Summary

Tim Ferris provides a no-BS approach to success and creating a personal brand. Practice the art of essentialism by emphasizing your strengths and leveraging Parkinson’s Law. Learn to be difficult by making it hard for people to not give you what you want but force others to have to work to take your time. Build your tolerance for risk and failure with comfort challenges and practice the art of getting past no. Ask for forgiveness, not permission. Stretch the truth to build creditability in your field and network by challenging social convention. Take mini retirements to spread your autonomy to cherish life across life rather than all at the end.

“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do”“Success can be measured in the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have”

“What man actually needs is not a tension-less state but rather striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.”
- Viktor Frankyl

Key Takeaways

• Essentialism: cut the fat (selective ignorance)
  • Emphasize strengths, don’t waste time fixing weaknesses
• Parkinson’s law: task will swell to take up the time assigned to it (set deadlines)
• Learn to be difficult: make it hard for people to not give you what you want
  • Ask for forgiveness, not permission
  • Force people to have to work to take your time (automated email reply)
  • The timing is never right
• Build creditability in field:
  • Read the 3 top selling books on topic
  • Give a free seminar at local college
  • Give same seminar at 1-3 companies
    • “Offering for free to get additional experience outside academic setting”
  • Offer to write articles for trade magazines or interview expert
• Comfort challenge: Yoda mentor: (sourcing)
  • Research, have one question
  • “Hi this is X calling for X please”
  • “I’m a first time author and long time fan. Could you help me get in touch?…”
  • Record your calls to improve (VOIP)
• Practice the art of getting past no:
  • What would I need to do to…
  • Under what circumstances would you…
  • Have you ever made an exception?
  • Why not?
• Mini retirement: recurring breaks, spreading retirement across life rather than all at end
  • Interest, energy are cyclical
  • Retirement is worst case scenario life insurance

Notes

1: D is for Definition

• Consider lifestyle output of money
  • Off-season: 3-10x worth
• New rich: mini periods of retirement
  • Can spend 1/3 of time not working
• Rules:
  • Retirement is worst case scenario life insurance
  • Interest, energy are cyclical
  • Less is not laziness
  • The timing is never right
  • Ask for forgiveness, not permission
  • Emphasize strengths, don’t waste time fixing weaknesses
  • Thing in excess become their opposite
  • Money alone is not the solution
  • Relative > absolute income (per hour)
  • Stress is good, distress is bad
• “Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty”
• “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do”
• “Success can be measured in the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have”
• Go after the impossible rather than the conventional, there is paradoxically less competition
• Assumption: happiness = excitement
• Networking: fail better: start dialog with one simple question, be persistent (double text)
• Eye gaze: practice staring contests

2: E is for Elimination

• Essentialism: cut the fat
  • Sources of most happiness, unhappiness, results, detractors
• Parkinson’s law: task will swell to take up the time assigned to it (set deadlines)
• Selective ignorance
• Develop the habit of not finishing if boring or unnecessary. Sunken cost fallacy
• Comfort challenge: get over the fear of asking. Get girls’ numbers at the mall
• “Excuse me, I know this is going to sound strange but I’m going to be kicking myself for the rest of the day. I’m running to meet a friend but I think you’re really cute. Could I have your phone number? I promise I’m not a psycho. You can give me a fake number if you’re not interested.”
• Learn to be difficult: make it hard for people to not give you what you want
• Force people to have to work to take your time (automated email reply)
• Batching: batch together related tasks
• Outsource tasks to others
• Keep looking for productivity hacks

3: A is for Automation

• Outsource personal life, mundane work tasks to cheap remote personal assistant(s)
  • Low-risk practice for entrepreneurship
• Build creditability in field:
  • Join related trade organizations
  • Read the 3 top selling books on topic
  • Give a free seminar at local college
  • Give same seminar at 1-3 companies
    • “Offering for free to get additional experience outside academic setting”
  • Offer to write articles for trade magazines or interview expert
  • Join Profnet
• Comfort challenge: Yoda mentor:
  • Research, have one question
  • Contactanycelebrity.com
  • “Hi this is X calling for X please”
  • “Is X in the office today?”
  • “I’m a first time author and long time fan. Could you help me get in touch?…”
  • Record your calls to improve (VOIP)
  • Review this, do it!
• Perceived size does matter
  • Business emails, phone support, etc.
• Comfort challenge: lie down on the ground for 10 seconds, “I just felt like lying down”

4: L is for Liberation

• Tips for moving to fully remote work:
  • Get company to invest in you
  • Be more productive during WFH days
  • Go from 1-day trial to 2-week trial
• Practice the art of getting past no:
  • What would I need to do to…
  • Under what circumstances would you…
  • Have you ever made an exception?
  • Why not?
• “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? Double your rate of failure” - Thomas Edison
• Mini retirement: recurring breaks, spreading retirement across life rather than all at end
• Tips for cheap travel:
  • Use credit cards with points
  • Book 3+ months out
  • Book connections with local airlines
• Ruthlessly reduce clutter
• Experience of meaning vs. being alive
  • Interpersonal connection vs. pure bliss
• “What man actually needs is not a tension-less state but rather striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.” Viktor Frankyl
• Meaning of life: learning, service, love
• Biggest predictor of happiness: 1x 2-3 hour meal with friends per week