Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 12
February 27, 2024
Claire Hughes Johnson — How to Take Responsibility for Your Life, Create Rules That Work, Stop Being a Victim, Set Strong Boundaries, and More (#724)
Illustration via 99designs“There are two gaps that I think are really hard. One is people who can’t stop being victims, and the other gap is—I call it ‘self-awareness gap,’ where they think they are the best in the world.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
Claire Hughes Johnson (@chughesjohnson) currently serves as a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the Internet. Claire previously served as Stripe’s chief operating officer from 2014 to 2021, helping grow the company from fewer than 200 employees to more than 6,000. At various times, she led business operations, sales, marketing, customer support, risk, real estate, and all of the people functions, including recruiting and HR.
Prior to Stripe, Claire spent 10 years at Google leading a number of business teams, including overseeing aspects of Gmail, Google Apps, and ultimately consumer operations, as well as serving as a vice president for AdWords Online Sales and Operations, Google Offers, and Google’s self-driving car project.
Claire holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an MBA from Yale University. She currently serves on the boards of the renewable energy company Ameresco, the multi-platform publication The Atlantic, the self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation, and the customer management software company HubSpot.
Her book is Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform . Watch the interview on YouTube here.
Brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement; LinkedIn Ads marketing platform with 1B+ users; and Momentous high-quality supplements.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#724: Claire Hughes Johnson — How to Take Responsibility for Your Life, Create Rules That Work, Stop Being a Victim, Set Strong Boundaries, and MoreThis episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.
This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements! Momentous offers high-quality supplements and products across a broad spectrum of categories, and I’ve been testing their products for months now. I’ve been using their magnesium threonate, apigenin, and L-theanine daily, all of which have helped me improve the onset, quality, and duration of my sleep. I’ve also been using Momentous creatine, and while it certainly helps physical performance, including poundage or wattage in sports, I use it primarily for mental performance (short-term memory, etc.).
Their products are third-party tested (Informed-Sport and/or NSF certified), so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle and nothing else. If you want to try Momentous for yourself, you can use code Tim for 20% off your one-time purchase at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. And not to worry, my non-US friends, Momentous ships internationally and has you covered.
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn ads, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 900 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Want to hear an episode with Claire’s colleague, the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, Patrick Collison? Listen to our conversation here in which we discussed the importance of giving ideas time to fail, succeeding in a seemingly saturated market, the siren song of high praise, organic traction, growing up as a “free-range” child, learning ancient Greek from a local monk, developing a unique worldview at any age, how to make speedier decisions, and much more.
#353: Patrick Collison — CEO of StripeSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Claire Hughes Johnson:Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson | AmazonIdeas for Progress | Stripe PressConscious Business: How to Build Value through Values by Fred Kofman | AmazonConscious Business | AxialentWhat Is a 360 Review in the Workplace? | The Balance CareersTiger Team Explained: How It Helps to Solve Critical Issues | TimeularFred Kofman: Be a Player, Not a Victim | LinkedIn Speaker SeriesFive Whys Technique: Root Cause Analysis (With Examples) | IndeedWhat Is the Meaning of the Phrase “Be That as It May?” | QuoraAwareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello | AmazonTo the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf | AmazonA Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf | AmazonMrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf | AmazonThe Passion by Jeanette Winterson | AmazonOranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson | AmazonSexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson | AmazonWhat’s the Truth about Bloomsbury and the Jews? | The Jewish Chronicle‘I Am Going Mad Again’: The Tragic Tale of Virginia Woolf’s Suicide | ATIJohn Wick | Prime VideoLittle, Big by John Crowley | AmazonThe Neverending Story by Michael Ende | AmazonComplete Dune Series by Frank Herbert | AmazonStranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein | AmazonExhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang | AmazonWhat is Magical Realism? A Guide to the Literary Genre | Oprah DailyOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez | AmazonThe Three-Body Problem Boxed Set by Cixin Liu | AmazonContact: A Novel by Carl Sagan | AmazonWasting Years by Not Wasting Hours | Sam RadfordWorking with Claire: An Unauthorized Guide | Claire Hughes JohnsonThe Six Levels of Craic You Can Reach | Irish CentralHigh Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People by Elad Gil | AmazonAn Irish Goodbye | Floodlight PicturesWhat Is An Irish Goodbye, And What Makes It ‘Irish’? | Babbel MagazineFinancial Infrastructure for the Internet | StripeThe Most Founder-Focused Event on Earth | SlushLeadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Change by Martin Linsky and Ronald A. Heifetz | AmazonChief Operating Officer (COO): Definition, Types, and Qualifications | InvestopediaSophie’s Choice | Prime VideoSix Steps for Successful Postmortem Meetings | AsanaB2C: How Business-to-Consumer Sales Works, 5 Types and Examples | InvestopediaGlengarry Glen Ross | Prime VideoTime, Talent, Treasure, and Testimony: The Four Ts of Philanthropy | Equip To ThriveWhat Is Self-Awareness and How Does It Develop? | Verywell MindI Was VP at Google for 10 Years. Here’s the No. 1 Skill I Looked For at Job Interviews — Few People Had It | CNBCMyers–Briggs Type Indicator | WikipediaWhat is the DiSC Assessment? | DiSC ProfileEnneagram of Personality | WikipediaInsights DiscoveryPersonality Tests That Predict Performance | Hogan AssessmentsBig Five Personality Test | Open-Source Psychometrics ProjectStrengthsFinder 2.0 | GallupSkepticism of Astrology Isn’t Particularly Smart | QuartzThe Skeptic’s Horoscope | Math with Bad DrawingsOnline Rorschach Inkblot TestPatrick Collison — CEO of Stripe | The Tim Ferriss Show #353Pulp Fiction | Prime VideoThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | AmazonThe AtlanticHow to Work with Pushers and Pullers Effectively (Clip) | Grit Podcast #128SHOW NOTES[07:51] Say the thing you think you cannot say.[13:24] Detoxifying your left-hand column.[19:59] Victim versus player.[29:49] Recommended reading.[36:53] The case for reading fiction.[44:18] Crafting a working-with-me document.[52:07] Make the implicit explicit.[57:29] An Irish Goodbye.[58:34] Email policies.[1:03:58] Renegotiating the terms of expectations.[01:06:05] Listening for the quiet no.[01:08:27] Money versus time.[01:10:14] Good rules can be liberating.[01:12:59] Leadership and disappointment.[01:17:59] Renegotiating past disappointment.[01:37:05] Asking a question versus stating an opinion.[01:40:58] Training wheels for a “no.”[01:42:26] Time, talent, treasure, and testimony.[01:46:37] Spotting bad apples while hiring.[01:48:37] If you’re not self-aware, how would you know?[01:51:08] Work style assessments for self-awareness building.[01:58:38] Paragons of no.[02:00:51] No more boards.[02:04:58] Pushers and pullers.[02:11:50] Parting thoughts.MORE CLAIRE HUGHES JOHNSON QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“There are two gaps that I think are really hard. One is people who can’t stop being victims, and the other gap is—I call it ‘self-awareness gap,’ where they think they are the best in the world.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“How do you get results? You get super clear and transparent about anything implicit—you make it explicit, and you’re clear. This is a process. We’re going to go through it to get to this outcome. And what is the outcome we want? Make it explicit.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“I am just honest about, ‘I can’t do this well, and I think you want someone at their best. It’s not going to be my best.'”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“My personal trap is I think I’m being an empath, giving them 30 minutes. ‘Let me hear your story.’ And in fact, the empathic thing to do is to say, ‘I’m going to do a probability assessment. The chance that I’m going to invest/make a donation are sub five percent. No. No for you, no for me. And you don’t have to think about it ever again. You don’t have have to email me tomorrow and ask me again.'”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“There’s a reason these people are leaders. Most of the time they’re 80 percent of the way there. They’re just not confident in their instinct. And so my job is not to tell them what to do or how to do it; it is to build their confidence in their instinct and then, yeah, we can brainstorm the last 20 percent.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“People do not learn by being told answers. … What you’re going to do if you’re a good leader, a good teacher, is you’re going to lead them through learning with you and they are going to get to the answer and you are going to celebrate them doing that.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
The post Claire Hughes Johnson — How to Take Responsibility for Your Life, Create Rules That Work, Stop Being a Victim, Set Strong Boundaries, and More (#724) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
Claire Hughes Johnson, Building Stripe from 160 to 6,000+ Employees — How to Take Radical Ownership of Your Life and Career (#724)
Illustration via 99designs“There are two gaps that I think are really hard. One is people who can’t stop being victims, and the other gap is—I call it ‘self-awareness gap,’ where they think they are the best in the world.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
Claire Hughes Johnson (@chughesjohnson) currently serves as a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the Internet. Claire previously served as Stripe’s chief operating officer from 2014 to 2021, helping grow the company from fewer than 200 employees to more than 6,000. At various times, she led business operations, sales, marketing, customer support, risk, real estate, and all of the people functions, including recruiting and HR.
Prior to Stripe, Claire spent 10 years at Google leading a number of business teams, including overseeing aspects of Gmail, Google Apps, and ultimately consumer operations, as well as serving as a vice president for AdWords Online Sales and Operations, Google Offers, and Google’s self-driving car project.
Claire holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an MBA from Yale University. She currently serves on the boards of the renewable energy company Ameresco, the multi-platform publication The Atlantic, the self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation, and the customer management software company HubSpot.
Her book is Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform . Watch the interview on YouTube here.
Brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, LinkedIn Ads marketing platform with 1B+ users:, and Momentous high-quality supplements.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#724: Claire Hughes Johnson, Building Stripe from 160 to 6,000+ Employees — How to Take Radical Ownership of Your Life and CareerThis episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.
This episode is also brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements! Momentous offers high-quality supplements and products across a broad spectrum of categories, and I’ve been testing their products for months now. I’ve been using their magnesium threonate, apigenin, and L-theanine daily, all of which have helped me improve the onset, quality, and duration of my sleep. I’ve also been using Momentous creatine, and while it certainly helps physical performance, including poundage or wattage in sports, I use it primarily for mental performance (short-term memory, etc.).
Their products are third-party tested (Informed-Sport and/or NSF certified), so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle and nothing else. If you want to try Momentous for yourself, you can use code Tim for 20% off your one-time purchase at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. And not to worry, my non-US friends, Momentous ships internationally and has you covered.
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn ads, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 900 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Want to hear an episode with Claire’s colleague, the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, Patrick Collison? Listen to our conversation here in which we discussed the importance of giving ideas time to fail, succeeding in a seemingly saturated market, the siren song of high praise, organic traction, growing up as a “free-range” child, learning ancient Greek from a local monk, developing a unique worldview at any age, how to make speedier decisions, and much more.
#353: Patrick Collison — CEO of StripeSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Claire Hughes Johnson:Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson | AmazonIdeas for Progress | Stripe PressConscious Business: How to Build Value through Values by Fred Kofman | AmazonConscious Business | AxialentWhat Is a 360 Review in the Workplace? | The Balance CareersTiger Team Explained: How It Helps to Solve Critical Issues | TimeularFred Kofman: Be a Player, Not a Victim | LinkedIn Speaker SeriesFive Whys Technique: Root Cause Analysis (With Examples) | IndeedWhat Is the Meaning of the Phrase “Be That as It May?” | QuoraAwareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello | AmazonTo the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf | AmazonA Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf | AmazonMrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf | AmazonThe Passion by Jeanette Winterson | AmazonOranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson | AmazonSexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson | AmazonWhat’s the Truth about Bloomsbury and the Jews? | The Jewish Chronicle‘I Am Going Mad Again’: The Tragic Tale of Virginia Woolf’s Suicide | ATIJohn Wick | Prime VideoLittle, Big by John Crowley | AmazonThe Neverending Story by Michael Ende | AmazonComplete Dune Series by Frank Herbert | AmazonStranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein | AmazonExhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang | AmazonWhat is Magical Realism? A Guide to the Literary Genre | Oprah DailyOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez | AmazonThe Three-Body Problem Boxed Set by Cixin Liu | AmazonContact: A Novel by Carl Sagan | AmazonWasting Years by Not Wasting Hours | Sam RadfordWorking with Claire: An Unauthorized Guide | Claire Hughes JohnsonThe Six Levels of Craic You Can Reach | Irish CentralHigh Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People by Elad Gil | AmazonAn Irish Goodbye | Floodlight PicturesWhat Is An Irish Goodbye, And What Makes It ‘Irish’? | Babbel MagazineFinancial Infrastructure for the Internet | StripeThe Most Founder-Focused Event on Earth | SlushLeadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Change by Martin Linsky and Ronald A. Heifetz | AmazonChief Operating Officer (COO): Definition, Types, and Qualifications | InvestopediaSophie’s Choice | Prime VideoSix Steps for Successful Postmortem Meetings | AsanaB2C: How Business-to-Consumer Sales Works, 5 Types and Examples | InvestopediaGlengarry Glen Ross | Prime VideoTime, Talent, Treasure, and Testimony: The Four Ts of Philanthropy | Equip To ThriveWhat Is Self-Awareness and How Does It Develop? | Verywell MindI Was VP at Google for 10 Years. Here’s the No. 1 Skill I Looked For at Job Interviews — Few People Had It | CNBCMyers–Briggs Type Indicator | WikipediaWhat is the DiSC Assessment? | DiSC ProfileEnneagram of Personality | WikipediaInsights DiscoveryPersonality Tests That Predict Performance | Hogan AssessmentsBig Five Personality Test | Open-Source Psychometrics ProjectStrengthsFinder 2.0 | GallupSkepticism of Astrology Isn’t Particularly Smart | QuartzThe Skeptic’s Horoscope | Math with Bad DrawingsOnline Rorschach Inkblot TestPatrick Collison — CEO of Stripe | The Tim Ferriss Show #353Pulp Fiction | Prime VideoThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | AmazonThe AtlanticHow to Work with Pushers and Pullers Effectively (Clip) | Grit Podcast #128SHOW NOTES[07:51] Say the thing you think you cannot say.[13:24] Detoxifying your left-hand column.[19:59] Victim versus player.[29:49] Recommended reading.[36:53] The case for reading fiction.[44:18] Crafting a working-with-me document.[52:07] Make the implicit explicit.[57:29] An Irish Goodbye.[58:34] Email policies.[1:03:58] Renegotiating the terms of expectations.[01:06:05] Listening for the quiet no.[01:08:27] Money versus time.[01:10:14] Good rules can be liberating.[01:12:59] Leadership and disappointment.[01:17:59] Renegotiating past disappointment.[01:37:05] Asking a question versus stating an opinion.[01:40:58] Training wheels for a “no.”[01:42:26] Time, talent, treasure, and testimony.[01:46:37] Spotting bad apples while hiring.[01:48:37] If you’re not self-aware, how would you know?[01:51:08] Work style assessments for self-awareness building.[01:58:38] Paragons of no.[02:00:51] No more boards.[02:04:58] Pushers and pullers.[02:11:50] Parting thoughts.MORE CLAIRE HUGHES JOHNSON QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“There are two gaps that I think are really hard. One is people who can’t stop being victims, and the other gap is—I call it ‘self-awareness gap,’ where they think they are the best in the world.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“How do you get results? You get super clear and transparent about anything implicit—you make it explicit, and you’re clear. This is a process. We’re going to go through it to get to this outcome. And what is the outcome we want? Make it explicit.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“I am just honest about, ‘I can’t do this well, and I think you want someone at their best. It’s not going to be my best.'”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“My personal trap is I think I’m being an empath, giving them 30 minutes. ‘Let me hear your story.’ And in fact, the empathic thing to do is to say, ‘I’m going to do a probability assessment. The chance that I’m going to invest/make a donation are sub five percent. No. No for you, no for me. And you don’t have to think about it ever again. You don’t have have to email me tomorrow and ask me again.'”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“There’s a reason these people are leaders. Most of the time they’re 80 percent of the way there. They’re just not confident in their instinct. And so my job is not to tell them what to do or how to do it; it is to build their confidence in their instinct and then, yeah, we can brainstorm the last 20 percent.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
“People do not learn by being told answers. … What you’re going to do if you’re a good leader, a good teacher, is you’re going to lead them through learning with you and they are going to get to the answer and you are going to celebrate them doing that.”
— Claire Hughes Johnson
The post Claire Hughes Johnson, Building Stripe from 160 to 6,000+ Employees — How to Take Radical Ownership of Your Life and Career (#724) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
February 23, 2024
In Case You Missed It: January 2024 Recap of “The Tim Ferriss Show” (#723)
Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.
This is a special inbetweenisode, which serves as a recap of the episodes from last month. It features a short clip from each conversation in one place so you can easily jump around to get a feel for the episode and guest.
Based on your feedback, this format has been tweaked and improved since the first recap episode. For instance, it was suggested that the bios for each guest can slow the momentum, so we moved all the bios to the end.
See it as a teaser. Something to whet your appetite. If you like what you hear, you can of course find the full episodes below or at tim.blog/podcast.
Please enjoy!
Timestamps:
Greg McKeown: 03:13
Dr. Nolan Williams: 14:58
Noah Kagan: 21:11
Dr. Andy Galpin: 25:58
Chris Beresford-Hill: 30:38
Full episode titles:
Walk & Talk with Greg McKeown — How to Find Your Purpose and Master Essentialism in 2024 (#719)
Noah Kagan — How to Launch a Million-Dollar Business This Weekend (#717)
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#723: In Case You Missed It: January 2024 Recap of The Tim Ferriss ShowThis episode is brought to you by 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter that every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.
It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.
The post In Case You Missed It: January 2024 Recap of “The Tim Ferriss Show” (#723) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
February 21, 2024
Cal Newport — How to Embrace Slow Productivity, Build a Deep Life, Achieve Mastery, and Defend Your Time (#722)
Illustration via 99designs“You can’t be busy and frenetic and bouncing off the walls with 100 projects if you’re obsessed about doing something really well.”
— Cal Newport
Cal Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University, where he is also a founding member of the Center for Digital Ethics. In addition to his academic work, Newport is a New York Times bestselling author who writes for a general audience about the intersection of technology, productivity, and culture. His books have sold millions of copies and been translated into over forty languages. He is also a contributor to The New Yorker and hosts the popular Deep Questions podcast.
His new book is Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform . Watch the interview on YouTube here.
Brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, and Momentous high-quality supplements.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#722: Cal Newport — How to Embrace Slow Productivity, Build a Deep Life, Achieve Mastery, and Defend Your TimeThis episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.
This episode is also brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements! Momentous offers high-quality supplements and products across a broad spectrum of categories, and I’ve been testing their products for months now. I’ve been using their magnesium threonate, apigenin, and L-theanine daily, all of which have helped me improve the onset, quality, and duration of my sleep. I’ve also been using Momentous creatine, and while it certainly helps physical performance, including poundage or wattage in sports, I use it primarily for mental performance (short-term memory, etc.).
Their products are third-party tested (Informed-Sport and/or NSF certified), so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle and nothing else. If you want to try Momentous for yourself, you can use code Tim for 20% off your one-time purchase at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. And not to worry, my non-US friends, Momentous ships internationally and has you covered.
This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.
Conquer this winter season with the best in sleep tech and sleep at your perfect temperature. Many of my listeners in colder areas enjoy warming up their bed after a freezing day. Go to eightsleep.com/Tim and save $200 on the Pod Cover by Eight Sleep this winter. Eight Sleep currently ships within the USA, Canada, the UK, select countries in the EU, and Australia.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Want to hear the last time Cal Newport was on this show? Listen here to our conversation in which we discussed lessons from Steve Martin, living the deep life, how Cal secured his first book deal as an unproven 20-year-old, honing the funny bone for humor writing, mastering slow productivity despite 21st-century distractions, crafting the lives we desire, considering the spiritual as an exercise of meticulous craft and creation, Cal’s 30-day digital minimalism declutter, and much more.
#568: Cal Newport — The Eternal Pursuit of Craftsmanship, the Deep Life, Slow Productivity, and a 30-Day Digital Minimalism ChallengeSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Cal Newport: Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport | Amazon The Deep Questions Podcast So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport | AmazonDeep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport | AmazonDigital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport | AmazonA World Without Email: Find Focus and Transform the Way You Work Forever by Cal Newport | AmazonCal Newport — The Eternal Pursuit of Craftsmanship, the Deep Life, Slow Productivity, and a 30-Day Digital Minimalism Challenge | The Tim Ferriss Show #568Scent of a Woman | Prime VideoAudio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS-USB StreamSet Streaming Headset | AmazonIt’s Time to Dismantle the Technopoly | The New YorkerStanding Up to Technology | Cal NewportSteve Jobs iPhone 2007 Presentation | YouTubeThe Social Media Conundrum and Teen Mental Health | WCAP CounselingQuit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It. | The New York TimesDon’t Quit Social Media. Put It to Work for Your Career Instead. | The New York Times1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly | The TechniumAmish Studies: Technology | Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown CollegeAfter 60 Years, Scientists Uncover How Thalidomide Produced Birth Defects | Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteTermite Fishing | The Jane Goodall Institute USAPeter Gregory “Cicadas” (Clip) | Silicon ValleySmart TV | WikipediaBorn Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin | AmazonIt’s Time to Embrace Slow Productivity by Cal Newport | The New YorkerThe Dartmouth Jack-o-LanternSeth’s BlogNow Playing | OppenheimerThe 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss | AmazonFrom Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks | Tim FerrissThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | AmazonEmail Newsletter by Tim Ferriss | 5-Bullet FridayThe Learning Annex | WikipediaJamie Foxx on Workout Routines, Success Habits, and Untold Hollywood Stories | The Tim Ferriss Show #124Jamie Foxx Part 2 – Bringing the Thunder | The Tim Ferriss Show #167The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future by Sebastian Mallaby | AmazonMore Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite by Sebastian Mallaby | AmazonThe Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie | AmazonThe Principia: The Authoritative Translation and Guide: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Sir Isaac Newton | AmazonIn The Heights (Stage) | Lin-Manuel MirandaAn American Musical | HamiltonFreestyle Love Supreme | Lin-Manuel MirandaGeorgia O’Keeffe: Lake George History | Lake GeorgeUraninite: A Radioactive Mineral and Ore of Uranium | GeologySistine Chapel | Vatican MuseumsThe Year in Quiet Quitting | The New YorkerOn Running an Office Like a Factory | Cal NewportHow to Implement a Kanban Card System | GembaDocsAlex Gendler: The Myth of Sisyphus | TED-EdTo Make Email Easier We Must Make it Harder | Cal NewportFilling the Void: Thoughts on Learning and Karma | Tim FerrissKnowledge Workers are Bad at Working (and Here’s What to Do About It…) | Cal NewportAn Exhausting Year in (and Out of) the Office | The New YorkerThe Steve Martin Method: A Master Comedian’s Advice for Becoming Famous | Cal NewportHow to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs without Peeling | Tim FerrissSkin a Watermelon Party Trick | Mark RoberShed Your Money Taboos | Derek SiversThe Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton | AmazonThe Firm: A Novel by John Grisham | AmazonA Time to Kill: A Jake Brigance Novel by John Grisham | AmazonShould This Meeting Have Been an Email? | Cal NewportContinuous Partial Attention | Linda StoneYour Digital HQ | SlackFree Online Appointment Scheduling Software | CalendlySlack Is the Right Tool for the Wrong Way to Work | The New YorkerExpand Your Reach | ZoomHow to Have a More Productive Year | The New YorkerOuroboros | WikipediaFordism | WikipediaThe Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter Drucker | AmazonThe Curse of the Diaeresis | The New YorkerFeral Super Pigs Are Raising Hell on the Canadian Prairies | The EconomistThe New York Times Building | WikipediaThe Woman Who Spent Five Hundred Days in a Cave | The New YorkerHere’s the Real Reason Yakuza Members Chop off Their Pinky Fingers | VTThe Paris ReviewEzra Klein Leaves Vox for The New York Times | The New York TimesJiro Dreams of Sushi | Prime VideoManufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media | Noam ChomskyMoneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis | AmazonThe Weekly Dish by Andrew Sullivan | SubstackThe Incredible Shrinking Podcast Industry | SemaforThe Digital Workplace Is Designed to Bring You Down | The New York TimesIntro to Slow Productivity (RE: John McPhee) | Cal NewportAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Letters to Shareholders | Peter Fisk“Seven-Minute Abs!” (Clip) | There’s Something About MarySHOW NOTES[06:14] Unforced Errors: The Internet Story.[09:41] Techno-selectionism.[18:06] Why YouTube and podcasts aren’t ideal bedfellows.[23:03] Amish technology and Steve Martin.[28:07] What prompted Cal to write Slow Productivity?[31:35] Becoming a better writer through blogging.[36:54] The benefits of obsessing over quality.[40:54] How did Cal decide to identify himself as a writer?[52:02] People who exemplify slow productivity.[58:45] Trade-offs on the path to 21st-century slow productivity.[1:03:16] Push systems vs. pull systems.[1:04:34] Quota systems.[1:06:08] Why slow productivity isn’t a zero-sum game.[1:09:33] Language that clarifies.[1:13:17] Sender filters.[1:16:20] What people might miss about Slow Productivity‘s message.[1:21:24] How Cal defines productivity.[1:25:36] Derek Sivers and money as a neutral indicator of value.[1:28:34] Contemporary slow productivity champions.[1:33:18] Asynchronous vs. real-time conversations.[1:35:51] Making group scheduling less hellish.[1:40:13] Cal’s problem with Frederick Winslow Taylor.[1:42:01] How The New Yorker maintains its old-timey charm where other publications fail.[1:49:05] Cal’s dream publications.[1:51:07] Mental models for cultivating a slow productivity mindset.[1:56:27] The consequences of playing the algorithm game.[2:03:14] The renewed viability of newsletters.[2:08:03] Parting thoughts.MORE CAL NEWPORT QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“You can’t be busy and frenetic and bouncing off the walls with 100 projects if you’re obsessed about doing something really well.”
— Cal Newport
“As you get better at something, the more say you get over the way your life unfolds.”
— Cal Newport
“You’ve got to just not want to get started until you can’t help but get started. And I think that’s frustrating for a lot of the internet generation because it takes a really long time.”
— Cal Newport
“There was no hustle culture. That’s the interesting thing. When you go back and study people producing things of real value, using their brain, they were smart and they were dedicated and they worked really hard, but they didn’t hustle and they didn’t work 10-hour days day after day. They didn’t work all-out, year-round. They didn’t push, push, push until this thing was done. It was a more natural variation. They had less on their plate at the same time, and they glued it all together by obsessing over quality.”
— Cal Newport
“There’s nothing more quixotic than the overburdened worker who is trying to not say no, but get the person who’s giving them the work to voluntarily agree to not give them the work. It never works. If someone’s trying to get you to do something, and you’re like, ‘Well, I guess I could, but I am pretty busy,’ they’re never going to say, ‘You sound busy. Don’t do this.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah? Good. Well, I’m glad you can do it. Here you go. Get this off my plate.'”
— Cal Newport
“Slow productivity produces good stuff. It doesn’t just make the workers happier. It doesn’t just make you happier. You produce better stuff. I mean, your company has more profit. Your clients are happier. You can charge more for the services you offer, so it’s not zero sum. It’s more win-win than anything else.”
— Cal Newport
“Busyness doesn’t produce high value.”
— Cal Newport
“Don’t try to convince people of new things. Explain to them what they already know in a way that lets them take better action.”
— Cal Newport
The post Cal Newport — How to Embrace Slow Productivity, Build a Deep Life, Achieve Mastery, and Defend Your Time (#722) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
February 13, 2024
Master Negotiator William Ury — Proven Strategies and Amazing Stories from Warren Buffett, Nelson Mandela, Kim Jong Un, Hugo Chávez, and More (#721)
Illustration via 99designs“The other side’s dignity may not mean much to you, but it means everything to them.”
— William Ury
William Ury (@WilliamUryGTY), cofounder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, is one of the world’s best-known and most influential experts on negotiation. He is coauthor of Getting to Yes, the all-time bestselling negotiation book in the world; the author of one of my favorite books on negotiation (Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations); and author of the new book: Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict.
He has served as a mediator in boardroom battles, labor conflicts, and civil wars around the world. An avid hiker, he lives in Colorado.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform . Watch the interview on YouTube here.
Brought to you by Helix Sleep premium mattresses; AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#721: Master Negotiator William Ury — Proven Strategies and Amazing Stories from Warren Buffett, Nelson Mandela, Kim Jong Un, Hugo Chávez, and MoreThis episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.
This episode is brought to you by Shopify! Shopify is one of my favorite platforms and one of my favorite companies. Shopify is designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. In no time flat, you can have a great-looking online store that brings your ideas to life, and you can have the tools to manage your day-to-day and drive sales. No coding or design experience required.
Go to shopify.com/Tim to sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period. It’s a great deal for a great service, so I encourage you to check it out. Take your business to the next level today by visiting shopify.com/Tim .
This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2022 by GQ magazine, Wired, and Apartment Therapy. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Want to hear my most recent interview with Jim Collins, the man who inspired William Ury to write Possible? Listen to our conversation here, in which we discussed the point allocation between dark force motivations and light force motivations, why you should never hesitate to reach out to mentors and people who have been instrumental in shaping your life, influential biographies, crafting good questions, creativity-tracking spreadsheets, the 20-minute rule, the value of clock building over time telling, and much more. You can find my first conversation with Jim Collins here.
#483: Jim Collins on The Value of Small Gestures, Unseen Sources of Power, and MoreSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with William Ury: Possible: How We Survive (And Thrive) in an Age of Conflict by William Ury | Amazon Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton | AmazonGetting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations by William Ury | AmazonWhat is a Devising Seminar? | Water DiplomacyThe Consensus Building Approach: What Is a Devising Seminar, and How Is It Being Used to Address the Risks Facing Arctic Fisheries? | The Consensus Building ApproachMarshall Plan (1948) | National ArchivesInternational Mediation, a Working Guide: Ideas for the Practitioner By Roger Fisher and William Ury | Google BooksThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Multilateral Diplomacy at Work | United NationsCamp David Accords and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process | Office of the HistorianEverything You Need to Know about Egypt’s Decades-Old Peace Treaty with Israel | AP NewsA History of Roger Fisher’s Single Negotiating Text and its Application by President Jimmy Carter to the Egyptian Israeli Conflict by Chloe Simmons | University of OregonHelp Your Counterpart Declare a Victory, Too | Castle NegotiationsMight Dennis Rodman at the Trump-Kim Summit Just Work? | BBC NewsWilliam Ury: “Go to the Balcony” | Dawson SchoolBoer War | National Army MuseumMandela: From Prison Cell to President | The History PressBuilding a Golden Bridge and Other Lessons from Dr. William Ury | MediateWhat Is Stoicism? A Definition and Nine Stoic Exercises to Get You Started | Daily StoicSpeak When You’re Angry and You’ll Make the Best Speech You’ll Ever Regret | Quote InvestigatorSecrets of Power Negotiating by Roger Dawson | AmazonBest of What I’ve Learned | EsquireDear Negotiation Coach: When Silence in Negotiation is Golden | Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law SchoolFace (Sociological Concept) | WikipediaThe Carter Center and the Peacebuilding Process in Venezuela | The Carter CenterBidding Against Yourself | MediateWilliam Ury: The Power of Listening | TEDxSanDiegoWhat is Your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)? | Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law SchoolTrust in Mediation | Beyond IntractabilityThe Freeing Power of Saying “No” | Psychology TodayHow Not to Say Yes | Harvard Business ReviewThe Power of a Positive No: Save The Deal Save The Relationship and Still Say No by William Ury | AmazonThe Origin of Species by Charles Darwin | AmazonOmne Trium Perfectum | Modern AestheticsThe Art of War by Sun Tzu | Amazon11 Famous Thinkers from History Who Were Habitual Walkers | Flâneur LifeWhy Walking Helps Us Think | The New YorkerA Short Walk After Meals Is All It Takes to Lower Blood Sugar | HealthlineStory, Walking, and Hospitality | Abraham PathSHOW NOTES[06:53] Connecting with Roger Fisher.[10:08] Devising Seminars.[12:31] Negotiating the Camp David Accords.[18:23] Writing the other side’s victory speech.[21:17] Writing Kim Jong-un’s victory speech.[26:20] Pondering possibilities in the modern Middle East.[29:26] Lessons from iconic possibilist Nelson Mandela.[32:17] Going to the balcony.[36:11] Mitigating the risk of emotional spiraling with Hugo Chávez.[40:50] The power of silence.[44:09] Respect and saving face.[51:08] Best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA).[1:02:49] The trust menu.[1:06:29] The positive no.[1:12:14] Closing on a positive note.[1:14:56] What prompted William to write Possible?[1:19:38] Negotiating as a creative endeavor.[1:22:48] Sabbatical considerations.[1:23:56] Exercise and self-care routines.[1:29:27] Uncovering interests, not just positions.[1:35:18] Hopes for the impact of Possible.[1:37:25] Parting thoughts.MORE WILLIAM URY QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“No one likes to make a hard decision, but everybody loves to criticize.”
— William Ury
“Work backwards, think about what victory would look like, and then work forwards.”
— William Ury
“Maybe the greatest power you have in a negotiation is the power not to react. It’s the power to go to the balcony instead.”
— William Ury
“Silence is one of your very best tools in a negotiation. The art of pausing.”
— William Ury
“The other side’s dignity may not mean much to you, but it means everything to them.”
— William Ury
“A persuasive negotiator is someone who’s a persuasive listener. Because when you listen to someone, you are seeing them, you are hearing them, you’re attuning to them. You ask them questions. What is it that you really want here? You’re showing interest in them. That is the basic level of respect. And in addition to that, it gives you a lot of information about what they want so that you can more effectively influence them to arrive at something that satisfies their needs and satisfies yours at the same time.”
— William Ury
“My whole life has been, in some ways, a study of the words ‘yes’ and ‘no.'”
— William Ury
“The path to possible is to go to the balcony, build a golden bridge, and take the third side. Influence yourself, influence the other, influence the whole.”
— William Ury
“My dream is if I were a Martian anthropologist right now looking at humanity and I’d say, ‘Wow, we live in this time of paradox because we have so much abundance, so much potential, so much opportunity to make the world better. We’ve got the technology, we’ve got AI, we’ve got all this stuff. At the same time, what’s in our way? There’s no limit to what we could do. There’s no opportunity we can’t realize. There’s no problem we can’t solve if only we can learn to work together.'”
— William Ury
The post Master Negotiator William Ury — Proven Strategies and Amazing Stories from Warren Buffett, Nelson Mandela, Kim Jong Un, Hugo Chávez, and More (#721) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
February 9, 2024
You Don’t Need More How-To Advice — You Need a Beautiful and Painful Reckoning
Chad Fowler, before and after his Harajuku Moment. (Photos: James Duncan Davidson)“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
— Bene Gesserit “Litany Against Fear” from Frank Herbert’s Dune
For most of us, the how-to books on our shelves represent a growing to-do list, not advice we’ve followed.
Several of the better-known tech CEOs in San Francisco have asked me at different times for an identical favor: an index card with bullet-point instructions for losing abdominal fat. Each of them made it clear: “Just tell me exactly what to do and I’ll do it.”
I gave them all of the necessary tactical advice on one 3×5 card, knowing in advance what the outcome would be. The success rate was impressive… 0%.
People suck at following advice. Even the most effective people in the world are often terrible. There are at least two reasons:
1. Most people have an insufficient reason for action. The pain isn’t painful enough. It’s a nice-to-have, not a must-have. There has been no “Harajuku Moment.”
2. There are no reminders. No consistent tracking = no awareness = no behavioral change. Consistent tracking, even if you have no knowledge of fat-loss or exercise, will often beat advice from world-class trainers.
But what is this all-important “Harajuku Moment”?
It’s an epiphany that turns a nice-to-have into a must-have. It applies to fat loss, to getting your finances in order, to getting your relationships in order, and to getting your life in order. No matter how many bullet points and recipes experts provide, most folks will need a Harajuku Moment to fuel the change itself.
Chad Fowler knows this.
Chad is a General Partner and CTO at BlueYard Capital. He was also co-organizer of the annual RubyConf and RailsConf conferences, where I first met him. Our second meeting was in Boulder, Colorado, where he used his natural language experience with Hindi to teach a knuckle-dragger (me) the primitive basics of Ruby.
Chad is an incredible teacher, gifted with analogies, but I was distracted in our session by something he mentioned in passing. He’d recently lost 70+ pounds in less than 12 months.
It wasn’t the amount of weight that I found fascinating. It was the timing. He’d been obese for more than a decade, and the change seemed to come out of nowhere. Upon landing back in San Francisco, I sent him one question via email:
What were the tipping points, the moments and insights that led you to lose the 70 lbs.?
I wanted to know what the defining moment was, the conversation or realization that made him pull the trigger after 10 years of business as usual.
His answer is contained in this post.
Even if you have no interest in fat-loss, the key insights (partial completeness, data, and oversimplification among them) will help you get closer to nearly any physical goal—lift 500 pounds, run 50 kilometers, gain 50 pounds, etc. —and it applies to much more in life.
But let’s talk about one apparent contradiction upfront: calorie counting. I regularly thrash calorie counting, and I’m including Chad’s calorie-based approach to prove a point. The 4-Hour Body didn’t exist when Chad lost his weight, and there are far better things to track than calories. But would I recommend tracking calories as an alternative to tracking nothing? You bet. Tracking anything is better than tracking nothing. The Hawthorne effect can be applied to yourself.
If you are very overweight, very weak, very inflexible, or very anything negative, tracking even a mediocre variable will help you develop awareness that leads to better behavioral changes.
This underscores an encouraging lesson: you don’t have to get it all right. You just have to be crystal clear on a few concepts. Results follow.
Much of the bolding in Chad’s story is mine.
The Harajuku Moment
Why had I gone 10 years getting more and more out of shape (starting off pretty unhealthy in the first place) only to finally fix it now?
I actually remember the exact moment I decided to do something.
I was in Tokyo with a group of friends. We all went down to Harajuku to see if we could see some artistically dressed youngsters and also to shop for fabulous clothing, which the area is famous for. A couple of the people with us were pretty fashionable dressers and had some specific things in mind they wanted to buy. After walking into shops several times and leaving without seriously considering buying anything, one of my friends and I gave up and just waited outside while the others continued shopping.
We both lamented how unfashionable we were.
I then found myself saying the following to him: “For me, it doesn’t even matter what I wear; I’m not going to look good anyway.”
I think he agreed with me. I can’t remember, but that’s not the point. The point was that, as I said those words, they hung in the air like when you say something super-embarrassing in a loud room but happen to catch the one randomly occurring slice of silence that happens all night long. Everyone looks at you like you’re an idiot. But this time, it was me looking at myself critically. I heard myself say those words and I recognized them not for their content, but for their tone of helplessness. I am, in most of my endeavors, a solidly successful person. I decide I want things to be a certain way, and I make it happen. I’ve done it with my career, my learning of music, understanding of foreign languages, and basically everything I’ve tried to do.
For a long time, I’ve known that the key to getting started down the path of being remarkable in anything is to simply act with the intention of being remarkable.
If I want a better-than-average career, I can’t simply “go with the flow” and get it. Most people do just that: they wish for an outcome but make no intention-driven actions toward that outcome. If they would just do something, most people would find that they get some version of the outcome they’re looking for. That’s been my secret. Stop wishing and start doing.
Yet here I was, talking about arguably the most important part of my life—my health—as if it was something I had no control over. I had been going with the flow for years. Wishing for an outcome and waiting to see if it would come. I was the limp, powerless ego I detest in other people.
But somehow, as the school nerd who always got picked last for everything, I had allowed “not being good at sports” or “not being fit” to enter what I considered to be inherent attributes of myself. The net result is that I was left with an understanding of myself as an incomplete person. And though I had (perhaps) overcompensated for that incompleteness by kicking ass in every other way I could, I was still carrying this powerlessness around with me and it was very slowly and subtly gnawing away at me from the inside.
So, while it’s true that I wouldn’t have looked great in the fancy clothes, the seemingly superficial catalyst that drove me to finally do something wasn’t at all superficial. It actually pulled out a deep root that had been, I think, driving an important part of me for basically my entire life.
And now I recognize that this is a pattern. In the culture I run in (computer programmers and tech people), this partial-completeness is not just common but maybe even the norm. My life lately has taken on a new focus: digging up those bad roots; the holes I don’t notice in myself. And now I’m filling them one at a time.
Once I started the weight loss, the entire process was not only easy but enjoyable.
I started out easy. Just paying attention to food and doing relaxed cardio three to four times a week. This is when I started thinking in terms of making every day just slightly better than the day before. On day 1 it was easy. Any exercise was better than what I’d been doing.
If you ask the average obese person: “If you could work out for ONE year and be considered ‘in shape,’ would you do it?” I’d guess that just about every single one would emphatically say, “Hell, yes!” The problem is that for most normal people, there is no clear path from fat to okay in a year. For almost everyone, the path is there and obvious if you know what you’re doing, but it’s almost impossible to imagine an outcome like that so far in the distance.
The number-one realization that led me to be able to keep doing it and make the right decisions was to use data.
I learned about the basal metabolic rate (BMR), also called resting metabolic rate, and was amazed at how many calories I would have to eat in order to stay the same weight. It was huge. As I started looking at calorie content for food that wasn’t obviously bad, I felt like I’d have to just gluttonously eat all day long if I wanted to stay fat. The BMR showed me that (1) it wasn’t going to be hard to cut calories, and (2) I must have been making BIG mistakes before in order to consume those calories—not small ones. That’s good news. Big mistakes mean lots of low-hanging fruit.1
Next was learning that 4,000 calories equals about a pound of fat. I know that’s an oversimplification, but that’s okay. Oversimplifying is one of the next things I’ll mention as a tool. But if 4,000 is roughly a pound of fat, and my BMR makes it pretty easy to shave off some huge number of calories per day, it suddenly becomes very clear how to lose lots of weight without even doing any exercise. Add in some calculations on how many calories you burn doing, say, 30 minutes of exercise and you can pretty quickly come up with a formula that looks something like:
BMR = 2,900
Actual intake = 1,800
Deficit from diet = BMR– actual intake = 1,100
Burned from 30 minutes cardio = 500
Total deficit = deficit from diet – burned from 30 minutes cardio = 1,600
So that’s 1,600 calories saved in a day, or almost half a pound of bad weight I could lose in a single day. So for a big round number, I can lose 5 pounds in a week and a half without even working too hard. When you’re 50 pounds overweight, getting to 10% of your goal that fast is real.
An important thing I alluded to earlier is that all of these numbers are in some ways bullshit. That’s okay, and realizing that it was okay was one of the biggest shifts I had to make. When you’re 50–70 pounds overweight (or I’d say whenever you have a BIG change to make), worrying about counting calories consumed or burned slightly inaccurately is going to kill you. The fact of the matter is, there are no tools available to normal people that will tell us exactly how much energy we’re burning or consuming. But if you’re just kinda right and, more important, the numbers are directionally right, you can make a big difference with them.
Here’s another helpful pseudo-science number: apparently, 10 pounds of weight loss is roughly a clothing size [XL → L → M]. That was a HUGE motivator. I loved donating clothes all year and doing guilt-free shopping.
As a nerd, I find myself too easily discouraged by data collection projects where it’s difficult or impossible to collect accurate data. Training myself to forget that made all the difference.
Added to this knowledge was a basic understanding of how metabolism works. Here are the main things I changed: breakfast within 30 minutes of waking and five to six meals a day of roughly 200 calories each. How did I measure the calories? I didn’t. I put together an exact meal plan for just ONE week, bought all the ingredients, stuck to it religiously. From that point on, I didn’t have to do the hard work anymore. I became aware after just one week of roughly how many calories were in a portion of different types of food and just guessed. Again, trying to literally count calories sucks and is demotivating. Setting up a rigid template for a week and then using it as a basic guide is sustainable and fun.
Just a few more disconnected tips:
I set up a workstation where I could pedal on a recumbent bike while working. I did real work, wrote parts of The Passionate Programmer, played video games, chatted with friends, and watched ridiculous television shows I’d normally be ashamed to be wasting my time on, all while staying in my aerobic zone. I know a lot of creative people who hate exercise because it’s boring. I was in that camp too (I’m not anymore. . . it changes once you get into it). The bike/desk was my savior. That mixed with a measurement system:
I got a heart rate monitor (HRM) and started using it for EVERYTHING. I used it while pedaling to make sure that even when I was having fun playing a game I was doing myself some good. If you know your heart rate zones (easy to find on the Internet), the ambiguity non-fitness-experts feel with respect to exercise is removed. Thirty minutes in your aerobic zone is good exercise and burns fat. Calculate how many calories you burn (a good HRM will do it for you), and the experience is fun and motivating. I started wearing my HRM when I was doing things like annoying chores around the house. You can clean house fast and burn serious fat. That’s not some Montel Williams BS. It’s real. Because of the constant use of an HRM, I was able to combine fun and exercise or annoying chores and exercise, making all of it more rewarding and way less likely I’d get lazy and decide not to do it.
Building muscle is, as you know, one of the best ways to burn fat. But geeks don’t know how to build muscle. And as I’ve mentioned, geeks don’t like to do things they don’t know are going to work. We like data. We value expertise. So I hired a trainer to teach me what to do. I think I could have let go of the trainer after a few sessions, since I had learned the ‘right’ exercises, but I’ve stayed with her for the past year.
Finally, as a friend said of my difficulty in writing about my insights for weight loss, a key insight is my lack of specific insights.
To some extent, the answer is just “diet and exercise.” There were no gimmicks. I used data we all have access to and just trusted biology to work its magic. I gave it a trial of 20 days or so and lost a significant amount of weight. Even better, I started waking up thinking about exercising because I felt good.
“It was easy.”
It was easy for Chad because of his Harajuku Moment. So let’s get to it:
What’s a small step you could take today? Right now?
You’ll almost never have complete information, and you don’t generally need it. It’s often an excuse for avoiding something uncomfortable. Who could you call or email today to get the bare minimum needed for your next step?
What is the cost of your inaction? This is important. What is your status quo costing you, and how can you make the pain painful enough to drive you forward? Do this exercise.
What’s a single decision you could make that, like Chad’s one-week meal plan, removes a thousand decisions?
You don’t need more how-to information.
You need 1) a painful and beautiful reckoning (e.g., what does life look like if you leave this as-is for 3-5 years?), and 2) simple actions that compound over time.
So what’s next?
This post was adapted and updated from The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss.
“Elusive Bodyfat: Where Are You Really?“ in The 4-Hour Body. To find your own numbers and create a simple system that works, this chapter will help.
My 2017 TED Talk: “Why you should define your fears instead of your goals“Clive Thompson, “Are Your Friends Making You Fat?” New York Times, September 10, 2009. Reaching your physical goals is a product, in part, of sheer proximity to people who exhibit what you’re targeting. This article explains the importance, and implications, of choosing your peer group.
End of Chapter Notes
1 Tim: This type of low-hanging fruit is also commonly found by would-be weight gainers when they record protein intake for the first time. Many are only consuming 40–50 grams of protein per day.
The post You Don’t Need More How-To Advice — You Need a Beautiful and Painful Reckoning appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
February 6, 2024
Life Lessons from Taylor Swift, Conquering Anxiety, Coaching Teens, Career Reinvention, Supposedly Gay Bulls, Your Shadow Side, and More — Soman Chainani (#720)
Illustration via 99designsSoman Chainani (@somanc) is the bestselling author of The School for Good & Evil book series, which has sold more than 4 million copies, been translated into 35 languages across six continents, and been adapted into a major motion picture from Netflix that debuted at #1 in more than 80 countries.
Soman’s book of retold fairy tales, Beasts and Beauty, debuted on The New York Times Best Sellers List—his seventh book in a row to do so—and is slated to be a limited television series from Sony’s 3000 Pictures, with Soman writing and executive producing. Together, his books have been on the New York Times Best Sellers List for more than 50 weeks.
Soman has an A.B. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and an MFA in Film from Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Sun Valley Writers Fellowship, and he has been nominated for the Waterstone Prize for Children’s Literature and been named to the Out100.
Soman has visited more than 800 schools around the world, sharing his message that reading is the path to a better life.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform .
Brought to you by Wealthfront high-yield savings account, AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#720: Life Lessons from Taylor Swift, Conquering Anxiety, Coaching Teens, Career Reinvention, Supposedly Gay Bulls, Your Shadow Side, and More — Soman ChainaniThis episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.
This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.
Conquer this winter season with the best in sleep tech and sleep at your perfect temperature. Many of my listeners in colder areas enjoy warming up their bed after a freezing day. Go to eightsleep.com/Tim and save $250 on the Pod Cover by Eight Sleep this winter. Eight Sleep currently ships within the USA, Canada, the UK, select countries in the EU, and Australia.
This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is an app that helps you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn 5% APY—that’s the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account. That’s more than ten times more interest than if you left your money in a savings account at the average bank, according to FDIC.gov.
It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you’ll immediately start earning 5% interest on your savings. And when you open an account today, you’ll get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Hear my first conversation with Soman Chainani:
#220: Soman Chainani — The School for Good and EvilSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Soman Chainani:The School for Good and Evil Series Complete Box Set: Books 1, 2, and 3 by Soman Chainani Beasts and Beauty by Soman Chainani‘Quarterback’ Takes You Inside the Huddle Mike RegulaChristopher MarleyDr. John Krystal — All Things Ketamine, The Most Comprehensive Podcast Episode Ever (#625)More links will be added shortly.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Start
04:54 Intro
07:31 Follow the flow
24:02 “Your bull might be gay”
36:37 The work of visual artist Christopher Marley
40:36 Coaching Generation Alpha
59:31 Experience with ketamine
01:08:13 “Shadow Self” vs “The Double”
01:13:53 “Quarterback”
01:17:35 Career lessons from Taylor Swift
01:29:55 Cross-collar dating
01:35:15 Language of couples
01:36:59 Hookups
01:41:37 St. Louis
01:43:00 Allergies
01:48:41 Parting thoughts
The post Life Lessons from Taylor Swift, Conquering Anxiety, Coaching Teens, Career Reinvention, Supposedly Gay Bulls, Your Shadow Side, and More — Soman Chainani (#720) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
February 2, 2024
No Biological Free Lunches
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”
— John Muir
“The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy.”
— Blade Runner
There are few or no biological free lunches.
This short post will cover the essentials of how this principle applies to performance-enhancing drugs.
But before we dive in, let’s watch some entertainment that drives the point home…
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Andrew Hiller (@hillerfit2.0)
Growth agents have a place in medicine1, and some sports effectively require them at higher levels. That said, there are risks when you turn the volume to 11 within complex hormonal cascades with equally complex feedback loops. I have some personal experience here. When I long ago had my shoulder completely reconstructed (video here; viewer discretion is advised), a portfolio of anabolic drugs was part of the recovery plan. This wasn’t advised by my surgeon. I found gray-area longevity doctors recommended by world-class athletes, and the cocktail was incredibly effective for regaining full range of motion.
Physical optimization is fundamentally about trade-offs.
And if you ask “Is this risky?,” the follow-up question is sometimes relative: “Risky as compared to what?” In this case, I decided that using these powerful drugs with supervision was an acceptable risk relative to the likelihood of otherwise never regaining full function of my left shoulder.
I did a ton of homework, I budgeted for possible problems, and I didn’t take it lightly.
It’s alarming how many folks now treat “T” or “TRT” (testosterone replacement therapy) as something akin to taking a multivitamin, when they never would have considered taking androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS) a few years earlier. Like Patagonian toothfish has become Chilean sea bass on fashionable menus worldwide, it’s quite the rebrand story, but that doesn’t change the underlying biology.
It also doesn’t change the underlying “replacement” part of TRT, which applies to many drugs.
If you take something exogenously (originating from outside an organism; think “exo” of exoskeleton) that your body produces endogenously (originating from inside an organism), your body—in its infinite wisdom—will reduce or stop producing said something. Endocrinology abhors waste. This is why many men’s testicles will shrink down to Raisinets when they take supplemental testosterone, and for a decent percentage of those men, the deflated balloons will not return to baseline function without post-cycle therapy (PCT) drugs like Clomid/clomifene and/or hCG. Side note: just as with testosterone, you shouldn’t casually take hCG. Faustian bargains abound if you don’t have a basic grasp of the systems you’re tinkering with.
This also applies to supplements and food. The more technical FDA definition of “drug” highlights a legal distinction, not a pharmacological one. If something’s intended to produce a change in your body, consider it a drug and you’ll make fewer mistakes. This is helpful reframing, whether the input is a prescription drug, illicit drug, peptide, mineral, supplement, or banana.
Separately, many growth agents aren’t hyper-selective (e.g., human growth hormone [HGH], IGF-1), meaning that they don’t just affect one tissue type. If, like some enhanced Major League Baseball players, your head jumps a few helmet sizes, that enlarged cranium won’t shrink when your muscles atrophy after getting off the sauce. Ditto if you unknowingly supersize your liver and spleen. It’s hard to hit undo on Dolph Lundgren jawlines if you’re a woman, it can be tricky to unwind drug-induced breast tissue growth (gynecomastia) if you’re a male, and it’s hard to whisper your organs down a size if you’re a human.
Think very carefully about which doors are two-way doors—reversible—and which are one-way doors. Best to measure twice and cut once.
This is not to say there isn’t a place for TRT. There is. But the use case matters, and the dose makes the poison. If I were 50+ years old and had chronically low testosterone plus symptoms of low testosterone plus I’d been evaluated for possible reversible causes of low T, I might consider TRT to bring me within physiologically normal levels. This is fundamentally different from someone taking supraphysiological doses—amounts greater than normally found in the body—for getting swole like a kangaroo.
This all might seem complicated, but most of what I’m saying boils down to basic logic and a few guidelines.
I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on the Internet, but the below heuristics have helped me avoid a lot of problems with performance-enhancing “drugs,” as broadly defined earlier:
Assume there is no biological free lunch.Assume that the larger the amplitude of positive effect of *anything*, the larger the amplitude of side effects, whether they are known or unknown. This could apply to modafinil or a high-octane macchiato.
Don’t ask a barber if you need a haircut. If someone is selling the thing you’re considering, or its use has become their identity, expect biased advice.
Replicate before you escalate. This comes back to “measure twice, cut once.” I’ve seen many friends take dramatic steps before replicating their tests. If you booze over the weekend, sleep like garbage, and then do a blood draw later AM on Monday, you might find that—gasp!—you have low testosterone. Before you pull out the big guns, perhaps you should repeat the test on two Wednesdays and do so earlier in the morning, when T will typically be higher. Some evidence also suggests predictable seasonal variations in T levels. Last but not least, labs make mistakes. I recall one well-respected lab for allergy testing returning 100% positive results for black bean allergy to all of their clients for a two-week period. It was a lab error. Before any intervention with possible side effects, replicate.
I routinely cycle off of drugs and supplements I can safely cycle off of for short periods of time. This might be one week every two months and one entire month a year. These are basically intermittent wash-out periods, intended to allow my body to reestablish some homeostasis and feedback loops without a bunch of confounding variables. Put another way, we don’t know what we don’t know, and some medically supervised form of pharma-fasting is an insurance policy. I think about cheap insurance in life a lot. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO CRITICAL MEDICATIONS, AND YOU SHOULD SPEAK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES TO YOUR HEALTHCARE REGIMEN. Please don’t win any Darwin Awards.
Know how you could get off of any substance before you get on it. Our understanding of biology is incomplete, so as with any form of gambling, no matter how informed, know your exit plan before you sit down at the table.
Biceps are temporary, baseball helmet sizes are forever.
Choose wisely and play the long game, my friends.
– T
P.S. Sincere thanks to AS, PA, SG, KS, and MN for reading drafts and providing feedback. Of course, any screwups are mine. In timely news, the following came out in Forbes, just as I was about to hit publish: “Billionaire Peter Thiel Backs Doping-Friendly Olympics Rival — What To Know About The ‘Enhanced Games.’” I’ll certainly watch this competition, but truth be told, the doping Olympics already exists, and it’s called the Olympics. Athletes and coaches just have to be champions in two categories simultaneously: their sport and cat-and-mouse drug testing. I suggest the podcasts, documentaries, and books below for a taste of how sophisticated this has become.
Additional resources:
All things testosterone and testosterone replacement therapy by Dr. Peter Attia. (Exclusively for my audience, Peter kindly made this podcast episode—a 2-hour deep dive on testosterone and TRT—available for free. It is normally behind a paywall and part of Dr. Peter Attia’s membership, which offers extensive show notes for every podcast episode, member-only “Ask Me Anything” episodes, premium articles produced by Peter and his dedicated team of world-class research analysts, and much more. Click here to learn more about becoming a member.)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (Documentary)
Icarus (Documentary)
Anabolics, 11th Edition by William Llewellyn
Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams
“The World’s Most Famous Performance-Enhancement Chemist” (Podcast episode on The Tim Ferriss Show with Patrick Arnold.)
Patrick Arnold, widely considered “the father of prohormones,” is an organic chemist known for introducing androstenedione (remember Mark McGwire?), 1-Androstenediol (marketed as “1-AD”), and methylhexanamine into the dietary supplement market.
He also created the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, best known as THG and “the clear.” THG, along with two other anabolic steroids that Patrick manufactured (best known: norboletone), were not banned at the time of their creation. They were hard-to-detect drugs at the heart of the BALCO professional sports doping scandal, which thrust Barry Bonds and others into the spotlight. BALCO distributed these worldwide to world-class athletes in a wide variety of sports, ranging from track and field to professional baseball and football.
Some types of hypopituitarism, wasting syndromes/diseases, surgical care, etc.
︎The post No Biological Free Lunches appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
January 31, 2024
Walk & Talk with Greg McKeown — How to Find Your Purpose and Master Essentialism in 2024 (#719)
Illustration via 99designs“A flight is off track 90 percent of the time. An airplane literally only gets to where it’s supposed to get to at the time it’s supposed to get there because it readjusts constantly along the way. And I feel like that myself.”
— Greg McKeown
Greg McKeown (@GregoryMcKeown) is the author of two New York Times bestsellers Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, and Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most. Together they have sold more than two million copies in 37 languages. He is also a speaker, host of The Greg McKeown Podcast, and founder of The Essentialism Academy, with students from 96 countries. More than 175,000 people have signed up for his 1-Minute Wednesday newsletter.
He is currently doing a doctorate at the University of Cambridge, and he is easily one of my favorite thinkers on all things related to effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of life.
Greg is originally from London, England, and he and his wife Anna are parents to four children.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform .
Brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, Helix Sleep premium mattresses, and Momentous high-quality supplements.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#719: Walk & Talk with Greg McKeown — How to Find Your Purpose and Master Essentialism in 2024This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.
This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2022 by GQ magazine, Wired, and Apartment Therapy. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.
This episode is also brought to you by Momentous high-quality supplements! Momentous offers high-quality supplements and products across a broad spectrum of categories, and I’ve been testing their products for months now. I’ve been using their magnesium threonate, apigenin, and L-theanine daily, all of which have helped me improve the onset, quality, and duration of my sleep. I’ve also been using Momentous creatine, and while it certainly helps physical performance, including poundage or wattage in sports, I use it primarily for mental performance (short-term memory, etc.).
Their products are third-party tested (Informed-Sport and/or NSF certified), so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle and nothing else. If you want to try Momentous for yourself, you can use code Tim for 20% off your one-time purchase at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. And not to worry, my non-US friends, Momentous ships internationally and has you covered.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Want to hear the last time Greg McKeown was on this show? Listen to our conversation here, in which we discussed how Gandhi would sum up Essentialism, how life experiences can unwittingly write scripts that hurt us more than they serve us, questions we can ask ourselves to cope with pet peeves, actionable gratitude, the difference between effortless action and effortless results, and much more.
#510: Greg McKeown — The Art of Effortless Results, How to Take the Lighter Path, the Joys of Simplicity, and MoreSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Greg McKeown:Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
SHOW NOTES[10:02] How 2023 informed 2024’s highest priorities.[16:09] Greg’s system for effortless execution of daily tasks.[27:42] Directional documents, shameless repentance, and shifting success.[36:53] Poetic mysticism and matchmaking introspection.[41:51] What compass guides you toward purpose?[45:10] The truth as a path to your best possible future.[50:34] Maslow’s forgotten pinnacle of self-transcendence.[54:28] Why self-actualization is an insufficient foundation for meaningful relationships.[1:03:09] Recommended reading for relationship cultivation.[1:07:43] A true, bittersweet tale of progressively deepening love.[1:13:28] The benefits of treating social media as an option rather than an obligation.[1:16:12] AI: good servant, poor master.[1:17:23] Blocking time for a top priority.[1:27:55] “It’s the tools, stupid.”[1:30:56] Embracing the constraints that stack the decks in your favor.[1:35:41] How to sign up for Greg’s free “Less, But Better” 30-day email program.[1:37:09] Employing the George Costanza opposite life hack.[1:40:53] Parting thoughts.MORE GREG MCKEOWN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“I don’t want to trust my weaknesses. I want to build a system that means my weaknesses become irrelevant.”
— Greg McKeown
“A flight is off track 90 percent of the time. An airplane literally only gets to where it’s supposed to get to at the time it’s supposed to get there because it readjusts constantly along the way. And I feel like that myself.”
— Greg McKeown
“There’s only two kinds of people in the world: there are people who are lost and there are people who know they are lost. I know how easy it is for me to get lost.”
— Greg McKeown
“There’s a big difference between 20 years of experience and the same year lived 20 times [in which] you don’t learn the lessons because you’re just going in circles and you’re just rushing, rushing and actually not getting closer to what the purpose of your life really is.”
— Greg McKeown
“AI perhaps makes a good servant, but it certainly makes a poor master. And if I’m not conscious that it is either already my master, or is trying to be, then it’s already over.”
— Greg McKeown
The post Walk & Talk with Greg McKeown — How to Find Your Purpose and Master Essentialism in 2024 (#719) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
January 30, 2024
Millions of Profitable Niches – 1,000 True Fans 2.0?
The following guest post is an excerpt from Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet, the brand-new book from a16z partner Chris Dixon.
Additional resources and potential next steps have been added to the end of the blog post.
Chris Dixon (@cdixon) is the author of Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet, and a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (“a16z”). He joined the venture capital firm in 2013, where he made early investments in Oculus (acquired by Facebook), Coinbase (which went public in 2021), and many other successful companies. Chris now leads a16z crypto, which he founded in 2018, and which now has over $7 billion in committed capital dedicated to crypto and web3 technologies—with investments ranging across applications such as decentralized finance and decentralized media, to infrastructure, social media, gaming, and more. He was ranked #1 on the Forbes Midas List in 2022.
Before joining a16z, Chris placed early bets on Kickstarter, Pinterest, Stack Overflow, and Stripe—all of which have products in wide use today. He had also previously co-founded and led two technology startups, SiteAdvisor (acquired by McAfee) and Hunch (acquired by eBay).
Drawing from his first-hand observations, mental models, and experiences with startups and the internet industry, Chris was an early and prolific blogger and has been a long-time advocate for community-owned software and networks.
Chris has Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degrees in philosophy from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He started his career as a software developer. He lives in California and grew up in Ohio.
Enter Chris…In his classic 2008 essay, “1,000 True Fans,” Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired, predicted the internet would transform the economics of creative activities. He saw the internet as the ultimate matchmaker, enabling twenty-first-century patronage. No matter how niche, creators could discover their true fans, who would, in turn, support them.
The reality is creators do, generally, need millions of fans, or at least hundreds of thousands, to support themselves today. Corporate networks got in the way, inserting themselves between creators and audiences, siphoning away value and becoming the dominant way for people to connect.
Social networks are probably the most important networks on the internet today. The average internet user spends almost two and a half hours a day on social networks. Next to text messaging, social networking is the most popular online activity.
The design of the dominant social networks explains what went wrong. Powerful network effects locked users into Big Tech’s clutches, and that lock-in led to high take rates. It’s hard to know precisely what take rates many major corporate networks charge, because their terms can be opaque and noncommittal, but it’s reasonable to estimate they charge around 99 percent. With the combined revenue of the five biggest social networks—Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter—at about $150 billion per year, that means these networks pay out on the order of $20 billion to users, with the overwhelming majority of that share coming from YouTube alone.*
Corporate networks won out because they made it easy for people to connect—more so than protocol networks like RSS did. But that doesn’t mean corporate networks are the only, or even the best, way for people to connect. The alternative to today’s world would be one where social networks are decentralized and community-owned, meaning built with either protocol or blockchain architectures. This could have meaningful economic effects for users, creators, and developers and could revive Kelly’s compelling vision for internet patronage.
To understand the effect of a different network design, let’s do some back-of-the-envelope math. Protocol networks have take rates that are effectively zero. Sometimes companies build apps on top of these networks, providing easy access and other features.
Let’s pretend the top five social networks charged a similar amount. If they all had take rates of 10 percent, their share of the $150 billion in annual revenue would drop from $130 billion to $15 billion. That would put into the pockets of network participants such as creators an extra $115 billion per year. How many lives might that change? At the average U.S. salary of $59,000 per year, that extra $115 billion of redirected revenue could fund almost two million jobs. This is a rough estimate, but the numbers are clearly big.
As new technologies like AI automate work, social networks can be a counter-weight that provides people with fulfilling career opportunities.
Decentralized social networks would also be good for users and software developers. The high take rates, capricious rules, and platform risks of corporate networks are deterrents for developers. In contrast, decentralized networks encourage investment and building.
This might all sound great in theory. The practical question is whether today, given where we are in the evolution of social networking, it’s possible to build a decentralized social network that can actually succeed. Occasionally users awaken to the problems of today’s platforms, and after an incident happens—a deplatforming, a rule change, a new corporate owner, a data privacy or legal scandal—people flee to some upstart social network. These anti-communities usually don’t last.
The value proposition needs to be full parity with corporate network user experiences, plus much better economics. Corporate social networks succeeded because they made it so easy for people to connect. It’s not too late to design decentralized social networks that make connecting just as easy. Protocol social networks like RSS were a good starting point, but they failed because they lacked the features and funding of corporate rivals. Blockchains can address both shortcomings. We can now, for the first time ever, build networks with the societal benefits of protocol networks and the competitive advantages to rival corporate networks. Indeed, the timing is right: blockchains have only recently become performant enough to support social networking.
Today, a cohort of blockchain projects is taking on the social networking establishment. Each project is designed in its own way, but the common thread is that each one overcomes the weaknesses that doomed RSS. The best designs fund software developers and subsidize username registrations and hosting fees through their token treasuries, analogous to corporate coffers. And in terms of features, blockchains have core infrastructure that provides a centralized global state to support basic services, making it easy to search and follow across the entire network, avoiding the user experience issues that the partitioning in protocol networks and federated networks creates.
The key marketing challenge is to kick-start a network effect. One tactic is to start on the supply side, where the pain of high take rates is greatest. Users may not realize how much value they’re forgoing by participating in corporate networks, but creators and software developers care deeply about how much money they earn. Offering a predictable platform where they receive a greater share of the value they generate would be a compelling proposition. If the best content and software were available only on another platform, the demand side of the network—the users, many of whom are passive consumers—would likely seek it out. That users can participate in a blockchain network’s economic upside and governance, privileges from which they were previously excluded, adds further motivation for them to switch.
Starting in narrow and deep niches could help a new social network get over the initial hump. Targeting a group with common interests, like people interested in new technologies or new media genres, is one way to plant the seeds of a community. The most valuable users will likely be up-and-comers who don’t have big followings elsewhere. When YouTube started out, it didn’t succeed by getting creators from TV and other forms of media. New stars rose along with the platform. That’s the power of native over skeuomorphic thinking.
What we have today may feel like a golden age for creative people: creators can push a button and instantly publish to five billion people. They can find fans, critics, and collaborators just about anywhere on earth. But they’re mostly forced to route everything through corporate networks that devour tens of billions of dollars that might otherwise have funded an immeasurably greater diversity of content. Imagine how much creativity we’re missing out on because earlier attempts at decentralized social networks, while noble, like RSS, couldn’t hold their own.
We can do better. The internet should be an accelerant for human creativity and authenticity, not an inhibitor. A market structure with millions of profitable niches, enabled by blockchain networks, makes this possible. With fairer revenue sharing, more users will find their true callings, and more creators will reach their true fans.
*Four out of five of the largest social networks referenced—Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter—have take rates of about 99% or above. Youtube has a take rate of 45%, meaning it pays out 55% to creators. Almost all of the payouts to creators come from YouTube alone. The calculations presented here estimate that YouTube paid out $16 billion to creators in 2022 (which is 55% of its annual $30 billion in revenue) and the other four social networks paid out about $1 billion each from their respective creator funds. In total, that yields $20 billion.
Excerpted from Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet , by Chris Dixon. Copyright 2024 by Chris Dixon. Published by Random House. Reprinted with permission.
***
Additional resources:Why decentralization matters (Chris Dixon)
You’re not imagining it: Social media is in chaos (New York Times)
The future of decentralized social media (ETHGlobal video)
Sufficient decentralization for social networks (Varun Srinivasan):
The rise of decentralized social networks (Bankless)
Learn the basics of crypto wallets and other tutorials (Coinbase).
How to create an NFT (OpenSea)
Intro to web3 creator tools (Manifold)
More web3 creator tools (Alchemy)
A list of decentralized social networks (Ethereum Foundation)
The post Millions of Profitable Niches – 1,000 True Fans 2.0? appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.
