Tim Ferriss is a self-experimenter and bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 40+ languages. Newsweek calls him "the world's best human guinea pig," and The New York Times calls him "a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk." In this show, he deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, chess, pro sports, etc.), digging deep to find the tools, tactics, and tricks that listeners can use.
This is a special episode of the podcast. It's a sample chapter from my new book, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. What follows are 17 questions that have dramatically changed my life. Each one is time-stamped, as they entered the picture at precise moments. Enjoy! Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfro...
Mark Bittman (@bittman) is the author of 20 acclaimed books, including the How to Cook Everything series, Food Matters, and his latest, How to Bake Everything -- which is on a coveted shelf in my own kitchen. For more than two decades, Mark's popular and compelling stories appeared in The New York Times, where he was ultimately the Lead Food Writer for the Sunday Magazine. He became the country's first food-focused op-ed columnist for a major news publication. He starred in four TV series includ...
Josh Waitzkin is an endlessly fascinating person who gets mentioned a lot on this show for good reason (and he's been a guest not just once, but twice). He was the basis for the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. Considered a chess prodigy, Josh has perfected learning strategies that can be applied to anything, including his other loves of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (he's a black belt under phenom Marcelo Garcia) and Tai Chi push hands (he's a world champion). These days, he spends his time co...
David "DHH" Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) is the creator of Ruby on Rails, founder and CTO at Basecamp (formerly 37signals), and the best-selling co-author of Rework and Remote: Office Not Required. Oh, and he went from not having a driver's license at 25 to winning, at 34, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. It is often called the "Grand Prix of endurance and efficiency." Listeners had a million questions we didn't get to last time, so he's back ...
Derek Sivers(@sivers) is one of my favorite humans, and I call him often for advice. Think of him as a philosopher-king programmer, master teacher, and merry prankster. Originally a professional musician and circus clown (he did the latter to counterbalance being introverted), Derek created CD Baby in 1998. It became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100 million in sales for 150,000 musicians. In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby for $22 million, giving the proceeds to a charitable tr...
I'm excited to bring you a little taste test of a new show format that I've been working on -- The Tim Ferriss Radio Hour. After 200 conversations with a variety of fascinating people, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Foxx, Tony Robbins, Maria Popova, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Amanda Palmer, Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Rubin, Reid Hoffman, Chase Jarvis, Sam Harris, Rainn Wilson, and so many others, I started to spot patterns. This is the premise of my new book Tools of Titans, which is...
Susan Garrett (@susangarrett) is an incredible dog trainer. She has a B.Sc. in animal science, and for more than two decades has been one of the most consistently successful competitors in the sport of dog agility. Susan has been on the podium of the world and national championship events more than 50 times, winning those events a total of 38 times. She was of great help to me when I first adopted Molly, my own pup, and her book Shaping Success (The Education of an Unlikely Champion) was se...
Stephen J. Dubner (@Freakonomics) returns to the show. He is an award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality. He is best-known for writing, along with the economist Steven D. Levitt, Freakonomics (2005), SuperFreakonomics†(2009), and Think Like a Freak (2014), which have sold more than five million copies in 35 languages. He is the creator of the top-ranked Freakonomics Radio podcast. His brand-new podcast, produced in collaboration with The New Yo...
Charles Poliquin is back for another round of the podcast. Charles (@strengthsensei) is one of the best known strength coaches in the world. He has trained elite athletes from nearly 20 different sports, including Olympic gold medalists, NFL All-Pro’s, NHL All-Stars and Stanley Cup champions, and IFBB bodybuilding champions. His clients include long-jump gold medalist Dwight Phillips, NHL MVP Chris Pronger, and MLB batting champion Edgar Martinez, and the first women's wrestling US Olympic gold ...
By request, we have another drunk dialing episode (the most recent one can be found here, and the original can be found here). This one is a little different as it's a Ladies Night edition. Some of you may have noticed that ladies were absent from the last drunk dialing fiasco. Why? It's just math. Looking at the results of a recent poll of 11,463 respondents, my audience is 84.04% male, 15.83% female, and .13% other. The people who sign up first get called first. The last time, three out o...
Dave Camarillo (@DaveCamarillo) was my long-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) coach (see him kicking my ass repeatedly here). Put simply, he is a machine. On the Mat once said: "It's funny that everybody in Judo is scared of David's ne waza and everybody in Jiu-Jitsu is scared of his stand up. (We) guess people, in general, are just scared of him." Dave is a very technical coach and an elite-level Jiu-Jitsu competitor. He dominated the lightweight and open weight classes at the 1998 Rickson Gr...
David "DHH" Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) is the creator of Ruby on Rails, founder and CTO at Basecamp (formerly 37signals), and the best-selling co-author of Rework and Remote: Office Not Required. Oh, and he went from not having a driver's license at 25 to winning, at 34, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. It is often called the "Grand Prix of endurance and efficiency." David is one of the most outspoken technologists out there. He is not one t...
Erik Vance (@erikvance) is an award-winning science writer based in California and Mexico City. After working as a scientist on research projects dealing with dolphin intelligence and coastal ecology, he became an educator and then an environmental consultant. In 2005, he attended UC Santa Cruz's famed Science Communication Program and discovered a passion for journalism. Since then, he has built his career around science-based profiles of inspiring or controversial figures. His work has ap...
This episode was a blast. It was a tropical exploration of biology, life extension, and all good things. This included a lot of Carmenere wine and good old-fashioned ball busting. I was joined by: Peter Attia, MD (@peterattiamd), who rejoins the show (catch his last appearance here). He is a former ultra-endurance athlete (e.g., swimming 25-mile races), compulsive self-experimenter, and one of the most fascinating human beings I know. He is one of my go-to doctors for anything performance- or lo...
Thanks to the gin I had tonight, this is a special episode. It is a drunk-dialing Q&A with you guys -- like we did around this time last year to celebrate the 100th episode. In preparation, I solicited phone numbers from listeners who wanted to receive a call from me. In this episode, I cover topics such as: parenting advice from friends and guests how to get started in podcasting how to make a good sales pitch long-distance moves what I consider good advice and much, much more! Without furt...
This is a special episode because it doesn't focus on the lessons of one particular person. Instead, I explore the tips, tricks, and framework I've used to learn just about any skill. This is the meta-skill of meta-learning, or learning how to learn. I'm going to share techniques that can help you -- even if you're sub-par or a rote beginner -- take the smartest first steps and use 80/20 analysis to accelerate your progress. This is adapted from The 4-Hour Chef, which is the cookbook that's not ...
Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) is most associated with a tool that powers more than 25% of the entire Web: WordPress. He's also the CEO of Automattic, which is a multi-billion dollar, fully distributed startup. Matt loves tea, tequila, and Chicken McNuggets. His first time on the show went over so well that you've all been asking for a round two. So in this episode, he answers your most popular questions. Please enjoy! Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek....
This is another special in-betweenisode. It's a little shorter than the normal long-form episodes, and it features a Q&A with Shay Carl (@shaycarl). If you missed our first interview, Shay's story is incredible. He was a manual laborer for ages and uploaded his first YouTube video while on break from his job. Flash forward to today: His SHAYTARDS channel now has roughly 2.3 BILLION views. Celebs like Steven Spielberg have appeared alongside Shay and his family. He co-founded Maker Studios, w...
Dr. Dominic "Dom" D'Agostino (@DominicDAgosti2) is one of my most popular guests, and I'm happy to have him rejoin the show for the third time. (You can listen to Dom's first appearance here, and his second appearance here). Dom is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, and a senior research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) -- which is mentioned&nb...
"Don't count on motivation; count on discipline." - Jocko Willink Jocko Willink (@jockowillink) is one of the scariest human beings imaginable. He is a lean 230 pounds. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert who used to tap out 20 Navy SEALs per workout. He is a legend in the Special Operations world. His eyes look through you more than at you. Jocko spent 20 years in the US Navy and commanded SEAL Team 3's task unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated special operations unit in the Iraq War. Upon re...
"You can't be grateful and angry simultaneously." - Tony Robbins The last time Tony Robbins (@tonyrobbins) was on the show, so many listeners found this one exercise helpful that they suggested I feature it on its own. This guided meditation is designed to help you overcome stress in a way that's backed with quantifiable neuroscience. If you've been worrying about unfinished business without resolution, this is a powerful tool to help you resolve the situation. This is very short and very powerf...
My job is usually to deconstruct world-class performers and tease out their routines and habits you can use. But in this in-betweenisode, I'm going to present some short nuggets of practical, tactical philosophy about practicing what you preach. This is a letter from Stoic heavyweight Seneca the Younger -- who lived a mere 2,000 years or so ago -- to his friend Lucilius. It's from a collection of letters that comprise, effectively, my favorite book of all time. I've read it dozens of times, and ...
Shep Gordon (@SupermenschShep) has been named one of the "100 most influential people" by Rolling Stone magazine. He is the man behind some of the biggest names you've ever heard. If you like the storytelling and lessons of Cal Fussman, you're going to love this one. Shep has worked with, and befriended, some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, from Alice Cooper to Bette Davis, Raquel Welch to Groucho Marx, Blondie to Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone to Salvador Dali, Luther Vand...
Cal (@calfussman) is a New York Times bestselling author and a writer-at-large for Esquire magazine, where he is best known for being a primary writer of the "What I Learned" feature. The Austin Chronicle has described Cal's interviewing skills as "peerless." He has transformed oral history into an art form, conducting probing interviews with the icons who've shaped the last 50 years of world history: Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Jack Welch...
My guest on this episode of the podcast is Jason Nemer, co-founder of AcroYoga. Jason is an incredible character, who travels the world with next to nothing. He introduced me to my latest obsession -- AcroYoga. Along with Gymnastic Strength Training, I've been doing AcroYoga -- and I think about doing it all the time. AcroYoga is closer to partner acrobatics: Cirque du Soleil routine meets sensual-but-not-sexual contact. Even if you have no interest in doing AcroYoga yourself, there are man...
This episode is not going to deconstruct a world-class performer, per usual. This is a short, but very actionable and practical episode about the inner workings of my business. I was asked recently how I choose my projects. I riffed on this topic, and shared many thoughts on delegating tasks, future projects, and my involvement -- and break from -- the start-up community. I realized that the real question at the root of many of my decisions is: "How can I waste money to improve my quality of lif...
This is another jam-packed episode with Coach Chris Sommer, the former US national team gymnastics coach and founder of GymnasticBodies. As a world-renowned Olympic coach, Sommer is known for building his students into some of the strongest, most powerful athletes in the world. While this is a stand-alone episode, you can (and should!) check out his last appearance, which is one of the most popular podcast episodes. We cover a lot in this episode, including: What home equipment should someo...
My job is usually to deconstruct world-class performers from business, military, entertainment, politics, or athletics, and then to tease out the routines and habits you can use. But in this in-betweenisode, Ryan Holiday, author of the book Ego Is the Enemy, shares a chapter called What's Important to You? This chapter alone is worth the price of the book, and it contains many fundamental truths that can be applied to business and life. (The book is also the newest addition to my book club,...
I'm very pleased to welcome Tony Robbins (@tonyrobbins) back to the show. (You can check out our previous in-depth conversations here: Part 1 and Part 2). For those of you that aren't familiar, Tony Robbins is the world's most famous performance coach. He's advised everyone from Bill Clinton to Mikhail Gorbachev to Serena Williams, and Leonardo DiCaprio to Oprah (who calls him "superhuman"). This time around, we discussed a number of topics we didn't get to cover in our previous interviews. I al...
Seth Godin discusses marketing, building tribes, overcoming fear, and redefining education. He emphasizes the importance of contributing to a community, focusing on small achievable goals, and embracing the 'long cut' for lasting impact. Godin also delves into personal branding and the necessity of making work more human.
