Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

by Timothy Ferriss

The Most Important Thing Is to Be You, Not Your Inner Actor

God has given us talents and faculties, and it’s up to us to discover them, expand them to their maximum, and use them for maximum service in the world.

Naval’s Laws The below is Naval’s response to the question “Are there any quotes you live by or think of often?” These are gold. Take the time necessary to digest them. “These aren’t all quotes from others. Many are maxims that I’ve carved for myself.” Be present above all else. Desire is suffering (Buddha). Anger is a hot coal that you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at someone else (Buddhist saying). If you can’t see yourself working with someone for life, don’t work with them for a day. Reading (learning) is the ultimate meta-skill and can be

traded for anything else. All the real benefits in life come from compound interest. Earn with your mind, not your time. 99% of all effort is wasted. Total honesty at all times. It’s almost always possible to be honest and positive. Praise specifically, criticize generally (Warren Buffett). Truth is that which has predictive power. Watch every thought. (Always ask, “Why am I having this thought?”) All greatness comes from suffering. Love is given, not received. Enlightenment is the space between your thoughts (Eckhart Tolle). Mathematics is the language of nature. Every moment has to be complete in and of itself.

“If you eat, invest, and think according to what the ‘news’ advocates, you’ll end up nutritionally, financially, and morally bankrupt.”

the best thing to do is give people questions they’re not expecting.”

The Little Things Are the Big Things

“It’s all going to be alright.”

Long-Term Impact Trumps Short-Term Gross

17 Questions that Changed My Life

#1—What if I did the opposite for 48 hours?

#2—What do I spend a silly amount of money on? How might I scratch my own

itch?

#3—What would I do/have/be if I had $10 million? What’s my real TMI?

#4—What are the worst things that could happen? Could I get back here?

#5—If I could only work 2 hours per week on my business, what would I do?

#6—What if I let them make decisions up to $100? $500? $1,000?

#7—What’s the least crowded channel?

#8—What if I couldn’t pitch my product directly?

People don’t like being sold products, but we all like being told stories.

#9—What if I created my own real-world MBA?

#10—Do I need to make it back the way I lost it?

#11—What if I could only subtract to solve problems?

#12—What might I put in place to allow me to go off the grid for 4 to 8 weeks, with no phone or email?

put systems and policies in place, ditch ad-hoc email-based triage, empower other people with rules and tools, separate the critical few from the trivial many, and otherwise create a machine that doesn’t require you behind the driver’s wheel 24/7.

#13—Am I hunting antelope or field mice?

#14—Could it be that everything is fine and complete as is?

#15—What would this look like if it were easy?

#16—How can I throw money at this problem? How can I “waste” money to improve the quality of my life?

#17—No hurry, no pause.

Good isn’t good enough.

“What can you do that will be remembered in 200 to 400 years?”

Perhaps the biggest tragedy in our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns.

You Don’t Find Time, You Make Time

If it isn’t on the calendar, it isn’t real.

If you don’t care about yourself, make it about other people.

Accept reality, but focus on the solution.