be in very conservative positions with the remaining assets in very high-risk, very high-reward bets. For instance, municipal bonds and angel investing. The middle is empty.

But how could you apply this to a podcast? It’s actually very easy. Just look for extremes. I apply the barbell approach all over my life and business.

In the case of The Tim Ferriss Show, I will aim to interview guests who are either:

Known by more than 90% of my audience (e.g., Jeff Bezos, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey)

Or

Known by less than 10% of my audience (e.g., some of my favorite past episodes, like Dr. BJ Miller, Boyd Varty, Dr. Sue Johnson, or Elan Lee)

I’m trying to avoid the messy middle, which is a Tokyo subway car of repeat guests on the circuit. It’s crowded, and I don’t like crowded. Cue The Blue Ocean Strategy.

Prioritizing living legends.

I love people who’ve mastered a craft and who seldom—or never—do podcasts.

I really enjoy interviewing masters who’ve produced excellence decade after decade. This often means such people have some gray hair, and I would love to celebrate them and immortalize their wisdom while they’re still sharp. The last person holding a tradition, the 10th generation of X, a reclusive genius… you get the idea.

Experimental hyperdrive.

I’ve experimented a lot on the show in the past, and I’m going to put that into hyperdrive. It’s simply more fun.

I have done podcasts in saunas (e.g., Rick Rubin’s first-ever podcast), live Q&As, walk-and-talk episodes in the mountains, drunk-dialing fans for shits and giggles, interviews in taxis in Uzbekistan, audiobook excerpts, and more. It’s easy to assume that slick, labor-intensive, polished episodes get the most downloads, but it’s simply not true. And much more important, the experimentation keeps things fun and fresh. After all, I still consider this the early days for podcasting. Less than one-third of terrestrial radio ad spend has landed in podcasting thus far, and there’s lots of room left to innovate and make strange things work.

If you only stick with what has worked, you might miss something that works a whole lot better.

So, if you want to listen to one podcast that delivers a variety of fun stuff in a variety of formats, that’s the next chapter. Maybe I should rebrand as The Tim Ferriss Variety Show… or make a mobile-only TimTim WalkWalk? That last one is for the oldies.

So, let’s get this party started.

I’ll continue to add to these policies and this blog post, but in the meantime, I would love your suggestions:

What would you like to see or hear on the podcast?

Are there any experiments that would tickle your fancy? Or podcasts or formats I should see for inspiration?

Any guests that fit the 90/10 barbell strategy? Living legends?

Other thoughts or suggestions?

Please let me know in the comments below! Comments here are far better than social media, as I’ll actually see them. And thanks for reading this far.

All the best to you and yours,

Tim

P.S. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to The Tim Ferriss Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you find your audio niblets.

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Published on September 16, 2024 14:07

September 13, 2024

My Favorite Software, Supplements, Apps, Tools, and More!

This blog post is a very special edition of 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter!

The official end of the summer is a few days away, and to kick off the fall, I’ve put together a smorgasbord of my favorite tools, supplements, apps, software, and more. For the past few weeks, I’ve been using the vast majority of these every single day.

I also reached out to some of my favorite companies to get special deals for you all. Each sponsored bullet has a star at the end, just like this sentence.* I’m not shilling anything here. I use nearly all of these on a daily or weekly basis, and I’m able to test everything under the sun, so that’s saying something.

Enjoy!

Services I’m loving for family bonding
Storyworth and Remento for recording my parents’ stories and memories for future generations. Both allow you to capture cherished moments into beautiful books. I chose Storyworth’s written format for my dad, and it provides prompts from a library of 100+ questions. I picked Remento for my mom, which is audio-first and requires no writing on her part. I tested them both after your responses to my question on the best products for preserving parents’ memories! They worked better, and delivered more, than I ever could have hoped. A+ investment.

Software I’m leveraging for life and work
If you’re still hammering out text to explain things to tech support, your boss, your employees, or your mother, Loom eliminates the frustration of describing what you need by letting you show it. I typically use Loom a few times a day to save time.

With screen recording and picture-in-picture video, I can get my message across in a quarter of the time it would take to type an email, while practically guaranteeing nothing will get lost in translation. Listen to my podcast with Levels CEO Sam Corcos to hear how he uses (and now, how my team uses) Loom and video capture to train virtual assistants and new hires. It’s dead simple, and this approach creates a library of videos you can use repeatedly, instead of one-off training you need to repeat.

ChatGPT desktop app. ChatGPT for desktop gets me into the app without all the login rigamarole and lets me ask ChatGPT questions. I use it in place of Google at least 80% of the time, as there are no sponsored results and I can open it instantly with the Mac keyboard shortcut Option + Spacebar. Scroll through the demos to see what I’m talking about.

What I’m using for meditation and daily gratitude
The Waking Up app, created by renowned author and neuroscientist Sam Harris. This is a world-class program for mind training, and my favorite aspect is probably the oldie-but-goodie *progression* of multiple skills in Sam’s own 30-day intro course, which I’ve done multiple times. For gratitude specifically, listen to his “The Last Time” meditation to get a taste. I also use DailyZen.com for checking wi-fi connections, as news sites and social media are typically on my not-to-visit list. It has provided great quotes and Zen-inspired offerings for more than 25 years.

What I use to stay sharp, mentally and physically
The Momentous Performance Stack. Momentous offers a broad spectrum of high-quality supplements and products, and my cabinet is full of them. I’ve been testing it all for months while training and traveling. Recently, I collaborated with their team to bundle my favorites, and you are the first to have the chance to try it. My Performance Stack includes Whey Protein Isolate, Creatine Monohydrate, and Magnesium Threonate. I chose these core products specifically for their mental, physical, and sleep benefits, targeting everything you need for better all-around performance. Momentous sources quality (e.g., Creapure), and all of their products are NSF and Informed Sport Certified, which is the gold standard in third-party testing. For a limited time, Momentous is offering 5-Bullet Friday subscribers a free custom shaker with your purchase to celebrate the launch of my Performance Stack. Click here to get this exclusive offer and try it for yourself.*

Sleep technology I’m using every night
Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra. Temperature is one of the main causes of poor sleep, and heat is my personal nemesis. Several years ago, I started using the Pod Cover, and it has transformed my sleep. Eight Sleep has just launched their newest generation of the Pod: Pod 4 Ultra. With the best temperature performance to date, Pod 4 Ultra ensures you and your partner stay cool when it’s hot and cozy-warm when it’s cold. It also automatically tracks your sleep time, sleep stages, HRV, and heart rate. And with the all-new adjustable base that fits between your mattress and frame, you can adjust your mattress for the ultimate sleeping position. If it detects snoring, it will automatically elevate your head to a better position. And now, subscribers to 5-Bullet Friday can get $350 off of the Pod 4 Ultra for a limited time. Click here to claim this deal and unlock your full potential through optimal sleep.*

How I’m training for alpine outdoor trips (and general fitness)
Outdoorsmans Atlas Trainer Frame System. Short of filling a pack with rocks and sandbags, I always had a hard time finding a good way to progressively and easily ruck with heavy loads. Fixed custom plates can be a hassle, you want a decent waist harness, loading and unloading is a pain in the ass, etc.

The Atlas Trainer solves all of that. It uses standard Olympic-sized barbell plates, so you easily micro-progress in 2.5-lb or 5-lb increments. If you do anything with a barbell, it’s likely you already have the right plates.

As one reviewer put it, “The strapping guides the load to my hips, and there is no pressure at all on my shoulders. I feel trained in my legs, hip adductors, and lower abs after each session.” And that’s exactly where you want to feel trained to walk for miles with heavy gear. If it’s out of stock, click “Notify me” on this page.

Electrolytes I’m using daily
LMNT, my daily go-to electrolyte drink mix. I add electrolytes for many reasons: because I drink water compulsively while sitting at a laptop (which dilutes electrolytes and leads me to feel tired); because I’m typically on a low-carb diet; and because I’ve lost electrolytes through exercise, sauna, etc. Each serving of LMNT delivers a meaningful dose of electrolytes without the garbage—no sugar, no artificial ingredients, no coloring, no junk—and it tastes great. I’m also loving the brand-new LMNT sparkling water, which I have stocked in my fridge. Find your favorite flavor with a free LMNT Sample Pack, included with any purchase.*

What I use for protein and endurance
Maui Nui sugar-free pepper venison jerky sticks. I eat 3–6 of these per day. Ultimately, I ended up investing in Maui Nui because (1) they produce delicious products like these jerky sticks, made from the cleanest and most nutrient-dense meat you can purchase in North America, and (2) they’re stabilizing Maui’s invasive axis deer population in the process. At 10 grams of protein per stick, I can quickly and easily hit my goal of 30 grams of quality protein within 30 minutes of waking up. For fueling up during longer hikes and workouts, I add in UCAN’s chocolate fudge energy bars.

Probiotics I’m using
Seed DS-01® Daily Synbiotic. I’m highly skeptical of most probiotics (most are shipped dead or don’t make it through your stomach, etc.), but Seed’s DS-01 was recommended to me by an accomplished microbiologist. I started using Seed well before they ever reached out to my team. After incorporating two capsules into my routine in the morning, I noticed improved digestion and skin tone. Based on some reports, I’m hoping it will also have an effect on my lipid profile, but that’s TBD. DS-01 is one of the most solid, science-based, and rigorously evidence-backed synbiotics on the market, engineered in a patented delivery system for optimal survivability and formulated for optimal digestion, gut-immune function, gut-barrier integrity, and even gut-skin-axis benefits like clearer skin. DS-01 has quickly become a staple in my daily routine, and I’ve worked with Seed to offer my readers 25% off your first month of DS-01 with code TIM25. Start today and you’ll also receive a free travel vial in your Welcome Kit. Click here to get started.*

Coffee gadgets I and my friends adore
AeroPress Original. This is an incredible, and affordable, little gem. As I wrote in The 4-Hour Chef: “This is now, bar none, my favorite brewing method. Remember the Aerobie, the amazing UFO-like disc that you could throw farther than a football field, 20 times farther than a standard Frisbee? Alan Adler, a mechanical engineer and Stanford University lecturer, created it. After conquering the 1980s toy market, he began to obsess over coffee. The result was the AeroPress, which debuted in 2006. Quickly adopted by the specialty coffee community, it offers a simple way to prepare a small amount of excellent coffee, and it’s great for travel.” I also use the Able Brewing “DISK,” a reusable stainless steel filter for the AeroPress. This avoids the waste of disposable paper filters. It can all easily fit in your carry-on luggage for the road, too.

What I’m using for nutritional insurance
AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement. I focus on nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers the nutritional gaps in my diet. With AG1, you get a high-quality multivitamin and multimineral, pre- and probiotics, adaptogens, greens, and more, providing you a cost-efficient way to consolidate your supplement stack into one product for less than $3.00 per day. I first recommended AG1 in The 4-Hour Body in 2010(!). 5-Bullet Friday readers get a free 1-year supply of liquid vitamin D + 5 travel packs with a subscription.*

What I’m using for podcasting
Logitech Brio 4K Webcam. Rather than use my internal MacBook Pro cam or a prosumer video setup, I went with this middle-ground option, and I couldn’t be happier. For recording virtual conversations, I use Riverside for crystal-clear video and audio recorded locally and in the cloud. Pair it with Descript’s editor, which offers incredible one-click AI audio improvements that will blow your mind. For the walk-and-talk episodes I’ve done with guests Jerry Colonna, Seth Godin, and Greg McKeown, I’ve used this AudioTechnica headset.

What I’m sleeping on
Helix Sleep premium mattresses. I started sleeping on a Helix mattress in 2017, and I’m still sleeping on one today. They were named best overall mattress of 2024 by Forbes, Wired, Fortune, and many others. My sleep has really improved, and I know that because I track my sleep health (HRV, heart rate, temperature, etc). If you’d like to improve your own sleep, consider taking Helix’s two-minute sleep quiz. Based on your body type and how you sleep, their algorithm will identify your ideal mattress. As a subscriber to 5-Bullet Friday, you can receive a limited-time offer of 25% off any mattress (I sleep on the Midnight Luxe), plus two free pillows.*

Tool that has saved my lower back
PSO-RITE. If you have low-back pain, there’s a good chance your psoas muscle is involved. This was recommended by multiple people in this Twitter thread on self-release, and I use it right before bed. If the mid-back is your issue, try out the Nayoya acupressure mat or one of its imitators. The Nayoya mat was introduced to me by Cirque du Soleil phenom Andrii Bondarenko.

Favorite e-commerce platform
Shopify. My fans first recommended Shopify to me in 2008 as the best e-commerce platform, and it’s only improved since. I use it personally, and Shopify is designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. In no time flat, you can have a great-looking online store that brings your ideas to life, and you can have the tools to manage your day-to-day and drive sales. No coding or design experience required. Go to Shopify.com/Tim to sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period. It’s a great deal for a great service, so check it out. Take your business to the next level today by visiting Shopify.com/Tim.*

My preferred cash savings account
Wealthfront. Wealthfront is an app that helps you manage and invest your money. Right now, you can earn 5.00% APY—that’s the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account through its network of partner banks. That’s more than ten times more interest than a savings account at a bank, according to FDIC.gov. It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you’ll immediately start earning 5.00% APY interest on your short-term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when you open an account today, you can get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more. Terms apply. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started. I receive cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage LLC for advertising, and I hold a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.*

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Published on September 13, 2024 14:19

September 12, 2024

Tim and Uncle Jerry Tackle Life, Big Questions, Business, Parenting, and Disco Duck (#767)

Illustration via 99designs

“I get very, very angry when people misinterpret the word ‘complicit’ for ‘responsible.’ And it’s not because I want to let people off the hook but quite the opposite. I want people to understand that they’ve been an accomplice. When we get into our mindset that says, ‘I am responsible for all the shit in my life,’ we’re actually walking away from doing the hard work.”
— Jerry Colonna

Here is my brand-new conversation with Jerry Colonna, CEO and co-founder of Reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm dedicated to the notion that better humans make better leaders. He is the author of Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up and Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong.

Please enjoy!

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

This episode is brought to you by The League curated dating app for busy, high-performing people; Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating; and LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 1B+ users

Listen onApple Podcasts [image error]Listen onSpotify [image error]Listen onOvercast#767: Tim and Uncle Jerry Tackle Life, Big Questions, Business, Parenting, and Disco Duck

This episode is brought to you by The League. I’ve tried all the dating apps, and while there are some slick options out there, the most functional that I’ve found is The League. I’ve been using it for a few months now, and I’ve found some great matches. Unlike most dating apps, which give you almost no information, The League starts you with a baseline of smart people, and you can then easily find the ones you’re attracted to. More than half of League users went to top-40 colleges, and you can make your filters really selective. You can search by interest across multiple locations, and people verify using LinkedIn, so you can make sure they have a job and don’t bounce around every 6 months. It’s a simple proxy for finding people who have their act together, and it’s infinitely easier than trying to figure things out on Instagram or otherwise.

Download The League today on iOS or Android and find people who challenge you to swing for the fences and are in it to win it. Message #Tim to your in-app concierge to jump to the front of the waitlist and have your profile reviewed first.

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

Want to hear the last time Jerry Colonna was on the show? Listen to our conversation in which we discussed Jerry’s annual two-month sabbatical, how and why even someone on a limited budget can and should make time for their own version of such a sabbatical, successful versus unsuccessful sabbaticals, coping with crises off the grid, hot and cold boredom, and much more.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Jerry Colonna:

Reboot.io | Twitter | Instagram | Threads

Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong by Jerry Colonna | Amazon Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna | Amazon Jerry Colonna — How to Reboot Yourself and Feel Unrushed in the New Year | The Tim Ferriss Show #554 Jerry Colonna — The Coach with the Spider Tattoo | The Tim Ferriss Show #373 The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | Amazon Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin | Amazon Breathe Right Strips | Amazon Some Practical Thoughts on Suicide | Tim Ferriss This Column Will Change Your Life: Just Sit Down and Think | The Guardian 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) | Investopedia How to Cage the Monkey Mind | The Tim Ferriss Show #175 Cartesian Dualism | Philosophy Tube Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer | Amazon Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences by William Richards | Amazon “The Dose Makes the Poison.” | Chemical Safety Facts Celebrating Print and Its Impact on the World | National Print Museum Dublin The Proclamation of the Irish Republic | National Museum of Ireland My Healing Journey After Childhood Abuse (Includes Extensive Resource List) | The Tim Ferriss Show #464 Marc Andreessen — Lessons, Predictions, and Recommendations from an Icon | The Tim Ferriss Show #163 Did Carl Jung Say “I Am Not What Has Happened to Me, I Am What I Choose to Become”? If So, Where? | Quora “Greed Is Good” (Clip) | Wall Street Stress in America 2023: A Nation Recovering from Collective Trauma | APA Israel–Hamas War | Wikipedia Maria Popova on Writing, Workflow, and Workarounds | The Tim Ferriss Show #39 Sharon Salzberg, World-Renowned Meditation Teacher | The Tim Ferriss Show #277 The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel H. Pink | Amazon Our Moral Compass: Understanding Guilt, Remorse, and Atonement | This Jungian Life Legacy: A Powerful Rite of Passage | Social Work Today Uncovering Secrets of the Sphinx | Smithsonian Magazine World Heritage Site | Robben Island Museum What is the Hoffman Process? | Hoffman Institute Foundation Timothy Ferriss | The DO Lectures Liam Dutton Nails Pronouncing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch | Channel 4 News This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin | The Poetry Foundation A Star Is Born (1937) | Prime Video When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron | Amazon Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience by Sharon Salzberg | Amazon The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety by Alan Watts | Amazon Call It Sleep: A Novel by Henry Roth | Amazon 18 Miles of Books | Strand Book Store The Art of ‘Call It Sleep’ | The New York Review of Books Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis | Amazon Volumes Archive | Library of America Collected Essays by James Baldwin (Library of America) | Amazon Port William Novels & Stories by Wendell Berry (Library of America) | Amazon The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker | Amazon Disco Duck by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots (Live Midnight Special) | YouTubeSHOW NOTES[08:40] “How have I been complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?” and its misinterpretations.[21:55] Recharging off the grid on sabbatical.[24:41] Is a tired dog a happy dog?[29:21] What are you hearing that’s not being said?[33:14] Closing transgenerational, transpersonal, and intergenerational wounds.[44:05] Focusing on the future when the past keeps pulling us back.[52:18] Changes in challenges Reboot’s clients have faced over the past decade.[55:34] Guilt vs. remorse and how to move from one to the other.[1:01:40] Interpretations of legacy.[1:13:17] Jerry’s parenting experience and advice.[1:19:02] My thoughts on having children and grandchildren.[1:24:54] “This Be the Verse” by Philip Larkin.[1:26:08] Book recommendations and their impact on Jerry and his children.[1:28:46] Novel truths.[1:32:40] The importance of laughter and human connection in difficult times.[1:35:45] Parting thoughts.MORE JERRY COLONNA QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I get very, very angry when people misinterpret the word ‘complicit’ for ‘responsible.’ And it’s not because I want to let people off the hook, but quite the opposite. I want people to understand that they’ve been an accomplice. When we get into our mindset that says, ‘I am responsible for all the shit in my life,’ we’re actually walking away from doing the hard work.”
— Jerry Colonna

“So many people that I encounter, myself included, spend our childhood pendulating between grandiosity and a sense of worthlessness. ‘I’m either shit or I am the best.'”
— Jerry Colonna

“Good people do bad things all the time. Good people who do bad things who don’t learn are less evolved, less mature, than good people who do bad things who then learn through regret and remorse, but they remain good people.”
— Jerry Colonna

“The best of all the accomplishments I’ve ever done has been becoming the father that I needed as a child, without a doubt.”
— Jerry Colonna

“My capacity to bullshit myself continues unabated. And no matter how progressive I think I am and evolved I think I am, my ability to be deluded by my own mind knows no end.”
— Jerry Colonna

“It’s kind of a fucked up world we’re in right now. But to understand that there’s a human connection that can be gotten even in the midst of all this, I think, is incredibly important right now.”
— Jerry Colonna

“I think that as parents, we can become so afraid of fucking it up and hurting them, that we get wrapped around our own anxiety, our own narcissism. And then we lose the connection, which is the thing that our children want more than anything else.”
— Jerry Colonna

“When you lean into the questions that you need answered in your own life, you end up positively impacting other people.”
— Jerry Colonna

“Can you apologize to your children? Oh, my God, what a powerful tool that is.”
— Jerry Colonna

PEOPLE MENTIONEDBlaise Pascal René Descartes Parker J. Palmer William A. Richards Paracelsus Jerry’s Dad Jerry’s Grandma Marc Andreessen Carl Jung Gordon Gekko Maria Popova Sharon Salzberg Daniel Pink Alexander the Great Nelson Mandela Joy-Tendai Kangere Mike, Sam, and Emma Colonna Sylvia Plath Dr. Seuss Pema Chodron Henry Roth Alfred Kazin James Baldwin Wendell Berry Alan Watts Gavin de Becker Donald Duck

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Published on September 12, 2024 07:19

September 4, 2024

The Random Show — Lessons from Tim’s Sabbatical, Alzheimer’s Breakthroughs, Kevin Tries a Medium, Fitness Tools and Protocols, Book Recommendations, and More (#766)

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it’s my job to interview world-class performers from every imaginable discipline to tease out the habits, routines, favorite books, and so on that you can apply to your own lives.

This time, we have a very special episode I recorded with my close friend Kevin Rose in person at his house. We trade our latest discoveries, and I think it’s one of our best. Tons of actionable takeaways and laughing fits.

We cover dozens of topics: new projects, what I’ve done on my recent sabbatical after the podcast’s 10th anniversary, Kevin’s latest findings and shenanigans, real vampire protocols, and much, much more.

Please enjoy!

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

Brought to you by AG1, Helix Sleep, and Wealthfront.

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This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2024 by Forbes, Fortune, and Wired magazines and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.

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Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage, LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.

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

Want to hear the last time Kevin and I put on a Random Show? Listen to our conversation here, in which we discussed reasons to celebrate, the SAINT protocol and accelerated TMS, how to appear human in social situations, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, extending experiential lifespan, interesting vs. impulse, Jinjer and Sohn, Android and Gemini, and much more.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Kevin Rose:

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