Tribe Of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

by Timothy Ferriss

The fact is that when two extreme opinions meet, the truth lies generally somewhere in the middle.

Without exposure to the other side, you will naturally drift toward the extremes and away from the truth of the matter.

Don’t be afraid of being wrong. Because being wrong is just an opportunity to...

Poker has taught me to disconnect failure from outcomes.

Above all, it’s the quality of your relationships that will determine the quality of your life. Invest in your connections, even those that seem inconsequential.

gift The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness: A True Story by Joel ben Izzy.

“What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn’t have any doubt—it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn’t want to go anywhere else.”—Hal Boyle.

are Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel, Drawing

on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards, The Crack in the Cosmic Egg by Joseph Chilton Pearce, The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler, and, perhaps most of all, The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes.

First, whenever possible, connect with others.

Second, with enthusiasm, strive always to create fun and delight for others.

And third, lean into each moment and encounter expecting ...

The Art of Learning.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig: Inspired my cultivation of dynamic quality as a way of life.

Do what you love, do it in a way that you love, and pour your heart and soul into every moment of it.

Do not be subject to inertia. Challenge your assumptions and the assumptions of those around you as a way of life.

This may come as strange advice from someone who majored in electrical engineering and got a PhD in math modeling of computer security, but I first tell students I encounter to spend the remainder of their time in college filling their minds with the best of the humanities their school has to offer.

While classes I took in digital circuits in 1995 have long become outdated, the timeless lessons on fundamental human nature (e.g., John Locke, Thomas Hobbes), the rise and demise of great societies and the inspirational examples set by real-life heroes (e.g., Alexander Hamilton) found in the literature and history classes

took are ones I draw upon even ...

In a world where we emphasize the creation of new products through rapid iteration and experimentation, we often forget to step back and make sure that the future we are racing to is one we truly want to create. The practice of judgment and reasoning found in philosophy (e.g., Kantian ethics), history, and literature are skills we should continue to hone even when we are out of college, b...

Develop a philosophy of giving as soon as you enter the working world.

He suggested that I commit to a percentage of my income and that I consistently donate that amount to charities of my choosing every year.

Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin.

“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in

the dark with a mosquito.”—Betty Reese

“The fairest rules are those to which everyone would agree if they did not know how much power they would have.”—John Rawls

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”—Warren Buffett

“Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.”—George S. Patton

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”—Theodore Roosevelt

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”—Henry David Thoreau

“Beware the investment activity that produces applause; the great moves are usually greeted by yawns.”—Warren Buffett

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should

not be done at all.”—Peter Drucker

“In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.”—Albert Schweitzer

“Our fears are always more numerous than our dangers.”—Seneca the Younger

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”—Harry Truman

“Don’t hire a dog, then bark yourself.”—David Ogilvy

“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”—Oscar Wilde

“Whenever there is a hard job to be done, I assign it to a lazy man; he is sure to find an easy way of doing it.”—Walter Chrysler

“You must be the change you wish

to see in the world.”—Mahatma Gandhi

Focus on your writing skills. It’s the one thing I’ve found that really helps people stand out. More and more communication is written today. Get great at presenting yourself with words, and words alone, and you’ll be far ahead of most.

“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” –Benjamin Disraeli Former prime minister of the United Kingdom

“Burnout is not the price you have to pay for success.”

One of my favorite books that I often give is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

“People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills. There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind. . . . So constantly

give yourself this retreat, and renew yourself.”

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? One of the best investments I’ve made is, as they tell us on airplanes, putting my own oxygen mask first—sleeping, meditating, walking, working out, etc. In 2007 I collapsed from exhaustion. After that, I made changes to my life, and became more and more passionate about the connection between well-being and productivity. A lot of people think they don’t have time to take care

of themselves, but it’s an investment that will pay off in so many ways.

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life? I would say it’s a reformulation of how I think about my time. Before, I separated time into work time and non–work time, and I always wanted to maximize work time. Now I realize that you can’t separate the two—time spent taking breaks, taking a walk, unplugging, meditating—that’s all work time, too, ...