Part 2 — 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 recommendation day. Here are some good recommendations from Tools of Titans:
“Daily Rituals” — by Mason Currey. It’s a book that profiles the rituals of 161 creatives
“Escape to River Cottage” — recommendation of a TV show from Tim where people go live off the land
Ranking of 200+ books by Derek Sivers at www.sivers.org/books — P. 185
Recommended read by Matt Mullenweg P. 305 — “The Tail End” by Tim Urban on the Wait But Why blog. It diagrams how short life really is.
“First, Ten” — the blog post that Seth Godin would tell people to read first of his 6,500. It’s a marketing theory that says: “tell ten people, show ten people, share it with ten people; ten people who already trust you and already like you. If they don’t tell anybody else, it’s not that good and you should start over. If they do tell other people, then you’re on your way.”
Shaun White and Tim Ferriss both recommend Andre Agassi’s autobiography, “Open.” — P 272
“The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” by Al Ries and Jack Trout — book that Tim Ferriss recommends constantly — P. 276
“The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande. Book recommended by both Tim and Ramit Sethi P. 291
“Creativity, Inc.” by Ed Catmull (founder of Pixar) P.309
“Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” -recommended book by multiple billionaires
· “The Obstacle Is the Way” — by Ryan Holiday. Recommended book of many NFL coaches. P 334
“Start With Why” by Simon Sinek. Recommended by half a dozen people in Tools of Titans
“Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey. Recommended by BJ Novak. Shows the daily routines of many of the greats.
“On the Shortness of Life” by Seneca. Recommended by at least 6 people
Top articles to read on Brain Pickings website:
- “The Shortness of Life: Seneca on Busyness and the Art of Living Wide Rather Than Living Long”
- “How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love”
- “9 Learnings from 9 Years of Brain Pickings”
- “Anything about Alan Watts
The Up Series documentary — revisits the same group of people every 7 years
“Bird By Bird” by Anne Lamott. Recommended by several. P 513
Writing prompts from Cheryl Strayed — P 516
“Moonwalking with Einstein” by Joshua Foer. Book about Ed Cooke who is one of the best at memory and teaching memory in the world. P 517
Morning Pages — based on Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way.” It’s a morning writing exercise.
Good — nice article on Jocko Willink’s mindset P 640
“We Learn Nothing” by Tim Kreider. Tim Ferriss liked it so much he produced the audiobook of it. P 489
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Recommended by Cal Fussman to any person that wants to write a book. If you want to write a great book, read this first to know what a great book is.
-Sorsby
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