Part 1 — My Takeaways From “Tools Of Titans” by Tim Ferriss

I’m a big Tim Ferriss fan. I’ve mentioned him in past blogs. The 4 Hour Workweek had a substantial influence on me when I first read it a few years ago. I’ve read his second and third books as well, listen to his podcast, and watched many of his keynotes and interviews. I love how practical he is with his advice. He’s all about tactics and tangible information. No fluff.
His newest book, Tools of Titans, is perhaps my favorite book I’ve ever read. Below is the description of it from Tim:
“For the last two years, I’ve interviewed nearly two hundred world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview, and this unusual depth has led to more than 100 million downloads.”
Tools of Titans contains the distilled tools, tactics, and inside information you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.
What makes the podcast and this book different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their workout routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis?
I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.
Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration.
I wrote Tools of Titans, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.” — Tim Ferriss
As I was reading the book, I highlighted a ton of different things that resonated with me or stuck out for some reason. Then, I went back through and typed out all of those highlighted takeaways into a word doc. And now, I’m sharing them with you. I had 4,164 words worth of takeaways, so I’ve split them into three separate blog posts. Also, I didn’t plan on posting this anywhere when I wrote it, so my apologies if any of it seems disjointed.
Today is quote day. Here are all my favorite quotes from Tools of Titans:
“If you have a 10-year plan of how to get somewhere, you should ask: Why can’t you do this in 6 months?” — Peter Thiel
- Can also be reworded to “What might you do to accomplish your 10-year goals in the next 6 months, if you had a gun against your head?”
“I had to get back to this place where you just want water, food and shelter. All the craziness of my life — this Wall Street life I had taken on — would go away, would melt away.” — Joe De Sena on why he started tackling insane events (Spartan Race, Death Race, Iditarod Races) while working on Wall Street
“Most people exist between the on and off switch. They are unable to turn on and put out high power, and they are unable to turn off completely and enjoy true rest. To learn how to control your on and off switch, read the book Psych by Judd Biasiotto.” — Pavel Tsatsouline
“Stop drinking now. Stop drinking right now.” — Laird Hamilton on advice to his 30 year old self
“Is that a dream or a goal? Because a dream is something you fantasize about that will probably never happen. A goal is something you set a plan for, work toward and achieve.” — Triple H
“What am I continuing to do myself that I’m not good at? Improve it, eliminate it, or delegate it.” — Tim Ferris in the Triple H chapter
“What do you think about that really gets you excited?” — Adam Gazzaley on questions he asks people interviewing to work with him P. 136
“I would say to have no fear. I mean, you’ve got one chance here to do amazing things and being afraid of being wrong or making a mistake or fumbling is just not how you do something of impact. You just have to be fearless… the only way to do it (make a fundamental breakthrough in the world) is to do the type of research that other people would think of as risky or even foolhardy. That’s just part of the game.” — Adam Gazzaley on advice to his 30 year old self
“If the commitment is to a long-term goal and not to a series of smaller intermediate goals, then only one decision needs to be made and adhered to. Clear, simple, straightforward.” Coach Sommer on P. 161
“What all of this comes down to is whether you are on offense or defense… Your inbox is a to-do to which anyone in the world can add an action item.” -Chris Sacca P. 166
“Don’t overestimate the people on pedestals… Realize that they’re not that different from you. At the time they got started, they were kind of just like you. So there’s nothing stopping any of the rest of us from doing the same thing… Everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people that were no smarter than you.” — Marc Andreesen P. 174
“If you have a very clear vision of where you want to go, then the rest of it is much easier.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about 5 hour training sessions.
“It’s not what you know, it’s what you do consistently.” — Tim Ferriss P. 185
“The standard pace is for chumps.” — Derek Sivers P. 187
“Once you have some success, if it’s not a “hell yes!” then it’s a “no.” — Derek Sivers P. 189
“Busy = out of control. Every time people contact me, they say “Look, I know you must be incredibly busy…’ and I always think, ‘No I’m not.’ Because I’m in control of my time. I’m on top of it. ‘Busy’ to me, seems to imply ‘out of control.’ — Derek Sivers P. 189
“Even when everything is going terribly, and I have no reason to be confident, I just decide to be.” — Derek Sivers P. 192
- Similar “We are whatever we pretend to be.” — Kurt Vonnegut P. 192
“The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind that exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right” — Neil Gaiman P. 197
“Don’t overestimate the world and underestimate yourself.” — Tim Ferriss P. 201
“There’s no excuse not to do 10 minutes. If you don’t have 10 minutes, you don’t have a life.” — Tony Robbins P. 214
“How can you make your bucket-list dreams pay for themselves by sharing them?” — Tim Ferriss describing Casey Neistat’s “Make It Count” video for Nike. P. 219
“Well I got to cheer for me before anyone else can cheer for me.” — Kanye West to Morgan Spurlock when asked why he had a giant posted of himself hanging from his living room wall.
“Hope is not a strategy. Luck is not a factor. Fear is not an option.” — shirt that James Cameron made for the crew of Avatar
“The very first thing I do when I get up, almost always, is to sit down and work on that problem (I’ve set the day before) because that’s when I’m freshest. I’m not distracted by phone calls and responses to things, and so forth. It’s the most tabula rasa — blank slate — moment that I have.” — Reid Hoffman P. 230
“I think people actually do not learn very much from failure. I think it ends up being quite damaging and demoralizing to people in the long run, and my sense is that the death of every business is a tragedy. It’s not some sort of beautiful aesthetic where there’s a lot of carnage, but that’s how progress happens, and it’s not some sort of educational imperative.” — Peter Thiel P. 233
“What you track determines your lens — choose carefully.” — Seth Godin on what you track and measure of the things you do. Basically don’t keep track of the bad stuff, keep track of all the good stuff and focus on that. P. 239
“In a world of tool obsession and FOMO on the next social platform, Seth doesn’t appear to care. He simply focuses on putting out good and short daily posts, he ignores the rest, and he continues to thrive. There are no real rules, so make rules that work for you.” — Tim Ferris on Seth Godin not paying attention to social media or analytics P. 241
“I wouldn’t tell my 30 year old self anything. Because if I hadn’t had those bumps, I wouldn’t be me, and I’m glad I’m me.” — Seth Godin on advice to his 30 year old self P. 244
“Send someone a thank you note tomorrow.” — final words of advice from Seth Godin P. 245
“We all have, let’s say, two or three dozen massive pain points in our lives that everyone can relate to. I try to basically write about those, and then I try to write about how I attempted to recover from them.” — James Altucher P. 246
- “What am I embarrassed to be struggling with? And what am I doing about it?” — similar line of thinking on ideas for blog posts from Tim Ferriss P. 247
“Forget purpose. It’s okay to be happy without one. The quest for a single purpose has ruined many lives.” — James Altucher
“Refocus on systems instead of goals. This involves choosing projects and habits that, even if they result in failures in the eyes of the outside world, give you transferable skills or relationships.” — Scott Adams P. 263
“$1,000,000 in the bank isn’t the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows. The question is then, How can one achieve the millionaire lifestyle of complete freedom without first having $1,000,000?” — Tim Ferriss in The 4-Hour Workweek P 278
“Creativity is an infinite resource. The more you spend, the more you have.” — Chase Jarvis P. 281
“When you complain, nobody wants to help you.” — Stephen Hawking P 314
“If you spend your time focusing on the things that are wrong and that’s what you express and project to people you know, you don’t become a source of growth for people, you become a source of destruction for people.” — Tracy DiNunzio P 314
“Book your A list for after your first 10 pitches.” — Tim on developing your pitch before you go in front of your biggest prospects you want to sell to. P 314
“The job I was going to do hadn’t even been invented yet…The interesting jobs are the ones that you make up.” -Chris Young’s dad P. 320
“My parents always taught me that my day job would never make me rich. It’d be my homework.” -Daymond John P 324
“It is essential to get lost and jam up your plans every now and then. It’s a source of creativity and perspective. The danger of maps, capable assistants, and planning is that you may end up living your life as planned. If you do, your potential cannot possibly exceed your expectations.” — Scott Belsky P 360
“It’s not about ideas, it’s about making ideas happen. Young creative minds don’t need more ideas, they need to take more responsibility with the ideas they’ve already got.” — Scott Belsky P 361
“The day before something is truly a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea. If it wasn’t a crazy idea, it’s not a breakthrough, it’s an incremental improvement.” -Peter Diamandis P. 369
“What’s your moonshot?” — Peter Diamandis P. 370
“I just really want people to remember that they’re capable of doing everything that the people they admire are doing. Maybe not everything, but — don’t be so impressed.” — Sophia Amoruso P. 377
“Discipline equals freedom.” — Jocko Willink P 383
“If I’m not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, then I say no. Meaning: when deciding whether to commit to something, if I feel anything less than “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” — then my answer is no.”- Derek Sivers P 386
“Creating something that is rewarding and sustainable over the long run requires, most of all, keeping yourself excited about it.” — Maria Popova P. 410
“If you want to be tougher mentally, it is simple: Be tougher. Don’t meditate on it…Being tougher was, more than anything, a decision to be tougher. It’s possible to immediately “be tougher,” starting with your next decision. If you want to be tougher, be tougher.” — Jocko Willink P 414
“For me, when I wake up in the morning — and I don’t know why — I’m thinking about the enemy and what they’re doing.” — Jocko Willink P. 415
“You can tell the true character of a man by how his dog and his kids react to him.” — Shay Carl P 441
“Work will work when nothing else will work.” — Shay Carl’s grandpa P 443
“Courage takes practice. It’s a skill you have to develop.” — Tim Ferriss. He also has a piece of driftwood on his coffee table that says “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” P 462
“Many a false step was made by standing still.”
“Risks aren’t that scary once you take them.” -Tim Ferriss P 464
“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” — Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister P 465
“If you think about something more than three times a week, you have to write about it.” — Louis C.K. P 481
“Success must include peace.” — Alain De Botton P 487
“Everything came when I completely dove in fearlessly and made the content that I needed to make.” — Jason Silva P 589
Testing the impossible; 17 Questions that changed my life — Tim Ferriss — starts on P 594. Favorites:
- “I started with my credit card statement and asked myself, ‘What do I spend a silly amount of money on? Where did I spend a disproportionate amount of my income?’”
- “What are the worst things that could happen? Could I get back here?”
- “Could it be that everything is fine and complete as is?”
- “Once you hit your stride in any capacity, you should spend money to earn time, as the latter is nonrenewable.”
- “No hurry, no pause.”
“Is it an itch or a burn?” -Bryan Johnson P 610
“Even if I didn’t know what to do, I just had to begin. For a lot of people, that’s the part that keeps them back the most. The think, ‘Well, I don’t have an idea, so I can’t start.’ I know you’ll only get the idea once you start…You have to act first before inspiration will hit.” -Robert Rodriguez P 636
“I want people to hear those stories because when you feel like, ‘Oh I don’t know if I’m doing it right. These other guys seem to know.’ No, they don’t know. None of them know.” -Robert Rodriguez P 637
“Enjoy it.” — the best answer Tim has gotten from his friends when he asks them what he should do with his life. P 643
“Appreciate what’s good about this moment. Don’t always think that you’re on a permanent journey. Stop and enjoy the view.” — Alain De Botton on advice to his 30 year old self P 488
“If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are…This frantic, self-congratulatory busyness is a distinctly upscale affliction…It’s most often said by people whose lamented business is purely self-imposed… Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t working or doing something to promote their work.” — Tim Kreider in Lazy: A Manifesto P 489
“I did make a conscious decision, a long time ago, to choose time over money, since you can always make more money.” -Tim Kreider P 494
“Don Wildman. He’s 82 years old, and he did 23 pull-ups on the beach the other day.” — Rick Rubin on who he thinks of when he hears the word successful. P 506
“Even the best in the world struggle.” -Tim Ferriss P 512
“Blind belief in yourself.” Seth Rogen parting advice P 533
“It is so much less work to just be yourself.” — Andrew Zimmern P 541
“At 30, I was a starving New York theater actor, just going around trying to get acting work, and barely making $17 grand a year doing theater. I did a bunch of side jobs. I was a ‘man with a van’ — I had a moving company. I think what I would talk to myself about is, ‘You have to believe in your capacity.’ You have to believe that your capacity is greater than you could probably imagine…Believe in yourself more deeply. You’re bigger than that. Dream bigger.” — Rainn Wilson on advice to his 30 year old self. P 544
“Happiness is a choice that you make and a skill that you develop. You choose to be happy, and then you work at it. It’s just like building muscles.” — Naval Ravikant P 546
“Praise specifically, criticize generally.” — Warren Buffett P 551
“My one repeated learning life: ‘There are no adults.’ Everyone’s making it up as they go along. Figure it out yourself, and do it.” — Naval Ravikant P 552
“Write everything down because it’s all very fleeting.” — Mike Birbiglia on advice to his 20 year old self P 569
“Most of us are afraid and brave at the exact same moment.” — Brene Brown P587
“Did I dare greatly today? The big question I ask is, ‘When I had the opportunity, did I choose courage over comfort?’” — Brene Brown P 587
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