Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 84

The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training, Part Two — Home Equipment, Weighted Stretches, and Muscle-Ups

“Achieving the extraordinary is not a linear process.” – Christopher Sommer

This is another jam-packed episode with Coach Chris Sommer (GymnasticBodies on Instagram/Facebook), the former US national team gymnastics coach and founder of GymnasticBodies.  As a world-renowned Olympic coach, Sommer is known for building his students into some of the strongest, most powerful athletes in the world. While this is a stand-alone episode, you can (and should!) check out his last appearance, which is one of the most popular episodes ever on the podcast.

We cover a lot in this episode, including:

What home equipment should someone invest in first (for $100 or less)?
What are Coach Sommer’s thoughts on weighted stretches?
What does lower-body GST look like for a 40-year old former athlete?
The best distinction between “mobility” and “flexibility.”
Exercise progressions for bar muscle-ups and most common mistakes in training for muscle-ups.
Foam rolling or mobility tools: Do they have a place in GST? If so, favorite uses?
How should taller people (say, over six feet tall) adjust GST?
How should women adjust GST?
And much, much more.

If you only have 5 minutes, here’s the equipment Coach Sommer recommends if you want to get started with Gymnastic Strength Training.

Enjoy!

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

Want to hear another podcast on fitness and training from a world-class coach? — Listen to my conversation with Pavel Tsatsouline. In this episode, we discuss the science of strength and the art of physical performance (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Christopher Sommer:

GymnasticBodies.com | Instagram | YouTube | Coach Sommer at Facebook | GymnasticBodies at Facebook

GymnasticBodies landing page for Tim Ferriss Show listeners
The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training (Coach Sommer’s last appearance on this show.)
Gymnastic Strength Training Illustrated – Tim Ferriss & Christopher Sommer (Modern Frontier’s video demonstrations of exercises discussed during Coach Sommer’s last appearance.)
Learn How to Use Gymnastics Rings – Iron Cross, GymnasticBodies
Making a Dream Machine by Michael Traynor at GymnasticBodies
Sever’s Disease
Hollow Body Position demonstration (with dowel) by Andreas Lund Hessner
Arch Body Position demonstration (with dowel) by Andreas Lund Hessner
Karate chopping filmed by high-speed camera
Mats Trane at Instagram (who began Gymnastic Strength Training at age 48)
Stretch Straps
Yoga Blocks
Straddle Lifts (Pulse) by RoutineFit
Hurdler Stretch by PeakEnergyPerformancePT
The Benefits of Weighted Mobility by GymnasticBodies
The Legend of Tarzan trailer
Jefferson Curls: Weighted Mobility for the Posterior Chain by GymnasticBodies
Weighted Pike Stretch by GymnasticBodies
How To Do Bar Muscle Ups by Barbell Shrugged
Seinfeld – Newman!
Obliques: The Missing Link in Your Core by GymnasticBodies
Mobility for Desk Workers: Table Rocks by GymnasticBodies
Are YOU Training Shoulder Extension? by GymnasticBodies
Russian Dips: Build Strength for Muscle-Ups by GymnasticBodies
Foam Rollers
A Patient’s Guide to Adult Kyphosis by University of Maryland Medical Center
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney, 1923)
CrossFit Training
What is a Straddle Planche? by GymnasticBodies
Learn How to Increase Your Flexibility – Lat Flys by GymnasticBodies

Show Notes

Coach Sommer talks me through a speedier recovery for an injury I recently sustained. [07:50]
Coach Sommer explains contrast baths (and how Michael Jordan used them to score 40 points on an injured ankle). [14:14]
Home equipment for getting started with Gymnastic Strength Training. [16:21]
The importance of overcoming damage from “desk patrol” and increasing mobility before getting into advanced exercises (e.g., dislocates, flexion work, shoulder extensions). [17:53]
Explaining the hollow body position vs. the arch body position and how the dowel comes into play. [20:34]
What a high-speed karate chop in slow motion demonstrates about the purpose of the skeletal system. [25:08]
Inspiration from a 53-year-old for people who feel like they’re too old to get in shape. [27:53]
How Coach Sommer changed his mind about the efficacy of stretch straps and yoga blocks. [29:45]
The consequences of immobility. [32:46]
What’s the benefit of elevating the heel of the straight leg on a block when doing a hurdler stretch? [34:38]
Why are weighted stretches crucial for Gymnastic Strength Training (especially in adults)? [35:46]
Other exercises Coach Sommer finds particularly effective. [39:17]
Mobility vs. flexibility. [43:44]
What does lower body Gymnastic Strength Training look like (and why do people who consider themselves fit usually get injured)? [44:35]
Recommendations for preventing common running injuries. [50:26]
Why connective tissue (like the Achilles tendon) thrives on high-rep work. [56:24]
Coach Sommer tells us about going from gymnastics to elite running in high school to chase a girl. [59:26]
What are the prerequisites for a safe back tuck? [1:00:27]
What are the prerequisites for a bar muscle-up? [1:01:39]
The main strength and mobility issues for inactive adults. [1:02:57]
Building strength with Russian Dips. [1:04:58]
Foam rolling — yea or nay? [1:07:32]
Pursuing health and pursuing performance are not diametrically opposed concepts. [1:08:38]
How can you avoid getting a Kyphotic hump (aka hunchback)? [1:09:47]
Does Gymnastic Strength Training differ for taller people? [1:11:21]
Does Gymnastic Strength Training differ between men and women? [1:12:24]
What is the most effective way to handle gymnastics coaches when they get cocky and condescending? [1:14:28]
How can you keep morale high as a beginner? [1:15:15]
Is a sudden leap in progress after seemingly endless stagnation in training common? [1:19:24]
Coach Sommer’s email about dealing with the temporary frustration of not making progress. [1:22:59]

People Mentioned

Tim Grover
Michael Jordan
Ryan Bailey
Mats Trane
Douglas Wadle
Rumen the Bulgarian
Jerry Seinfeld
Wayne Knight
Allan Bower

What’s Important to You?

“If you don’t know how much you need, the default easily becomes ‘more.'” – Ryan Holiday

My job is usually to deconstruct world-class performers from business, military, entertainment, politics, or athletics, and then to tease out the routines and habits you can use.

But in this in-betweenisode, Ryan Holiday, author of the book Ego Is the Enemy, shares a chapter called What’s Important to You? This chapter alone is worth the price of the book, and it contains many fundamental truths that can be applied to business and life. (The book is also the newest addition to my book club, which can be found at audible.com/timsbooks.)

If you like what Ryan has to say, check out the recent conversation we had, which dives deeper into what he’s all about.

If you only have 5 minutes, listen to this segment on why most people have trouble appreciating their own successes.

Please enjoy!

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

Want to hear another podcast with Ryan Holiday? — In this episode, we discuss the “big three” Stoics, how Stoicism applies to the modern world, and how to improve your decision-making when stakes are high (stream below or right-click here to download):

This episode is brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (with more than 4,000,000 users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Ryan Holiday:

Website | Twitter

Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday (also on Audible)
The Ulysses S. Grant Administration: 1869-1877, Authentic History
After the War from the memoirs of William T. Sherman
Explaining the idiom “Keeping up with the Joneses“
The Concept of Euthymia, Giovanni A.Fava and Per Bech, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
Disgraced Journalist Jonah Lehrer Talks About His Misdeeds; Wants to Earn Trust by Paul Raeburn, The Huffington Post
Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Show Notes

Two Civil War heroes take very different paths following the war. [06:06]
Why do we covet what others have instead of being happy with our own successes? [08:07]
The consequences of saying “yes” when we fear saying “no.” [09:04]
The more we accomplish, the more often we meet people who have accomplished more — and the smaller we feel in comparison. [10:12]
We pick up the pace to keep up with others — but what if there’s more than one race going on? [10:41]
Competitiveness isn’t the enemy. [11:07]
“If you don’t know how much you need, the default easily becomes ‘more.'” [12:34]
Disgraced plagiarist Jonah Lehrer on combining insecurity and ambition. [13:08]
What’s your motivation? [13:49]
The emptiness of the “if I only had that” illusion. [14:49]
What is independence? [15:18]

People Mentioned

Robert Louis Stevenson
Ulysses S. Grant
William Tecumseh Sherman
Ferdinand Ward
Seneca
Jonah Lehrer
Captain Ahab

Tony Robbins – On Achievement Versus Fulfillment

“I love quotes…but, in the end, knowledge has to be converted to action or it’s worthless.” – Tony Robbins

I’m very pleased to welcome Tony Robbins (@tonyrobbins) back to the show. (You can check out our previous in-depth conversations here: Part 1 and Part 2).

For those of you that aren’t familiar, Tony Robbins is the world’s most famous performance coach. He’s advised everyone from Bill Clinton to Mikhail Gorbachev to Serena Williams, and Leonardo DiCaprio to Oprah (who calls him “superhuman”).

This time around, we discussed a number of topics we didn’t cover in our previous interviews. I also hit him with some new rapid-fire questions. Some of the highlights of our conversation include:

Tony’s best investment ever
Quotes he lives by (and how he puts them into action)
The worst advice he regularly hears
Why he changed his diet for the first time since age 17
And much, much more

If you only have 5 minutes, listen to this segment where Tony explains “The 90-second rule.”

Without further ado, please enjoy this follow-up conversation with Tony Robbins.

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

Want to hear another podcast with Tony Robbins? — Listen to my conversation with Tony and Peter Diamandis, the CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation. In this podcast, you’ll learn from two successful businessmen who regularly advise everyone from Serena Williams to Bill Clinton, from NASA to the world’s fastest growing companies (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Tony Robbins:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Tony Robbins on Morning Routines, Peak Performance, and Mastering Money
Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis (XPRIZE) on the Magic of Thinking BIG
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru – Official Trailer
Tiny trampolines
Date with Destiny
Dissociative identity disorder
The Exorcist Trailer (1973)
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More
MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins
Feeding America
Creative Planning
Is My Financial Advisor a Fiduciary or a Stockbroker? by Ethan S. Braid, HighPass Asset Management
What Is Sleep Apnea?, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
The 10 Most Expensive Artworks of 2015 (includes Mark Rothko, No. 10, 1958)
Mork & Mindy
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things From Taking Over Your Life by Richard Carlson
Tony Robbins Sets the Record Straight About Fire Walk ‘Controversy’ by Marianne Schnall, The Huffington Post
Unleash the Power Within
Metallica — Some Kind of Monster
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Maggie Siff on ‘Billions’: ‘I Might Leave Marks’ by Kathryn Shattuck, The New York Times
Traverse City Film Festival
Safety and Efficacy of Repetitive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy In Patients with Lumber Spinal Stenosis by Miyako Suzuki, et al., Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University and Kitasato University School of Medicine
Dr. Chris Shade on Mercury Toxicity, Revolution Health Radio with Chris Kresser
Quicksilver Scientific: The Mercury Speciation Detoxification Company

Show Notes

When you face a deadline and your brain won’t connect, sometimes you have to ask: What would Tony Robbins do? [06:42]
How does a small trampoline fit into Tony’s daily routine? [09:56]
Tony recalls a particularly difficult intervention and how he handled it. [11:04]
Tony touches on circumstances surrounding interventions he’s done with historical figures. [17:40]
Tony demonstrates how he unearths what motivates people in order to help them. [18:18]
Tony’s best investment of money, time, or energy. (Hint: it amounted to $35.) [27:42]
Tony on the power of decisions, the hunt for excellence, and quotes to live by. [31:28]
The worst advice Tony hears most often. [34:30]
“Life is always happening for us, not to us…” [41:20]
Tony talks about the art (not science) of fulfillment. [44:57]
Tony tells us the biggest lie on the planet. [49:33]
Suffering comes from these three thought patterns. [51:26]
Tony explains the 90-second rule. [55:35]
What’s the most important decision you can make? [58:56]
Why self-preservation isn’t selfish. [59:48]
Tony explains how the 90-second rule helped him cope with some recent trouble in Dallas. [1:04:41]
Tony demonstrates the 90-second rule process. [1:07:17]
How has Tony’s Date with Destiny program evolved over the past decade? [1:17:17]
Tony tells us how the I Am Not Your Guru documentary came to life. [1:18:55]
Tony talks about the possibility of pain without suffering. [1:26:33]

People Mentioned

John Denver
Diane Sawyer
Marc Benioff
William J. Clinton
Princess Diana
Mikhail Gorbachev
George H. W. Bush
Margaret Thatcher
Amelia Boone
Jim Rohn
Warren Buffett
Dale Carnegie
Peter Mallouk
Steve Wynn
Mark Rothko
Robin Williams
Paul Tudor Jones II
Arianna Huffington
Joe Berlinger
Maggie Siff
Brian Koppelman
Michael Moore
Christopher Shade

Seth Godin on How to Think Small to Go Big

Photo credit: Jared Goralnick

“The lessons we remember are the lessons we learn the hard way.” – Seth Godin

Seth Godin (@thisissethsblog) is the author of 17 bestselling books that have been translated into more than 35 languages. He writes about the way ideas spread, marketing, strategic quitting, leadership, and — most of all — challenging the status quo in all areas. His books include Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, Purple Cow, and What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn).

Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by typing “Seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world. In 2013, Godin was inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. Recently, Godin turned the book publishing world on its ear by launching a series of four books via Kickstarter. The campaign reached its goal in just three hours and became the most successful book project in Kickstarter history.

His last episode was quite a bit longer and dug deep into his bio, routines, philosophies, and suggestions.

This one is much shorter — think of it as philosophical steroids. It may take a few minutes to get into, so be patient. Here, you’ll find pithy, actionable things that you can implement, such has how to keep track of the right things and how to create a narrative that serves you best. It’s very simple, but it’s a foundational skill and mindset that I try to practice myself. This was a fantastic reminder.

If you only have 5 minutes, you won’t want to miss Seth’s thoughts on the one thing that most marketers do wrong.

Please enjoy round two with Seth Godin!

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

Want to hear another podcast related to leadership and marketing? — Listen to my conversation with Derek Sivers. In my first conversation with Seth Godin, he mentioned that this is his favorite episode. “I love Derek,” were his exact words. In this podcast, Derek discusses developing confidence, finding happiness, and saying “no” to millions (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Gymnastic Bodies. This is the training system that I am most obsessed with at the moment. Coach Sommer appeared on a previous episode of the podcast, which turned into a sleeper hit. He is the former USA national team coach for men’s gymnastics and creator of this bodyweight-based training system. I’m not easily impressed, and I have been completely blown away by the sophistication and the elegance of his programming.

I have been using Gymnastic Bodies for just a few months now, and I already feel more flexible and stronger than I have in years. Check out GymnasticBodies.com/tim, where you’ll find the Fundamentals course for diagnosing your weakest areas, those you can tweak for fast improvements. It is incredible. Take a look at GymnasticBodies.com/tim for more details and a large discount.

This podcast is also brought to you by TrunkClub. I hate shopping with a passion. And honestly, I’m not good at it, which means I end up looking like I’m colorblind or homeless. Enter TrunkClub, which provides you with your own personal stylist and makes it easier than ever to shop for clothes that look great on your body.

Visit trunkclub.com/tim, answer a few questions, and then you’ll be sent a trunk full of awesome clothes. They base this on your sizes, preferences, etc. The trunk is then delivered free of charge both ways, so you only pay for clothes that you keep. If you keep none, it costs you nothing. To get started, check it out at trunkclub.com/tim.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Seth Godin:

Website | Twitter

Seth Godin’s TED Talk about tribes
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
American Motorcycle Culture: The One Percenters by Tim King, Salem-News.com
Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas by Seth Godin
The Beatles in Hamburg
Bob Marley and the Wailers
The altMBA
Pieper’s Full Bar Review Course
Seth Godin: How to Overcome the Fear of Failure at CreativeLive
Seth Godin: Keep Making a Ruckus
Nike Decides Not to Do Business with Sears by Nat Ives, The New York Times
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Almost 90% of Americans don’t know what ‘gig economy’ is by Heesun Wee, CNBC.com
Hamilton: An American Musical

Show Notes

In an economy based on connection, real connection comes from people who seek to contribute to the community first. [05:20]
What’s the one thing most marketers do wrong? [06:26]
How do you build a tribe from scratch? [07:26]
What limiting self-beliefs did Seth change in order to become successful — and how did he change them? [08:57]
Seth’s opinion about quality versus quantity in the age of the constant hustle mindset in online marketing. Can you win without being everywhere? [11:11]
We already know about shortcuts. Seth explains the longcut. [13:10]
Seth talks about mastermind groups, why our industrialist education models are failing, and what his altMBA workshop might look like for grades K-12. [14:39]
How does Seth deal with fear — and does it ever stop? [20:48]
If Seth didn’t have his blog, email list, books, and network, how would he go about building a tribe and making a ruckus today? [22:25]
Seth defines “brand” as the story of you — and explains why you need to tell it in your words instead of letting it be told by someone else. [27:27]
How do we decide what’s essential, indispensable, and useless? [32:19]
What Seth has against online comments. [35:37]
How will marketing change as more people leave full-time and get into the gig economy? How are we supposed to remain remarkable? [36:06]
How does Seth recommend we choose projects? [38:17]

People Mentioned

James Franco
Bob Marley
Zig Ziglar
Phil Knight
Jackson Pollock

Mike Birbiglia, The Sleepwalking Comedy Giant

Photo credit: Evan Sung

“Art is socialism, but life is capitalism.” – Mike Birbiglia

Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) is one of the best-known and busiest working comedians in the world, both behind and in front of the camera. His standup blends elements of theater, film, storytelling, and comedy.

Mike has been deliberate in studying many crafts and tying them together, which is reflected in a diverse string of successes: sold-out tours as a solo theater act, New York Times bestselling books, off-Broadway shows, feature film, TV, and more. In recent years, his work has appeared on public radio’s This American Life, where he began a meaningful collaboration with host and producer Ira Glass.

Currently, he is the creator, writer, and star of the new film Don’t Think Twice, which was just released. I loved it, which I do not say lightly. Check it out.

So…how the hell does he do it all? I aimed to find out.

In this conversation, we cover a ton, including:

His writing process and schedule
Favorite books, documentaries, and TV shows
Morning routines
Stories and lessons from Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, and others
How he “workshops” and develops material
Hilarious interactions with POTUS
The best pizza joints in NYC
Which three comedians he’d combine into one “super comic”
How he runs jokes by other people
And much, much more…

If you only have 5 minutes (and need a good laugh), here are Mike’s rules for good sex.

Enjoy!

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

Want to hear another podcast related to comedy? — Listen to my conversation with Bryan Callen, who is a world-class comic and prolific actor. Stream this episode below or right-click here to download.

This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement — right now, this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code “Tim” to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Mike Birbiglia:

Twitter | Website | Facebook

Don’t Think Twice
Mike’s pizza choices: Arturo’s Lucali, Luzzo’s, New England Greek style, and New Haven style.
Beau Bonneau Casting
Sleepwalk with Me
UCB Theater
Movie Magic Screenwriter
Trainwreck

Scriptnotes podcast by John August and Craig Mazin
Final Draft
Mind Writing Slogans via Alan Ginsberg
Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia
This American Life
Dramaturgically
Nantucket Film Festival
To Mike Birbiglia’s Parents: It’s OK If Your Son Sticks To Comedy, All Things Considered, NPR
Captain Fantastic
English as a Second F*cking Language: How to Swear Effectively, Explained in Detail with Numerous Examples Taken From Everyday Life by Sterling Johnson
DC Improv
The Tombs in Washington, DC
Hearts of Darkness — A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse by Francis Ford Coppola
USO Marks 75th Anniversary by Jim Garamone, Army News Service
Time Out Of Mind by Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan
Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads and Jonathan Demme
The Promise of Sleep: A Pioneer in Sleep Medicine Explores the Vital Connection Between Health, Happiness, and a Good Night’s Sleep by William C. Dement
Terms Of Endearment
Broadcast News
Doug Stanhope — No Refunds
Andy Kaufman’s Elvis Presley Impression on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, 1977
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker
REM behavior disorder
Sleep With Me Podcast
Memento
Mike Birbiglia: Thank God For Jokes
The Comedy Cellar in New York City
The Chicago Theatre
Peace Innovation at Stanford University
GM’s Sweetheart Tax Deal by Chris Isidore, CNN Money
Planet Ant
Tickled official trailer
Other People
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
AcroYoga
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

Show Notes

Mike loves comedy. Here is his other obsession. [07:24]
Mike talks about his writing routine, the value of improv, and how he workshops his movies. [13:14]
Mike tells us about his “blessed” journal. [17:45]
What are mind writing slogans? [21:54]
Why Mike is cautious about being too topical with his references. [22:54]
“Art is socialism, but life is capitalism.” [25:05]
Mike says there are no stakes to showing your friends your work, and it provides valuable feedback that improves the end result. [26:00]
Mike generally doesn’t curse on stage — this is why. [30:40]
Who does Mike run his jokes by before sharing on stage? [34:50]
What questions does Mike ask when he wants feedback? [37:57]
How did Mike succeed in a business where so many fail? [40:35]
What is the “ratio” for good comedy? [43:37]
Advice Mike would give to his younger self. [46:35]
Mike’s thoughts on how technology has been democratized. [47:53]
Who does Mike think of when he hears the word “successful?” [50:05]
How Mike and his wife successfully solicited parenting advice from President Obama (and how you can engage someone who doesn’t necessarily want to talk to you). [52:13]
Mike’s rules for good sex. [55:13]
Books and movies Mike gives as gifts. [57:00]
Mike’s favorite movies and documentaries. [59:03]
If Mike could mix three comedians into one super comedian, who would he pick? [59:41]
Low-cost purchase that had the biggest impact on Mike’s life. [1:03:13]
Mike’s nighttime rituals. [1:04:45]
Mike’s morning rituals. [1:07:10]
Mike’s favorite venue in the US. [1:08:37]
The worst advice Mike hears most often (and what he keeps in mind when considering stories to share with an audience). [1:09:21]
Mike responds to something Jon Favreau said about him. [1:12:43]
How chance encounters can unfairly lead people toward unfavorable opinions of celebrities. [1:16:29]
Mike on the joy of the cuisine loophole (and why you should order peanut butter and jelly if it’s on the menu at a fancy restaurant). [1:19:03]
What would Mike’s billboard say, and where would it be? [1:21:18]
What Mike likes about his career niche (and who he’s really working for). [1:22:56]
Mike’s advice for finding your own niche in the entertainment industry. [1:23:16]
The insanity of Hollywood accounting. [1:24:07]
How you can help Mike and other independent filmmakers. [1:29:42]
Mike endorses yoga and The 4-Hour Workweek [1:32:12]
Parting comments, requests, and disclaimers. [1:36:05]

People Mentioned

Brian Koppelman
Chris Sacca
Cal Fussman




Aidy Bryant
Ellie Kemper

Dave Attell
Amy Schumer
Vanessa Bayer
Andrew Dost
Craig Mazin
John August
Ezra Pound
Ernest Hemingway
George Orwell
Jack Kerouac
Elna Baker
Bernie Sanders
Seth Barrish
Ron Howard
Jim Gaffigan
Oprah Winfrey
Lenny Bruce
Richard Pryor
Stephen King
Joseph Birbiglia
Steven Wright
Mitch Hedberg
Ira Glass
Quentin Tarantino
Larry the Cable Guy
Dave Chappelle
George Lopez
Margaret Cho
Kathleen Madigan
Brian Regan
Jake Johannsen
Tommy Johnagin
David Letterman
Viggo Mortensen
Neil Gaiman
Oliver Stone
Francis Ford Coppola
Robert Scoble
Barack Obama
Jimmy Fallon
Bob Dylan
William C. Dement
James L. Brooks
Doug Stanhope
Maria Bamford
Bill Burr
Andy Kaufman
Jon Favreau
BJ Fogg
Keegan-Michael Key

Norman Lear
Amelia Boone

How to Cage the Monkey Mind

This episode is a little different. I visited the Googleplex — the Mountain View-based headquarters of Google — and had a public chat. I was interviewed and made sure that we covered some ground that has not been discussed before. There were questions such as:

What has been the most important Stoic teaching that I’ve come across?
How do I manage the many requests I receive?
What are the factors or elements that have led to the success of the podcast?
Where do I see myself in five years?
If I could pick three people — alive or dead — to be in my personal board of directors, who would they be?
How do I experiment with my dog training?
What are my recommendations for longevity?
How do I fight insomnia?
And much, much more…

If you only have 5 minutes, here’s how I cage my monkey mind.

As always, I hope you enjoy this episode and find it useful.

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

Want to hear another podcast packed full of actionable tips that I use in my own life? — Listen to this short episode on the magic of mindfulness. In this episode, I discuss how to complain less, appreciate more, and live a better life (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

This episode is also brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (with more than 4,000,000 users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Moral Letters to Lucilius XVIII: On Festivals and Fasting by Seneca
Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
The Porn-stache
“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.” –Archilochus
Caging the Monkey Mind
The Five Minute Journal
The Magic of Mindfulness
Understanding the Dangers of “Ego-Depletion”
Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Reality Check by Tom Foster, Inc.
Memento mori: “Remember that you must die.”
Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris: “Remember, man, dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech
ScheduleOnce
Let’s Get Drinks by Kelly Stout, The New Yorker
Adulthood tweet by Marissa Miller
Boomerang for Gmail
Don’t Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor
Gmail offline mode
5 Tips for E-mailing Busy People
Scratch your own itch
Freakonomics Radio
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris
Arnold Schwarzenegger on meditation
“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.” – W. H. Auden
What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul and Brendan Moynihan
Narcos trailer
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Dom D’Agostino on Fasting, Ketosis, and the End of Cancer
Jocko Willink: The Scariest Navy SEAL Imaginable…And What He Taught Me
Kuato in Total Recall
BJ Miller: The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard P. Feynman and Ralph Leighton
Bridge Troll
Crate Training and Clicker Training for Dogs
The Whole Dog Journal’s Guides to Optimum Dog Care: Command Performance
Kikopup’s YouTube Channel
Flux
Jim Fadiman: The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — Risks, Micro-Dosing, Ibogaine, and More
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” – Gautama Buddha
“After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.” – Italian proverb
Sebastian Junger: Lessons from War, Tribal Societies, and a Non-Fiction Life
Matt Mullenweg on Polyphasic Sleep, Tequila, and Building Billion-Dollar Companies
Rise Of The Sufferfests

Show Notes

What stoic teaching has been most important to my life? [06:40]
What is the monkey brain (and how do I cage it)? [10:36]
How can we stay humble?  [15:15]
How do I manage the numerous requests I receive? [20:09]
What drives the success of the Tim Ferriss Show? [26:57]
Based on my interviews, what do I think drives success? [31:29]
Am I planning to write a book about my interviews? [41:22]
Where do I see myself in five years? [45:08]
If I could pick three people — alive or dead — to be in my personal board of directors, who would they be and why? [50:28]
How do I experiment with my dog’s training? [53:02]
There is a lot of talk and focus on human longevity. What would I actually recommend for people as they approach their forties and beyond? [58:11]
How did I conquer insomnia? [1:01:18]
How does 2016 Tim react to 2007’s The 4-Hour Workweek pitch and asks? [1:04:57]
What is my vision for my life? [1:07:22]
I have experimented with the interview structure of the podcast a few times (see: sharing a bottle of wine with Astro Teller). What has worked best? [1:12:50]
If I had an adult bootcamp with 20 people, what would I have them do? [1:16:40]

People Mentioned

Jordan Thibodeau
Seneca
Cato
Archilochus
Marcus Aurelius
Julius Caesar
Neil Gaiman
Kevin Rose
Sam Harris
Tara Brach
Amelia Boone
Arnold Schwarzenegger
General Stanley McChrystal
Pavel Tsatsouline
Jocko Willink
W. H. Auden
Pablo Escobar
Dom D’Agostino
BJ Miller
Benjamin Franklin
Richard Feynman
Musashi Miyamoto
Molly
Sebastian Junger
Astro Teller
Neil Strauss
Maria Popova
Matt Mullenweg

The One-Handed Concert Pianist, Nicholas McCarthy

Photo credit: Paul Marc Mitchell

“I don’t really want to play scales; I want to play music!” – Nicholas McCarthy

Nicholas McCarthy (@NMcCarthyPiano) was born in 1989 without his right hand and only started to play the piano at the age of 14.

He was told he would never succeed as a concert pianist.

Fortunately, the doubters were wrong. His graduation from the prestigious Royal College of Music in London in 2012 appeared in press around the world, as he became the only one-handed pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in its 130-year history.

Nicholas has now performed extensively throughout the world, including the U.K., U.S., South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Malta, and Kazakhstan. He has also played alongside Coldplay and given a rendition of the Paralympic Anthem in front of an audience of 86,000 people and half a billion worldwide viewers.

His first album, entitled Solo (Warner Music) features 17 stunning pieces of left-hand repertoire spanning three centuries and has been released around the world to great acclaim.

If you only have 5 minutes, I recommend Nicholas’s thoughts on playing the long game vs. instant fame.

This was a blast of an interview, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for listening.

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

Want to hear another podcast with a mega-successful performer? — Listen to my conversation with Jamie Foxx. In this episode, we discuss his workout routines, untold Hollywood stories, and he shares many of his best impressions. (Stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Gymnastic Bodies. This is the training system that I am most obsessed with at the moment. Coach Sommer appeared on a previous episode of the podcast, which turned into a sleeper hit. He is the former USA national team coach for men’s gymnastics and creator of this bodyweight-based training system. I’m not easily impressed, and I have been completely blown away by the sophistication and the elegance of his programming.

I have been using Gymnastic Bodies for just a few months now, and I already feel more flexible and stronger than I have in years. Check out GymnasticBodies.com/tim, where you’ll find the Fundamentals course for diagnosing your weakest areas, those you can tweak for fast improvements. It is incredible. Take a look at GymnasticBodies.com/tim for more details and a large discount.

This podcast is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Nicholas McCarthy:

Website | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter

Solo by Nicholas McCarthy
Yamaha CFX Concert Grand, Nicholas’s piano of choice
Royal College of Music in London
Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata
Music by Liszt
Britain’s Got Talent
Junior Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Paul Wittgenstein: The Man with the Golden Arm by Melissa Lesnie, Limelight
A Princess Bride moment
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand by Maurice Ravel
Summertime by George Gershwin
Skinnygirl
The Life and Loves of a He Devil by Graham Norton
I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone by Nina Simone
Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
Sole Determination: Nicholas McCarthy at TEDx Albertopolis
Proms: The World’s Greatest Classical Music Festival
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons performed by Nigel Kennedy
Martha Argerich videos on YouTube
How to Achieve the Home of Your Dreams by Kelly Hoppen
Hill House Interiors
Neal’s Yard Remedies
Barrel saunas
Frankincense oil
Geranium oil
Nicholas McCarthy appears by kind permission of Warner Classics, www.warnerclassics.com

Show Notes

The inspiration to become a concert pianist at age 14. [05:24]
How Nicholas went from being an obsessed self-starter to getting his parents to pay for lessons. [11:15]
Nicholas explains left-handed repertoire, his initial resistance, and how his teacher changed his mind. [12:46]
Why Nicholas never took the offer to play on Britain’s Got Talent (in spite of being a big fan of the show). [16:15]
For a two-handed pianist, what does each hand generally do — and what challenges does a left-hand dominant player face? [20:56]
Nicholas talks about applying to music schools and dealing with rejection. [24:48]
Paul Wittgenstein’s influence on left-handed repertoire. [32:06]
What’s the difference between arranging and composing music? [36:06]
Nicholas on his love of food and desire to be a chef. [40:28]
Having performed around the globe, what does Nicholas notice about different audiences worldwide? [42:57]
When Nicholas hears the word “successful,” who comes to mind? [45:01]
What advice would Nicholas give to his 20-year-old self? [48:45]
How does Nicholas deal with negativity? [50:12]
What would be on Nicholas’s billboard? [52:01]
Nicholas shares his morning routines. [53:36]
How Nicholas approaches the building of his own brand. [55:42]
While being an overall positive person, Nicholas shares the closest thing he’s had to a favorite failure. [57:17]
Nicholas’s best investment in money, time, and energy. [1:01:33]
If Nicholas could design a curriculum to teach piano, how would he diverge from the way it’s taught now? [1:06:18]
Lesser-known composers Nicholas recommends. [1:08:50]
Bad advice Nicholas has heard (and ignored). [1:10:08]
The best meal Nicholas has ever had. [1:13:56]
Nicholas geeks out about interior design. [1:15:27]
The benefits of aromatherapy. [1:18:17]

People Mentioned

Ludwig van Beethoven,
Frederic Chopin
Franz Liszt
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Eric Weinstein
Lucy Parham
Paul Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Maurice Ravel
George Gershwin
Paul Levesque (Triple H)
Bethenny Frankel
Lang Lang
Graham Norton
Nina Simone
Nigel Kennedy
Andrew Keener
Johann Sebastian Bach
Rihanna
Adele
Sergey Prokofiev
Dmitry Kabalevsky
Martha Argerich
Kelly Hoppen
Laird Hamilton
Rick Rubin

Lessons from Geniuses, Billionaires, and Tinkerers

“The interesting jobs are the ones that you make up.” – Chris Young

Chris Young is an obsessive tinkerer, inventor, and innovator.

His areas of expertise range from extreme aviation (world-record goals) to mathematics and apocalyptic-scale BBQs. Above all, he is one of the clearest thinkers I know.

In this interview, we discuss a great many things, including his wild story and lessons learned from rainmakers like Bill Gates, Gabe Newell, Neal Stephenson, and many more. More topics we tackle:

How he managed to get jobs working for the best in the world…despite having no credentials.
Advice — and incredible questions — from self-made billionaires.
Why raw foodism isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
How geniuses show disappointment and ensure you correct yourself.
The “emoji egg” breakfast.
And much more…

If you only have 5 minutes, I highly recommend listening to Chris’s secret to working with hard-to-reach people.

Enjoy!

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

Want to hear another podcast with a world-class chef and entrepreneur? — Listen to my conversation with Andrew Zimmern. In this episode, we discuss his meditation practice, morning routines, and creative process (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audio books. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose between more than 180,000 audio programs. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode


Connect with Chris Young:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Naturally Occurring Food Toxins by Laurie C. Dolan, et al., National Center for Biotechnology Information
Biomolecular Structure & Design at University of Washington
The Complete Thomas Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook & Bouchon by Thomas Keller
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
The 4-Hour Chef (official trailer)
ChefSteps in Seattle
What really happened in Memento?, Quora
Eclectic BBQ With Neal Stephenson by Trey Ratcliff, Stuck in Customs (with pictures)
Anthracite coal
Spatchcock
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson
Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet
Snatch trailer
Seafair in Seattle
Michelin stars explained
Noma in Copenhagen
The Fat Duck in Bray
Essential Cuisine by Michel Bras
Best Food Writing 2002 by Holly Hughes
Puff the Magic Sorbet Dragon, ChefSteps (what it looks like when you mix liquid nitrogen with fine dining)
The importance of a mise en place list
Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket
Ray Gun magazine
University of Vermont
Calculus for Beginners and Artists, MIT
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
The Second Law by P. W. Atkins
Are You Hooked on Competence Porn? by Lewis Dartnell, The Telegraph
Intellectual Ventures
What is a Garde manger?
The Man Who Mistook His Kitchen for a Lab by Jay Rayner, The Guardian
Fluid Gels: A Culinary History, ChefSteps
Valve Software
Canlis in Seattle
Valve Handbook for New Employees (PDF)
Gabe Newell: I Learned More in Three Months at Microsoft than Entire Time at Harvard by Anthony Tosie, Neowin
High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove
Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
Gliding competition
Sleep-onset insomnia
Sailplane Grand Prix in the Andes trailer
Windward Performance DuckHawk
Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono
The Last Lion Box Set: Winston Spencer Churchill, 1874-1965 by William Manchester and Paul Reid
Radio 1 Essential Mix, Live from Rojan in Shanghai, China 26-09-1999 by Paul Oakenfold
Pete Tong at Soundcloud
iA Writer
Hemingway Editor
Scrivener
Ferris Beuller’s Day Off
Pulp Fiction trailer (jarringly auf Deutsch)
The Right Stuff
OXO On Cordless Glass Electric Kettle
Wii DJ Hero
Shakespeare was funnier than you remember.
Biphasic and polyphasic sleep
Edible Emoji Egg, ChefSteps
La Marzocco espresso machines
Chemex glass coffee maker
Aeropress coffee and espresso maker
Builder’s tea
Nicholas Lander at the Financial Times
Engineers, applied mathematicians, musicians, and people who do amazing work that can be related to cooking: apply to work with Chris here.
Soaring Society of America
Williams Soaring Center
$30 OFF Joule™, Chris’s upcoming sous vide immersion circulator [Note: It is currently offered at the preorder price of $229, so it’s $199 for TFS listeners until August 1, 2016. Limit of one per customer.]

Show Notes

Chris expresses surprise that I remember much about the last time we hung out in Seattle. [06:07]
Why are vegetables trying to kill you? [06:59]
Chris explains his interest in math and biochemistry. [10:43]
Chris’s first job out of college (and the Jedi mind trick that secured it). [13:09]
How Chris’s chosen profession plays perfectly into his anti-social behaviors. [18:45]
Chris explains the science behind the inverted rotisserie spit that was built for Neal Stephenson’s BBQ. [19:30]
Gabe Newell and The Tornado of Fire. [23:17]
Chris explains how he befriended Neal Stephenson while working for Nathan Myhrvold. [24:23]
Neal Stephenson’s Victorian exercise regimen. [26:38]
The journey between Chris’ first job and working for Heston Blumenthal. [27:40]
The symptoms of maxing out the learning curve. [29:35]
Permission to apprentice in a famous kitchen is often granted — if you know how to ask. [32:59]
Liquid nitrogen, fine dining, and the science of palate cleansing. [35:41]
The circumstances (and pressure) of sudden promotion. [39:35]
How to reverse engineer and solving problems. [42:03]
Has Chris always had OCD superpowers? [48:22]
How did Chris become interested in math? [49:41]
What books has Chris most gifted to others? [51:37]
What is competence porn? [54:52]
What’s Chris’s secret to getting hired by hard-to-reach people, and what lessons has he learned from them? [57:54]
“The interesting jobs are the ones that you make up.” [1:02:14]
The biggest lesson Chris learned from Heston Blumenthal. [1:06:45]
Chris reminiscences about one of his most cringeworthy mistakes under Blumenthal. [1:08:29]
How does one uphold high standards without driving support staff toward mutiny? [1:10:56]
The challenging questions Heston Blumenthal asks that provoke excellence. [1:16:12]
What is Chris’s company, how has it changed over time, and what novel decisions have pushed it forward? [1:20:33]
Who is Gabe Newell, and how has he influenced the trajectory of Chris and his company? [1:24:15]
What’s worth spending $100 million on in the kitchen space? [1:31:30]
Gabe Newell’s real superpower. [1:33:20]
Wisdom from Matt Mullenweg regarding people who steal intellectual property online. [1:34:13]
What Chris thinks doesn’t work well for a company that’s supposed to get the best, most innovative, and most interesting work out of people. [1:37:54]
Books and people who have influenced Chris’s business decisions. [1:41:45]
Why Chris is prone to changing his mind a lot. [1:42:41]
Chris and competitive gliding. [1:44:31]
Chris’s thoughts on sleep [1:50:08]
The value of less structure. [1:56:12]
Chris’ thoughts on batching activities. [1:58:36]
Chris and his creative process. [2:04:10]
When Chris thinks of the word “successful,” who comes to mind? [2:04:52]
Does Chris have any superstitions? [2:08:31]
Music Chris listens to when he writes. [2:10:42]
Chris’s editing process. [2:12:48]
Favorite documentaries and movies. [2:14:30]
What recent purchase of $100 or less had the most positive impact on Chris’s life? [2:16:60]
Morning rituals [2:21:31]
How The Fat Duck almost went bankrupt in spite of being so innovative and respected in the culinary community. [2:25:30]
What advice would Chris give his younger self? [2:30:14]
We discuss shifting focus from being “right” to being effective. [2:35:07]
What would Chris Young’s billboard say, and where would he put it? [2:37:15]
Last requests for the audience. [2:37:53]

People Mentioned

Bill Gates
Nathan Myhrvold
Gabe Newell
Neal Stephenson
Matt Mullenweg
Jeffrey Steingarten
Harold McGee
Tim Kelley
William Belickis
David Bouley
Heston Blumenthal
René Redzepi
Gordon Ramsay
Michel Bras
Ferran Adrià
Albert Adrià
Eric Cressey
Molly
Alex Honnold
Ed Zschau
Peter Thiel
Michael Phelps
Charles Spence
Grant Lee Crilly
Ryan Matthew Smith
Edward Starbird
Jason Franey
Michael Natkin
Yahn Bernier
Greg Cole
Edward de Bono
Winston Churchill
Benjamin Franklin
Paul Oakenfold
Pete Tong
John Hughes
John Cusack
Samuel L. Jackson
William Shakespeare
James Watson
James Petrie
Nick Lander
Derek Bulmer

 

Dom D’Agostino — The Power of the Ketogenic Diet

“If medicine wants to focus on prevention, there’s no better tool than nutrition.” – Dominic D’Agostino

Dr. Dominic “Dom” D’Agostino (@DominicDAgosti2) is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, and a senior research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). He has also deadlifted 500 pounds for 10 reps after a seven-day fast.

Many of you sent enthusiastic follow-up questions after the last conversation we had, so Dom took the time to answer your most popular questions. In particular, he focused on ketosis, ketones, and the ketogenic diet — so you can consider this a ketosis master class (especially if you combine both episodes, though this one does stand alone).

It takes a few minutes for Dom to warm up — so be patient! If you have an interest in these types of metabolic therapies, whether for performance enhancement, endurance, weight loss, or fighting cancer, diabetes, or any number of other maladies, you will find a gem within this episode.

Enjoy!

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

Want to hear my first interview with Dom D’Agostino? — Listen to our in-depth conversation here. In this episode, we discuss fasting, heavy deadlifts, and the end of cancer (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you Gymnastic Bodies. This is the training system that I am most obsessed with at the moment. Coach Sommer appeared on a previous episode of the podcast, which turned into a sleeper hit. He is the former USA national team coach for men’s gymnastics and creator of this bodyweight-based training system. I’m not easily impressed, and I have been completely blown away by the sophistication and the elegance of his programming.

I have been using Gymnastic Bodies for just a few months now, and I already feel more flexible and stronger than I have in years. Check out GymnasticBodies.com/tim, where you’ll find the Fundamentals course for diagnosing your weakest areas, those you can tweak for fast improvements. It is incredible. Take a look at GymnasticBodies.com/tim for more details and a large discount.

This podcast is also brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement — right now, this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code “Tim” to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Dom D’Agostino:

KetoNutrition.org | Facebook | Twitter | University of South Florida

First mega-hit episode with Dom
Dom’s favorite options for canned sardines: kingoscar.com and wildplanetfoods.com
Crown Prince Natural Smoked Oysters
Dom’s most recommended ketogenic diet resource
The modified Atkins diet at John Hopkins
The Ketogenic Diet for Type 1 Diabetes by Ellen Davis and Keith Runyan
Abbott Precision Xtra Glucose Monitor
Freestyle Precision Neo Glucose Meter
Ketonix Breath Ketone Test Monitor
ATP hydrolysis
How Wasting Is Saving: Weight Loss at Altitude Might Result from an Evolutionary Adaptation by Andrew J. Murray and Hugh E. Montgomery
Peter Attia’s lecture at IHMC — An Advantaged Metabolic State: Human Performance, Resilience and Health
Rebecca Rusch and Patrick Sweeney Climb Kilimanjaro for World Bicycle Relief
Acetazolamide (Diamox)
Exogenous ketones
Triiodothyronine (T3)
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea
Quest Nutrition MCT Powder
The Gut’s Microbiome Changes Rapidly with Diet by Rachel Feltman, Scientific American
Alessio Fasano’s lecture at IHMC — The Gut Is Not Like Las Vegas: What Happens in the Gut Does Not Stay in the Gut
Lactobacillus bifidus probiotics
Modafinil
The Charlie Foundation for Ketogenic Therapies
Keto Motive
KetoDiet app
MRM Veggie Elite
LDL cholesterol
HDL cholesterol
The Ketogenic Diet: A Treatment for Children and Others with Epilepsy by John Freeman MD, Eric Kossoff, and Millicent Kelly
3 Keys To Dialing In Your Macronutrient Ratios, Bodybuilding.com
Interview with Ketone Expert Dr. Richard Veech on Bulletproof Radio
My Experience with Exogenous Ketones by Peter Attia
What Are Ketone Salts?, Ben Greenfield Fitness
Metabolism of (R,S)-1,3-butanediol acetoacetate esters, potential parenteral and enteral nutrients in conscious pigs by Henri Brunengraber, et al.
beta-Hydroxybutyric acid
Fatty acid oxidation disorders
PubMed search for “MADD keytones”
Kegenix Exogenous Ketones
Keto // OS by Pruvit
Keto // KREME by Pruvit
Kettle & Fire bone broth
Scivation Xtend Perform
Vitamin D3 — 5000iu if you’re inside all day; 1000iu if you spend time in the sun.
Melatonin
Idebenone
Magnesium Citrate
Magnesium Chloride
Magnesium Glycinate
Gaba
Hepatic Glycogenolysis

Show Notes

Why is there so much resistance among dieticians and researchers toward ketosis despite evidence in its favor? [07:12]
Can you gain muscle size and strength on a ketogenic diet? [15:20]
How much protein should you take in with a ketogenic diet? [16:21]
What is the impact of the ketogenic diet on Type 1 diabetes? [19:16]
Is it better to analyze ketone production by breath or blood? [27:42]
How does ketosis affect performance at altitude? [30:53]
Are there any differences females need to be aware of when considering a ketogenic diet? [35:53]
Can a female obtain a sub-10 percent body fat with a ketogenic diet? [40:43]
How does ketosis affect the microbiota? [44:53]
Is counting calories just as important as tracking fat intake and carb restriction if you want to avoid weight gain? [52:00]
What are Dom’s nutritional tricks to surviving scientific conferences where the food is often less than healthy? [55:36]
What stimulants aid in ketosis? [58:53]
Can a vegetarian or vegan follow a ketogenic diet? [1:05:01]
Should you be concerned if a ketogenic diet increases your LDL or LDL-P (bad cholesterol)? [1:08:55]
Elevated triglycerides? A ketogenic diet isn’t for everyone. [1:14:17]
Is it dangerous to use keytone salts? [1:15:29]
What’s Dom’s advice for people suffering from fatty acid oxidation disorders? [1:24:39]
Does Dom really support Kegenix? [1:29:40]
What are Dom’s go-to products? [1:37:21]
Are exogenous keytones only useful in a state of ketosis, or would they benefit someone who is not keto-adapted? [1:45:28]
Can exogenous keytones combined with a low-carb diet (but not a ketogenic diet) still give some or all of the benefits of a strict ketogenic diet? [1:48:38]

People Mentioned

Laird Hamilton
Patrick Arnold
Erik Kosoff
Andrew Koutnik
George F. Cahill, Jr.
Dr. Richard Veech
Peter Attia
Patrick Sweeney
Rebecca Rusch
Shannan Yorton Penna
Alessio Fasano
Dr. Rhonda Patrick
Beth Zupec-Kania
Henri Brunengraber
Dave Asprey
Ben Greenfield

The Random Show – New Favorite Books, Memory Training, and Bets On VR

This is not going to be a long-form interview where I dissect and deconstruct a world-class performer…at least not in the usual fashion. Instead, this is a special edition of The Random Show.

I am joined by Kevin Rose (@KevinRose), serial entrepreneur, world-class investor, and all around wild and crazy guy. We discuss a wide range of topics, including new favorite books, memory training, meditation tactics, multiple wives, and bets for or against virtual reality.

If you only have 5 minutes, here’s an untold story about a body experiment I wish I didn’t do.

Enjoy!

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

Want to hear another episode of The Random Show? — Listen to this earlier conversation with Kevin Rose. In this episode, we discuss saunas and cold treatment, dating apps, and fitness apps (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you — for free — exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.

This podcast is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body, and I’ve also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you’re happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run.

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

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Kevin Rose:

Twitter | The Journal

Transcendental meditation
Mindfulness meditation
Get Some Headspace: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day by Andy Puddicombe
White Noise machines
Headspace app
Calm app
Brain Pickings
Guided Meditations by Tara Brach
How to Meditate by Sam Harris
Slacklining
Snowboarding
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
Love and Ambition in a Cruel New World by Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
First batch of t-shirts — 100% of proceeds will be donated to groundbreaking scientific studies of psilocybin.
More detailed information about why I’m funding psilocybin research.
Usona
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
Memory Palace (Method of loci)
Ed Cooke, Grandmaster of Memory
Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It by Kenneth L. Higbee Ph.D.
The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory by Aleksandr R. Luria
Rain Man
tDCS (Transcranial direct-current stimulation)
Black Mirror
Google’s ‘Black Mirror’ Patent Could Let Us Record And Replay Our Memories by Thomas Tamblyn, Huffpost Tech UK
Second Life
Kevin’s first Foundation episode with Philip Rosedale — and second.
Kevin’s episode with Jason Fried on The Journal
Barrel saunas
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business…Economies, Societies… by James Surowiecki
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Kevin’s interview with paper guru Brad Dowdy on The Journal
Uni-ball 307 Gel Pen
Uni-ball Signo 207 Retractable Gel Pen (micro point)
Uni-ball Signo 207 Retractable Gel Pen (medium point)
Pilot Precise V5 Stick Rolling Ball Pen (extra fine point)
What it’s like to get a muscle biopsy with a giant needle.
Sports Science Institute of South Africa
Resveratrol
Digg
Fab.com
Siamese fighting fish
Virtual reality
Vive
Augmented reality
Scandia
X (formerly known as Google X)
Suntory Hibiki 30-year-old Japanese whisky

Show Notes

The origin story of #timtimtalktalk. [06:26]
Hard-hitting questions: turnabout is fair play. [07:33]
We talk TM (transcendental meditation). [08:39]
How mantras are used in meditation. [12:13]
At a four-day training course, Kevin was disappointed by TM on day one — but a believer by day two. [14:34]
The benefits of learning meditation with others vs. just doing it yourself. [15:55]
The post-meditation daze and going too deep. (“That’s what she said.”) [18:00]
The progress we make from meditation may be realized by others before we notice it ourselves. [19:09]
Experimenting with our own mantras. [21:01]
I enjoy having a few superstitions. [21:41]
Other forms of meditation and where to learn more about them. [22:47]
Meditation — like slacklining or snowboarding — can be frustrating for beginners. [24:23]
Meditation is a foundational skill of Stoicism. [26:02]
Why I reversed my early snobbery toward fiction books and poetry; I share some of my recent discoveries. [26:45]
I’m donating money and selling t-shirts to support university research into psilocybin for treating conditions such as depression, end-of-life anxiety in cancer patients, etc. [35:21]
Why psilocybin research is so expensive in comparison to Kevin’s experience with mushrooms in college. [41:43]
We talk about memory champions, techniques used for memorization — like the memory palace — and favorite books related to memory improvement. [48:26]
Black Mirror is a great series if you can get past the first episode. [1:00:14]
One illegal substance that has changed me for the better — and why. [1:01:35]
“If you are depressed, you are living in the past.

If you are anxious, you are living in the future.

If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” –Lao Tzu [1:02:48]
The first person who comes to mind when Kevin hears the word “successful.” [1:05:56]
The Philip Rosedale “mantra based on counting” method of meditation isn’t for everybody. [1:10:48]
If I could change any law not related to mind-altering substances, what would it be? [1:11:51]
Books Kevin has gifted most to other people. [1:16:49]
Purchase of $100 or less that had a positive impact on Kevin’s life. [1:18:28]
A body experiment I wish I hadn’t done. [1:20:24]
What advice would Kevin give to his 25-year-old self? [1:26:31]
Bad advice Kevin hears frequently being dispensed to new startup founders. [1:30:06]
Biggest misconception people have about me. [1:38:00]
#timtimdatedate [1:39:25]
Parting thoughts on virtual reality, hype cycles, augmented reality, betting against neuroscientists, the disappointment of Google Glass, and Japanese whisky. [1:46:40]

People Mentioned

Dr. Peter Attia
Chase Jarvis
Rick Rubin
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Darya Rose
Tara Brach
Maria Popova
Sam Harris
Chris Sacca
Mohsin Hamid
Michiko Kakutani
Ocean Vuong
Rolf Potts
Joshua Foer
Ed Cooke
Lao Tzu
Philip Rosedale
Elon Musk
Larry Page
Jason Fried
Peter Thiel
Laird Hamilton
Sebastian Junger
Brad Dowdy
Tim Noakes
David Sinclair
Adam Gazzaley