Timothy Ferriss's Blog

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. 

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Even though it was published in 2007, it was one of Amazon’s top-10 Most Highlighted Books of All Time last time I checked in 2017. 

Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? 

This episode features three timeless chapters from the audiobook of The 4-Hour Workweek:

1) The chapter on taking mini-retirements, which challenges the deferred-life plan and shows you how to distribute recovery and adventure throughout life instead of saving it all for retirement.

2) “Filling the Void,” which addresses what happens when you actually achieve lifestyle design and the unexpected emotional and philosophical challenges of having a lot of time on your hands.

3) “13 Mistakes of the New Rich,” where I outlined the most common pitfalls I’ve seen people encounter when implementing the book’s principles.

The chapters are narrated by the great voice actor Ray Porter. If you are interested in checking out the rest of the audiobook, which is produced and copyrighted by Blackstone Publishing, you can find it on Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, Downpour.com, or wherever you find your favorite audiobooks.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

Gusto  simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses Momentous  high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support Shopify  global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business Coyote the card game​ , which I co-created with Exploding Kittens[image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastThe 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of FreedomAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim FerrissMeditation, Retreats, and “Slowing Down” ResourcesThe Art of Living Foundation (Course II): International course recommended as a short silence retreat to reset.Spirit Rock Meditation Center: California-based meditation center offering retreats.Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health: Massachusetts center for yoga, retreats, and self-care programs.Sky Lake Lodge: New York–based retreat center mentioned as a contemplative option.Charity, Philanthropy, and Volunteering ResourcesCharity Navigator: Independent charity-rating site to compare and select nonprofits.Firstgiving: Platform for creating personal fundraising pages; Tim used it with Room to Read.JustGiving: UK analogue to Firstgiving mentioned for charity donations. Room to Read : Education-focused nonprofit Tim partnered with (via Firstgiving) to build schools in Nepal and Vietnam. Verge Magazine : Magazine featuring foreign relocation and volunteering case studies.All Hands and Hearts Disaster Response: Disaster relief organization mentioned under volunteering options.Project HOPE: Health-focused international relief organization.Relief International: Humanitarian relief and development organization.International Relief Teams: Disaster relief and development NGO.Airline Ambassadors International: Organization leveraging airline employees and travelers for humanitarian aid.Ambassadors for Children: Nonprofit arranging volunteer travel programs.Relief Riders International: Volunteer travel program combining horseback riding with humanitarian work.Habitat for Humanity – Global Village Program: International volunteer building program referenced explicitly.Planeta – Global Listings for Practical Ecotourism: Ecotourism directory recommended for practical and responsible travel.People, Books, and IdeasPaul Fussell – Abroad: Quoted on travel as a form of study.Rolf Potts – Vagabonding: Quoted on the importance of improvisation in long-term travel. Mohandas Gandhi : Quoted: “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”Charles Kuralt: CBS News reporter quoted on how highways can let you “travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.”Saint Augustine (354–430): Quoted on perfection and discovering one’s own imperfection.Joel Stein (Los Angeles Times): Credited with coining the “two-week (too weak)” trip joke.Fanny Burney: English novelist quoted on travel “ruining” happiness by raising your standards.Jules Henry: Anthropologist quoted about “the storehouse of infinite need” in modern industrial culture.Robert Henri: Artist quoted on the sacrifices needed to be free, happy, and fruitful.Paul Theroux — To the Ends of the Earth: Quoted on boredom when the route is too predictable.Anne Lamott – Bird by Bird: Quoted on being engrossed in something outside oneself.Bill Watterson – Calvin and Hobbes: Quoted on “not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do.”Anatole France – The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard: Quoted on switching kinds of labor to relax.Joseph Campbell – The Power of Myth: Quoted on seeking experiences of being fully alive.Viktor E. Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning: Quoted on the need for striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal.Dave Barry: Quoted on Americans discovering that people abroad “still speak in foreign languages.”Ellen Bialystok & Kenji Hakuta – In Other Words: The Science and Psychology of Second-Language Acquisition: Cited regarding adults learning languages faster than children when work is removed. Oscar Wilde : Quoted: “Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people we personally dislike.”Paula Poundstone: Quoted on adults asking kids what they want to be because adults are looking for ideas.Thich Nhat Hanh: Quoted on the “miracle” of walking on the earth and being present.Frank Wilczek: 2004 Nobel Prize–winning physicist quoted on the necessity of making mistakes.Articolo 31 – “Un Urlo“: Italian rap group quoted: “I’ve learned that nothing is impossible, and that almost nothing is easy.”People and Case StudiesJosh Steinitz – NileProject.com: Cancer survivor turned global vagabond and cofounder of a site providing customized itineraries to travelers.Jen Errico: Single mother who took her two children on a five-month world tour and later planned a move to a European ski chalet.Robin Malinosky-Rummell: Traveled through South America for a year with her husband and seven-year-old son, including time in Patagonia.Selected Travel, Places, and ExperiencesSmithsonian Tropical Research Island, Panamá: Private island trip with local fishermen and hidden dive spots (tied to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute ).Mendoza wine country, Argentina: Location for chartering a private plane over vineyards and the snowcapped Andes.Baffin Island, Nunavut: Arctic location where Josh watches narwhals from sea ice.Narwhals: Rare whales (“unicorns of the sea”) with spiral tusks; central to the Baffin Island story.Baños, Ecuador: Volunteer site for building wheelchairs.: Volunteer site for shepherding leatherback sea turtles.Recommended “vagabonding” starting points: Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba); China (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei); Japan (Tokyo, Osaka); England (London); Ireland (Galway); Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai); Germany (Berlin, Munich); Norway (Oslo); Australia (Sydney); New Zealand (Queenstown); Italy (Rome, Milan, Florence); Spain (Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla); Holland (Amsterdam).TIMESTAMPS[00:00:00] Start.[00:02:31] Mini-retirements: embracing the mobile lifestyle.[00:09:22] The birth of mini-retirements and the death of vacations.[00:11:03] The alternative to binge traveling.[00:16:14] Purging the demons: emotional freedom.[00:18:43] The financial realities: it just gets better.[00:24:24] Fear factors: overcoming excuses not to travel.[00:30:08] When more is less: cutting the clutter.[00:39:29] The Bora-Bora dealmaker.[00:43:11] Questions and actions.[00:44:22] Take an asset and cash-flow snapshot.[00:45:02] Fear-set a one-year mini-retirement in a dream location in Europe.[00:48:38] Prepare for your trip.[00:59:42] Adding life after subtracting work.[01:01:51] Depression and boredom: it’s normal.[01:05:31] Frustrations and doubts: you’re not alone.[01:12:01] The point of it all.[01:13:37] Learning unlimited: sharpening the saw.[01:17:24] Service for the right reasons.[01:20:05] Questions and actions.[01:22:46] Make an anonymous donation to the service organization of your choice.[01:24:05] Take a learning mini-retirement in combination with local volunteering.[01:28:42] The top 13 new rich mistakes.

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Want more timeless tools from The 4-Hour Workweek? Listen to this episode on The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet. These elimination strategies are the foundation that creates the freedom for mini-retirements — teaching you how to protect your most valuable resource (time) by saying no to both people and the endless stream of information competing for your attention.

The post The 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of Freedom (#836) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Ben Patrick, better known as “Kneesovertoesguy” (@kneesovertoesguy), is the founder of Athletic Truth Group (ATG), an online and brick-and-mortar training system rooted in rehabilitative strength and joint health. After years of debilitating knee and shin pain (including multiple surgeries), he rebuilt his body and performance, going from a sub-20″ vertical to a documented 42″ leap. Over the past 15 years, Ben has coached thousands of clients (from weekend warriors to pro athletes) across 50+ countries, sharing his stepwise method via social media and ATG’s coaching system. He is the author of Knee Ability Zero and other books on fitness and recovery. His mission now: democratize pain-free movement by making tools, systems, and education accessible to everyone, especially high-school students.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

Momentous  high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support Monarch  track, budget, plan, and do more with your money David Protein Bars  28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar[image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastBen Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) — 20-Minute Workouts That Produce Wild Results, From Chronic Knee Pain to Dunking Basketballs, Lessons from Charles Poliquin, Bulletproofing the Lower Body, and MoreAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

TranscriptsThis episodeAll episodesSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Ben Patrick:

ATG Coaching | ATG Equipment | YouTube | Instagram

How-To Videos / Programs from BenBen’s Minimalistic Program with Sets and RepsGear & Training ToolsATG Backward/Forward “Resisted Treadmill”: Indoor analog to sled work.ATG Slant Board: For heel-elevated squats / ankle mobility work.ATG Tib Bar: For tibialis (front-shin) strengthening — an evolution from Bob Gajda’s dynamic axial resistance device (DARD).ATG Wrist Bar: Plate-loadable handle for forearm pronation/supination and elbow prehab/rehab.Torque TANK M1 Push Sled: Space-efficient friction sled.Books & Recommended ReadingI Followed the Knees Over Toes Guy’s Advice — And It Worked | Outside Magazine5-Bullet FridayThe 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy FerrissThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy FerrissThe Perils of Audience Capture | The PrismTools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy FerrissTraining Methods & ConceptsATG Split Squat: Front foot elevated, deep-range knee-over-toe progression to build end-range strength.Backward Sled Drags: High-rep, low-risk quad/tendon conditioning; circulation before deeper knee work.Barry Ross Protocol: Minimalist strength-training method that uses very low-rep, high-intensity deadlifts (typically 2–3 sets of 2–3 reps) with full recovery to build maximum strength and speed without adding excess muscle mass.80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle): Roughly 80% of results come from 20% of efforts or causes.VO2 Max “4×4” intervals: e.g., ~4 minutes on / ~4 minutes easy × 4–6 rounds; described using sled variants.Minimum Effective Dose (MED): Do the least to trigger the desired adaptation; sustained compliance beats maximal plans (pertains across training/nutrition).Myofascial Release & Active Release Techniques (ART): Modalities I first explored via Poliquin.Occam’s Protocol: A strength training program to maximize muscle growth in a short period.“Strength is gained in the range it is trained.”: Poliquin maxim (deep-range strength for durable mobility).Wall Tibialis Raises: No-equipment shin work to balance lower leg, help knees/ankles/feet.Westside Barbell Sled Culture: Louie Simmons’ parking-lot drags, prowlers, bands/chains lineage (historical context for backward sleds).Zone 2 Training: Steady aerobic base building; why/targets.PeoplePeter AttiaMark BellGary BreckaAl CaponeAllyson FelixBob GajdaJerzy GregorekNsima InyangByron KatieCharles PoliquinBarry RossArnold SchwarzeneggerDr. SeussLouie SimmonsChristopher SommerBalaji S. SrinivasanDave TateMark TwainAndrew ZimmernOrganizationsATG (Athletic Truth Group)EliteFTSTorque FitnessWestside BarbellYMCARelated Tim Ferriss Show EpisodesInside the World of SuperTraining — Mark Bell | The Tim Ferriss Show #252The Lion of Olympic Weightlifting, 62-Year-Old Jerzy Gregorek (Also Featuring: Naval Ravikant) | The Tim Ferriss Show #228Nsima Inyang, Mutant and Movement Coach — True Athleticism at Any Age, Microdosing Movement, “Rope Flow” as a Key Unlock, Why Sleds and Sandbags Matter, and Much More | The Tim Ferriss Show #816Charles Poliquin on Strength Training, Shredding Body Fat, and Increasing Testosterone and Sex Drive | The Tim Ferriss Show #91Charles Poliquin — His Favorite Mass-Building Program, His Nighttime Routine For Better Sleep, and Much More | The Tim Ferriss Show #198Christopher Sommer — The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training | The Tim Ferriss Show #158Christopher Sommer — The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training, Part Two: Home Equipment, Weighted Stretches, and Muscle-Ups | The Tim Ferriss Show #180Balaji Srinivasan on The Future of Bitcoin and Ethereum, How to Become Noncancelable, the Path to Personal Freedom and Wealth in a New World, the Changing Landscape of Warfare, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #506Balaji Srinivasan — Centralized China vs Decentralized World, The DeFi Matrix, Ascending vs Descending Trends, Bitcoin Mining as Energy Storage, Reputational Civil War, and Maximalism vs. Optimalism | The Tim Ferriss Show #547Balaji S. Srinivasan — 5–10-Year Predictions, How to Start a New Country, Society-as-a-Service (SaaS), Bitcoin Maximalism, Memetic Warfare, How Prices Are Born, Moral Flippenings, The One Commandment, and The Power of Missionary over Mercenary | The Tim Ferriss Show #606Andrew Zimmern on Simple Cooking Tricks, Developing TV, and Addiction | The Tim Ferriss Show #40TIMESTAMPS[00:02:32] How Ben went from Old Man Patrick to Knees Over Toes Guy.[00:06:37] Backward sled dragging for safe strength building and rehab.[00:13:14] Full range of motion squatting (deep squats vs. 90-degree limitation).[00:16:30] “Strength is gained in the range it is trained.” — Charles Poliquin[00:18:50] ATG split squat (front foot elevated split squat).[00:19:53] Heel elevation and counterbalancing techniques.[00:24:26] Ben’s mother’s transformation — from hip deterioration to sprinting at age 71.[00:27:36] Ben’s vertical jump progression — unable to grab rim in high school to dunking at 34.[00:28:14] Most effective exercises Ben’s mom might recommend.[00:29:54] Ben and I reflect on what Charles Poliquin (RIP) gave to us.[00:36:36] How backwards sled pulling became a revered exercise.[00:39:12] Mr. Universe Bob Gajda’s contributions to Ben’s regimen.[00:42:16] ATG prioritizes offering American-made products when possible.[00:43:14] Tibialis raises without equipment.[00:45:37] Why I included the ATG wrist bar in a recent 5-Bullet Friday.[00:48:32] Ben’s videos he most recommends.[00:54:48] Applying the minimum effective dose (MED) for maximum results in any endeavor.[00:59:55] What I would include in The 4-Hour Body if it were written or revised today.[01:01:13] A space-saving alternative for people who want to enjoy the benefits of sled work.[01:01:57] Real examples of high-yield workouts that require a low investment of time.[01:05:59] Ben’s basketball warmup protocols.[01:06:59] Regularly skip leg day? Try Arnold Schwarzenegger’s one simple trick.[01:08:49] Maintaining integrity in the ever-fickle world of content creation.[01:32:18] Parting thoughts.BEN PATRICK QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I had a high school basketball coach who started calling me Old Man. I was so stiff it would take me so long to warm up compared to other players.”
— Ben Patrick

“[In the] 1970s, exercise science was becoming a thing in school and they found that when the knee goes over the toe, then there’s more pressure on the knee. So what went into textbooks was showing when you exercise, don’t let your knee over your toes. [But] think about stepping down the stairs and stop. You take a step downstairs, stop. You’re loading your knee over your toes, every single step you take downstairs.”
— Ben Patrick

“So the first thing that I could tell that allowed me to get off the painkillers was dragging a sled backwards.”
— Ben Patrick

“I try to be really careful to never lie in a YouTube title.”
— Ben Patrick

“My whole philosophy is just to have balance stability in the body, forward, backward, high positions, low positions, lower legs, upper legs.”
— Ben Patrick

“Elevating your heels a bit can help people get lower on a squat and holding a weight out in front of you reduces the pressure on the knee.”
— Ben Patrick

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This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality creatine! I’ve long benefitted from creatine for athletic and gym performance, and now I’m increasing my daily intake to enjoy the cognitive benefits as well. A pilot study in Alzheimer’s patients demonstrated that supplementing can increase brain creatine levels in just 8 weeks, improving measures of memory, reasoning, and attention. And a double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that creatine can restore aspects of memory and attention within hours in adults who are sleep deprived. I use Momentous Creatine made with Creapure®, which is sourced from Germany and has the strictest lab standards to ensure it’s at least 99.9% pure. And try Momentous’s whey protein isolate and magnesium threonate, all of which meet their same, exacting standards. Check out Momentous for yourself and get 35% off your first subscription order with code TIM at LiveMomentous.com/Tim. 

This episode is brought to you by David Protein Bars! I’m always on the hunt for protein sources that don’t require sacrifices in taste or nutrition. That’s why I love the protein bars from David. With David protein bars, you get the fewest calories for the most protein, ever. David has 28g of protein, 150 calories, and 0g of sugar. Their bars come in six delicious flavors, all worth trying, and I’ll often throw them in my bag for protein on the go. And now, listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show who buy four boxes get a fifth box for free. Try them for yourself at DavidProtein.com/Tim.

Want to hear another episode with the coach who inspired Ben’s breakthrough? Listen to my second conversation with Charles Poliquin, whose radical knees-over-toes philosophy helped Ben overcome chronic knee pain and get off painkillers. We discuss his favorite mass-building program, nighttime routines for better sleep, how to differentiate terrible trainers from the best, and much more.

The post Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) — 20-Minute Workouts That Produce Wild Results, From Chronic Knee Pain to Dunking Basketballs, Lessons from Charles Poliquin, Bulletproofing the Lower Body, and More (#835) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

David Baszucki (@DavidBaszucki) is the co-founder and CEO of Roblox. TIME named Roblox one of the “100 Most Influential Companies,” and it has been recognized by Fast Company for innovation on their “Most Innovative Companies” and “Most Innovative Companies in Gaming” lists.

Previously, David founded Knowledge Revolution, where he and his brother Greg created Interactive Physics, a leader in educational physics and mechanical-design-simulation software.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

Qlosi  prescription eye drop used to treat age-related blurry near vision (presbyopia) in adults AG1  all-in-one nutritional supplement Wealthfront  high-yield cash account [image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastDavid Baszucki, Co-Founder of Roblox — The Path to 150M+ Daily Users, Critical Business Decisions, Ketogenic Therapy for Brain Health, Daily Routines, The Roblox Economy, and MoreAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube.

TranscriptsThis episodeAll episodesSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with David Baszucki:

Roblox Profile | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

Featured David Baszucki ResourcesRobloxBaszucki GroupMetabolic MindTech Talks With David BaszuckiDoctors Said My Son’s Bipolar Disorder Couldn’t Be Healed by Diet. They Were Wrong by Jan Ellison Baszucki | San Francisco ChronicleI’m David Baszucki, CEO of Roblox, and This Is How I Work | LifehackerTools & ApplicationsAtmospheric Calm Spotify PlaylistContinuous Ketone Monitoring (CKM)FreeStyle LibreOura RingPrecision Xtra Ketone/Glucose MeterNotable Roblox GamesBird SimulatorDress to ImpressGrow a GardenThe MimicNatural Disaster Survival99 Nights in the ForestRecommended Reading Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health-and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More by Christopher M. Palmer Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James P. Carse Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health by Casey Means, MD and Calley Means The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek Mutiny on the Bounty: A Novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Dr. Fei-Fei LiMovies 2001: A Space Odyssey MusicWhite Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane (from Surrealistic Pillow )PeopleRoald AmundsenMatthew BaszuckiJan Ellison BaszuckiJames P. CarseCaptain James CookDominic D’AgostinoHarley FinkelsteinWim HofPablos HolmanAndrej KarpathyAlan KayFei-Fei LiTobi LütkeFerdinand MagellanCasey MeansHAL 9000Chris PalmerKevin RoseRobert Falcon ScottSimon SinekJoshua SlocumAdam SmithDick TracyHealth Concepts & Metabolic ResourcesBipolar DisorderContinuous Glucose MonitoringCyclical Ketogenic DietExogenous Ketones / Ketone EstersGluconeogenesisHyperbaric Oxygen TherapyIntermittent FastingKetogenic DietKetoNutritionMcLean HospitalMetabolic & Mental Health at Baszucki Group10 Best and Worst Fats to Eat on the Keto Diet | Everyday Health10+ Best Keto Fat Bomb Recipes | Delish15 Best Keto Coffee Drinks | Insanely GoodChronic Schizophrenia Remission Brings Hope | Metabolic MultiplierDom D’Agostino — The Power of the Ketogenic Diet | The Tim Ferriss Show #172Evidence for Altered Energy Metabolism, Increased Lactate, and Decreased PH in Schizophrenia Brain: A Focused Review and Meta-Analysis of Human Postmortem and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Studies | Schizophrenia ResearchHistory and Origin of the Ketogenic Diet | Epilepsy and the Ketogenic DietKetogenic Diet Helps Young Ecuadorian Twins Improve Their Schizophrenic Symptoms | Chris Palmer, MDThe Ketogenic Diet for the Treatment of Mood Disorders in Comorbidity With Epilepsy in Children and Adolescents | Frontiers In PharmacologyThe Life-Extension Episode — Dr. Matt Kaeberlein on The Dog Aging Project, Rapamycin, Metformin, Spermidine, NAD+ Precursors, Urolithin A, Acarbose, and Much More | The Tim Ferriss Show #610Metabolic Psychiatry: A Patient-Provider Discussion with Christin Kehoe & Christopher Palmer, MD | Metabolic Health SummitMy Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island | The Tim Ferriss Show #193Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #398 Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey and Eric HagermanStudy Shows Keto Diet Can Help You Sleep Better | Sleep FoundationTop 13 Common Keto Mistakes and How to Fix Them | Perfect KetoWhat is Metabolic Psychiatry? | Stanford MedicineTIMESTAMPS[00:00:00] Start.[00:01:48] Kicking off with custom kettlebells.[00:03:00] How David and I connected through Dominic D’Agostino and metabolic health research.[00:04:30] Matthew Baszucki’s eight-year journey with bipolar disorder before keto breakthrough.[00:08:14] Rescuing Matthew from the streets with a strategic hospital admission.[00:18:18] Matthew’s disappearance from his mother’s perspective.[00:19:37] Understanding how the ketogenic diet helps people with bipolar disorder.[00:24:21] Meeting the challenges of ketogenic diet compliance.[00:30:06] Measuring ketone levels.[00:32:17] The clandestine Canadian CKM smuggling ring.[00:33:07] The calm optimism, mental clarity, and reduced sleep requirements of ketosis.[00:35:19] Breath hold experiments.[00:37:44] Optimizing my sleep and minimizing my OCD on ketosis.[00:40:18] How exogenous ketones improve verbal acuity of relatives with Alzheimer’s[00:41:49] Lyme disease and ketosis.[00:44:37] Talk therapy vs. mechanical therapy: Fixing the machinery first.[00:45:47] Dangers of talk therapy without physiological foundation: Learned helplessness.[00:46:49] Atmospheric Calm playlist: Ambient music for focus and productivity.[00:49:16] How Roblox fits in with human connection evolution to the tune of 120 million daily users.[00:52:50] Emergent games within the Roblox ecosystem.[00:54:32] Roblox’s safety infrastructure: Built for all ages from day one.[00:55:24] Future of 3D work: Virtual meetings replacing video calls, concerts, and political rallies.[00:56:57] The inevitability of innovation.[00:58:07] From early revenue challenges to a creator community earning over $1 billion a year.[01:02:52] Taking economic inspiration from Adam Smith.[01:03:54] Building the successful Robux system with a 20-person team in three months.[01:10:17] How does Roblox guard against IP theft among its digital creators?[01:14:32] Best company decisions made at Roblox thus far.[01:19:35] Missteps and mistakes.[01:21:07] When intuitive tech predictions pay off.[01:25:49] David’s favorite niche Roblox games.[01:28:41] Roblox kid safety: Filtered communication, parental controls, future AI age estimation, and clustering.[01:32:02] Roblox AI infrastructure: Hundreds of models for safety, translation, 3D creation, and procedurally generated dreaming.[01:33:33] Predictions: Sci-fi becoming reality, holodeck timeline, AI movies in 3-5 years, photorealistic virtual concerts.[01:37:24] Product development and challenges of being a public company CEO.[01:41:35] David’s self-care routine.[01:45:20] Roblox wellness: CGMs for all employees, snack labeling system, employee transformations.[01:47:11] Exploratory reading.[01:49:32] “Feed Your Head”: David’s Jefferson Airplane-inspired billboard.[01:50:24] Whole cream vs. half-and-half for coffee and other parting thoughts.DAVID BASZUCKI QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“[Our son with bipolar] tried a ketogenic diet, and literally within three weeks or four weeks, we saw progress that we had never seen with any drug or medication. Mind blown, really, and a miracle.”

— David Baszucki

“One other way to predict the future, I think, is many things are just inevitable. There are enough smart people around that the wheel was inevitable.”

— David Baszucki

“Roblox was always what is called a user-generated content platform, which means creators are making stuff, people are learning STEM, people are getting excited. Even the ego burst of having three friends play a game can really motivate a young person to get into computer science.”

— David Baszucki

“If you’re having a mental health crisis, work on your body and your machinery, maybe, before you work on the talk therapy. Get the strategic things right first.”

— David Baszucki

“If we were to tabulate the number of new entrants into computer science or graphic arts or economics that had been inspired by Roblox, it probably is in the millions, given just that experience that people have had on our platform.”

— David Baszucki

“What’s interesting is I’ve never really ever liked any business books ever. … The books I was obsessed with in my youth were the books about Magellan and Captain Cook and Mutiny on the Bounty and Joshua Slocum and just all of these crazy explorers, Amundsen and Scott and all of that stuff.”

— David Baszucki

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This 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. Right now, get a FREE Welcome Kit, including Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Travel Packs, when you first subscribe. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones!

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Want to hear another episode exploring the groundbreaking power of metabolic psychiatry? Listen to my conversation with Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer, in which we discussed his pioneering work using ketogenic diets to treat psychiatric disorders, the brain energy theory of mental illness, extraordinary case studies of recovery from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, how mitochondrial function affects mental health, and much more.

The post David Baszucki, Co-Founder of Roblox — The Path to 150M+ Daily Users, Critical Business Decisions, Ketogenic Therapy for Brain Health, Daily Routines, The Roblox Economy, and More (#834) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Jack Canfield (@JackCanfield), known as America’s #1 Success Coach, is a bestselling author, professional speaker, trainer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the Canfield Training Group, which trains entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, sales professionals, educators, and motivated individuals how to accelerate the achievement of their personal and professional goals. 

He has conducted live trainings for more than a million people in more than 50 countries around the world. He holds two Guinness World Record titles and is a member of the National Speakers Association’s Speaker Hall of Fame.

Jack is the coauthor of more than two hundred books, including, The Success Principles:  How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, The Success Principles Workbook, Jack Canfield’s Key to Living the Law of Attraction, The Aladdin Factor, Dare to Win, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers and has sold more than 600 million copies in 51 languages around the world.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

Monarch track, budget, plan, and do more with your money AG1  all-in-one nutritional supplement Helix Sleep  premium mattresses [image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastJack Canfield — Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek HappenAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.

TranscriptsThis episodeAll episodesSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Jack Canfield:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Featured Jack Canfield ProjectsChicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor HansenThe Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer100 Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents by Jack Canfield and Harold Clive WellsThe Soul of Success: The Jack Canfield StoryThe Jack Canfield Podcast25 Ways to Complete Before Moving Forward

From Jack:

How many things do you need to complete, dump, or delegate before you can move on and bring new activity, abundance, relationships, and excitement into your life? Use the checklist below to jog your thinking, make a list, and then write down how you’ll complete each task.

Once you’ve made your list, choose four items and start completing them. Choose those that would immediately free up the most time, energy, or space for you—whether it’s mental space or physical space.

At minimum, I encourage you to clean up one major incomplete every three months. If you want to really get the ball rolling, schedule a “completion weekend,” and devote two full days to handling as many things on the following list as possible.

Former business activities that need completionPromises not kept, not acknowledged, or not renegotiatedUnpaid debts or financial commitments (money owed to others or to you)Closets overflowing with clothing never wornA disorganized garage crowded with old discardsHaphazard or disorganized tax recordsCheckbook not balanced or accounts that should be closed“Junk drawers” full of unusable itemsMissing or broken toolsAn attic filled with unused itemsA car trunk or backseat full of trashIncomplete car maintenanceA disorganized basement filled with discarded itemsCredenza packed with unfiled or incomplete projectsFiling left undoneComputer files not backed up or data needing to be converted for storageDesk surface cluttered or disorganizedFamily pictures never put into an albumMending, ironing, or other piles of items to repair or discardDeferred household maintenancePersonal relationships with unstated requests, resentments, or appreciationsPeople you need to forgiveTime not spent with people you’ve been meaning to spend time withIncomplete projects or projects delivered without closure or feedbackAcknowledgments that need to be given or asked for

Excerpt from The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, ©2005, 2015 Self-Esteem Seminars, L.P. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

BooksBefore the Mayflower: A History of Black America 1619-1964 by Lerone Bennett Jr.The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance by Dr. Nate ZinsserExploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard RheingoldThe Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel RuizThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim FerrissMen Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex by John GrayThe One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers by John KremerAnthony Robbins’ Personal Power II: The Driving Force! by Tony RobbinsThe Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott PeckThe Success System That Never Fails: Experience the True Riches of Life by W. Clement StoneThe Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos CastanedaThink and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century by Napoleon HillTools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy FerrissYes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Sammy Davis Jr., Jane Boyar, and Burt BoyarConcepts and Related ResourcesGeorge Carlin on “Heaven and Hell”George Carlin on “Stuff”Clean Up Your Messes (Incompletions)E + R = O (Event + Response = Outcome)Feedback is the Breakfast of ChampionsThe Four AgreementsGestalt TherapyGoal Setting with BeliefIkigaiByron Katie’s “The Work”Limiting BeliefsMassive Action and PersistenceMeditationNéng Piàn Jiù Piàn100 Percent ResponsibilityPlant Medicine/AyahuascaThe Power of Community and SupportRule of FiveVisualization and AffirmationsJocko Willink on the “Good” MindsetFilms and TV ShowsGood Morning AmericaThe SecretSleepless in SeattleSliding DoorsThe Oprah Winfrey ShowCompanies, Organizations, and EventsAmerican Booksellers Association (ABA)Anhui PublishingB. Dalton BooksellerBarnes & NobleBordersCombined InsuranceESPD50Inside EdgeThe Learning AnnexPachamama AllianceRythmia Life Advancement CenterSkillPath SeminarsStrategic CoachSuccess MagazineSVASE (Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs)Thrive GlobalTranscendental MeditationW. Clement & Jessie V. Stone FoundationPeoplePatty AuberyLerone Bennett Jr.Ken BlanchardJane BoyarBurt BoyarBuddhaGeorge CarlinDale CarnegieCarlos CastanedaBarbara De AngelisSammy Davis Jr.John GrayStephen HanselmanMark Victor HansenTrip HawkinsJesse JacksonNapoleon HillJesusByron KatieChiang Kai-shekStephen KingStephen LaBergeJay LenoOg MandinoNick NantonM. Scott PeckVladimir PutinHoward RheingoldTony RobbinsDon Miguel RuizW. Clement StoneDan SullivanJanet SwitzerLynne TwistPeter VegzoJocko WillinkMao ZedongNate ZinsserTIMESTAMPS[00:01:57] How a single “yes” from Jack shaped my career.[00:04:55] A contract lesson: How Chicken Soup for the Soul sold millions in China with zero royalties.[00:06:45] Jack’s background: From poverty to Harvard.[00:09:43] Discovering Chinese history and the “easy A” that changed everything.[00:11:07] Winning “Teacher of the Year” teaching Black history.[00:14:35] High praise from Sammy Davis Jr.[00:17:37] W. Clement Stone: The $600 million mentor who turned motivation into a science (and insurance).[00:21:35] Stone’s challenge: Take 100% responsibility and stop watching TV (a 14-month year hack).[00:22:40] From visualizing $100,000 to a million.[00:25:42] Chicken Soup origins.[00:27:35] Mark Victor Hansen joins.[00:29:15] 144 rejections later.[00:31:28] The ABA miracle.[00:34:05] The Rule of Five.[00:36:05] Selling The Soul and splurging on sweaters.[00:37:27] The Soup sourced from the universe.[00:39:33] The big break.[00:41:22] Word-of-mouth magic.[00:45:37] Lessons from live feedback.[00:47:27] The burnout years.[00:49:25] Life after Chicken Soup.[00:51:05] Late-night typing marathons and pun-laden chapter transitions that led to The Success Principles.[00:54:02] How Jack’s love of transformation beats any royalty check.[00:55:07] Retirement reflections.[00:59:32] Jack’s longevity formula: Laughter, organic food, love, and letting go.[01:02:10] An ayahuasca awakening.[01:03:39] The story of Rythmia Life Advancement Center and how it’s affected Jack.[01:06:43] Breaking belief loops and understanding community as medicine.[01:10:06] E + R = O and strategies for taking 100% responsibility of one’s life.[01:22:27] Why “clean up your messes” is first in Jack’s list of productivity tips.[01:29:27] Where to begin if you’re unfamiliar with Jack’s work.[01:31:08] Ken Blanchard: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”[01:32:13] Parting thoughts.JACK CANFIELD QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“When you were a kid, your grandmother gave you chicken soup when you were sick. … People’s spirits are sick. They’re in resignation, hopelessness, and fear.”

— Jack Canfield

“When I went off to college, my stepfather, he gave me $20. He looked me in the eye and he said, ‘If you need a helping hand, look at the end of your own arm. There’ll be no more gifts coming from me.'”

— Jack Canfield

“Nobody ever complains about gravity. You’ve never seen an old person walking through the mall, all bent over going, ‘Gravity, I hate gravity. If it wasn’t for gravity, I wouldn’t be all bent over. Gravity sucks.’ Never said that. Why not? Because you can’t change gravity. Everyone knows gravity just is, so we don’t complain about it. So anything you’re complaining about, you have to have a reference point in your mind of something better.”

— Jack Canfield

“[W. Clement Stone] said to me, ‘Do you watch television?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘How many hours a day?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Good Morning America, the news, maybe a movie at night.’ He said, ‘That’s three hours a day. Cut out an hour a day, because that’ll give you 365 additional hours a year to be productive. Divide that by a 40-hour work week, that’s nine-and-a-half weeks. It’ll give you a 14-month year. You’ll be much more competitive than all the people in your field if you do that.”

— Jack Canfield

“E + R = O — event plus response equals outcome.”

— Jack Canfield

On retirement: “I realized there were things I want to do that I haven’t done. I want to become a really good chef cook. I want to learn how to oil paint. I play guitar mediocrely. I want to learn to play the piano.”

— Jack Canfield

This 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. Right now, get a FREE Welcome Kit, including Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Travel Packs, when you first subscribe. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones!

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Want to hear another episode with someone who built a publishing juggernaut through consistent principles and daily discipline? Listen to my conversation with bestselling author James Clear, in which we discussed launching a mega-bestseller that’s sold 10+ million copies, building an email list to two million+ people, the power of identity-based habits, strategies for consistent creative work, finding leverage in your life and career, and much more.

The post Jack Canfield — Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek Happen (#833) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Scott Galloway (@profgalloway) is a professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business and a serial entrepreneur. Scott has founded nine companies and served on the boards of The New York Times Company, Urban Outfitters, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Panera Bread, and Ledger.

His latest book is Notes on Being a Man, and I deeply believe in Scott’s mission and messages with this book. We are sitting on a tinderbox and need to address the elephant in the room: young men need help.

In high school, I won the lottery by chancing upon one coach whose influence saved me from the fates of many of my male friends: jail, overdoses, DUI deaths, and more. Ever since, I’ve searched for ways that we might nudge young men towards optimism and better lives. Left unaddressed, the potential for violence and societal disaster is also high. Testosterone and aggression will go somewhere, so best to channel it.

I’m hoping Scott’s book will act as a virtual mentor for young men who are feeling lost, stuck, angry, or despondent about the future.

But what am I so worried about? Here are just a few stats from Scott’s book and appearances:

Men are dropping out of college at higher rates, leading to a graduation ratio of roughly 33:66 (men:women).The percentage of young men aged 20 to 24 who are neither in school nor working has tripled since 1980. 45 percent of men ages 18 to 25 have never approached a woman in person.Between 2008 and 2018, the share of men who hadn’t had sex in the last year rose from 8% to 28%.On dating apps like Tinder, the top 10% of men (in attractiveness) receive 80–90% of all swipe-rights.This dating imbalance contributes to increased susceptibility to misogynistic or extremist content online.Men are twice as likely to be suspended from school for the same infraction as girls (behavior-adjusted).Boys in single-parent households perform worse, while girls’ outcomes remain relatively stable.Men are 3× more likely to overdose.Men are 4× more likely to commit suicide.Men are 12× more likely to be incarcerated.

I asked Scott if I could reprint “The Scott Method” from his new book, and he and his publisher kindly agreed. It does a good job of highlighting the no-BS tough love + practical tactical combo that makes Scott who he is.

Enter Scott . . .

When friends ask if I’ll mentor their sons, I always say yes. We focus on four things—fitness, nutrition, money, work. Master these and they’ll be in a place to start exploring relationships. 

It’s worth repeating: many men think they have to be a mix of Aristotle, Gandalf, and Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid to mentor a younger person. That’s horseshit. The questions I get asked are easy, and a cat could give the advice I do. 

I ask questions as mundane as: When’s the last time you ate a real meal? What do you eat and drink during an average day? Red Bull, Cheetos, sativa gummies? How do you think those might affect your body and brain? So . . . you work in retail, and/or you earn four hundred bucks a week at Chipotle? How much of that goes to online sports betting? A hundred dollars a week? That means you’re spending a quarter of your income on gambling. How are your relationships? Are you dating? What’s your relationship with your parents like? What about your relationship with yourself? What’s your story? Do you have a plan, a blueprint, a map? If not, let’s come up with one. You can adjust it, swap it out in six months or a year—nonetheless, you need one. Do you want to apply to junior college? Skip college, enter the workforce? Move out of your childhood bedroom and start having sex with strange women? First you need to make some money. 

Young men have a single source of capital: time. Where to find it? On their phones. By tracking their activities, we reallocate those hours to more productive places. 

I’m eternally amazed by the number of college-age kids who live at home and who are convinced their parents are the enemy. Yes, your parents can be tone-deaf, uncool, a source of frustration, but give me a fucking break—they’re not trying to undermine you or wreck your life. Unless home is a hellscape, and they’re abusing you, assume everything they do comes from a good place. Don’t want to obey house rules? Then stop taking your parents’ money and find a fifth-floor walk-up. Accepting their support means taking their advice. 

Next, we unlock their phones. Not so I can judge them or be absolute—I watch porn and spend too much time on TikTok, too. By analyzing screen time, we free up eight to twelve hours a week. From now on, they’ll agree to spend thirty minutes a day, not two hours, on TikTok. Two hours a week watching porn are reduced to forty-five minutes, and six-plus hours spent on Reddit, Discord, Coinbase, Robinhood, are distilled to two. 

Many young men don’t take advantage of their muscle mass, bone structure, and testosterone to get physically strong. From now on, they’ll work out three, later four, times a week—we download an app to track progress. The goal is to start small and build up. 

Get to Work . . . 

These days, anyone with a phone and a driver’s license can make money driving for Lyft or doing chores on Taskrabbit. If you want to make money, you first need to start earning some via a part-time job. A nice thing about making money is that you start developing a taste for it—think Dracula and blood. Money, you realize, is fun and interesting, and making it is a good feeling. Why not see if you can make more? If you work at CVS, do you have the skills and organization to get a job at Whole Foods and earn even more money? 

Along with fitness and work, I also ask young men to place themselves in an unfamiliar situation in the company of strangers three times a week in the agency of something bigger—a writing or cooking class, a nonprofit, church, a sports league. The only rule is that within the month, they have to introduce themselves to everyone there. Starting with hello, then asking a stranger out for coffee. The other person might say no. The next day, they have to call and tell me how they feel. It might hurt, but guess what? They’re not mortally wounded, or bankrupt, they’re still standing, and that’s everything. Now do it again until they start developing a callus. The more nos they get, the more they can calibrate what works and doesn’t. The key, the skill, the talent, the mastery, the ninja artisanship no one teaches, is that the greatest, most specific skill a young man can develop is his willingness to endure rejection. 

The above works for most young men—others need more of a sounding board. It’s freakishly easy to add value to a young man’s life. One young man in his twenties told me he planned to move from Washington, DC, to Alaska. Not sure why—I think he saw a special on the Discovery Channel once. 

SCOTT: Do you have a job in Alaska? 

YOUNG MAN: No. 

SCOTT: Friends? Relatives? Any support system? 

YOUNG MAN: No, it’ll be a fresh start. Wait, I forgot to tell you—my mom was just diagnosed with Parkinson’s. 

SCOTT: Parkinson’s? 

YOUNG MAN: I think that’s what the doctor said. 

SCOTT: Why are you being such an idiot right now? Don’t quit your job in DC, you’re making a hundred grand a year! 

YOUNG MAN: Oh, okay, good point. 

SCOTT: Also, it sounds like your mom is really sick. I’ll bet she needs you. Is this really the right time to move? 

YOUNG MAN: Hadn’t thought of that. Probably not. 

SCOTT: Here’s some more advice. Bank enough money so you have six months of cushion. Take a week off, fly to Alaska, and see if you like it—you might really hate the place. Also, if I were you, I’d get a job there first, before you move. Also, your mom needs you. 

YOUNG MAN: Wow. I didn’t think of any of this. Thanks, Scott. 

A lovely colleague once asked if I’d be willing to mentor her son, a college sophomore, pre-med. Dan was feeling low because he’d torn his Achilles tendon playing football and was out for the season. 

SCOTT: Are you on the fast-track to playing in the NFL?

DAN: [laughs hysterically] 

SCOTT: In that case, everything’ll work out. How’s college overall? 

DAN: Really good. I’m having second thoughts about med school, though. 

SCOTT: Stick it out another year. The world won’t end if you quit and do something else. 

DAN: Okay. 

Dan was fine, I told his mom. The Achilles injury was a setback, but college was good, he had strong relationships, went to church, and was in regular touch with family members. As a successful professional, his mom expected him to follow a certain groove, and right now her son wasn’t grooving—so what? Parents across the United States would pray for problems like these. 

Finally, I remind young men to cut themselves slack and stop being so hard on themselves. Reminded daily of their own perceived physical and financial shortcomings in a numbing, dumbing, deep-pocketed digital ecosystem designed to make them feel like screwups and cultural outsiders while simultaneously persuading them they can have a viable social and work life on their phones—while other voices online whisper that the world is against them thanks to women, trans athletes, and immigrants—their judgment and sense of reality take a beating. Adolescence is hard, the twenties harder, as one’s potential begins narrowing, more is at stake, perspective is limited, and any/all career decisions feel dispositive (see above, limited perspective). 

One high school senior I met got rejected by his parent’s alma mater. It devastated him. I told him he would still go to college, that there are a hundred great schools in America that double as the best hundred schools in the world. He would get into one, move into a dorm, drink too much beer, hang out with his friends, meet and have sex with women, test his limits, and have a thoroughly amazing time. In five years, when he and I caught up, the only thing he’d be upset about would be how upset he once was. 

S-C-A-F-A 

My anger and depression issues started when I was in my thirties, probably passed down from my dad. I’ve never been clinically diagnosed for depression, never taken an SSRI. In my thirties, though, I began developing grudges against myself and others. I had a hard time moving past things, would get triggered by something trivial, could feel my blood thickening, and I’d feel hollow and down. I still have trouble getting past things, and periods when I feel nothing—my average daily mood doesn’t always sync with my privilege and blessings.

It’s not one issue or trigger that makes me anxious, it’s more about me. The nerve fibers of the spinal ganglia penetrate our guts, where they identify pain, pressure, and more. What makes me go dark is less a function of a bad phone call or a shitty investment decision than my own brain and body chemistry. Once, I was on the phone with my sister when she remarked I always seemed pissed off about something. “I have to be honest,” she said. “You have less right to be angry and upset than anyone I know. I mean, look at your life.” 

She was right, though I’m still a long way from mastering happiness. These days, I pick up the warning signs more easily that I need to pay more attention to myself. If I haven’t exercised, the intensity and frustration that builds up in my body and brain are displaced. I get snappish, monosyllabic, and self-absorbed. I start role-playing aggressive situations in my head that never happened, like a face-off with a coworker, a cab driver, or an unfriendly barista. These simulations are verbal, never physical. The biggest giveaway is I start thinking about the Holocaust. 

I realized certain behavioral changes could help snap me out of it. I came up with the terrible mnemonic SCAFA, short for Sweat, Clean eating, Abstinence, Family, and Affection—my five pharmaceuticals. 

Sweat and exercise are good for resetting my system. They’re the closest thing we humans have to a cheap, indiscriminately available youth serum—and they make me a nicer person, too. Clean eating means I try to eat home-cooked food versus gorging on trans fats or too many over-seasoned restaurant meals. Abstinence means no alcohol and weed—a short ban against whatever hits my pleasure sensors. Finally, I spend time with my family, even if my sons are being awful and demanding, absorbing as much affection as possible from them, my wife, and our dogs. Love my dogs. 

Note: If you feel low, go back to the basics: Sweat, Clean Eating, Abstinence, Family, and Affection. Take care of your brain and body and the rest will follow. 

****

From Notes on Being a Man by Scott Galloway, published by Simon & Schuster. ©2025 Scott Galloway. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

More on Scott:
Scott has won multiple Webby and Best Podcast awards, and his New York Times–bestselling books have been translated into 28 languages. Across his Prof G Pod, Prof G Markets, Raging Moderates, and Pivot podcasts; his No Mercy / No Malice newsletter; and his YouTube channel, Scott reaches millions. His prior bestselling books include The Four, The Algebra of Happiness, Post Corona, Adrift: America in 100 Charts, and The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security. 

Photo credit: Lukas Rychvalsky

The post Notes on Being a Man, and Advice for Young Men Who Are Feeling Lost — Scott Galloway appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Boyd Varty (@boyd_varty) is the founder of Track Your Life. As a fourth-generation custodian of Londolozi Game Reserve, Boyd grew up with lions, leopards, snakes, and elephants and has spent his life in apprenticeship to the natural world. He is a lion tracker, storyteller, and literacy and wildlife activist. At the intersection of his two greatest passions, tracking and personal transformation, Boyd uses ancient wisdom to help people create a purpose-driven, meaningful life and to discover their most authentic, essential self. 

Boyd is a TED speaker, the author of Cathedral of the Wild and The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life, and the host of the Track Your Life podcast. Using wilderness as a place for deep introspection and personal transformation, Boyd has taught his philosophy of “Tracking Your Life” to companies and individuals all over the world.

Please enjoy!

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Our Place’s Titanium Always Pan® Pro  using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals” Gusto  simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses Wealthfront  high-yield cash account[image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastThe Return of The Lion Tracker — Boyd Varty on The Wild Man Within, Nature’s Hidden Wisdom, and How to Feel Fully AliveAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.

SHOW NOTES & LINKSTranscriptsThis episodeAll episodesSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Boyd Varty:

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Featured ProjectsThe Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life by Boyd VartyCathedral of the Wild: An African Journey Home by Boyd VartyTrack Your Life with Boyd Varty | Apple PodcastsBoyd Varty: What I Learned from Nelson Mandela | TED TalkLondolozi Game ReserveLondolozi BlogBoyd’s Last Appearance on This ShowBoyd Varty — The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #571Tracking, Bush Craft, and Persistence HuntingTracker AcademyJu/’hoansi (San) BushmenPersistence HuntingPlaces and Wild ContextsKalahari DesertLuangwa River / ValleyMaasai MaraCotswoldsPractical Carry-Overs from Wild to CityAvoid the Simmering SixDigital SabbathJetboil StoveWhole-Body Yes (WBY)Zen KoansBooksThe 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley KlempThe Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh WaitzkinMovies and TV ShowsGilligan’s IslandThe Great Dance: A Hunter’s StoryMy Octopus TeacherSearching for Bobby FischerThe Three StoogesWalker, Texas RangerAnimalsAnacondaBaboonBadgerBearBlack MambaBuffaloCheetahCowCrocodileElephantElkGarter SnakeGemsbok (Oryx)GiraffeGreen Variegated Bush SnakeGround SquirrelHouse SnakeHyenaKuduLeopardLionOctopusPorcupineSouthern BoubouVervet MonkeyWarthogWildebeestWolfPeopleRich BartonMartha BeckDiana ChapmanJim DethmerCraig FosterMarcelo GarciaToby PheasantRenias MhlongoHeath RobinsonChris SaccaSersant SibuyiAlex van den HeeverJohn Varty (JV)Josh WaitzkinJohn WayneTIMESTAMPS[00:00:00] Start.[00:01:59] Boyd returns.[00:03:14] Elite firefighting unit: Boyd’s French Foreign Legionnaire predecessor.[00:04:27] The paper mache lion incident and Lucky’s dramatic exit.[00:08:07] Firefighting drill disaster: When 50/50 failed spectacularly.[00:09:58] Leadership lesson: Bringing energy down when chaos climbs.[00:11:52] Story hunting and the natural world as meaning machine.[00:17:16] Uncle JV: Wildlife filmmaker with a dangerous drama meter.[00:19:10] Camera bearing adventures: Elephants, hyenas, and the red mist.[00:22:30] Zambia expeditions: Crocodiles, dead elephants, and shovel oars.[00:25:48] Orienting toward safety: Building capability versus childhood overwhelm.[00:29:11] Wilderness retreat lessons: Wordlessness and natural state.[00:31:40] The Londolozi time war: Tech detox and parasympathetic shifts.[00:39:49] Mystical animal encounters: Lions, southern boubous, and synchronicity.[00:43:11] Re-enchantment: Nature’s desire to help us heal.[00:45:25] Following non-rational energy and forays into wordlessness.[00:52:31] Diana Chapman’s Whole-Body Yes and avoiding the simmering six.[00:58:04] Toby Pheasant and the great black mamba escape.[01:06:09] Training for persistence hunting using Bushman Great Dance wisdom.[01:09:23] The desert as storehouse: Abundance psychology in action.[01:11:23] Persistence hunt mechanics: Heat, time, and the animal’s energy transfer.[01:15:04] Running into ceremony: 47 degrees and letting the body know.[01:21:31] The kudu gives itself: Profound respect at the edge of survival.[01:27:22] Seeking the wild man: Access to the full spectrum of presence.[01:29:20] Context and discernment: Armor in cities, openness in wild spaces.[01:34:55] Men need men: Collective exploration around the fire.[01:37:40] Relationship as practice: Moving from romantic myth to active work.[01:40:15] Dick jokes and raft building: The indirect work that does heavy lifting.[01:45:43] Lunch the baboon: Hand lotion, bloody handprints, and royal delays.[01:55:43] Living amongst the animals: Warthog intelligence and leopard relationships.[01:57:27] Parting thoughts.MORE BOYD VARTY QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“The natural world is not just where meaning constellates. It is meaning in some fundamental way.”

— Boyd Varty

“I have this idea that comes from Martha Beck, where her take on the natural world is that it’s a wordless environment. If you look at the animals, they don’t have verbal minds. You don’t see them thinking past and future. You don’t see lions lying there thinking, ‘Oh, Janine messed up that hunt yesterday; we can’t trust her going forward.’ If you can go into wordlessness, then very quickly people start going into oneness. The key thing I have found now is get people to be quiet, get them into more wordlessness, create an opportunity for them to interact and receive lessons from the natural world, and then things rapidly start to happen.”

— Boyd Varty

“I think people need to be re-enchanted. One of the things that we’re afflicted with is that we are dulled down and we are disconnected from magic. Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be that woo-woo, just to see a leopard and her cubs leap up into the branches of a marula tree and to feel like, ‘God, this is the beauty of it,’ and to have that affect you in some profound way. I’ve just seen so much of it now. I’m a real believer that nature wants us to heal, and nature knows when we come to her with the desire to mend our soul.”

— Boyd Varty

“All roads in personal transformation lead to the information inside you. You actually know it’s in you in the way that lions know how to be lions and leopards know how to be leopards.”

— Boyd Varty

“To [The Bushmen], the desert is their storehouse, which is quite an amazing idea. There’s no sense of needing to hold or store because it’s an abundance psychology that everything you need is there.”

— Boyd Varty

“It’s not just a random leopard, but we know this leopard. She allows herself to be seen. We have a relationship with her, and that’s a very, very deep and beautiful way to live.”

— Boyd Varty

“The natural world is a story machine. It’s a meaning machine. It’s a symbolic machine.”

— Boyd Varty

“If you start saying ‘I want to go out into the local park; I want to go out into my garden and I have a specific question’ and you write that question down and you start asking, specifically nature, ‘Could you help me answer that question?,’ it’s almost like a Zen koan. You’re holding an intention and a desire for certain answers. Then, what you see, your psyche will run that through a specific matrix and insight will start to develop.”

— Boyd Varty

“I say to people, ‘Stop trying to know and stop trying to use this retreat to get the next thing, and in fact let yourself not know and just enter into the circadian rhythm of seeing the sun rise and seeing the sun set, watching it go from stars to stars.'”

— Boyd Varty

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This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is a financial services platform that offers services to help you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn a 3.50% base APY—that’s the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account from its network of program banks. That’s nearly nine times more interest than an average savings account at a bank, according to FDIC.gov as of 09/26/2025 (Wealthfront’s 3.50% APY vs. 0.40% average savings rate). Right now, for a limited time, Wealthfront is offering new clients an additional 0.65% boost over the base rate for three months, meaning you can get 4.15% APY, limited to $150,000 in deposits. Terms & Conditions apply. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started. 

The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The 3.50% Base APY on cash deposits is as of November 7, 2025, is representative, subject to change, and requires no minimum. If you are eligible for the overall boosted rate of 4.15% offered in connection with this promo, your boosted rate is also subject to change if the base rate decreases during the three-month promotional period. Tim Ferriss, who is not a client, receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage LLC. This ad may not reflect the experience of other Cash Account clients, and similar outcomes are not guaranteed. See full disclosures here. 

Want to hear Boyd’s first appearance on the show? Listen to our original conversation, in which we discussed the origins of Londolozi Game Reserve, the ancient lineage of Shangaan trackers, living 40 days and 40 nights in a tree, crocodile attacks, the killer bee story, tracking as a philosophy for life, and much more.

The post The Return of The Lion Tracker — Boyd Varty on The Wild Man Within, Nature’s Hidden Wisdom, and How to Feel Fully Alive (#832) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Richard H. Thaler (@r_thaler) is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is also a founding principal at FullerThaler Asset Management, which uses behavioral finance to manage over $30 billion in small-cap US equities. 

Thaler has been a professional disrupter. He helped create the fields of behavioral economics and finance that lie in the gap between economics and psychology. He investigates the implications of relaxing the standard economic assumption that everyone in the economy is rational and selfish, instead entertaining the possibility that some of the agents in the economy are sometimes human. 

Thaler is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Cass R. Sunstein) and the author of Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. His new book is The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now, co-authored with economist Alex O. Imas. 

My co-host is Nick Kokonas (@nickkokonas), an entrepreneur, investor, and author best known as the co-founder of The Alinea Group (sold, 2024) and the reservation platform Tock (now owned by American Express). After revolutionizing how restaurants and experiences are crafted, booked, and managed, he’s now focused on creative ventures that blend business, technology, and art—from immersive theater projects to Napa Valley winemaking. A philosophy graduate of Colgate University, he is as interested in ideas and first principles as he is in building things that last. He lives in Chicago and Napa Valley with his wife and two sons.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

ExpressVPN  high-speed, secure, and anonymous VPN serviceSeed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic broad spectrum 24-strain probiotic + prebioticAG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement[image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastNick Kokonas and Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize Laureate — Realistic Economics, Avoiding The Winner’s Curse, Using Temptation Bundling, and Going Against the EstablishmentAdditional podcast platforms

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SHOW NOTES & LINKSTranscriptsThis episodeAll episodesSHOW NOTES

Books and Articles:

The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics and Anomalies Then and Now by Richard H. Thaler and Alex Imas Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard H. Thaler Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness  by by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis“The Last Decision by the World’s Leading Thinker on Decisions” (Wall Street Journal)

Additional Resources:

Richard H. Thaler — X Profile Richard H. Thaler — Chicago Booth ProfileInterview with Richard H. Thaler — NobelPrize.orgRead These Five Papers to Understand Thaler’s Nobel-Winning Work (Bloomberg)The Making of Richard Thaler’s Economics Nobel (The New Yorker)Richard Thaler Wins the Nobel in Economics for Killing Homo Economicus (The Atlantic)Nick Kokonas — WikipediaNick Kokonas — How to Apply World-Class Creativity to Business, Art, and Life (#341) — The Tim Ferriss ShowNick Kokonas on Resurrecting Restaurants, Skin in the Game, and Investing (#429) — The Tim Ferriss ShowTock — Official SiteThe Alinea GroupAlex Imas — Chicago Booth ProfileDaniel KahnemanAmos TverskyProspect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979)Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (1974)Availability Heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973)Endowment Effect & Coase Theorem (Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler, 1990)Fairness as a Constraint on Profit Seeking (Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler, 1986)Save More Tomorrow (Thaler & Benartzi, 2004)Default Effects in 401(k)s (Madrian & Shea, 2001)Choice Architecture (Thaler, Sunstein & Balz, 2013)Schiphol’s “Fly in the Urinal” NudgeSunk Cost Fallacy (Arkes & Blumer, 1985)Gambling with the House Money and Trying to Break Even (Thaler & Johnson, 1990)Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting (Laibson, 1997)The CFO Survey (Duke/Fuqua)Libertarian Paternalism (Thaler & Sunstein, 2003)Journal of Economic Perspectives (open access)Anomalies: The Winner’s Curse (Thaler, JEP)Estimating the Reproducibility of Psychological Science (Open Science Collaboration, 2015)Evaluating Replicability of Laboratory Experiments in Economics (Camerer et al., 2016)Temptation Bundling (Milkman, Minson & Volpp, 2014)Paying Not to Go to the Gym (DellaVigna & Malmendier, 2006)

Note from the editor: An expanded list of links & resources will be added.

This episode is brought to you by Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic! Seed’s DS-01 was recommended to me months ago by a PhD microbiologist, so I started using it well before their team ever reached out to me. After incorporating two capsules of Seed’s DS-01 into my morning routine, I have noticed improved digestion, skin tone, and overall health. It’s a 2-in-1 probiotic and prebiotic formulated with 24 clinically and scientifically studied strains that have systemic benefits in and beyond the gut. And now, you can get 25% off your first month of DS-01 with code 25TIM.

This 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. 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! 

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The post Nick Kokonas and Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize Laureate — Realistic Economics, Avoiding The Winner’s Curse, Using Temptation Bundling, and Going Against the Establishment (#830) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

James Nestor (@MrJamesNestor) is a science journalist and the author of the international bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, with more than three million copies sold in 44 languages. Breath was named the Best General Nonfiction Book by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and was a finalist for Science Book of the Year at the Royal Society.

He is also the author of Deep: Free Diving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves and Get High Now (Without Drugs).

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

Helix Sleep  premium mattresses Momentous  high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement[image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastJames Nestor — Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost PerformanceAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.

SHOW NOTES & LINKSConnect with James Nestor:

Website | Instagram

TranscriptsThis episodeAll episodesBooks Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art Deep: Free Diving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves   The Body Electric Heart, Breath, Mind: Train Your Heart to Conquer Stress and Achieve Success Products, Apps, & ToolsSnoreLab (app)SnoreClock (app)Hostage Tape MyoTapeAranet4 (CO₂ monitor)Relaxator (breathing retrainer)HeartMath (HRV monitor)O2Trainer

This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2024 by Forbes, Fortune, and Wired magazines and many others. 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 27% off all mattress orders at HelixSleep.com/Tim.

This 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. 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! 

This episode is brought to you by Momentous high-quality creatine and more! 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.). Use code TIM at checkout and enjoy 35% off your first subscription order or 14% off your first one-time purchase! 

The post James Nestor — Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance (#829) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

“If you could summarize nine years, 400 biographies, into one word of what I’ve learned, it’s ‘focus.'”
— David Senra

David Senra (@FoundersPodcast) is the host of the Founders podcast. For the past nine years, David has intensely studied the life and work of hundreds of history’s greatest entrepreneurs. Every week he reads another biography and shares lessons on his podcast. David has been invited to lecture at Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, and Notre Dame. Founders is one of the top business podcasts in the world, with hundreds of thousands of founders, investors, and executives listening every week. 

His new podcast, David Senra, showcases conversations with the best-of-the-best living founders and extreme winners. Its goal is to share timeless lessons with current and future generations of entrepreneurs and leaders.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

Cresset family office services for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs Our Place’s Titanium Always Pan® Pro , using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “forever chemicals”AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement[image error]Listen onSpotify Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onOvercastDavid Senra — How Extreme Winners Think and WinAdditional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

SHOW NOTES & LINKSConnect with David Senra:

Website | Founders Podcast | Founders Newsletter | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Podcasts Founders David Senra All the Hacks Breaking Bread with Tom Papa David Senra: The Obsession That Creates Enduring Companies | Invest Like The BestElon Musk: Childhood and Work Philosophy | The Kevin Rose Show Hardcore History How I Built The Tim Ferriss Show to 700+ Million Downloads — An Immersive Explanation of All Aspects and Key Decisions (Featuring Chris Hutchins) | The Tim Ferriss Show #538 Invest Like the Best Musashi: Warrior Code and Life | Jocko Podcast 100 with Tim FerrissBooks & Articles Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel by Sam Zell Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthyThe Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein Deep Future: Creating Technology That Matters by Pablos Holman The Dream of Solomeo: My Life and the Idea of Humanistic Capitalism by Brunello Cucinelli Dune by Frank Herbert Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson How to Make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft by Paul Allen Insisting On the Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land by Victor K. McElhenyInterview: Steven Jobs | Playboy Invention: A Life of Learning Through Failure by James Dyson Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller by Alec Nevala-Lee John D.: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers by David Freeman Hawke Land’s Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It by Peter C. Wensberg Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman-Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual by Yvon Chouinard Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson The Marginalian by Maria Popova Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby Musashi (New Edition): A Novel by Eiji Yoshikawa No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy Overdrive: Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace by James Wallace Play Nice But Win: A CEO’s Journey from Founder to Leader by Michael Dell and James Kaplan The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel Psychopathy Prevalence Facts & Figures | Psychopathy Is The Red Bull Story: The Unbelievable Success of Dietrich Mateschitz and His Energy Drink Empire by Wolfgang Fürweger The Road by Cormac McCarthy Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, and Craig Walsh The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder Source Code: My Beginnings by Bill Gates Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein The Tao of Seneca: Letters from a Stoic Master by Seneca the Younger The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts Who Is Michael Ovitz? by Michael OvitzPeopleDavid AllenPaul AllenMarc AndreessenKarim AtiyehPeter AttiaAlexander Graham BellJeff BezosUsain BoltRichard BransonIsambard Kingdom BrunelKobe BryantSusan BuffettWarren BuffettJulius CaesarDan CarlinRobert CaroJim CaseyRon ChernowYvon ChouinardWinston ChurchillBill ClintonHillary ClintonBrunello CucinelliLeonardo Del VecchioMichael DellW. Edwards DemingDr. DreAriel DurantWill DurantJames DysonThomas EdisonDaniel EkLarry EllisonEnzo FerrariHenry FordBenjamin FranklinJeremy FryR. Buckminster FullerJeremy Giffon Larry GagosianBill GatesDavid GeffenRick GersonShane GillisTodd GravesAlexander the GreatDavid Freeman HawkeJames J. HillSam HinkieBenny HinnPablos HolmanClaude HopkinsMorgan HouselJensen HuangAndrew HubermanChris HutchinsCarl IcahnJimmy IovineAlec IssigonisBrad JacobsLeBron JamesJesusSteve JobsLyndon B. JohnsonMichael JordanThe JudgeHenry KaiserTravis KalanickKevin KellyJamal KhashoggiDara KhosrowshahiStephen KingJared KushnerEddie LampertEdwin LandAlbert LaskerEstée LauderRoland LazenbyAbraham LincolnBlake LivelyTobias LütkePhilip II of MacedonCormac McCarthyRob MohrRobert MosesMrBeastCharlie MungerMiyamoto MusashiElon MuskAlex NorströmRockwood NotesPatrick O’ShaughnessyDavid OgilvyJiro OnoMichael OvitzTom PapaMichael PhelpsMaria PopovaRolf PottsSol PriceJay PritzkerVladimir PutinRichard RainwaterNaval RavikantRyan ReynoldsJoe RoganKevin RoseRick RubinLes SchwabArnold SchwarzeneggerJerry SeinfeldSeneca the YoungerIsadore SharpJim SinegalHenry SingletonDerek SiversFred SmithGustav SöderströmEd ThorpDonald TrumpCornelius VanderbiltLuis von AhnJosh WaitzkinLee WalkerBill WalshSam WaltonJocko WillinkWilliam ZeckendorfSam ZellMark ZuckerbergVisual Media The Defiant Ones Dune Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates Jiro Dreams of Sushi Mad Men No Country for Old Men The Road The Tim Ferriss Experiment Companiesa16zAmazonAppleAudibleBlackstoneBlinkistBrunello CucinelliCAAColossusCostcoDellDenny’sDysonEvernoteFacebookFedExFour SeasonsGoldman SachsGraphtreonIBMInstagramKodakLuxotticaMySpaceNetflixNVIDIAOraclePatagoniaPatreonPlayboyPolaroidRaising Cane’sReadwiseSam’s ClubSchlitz BeerSciCommSee’s CandySpotifyTikTokTwitter (X)UberUFCUPSWMAYouTubeMiscellaneous MentionsThe Fountainhead YachtThe Hawaiian TechniqueThe Hoover DamIkigaiMoons Over My HammyOmakaseToyota Way 2020Timestamps[00:00:00] Start.[00:01:11] Brad Jacobs: Roll-up king and positive-driven billionaire founder.[00:02:26] Rare positive archetypes: Ed Thorp, Sol Price, Brunello Cucinelli.[00:06:04] Michael Dell as another exception; fear of failure and motivation.[00:06:47] Negative self-talk, excellence, and its ripple effects.[00:08:26] Jensen Huang story: “Why do you suck so much?”[00:08:54] Inspiration from Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.[00:10:00] Derek Sivers: unconventional, philosophical entrepreneur.[00:11:04] Learning equals behavior change, not memorization.[00:11:48] Jeremy Gafan insight: biographies as substitute mentors.[00:12:37] Reading biographies as one-sided conversations.[00:13:16] The chain of influence.[00:14:09] Podcasting as “relationships at scale.”[00:14:28] Coping with trauma and breaking cycles.[00:20:18] Note-taking process: books, Post-its, ruler, Readwise.[00:29:27] OCD tendencies and love of doing things the hard way.[00:31:04] Comparing our reading/re-reading workflows.[00:35:04] A family falling out and the randomness of student housing.[00:38:58] David’s introduction to my work during his MySpace-era college years.[00:40:07] Podcasting influences: Jocko Willink, Kevin Rose’s Elon Musk interview.[00:44:14] Five-and-a-half years of obscurity before breakthrough.[00:46:50] Graphtreon and experiments with subscription models.[00:49:25] Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s endorsement sparks growth.[00:51:23] Sam Hinkie and Patrick connections fuel momentum.[00:52:19] Transition to ads and joining Patrick’s network.[00:55:17] Edwin Land: patron saint of founders and Steve Jobs’ influence.[00:57:02] Lessons from Sam Zell, Jay Pritzker, and William Zeckendorf.[00:58:48] Need a generous, well-connected person? You can’t go wrong with Rick Gerson.[01:03:04] Edwin Land’s philosophies: Differentiation and doing to excess.[01:04:30] Entrepreneurial archetypes and conflicting advice.[01:06:00] Daniel Ek as an alternative founder archetype and mentor.[01:10:59] Further founder archetypes and contrasts.[01:13:41] What is an anti-business billionaire?[01:19:55] Advice from “shark” Michael Ovitz about the value of truth in one’s inner circle.[01:22:30] The hands-on approach of practical founders who live for the love of their business.[01:23:28] Doing one thing relentlessly.[01:23:51] “This can’t be my life” as a powerful motivator.[01:26:57] Low introspection as a common trait among founders — and its implications about human nature.[01:30:15] Robert Caro: The only writer David believes should be allowed to write thousand-page biographies.[01:32:40] James Dyson’s persistence vs. the risk of blind stubbornness.[01:34:22] Todd Graves (Raising Cane’s) as an example of relentless focus on one idea.[01:35:41] Separating fact from fiction in biographies/histories.[01:41:55] Considering trainable vs. non-trainable attributes in potential role models.[01:46:11] Perusing Charlie Munger’s library.[01:49:35] Dealmaking lessons on Eddie Lampert’s superyacht.[01:55:34] The smartest person David knows.[01:56:55] David’s obsessive craftsman approach to podcast creation.[01:58:51] Why David decided to begin a second podcast.[02:01:21] The economics of trust.[02:03:40] The benefits of cultivating a purposeful aloofness about current events.[02:07:11] Using the pulpit of publicity for good, not evil.[02:09:57] New show frequency/dynamic and how David plans to balance the burden of running two shows.[02:13:30] Teamwork with essence of turtle.[02:15:40] Adapting the Rockefeller “secret allies” strategy to podcasting.[02:17:56] Chris Hutchins: The mad scientist of podcasting?[02:18:30] Working with Rob Mohr and Andrew Huberman of SciComm.[02:20:54] Why David focuses on 24-hour cycles over long-term planning.[02:24:54] Does David worry the extra workload will disrupt his lifestyle?[02:30:18] What makes one potential guest more interesting to David than another?[02:34:34] Making an impact vs. happiness.[02:36:32] Playing the status game when your heart’s not in it is for suckers.[02:44:23] Travel observations and the rarity of truly unique experiences.[02:46:26] Books as philosophical operating systems.[02:48:39] Parting thoughts.MORE DAVID SENRA QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I’m not building a media company. I’m building relationships at scale.”
— David Senra

“You should be copying the what, not the how. You don’t copy what they did; you copy how they did it, and then you just take the little ideas that make sense to you.”
— David Senra

“The maxim I’ve made for myself on this is learning is not memorizing information. Learning is changing your behavior.”
— David Senra

“If you could summarize nine years, 400 biographies, into one word of what I’ve learned, it’s focus.”
— David Senra

“My whole thing is just very simple. I want to do one thing relentlessly.”
— David Senra

“I just love when people take what they do very seriously, and I like the craft of it. And I want to dedicate my life to making a product that makes somebody else’s life better. That is what drives me.”
— David Senra

“I love the climb. I don’t care where the summit is.”
— David Senra

“All a great life is, is a string of great days. And so the furthest I plan out is 24 hours.”
— David Senra

Want to hear another episode with someone who deeply appreciates business history? Listen to my conversation with Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, as he shares stories from Sam Walton’s office (which he still works in), discusses the founder’s legendary Saturday morning meetings, the “Go for it” keychain philosophy, and much more.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset Family Office! Cresset offer family office services for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs. They handle the complex financial planning, uncertain tax strategies, timely exit planning, bill pay and wires, and all the other parts of wealth management that would otherwise pull me away from doing what I love most: making things, mastering skills, and spending time with the people I care about.  Schedule a call today at cressetcapital.com/Tim to see how Cresset can help streamline your financial plans and grow your wealth.

I’m a client of Cresset. There are no material conflicts other than this paid testimonial. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

This 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. 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! 

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The post David Senra — How Extreme Winners Think and Win: Lessons from 400+ of History’s Greatest Founders and Investors (Including Buffett, Munger, Rockefeller, Jobs, Ovitz, Zell, and Names You Don’t Know But Should) (#828) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

Pablos Holman (@pablos) is a hacker and inventor and the bestselling author of Deep Future: Creating Technology that Matters, the indispensable guide to deep tech. Previously, Pablos worked on spaceships at Blue Origin and helped build The Intellectual Ventures Lab to invent a wide variety of breakthroughs, including a brain surgery tool, a machine to suppress hurricanes, 3D food printers, and a laser that can shoot down mosquitos, part of an impact invention effort to eradicate malaria with Bill Gates.

Pablos hosts the Deep Future Podcast, and his TED talks have been viewed more than 30 million times. He is also managing partner at Deep Future, investing in technologies to solve the world’s biggest problems. 

Please enjoy!

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Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

SHOW NOTES & LINKSConnect with Pablos Holman:

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TranscriptsThis episode.All episodes.Media Deep Future: Creating Technology That Matters by Pablos HolmanThe Deep Future PodcastPablos Propaganda WhatsApp GroupETech: Hacker Shows How Your TV, Front Door, and iPhone are Vulnerable | WIREDPablos Holman: Nuclear Reactors Can Solve Inequality | TED TalkPablos Holman: Better Ancestors | TED TalkPablos Holman: How to Become Relevant When a Robot Takes Your Job | TED TalkPablos Holman: Inventing for the World’s Largest Problems | TED Talk The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn Elysium starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss Scent of a Woman starring Al Pacino Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson True Lies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis WarGames starring Matthew Broderick Zero Effect starring Bill Pullman and Ben StillerPeopleJeff BezosJeremy BornsteinTyler CowenBrady ForrestBill GatesSherlock Holmes3ric JohansonSamy KamkarStephen KeyElan LeePalmer LuckeyMajor MalfunctionKevin MitnickRodney MullenElon MuskNathan MyhrvoldKeith RosemaNeal StephensonBen StillerDonald TrumpChris YoungCompanies & Concepts in Technology & InnovationAbu Dhabi’s AI-Native GovernmentThe ADVANCE Act of 2024AirSnortAndurilApple IIAutonomous ShipsBlue OriginCommonwealth Fusion SystemsDeep FissionDeep IsolationDodgeballEmpire State BuildingEverett Massacre (Wobblies vs. Snohomish County Sheriff)HackerbotHolobiomeIntellectual VenturesLinuxMaerskNewlabNuclear Fusion PowerNuclear Power in ChinaNuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)NvidiaOakley X-Metal (Pablos’ indestructible glasses)ONE CampaignPerpetual MotionPSYOPRecycling in EuropeRecycling in the USRFID (Radio Frequency Identification)Ladon RoboticsSchlage LocksSock Puppet AttackTerraPowerUber vs. TaxisZero-Click ExploitsConferencesChaos Computer Congress (CCC)DEF CONMars (Jeff Bezos’ private conference)O’Reilly Emerging Technology ConferenceShmooConToorConMiscellaneous MotionAikidoBartitsu: The Gentleman’s Martial ArtSalsaTangoTimestamps[00:00:00] Start.[00:02:12] The first time I witnessed Pablos’ digital sleight of hand.[00:04:33] How did Pablos become what he considers to be a hacker?[00:08:04] The off-label mindset that makes a good hacker (like Samy Kamkar) great.[00:17:07] The magic of Rodney Mullen.[00:20:28] How Eric Johanson and Pablos gave life to adorable password thief Hackerbot.[00:23:44] Hacker self-defense and the zero-click exploit market.[00:27:11] International pockets of hacker density.[00:30:13] Conventions where modern hackers congregate.[00:30:48] Why, in geopolitics, technology is a game lost by the non-players.[00:33:05] The case to rally behind new nuclear power.[00:36:54] Sequencing priorities so the US can remain technologically competitive.[00:44:49] Evaluating risk and reward in deep tech investment.[00:50:40] Shoring up the shape of shipping.[00:56:59] How Pablos gained his name and famous frames.[00:58:48] Pablos is a possible-ist.[00:59:45] What makes Pablos an attractive hire for the world’s richest people?[01:02:06] From Silicon Valley to Seattle: the Blue Origin origin story.[01:08:55] Why Pablos prevails over his M-dash peers.[01:11:41] Zero Effect and WarGames: The only movies that matter?[01:15:58] A major security malfunction exploited by Major Malfunction.[01:18:30] The enigmatic Neal Stephenson.[01:19:38] Long-form lessons gleaned from Jeff Bezos and the Blue Origin mission.[01:27:15] For solving the world’s problems, communities are crucial.[01:31:03] Newlab PSYOPS.[01:34:44] AI and the ripple effects of China’s engineering-minded vs. America’s attorney-heavy leadership.[01:48:20] Unearthing like-minded inventors and innovators.[01:50:42] How Pablos learned salsa dancing via aikido vs. my own tango experience.[02:08:27] Why you should invest or get involved in deep tech.[02:14:45] Clearing up fusion confusion.[02:21:17] Making progress happen is a team effort.[02:24:19] Parting thoughts.MORE PABLOS HOLMAN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I think a future that’s awesome is absolutely possible. A shitty future is also possible, but the balance is up to us.”

— Pablos Holman

“I tried to do tango first for a month, but it takes advantage of none of my natural talents. You can’t do reverse engineering in tango. It’s too structured and disciplined and minute, and salsa, you can just wiggle your way through it.”

— Pablos Holman

“Most people, if you get a new gadget, like your phone, and give it to your mom, she’ll ask you, ‘What does this do?’ That’s a totally normal question. ‘iPhone, Mom. Says on the box.’ If you give a new gadget to a hacker, then the question is, ‘What can I make this do?'”

— Pablos Holman

“You can’t invent a new technology by reading the directions. That’s just never happened, ever.”

— Pablos Holman

“I had a computer in the cold, in the dark, in the basement, in Alaska, and nobody to show me anything about how it worked. So I had to learn by reverse engineering.”

— Pablos Holman

I do have a kind of extreme risk tolerance. My whole career, I’ve only worked on things that I thought were cool or interesting. I’ll optimize for that over everything else.

— Pablos Holman

“Pablos is a totally fake name because all hackers have fake names.”

— Pablos Holman

Want to hear another episode with someone who asks “What can I make this do?” Listen to my conversation with legendary hacker Samy Kamkar, in which we discussed creating the fastest-spreading computer virus of all time, accidentally taking down MySpace, getting raided by the Secret Service, hijacking drones with custom hardware, optimizing online dating through reverse engineering, opening locked cars, manipulating Google Maps traffic data, and much more.

This episode is brought to you by Cresset Family Office! Cresset is a prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs. They handle the complex financial planning, uncertain tax strategies, timely exit planning, bill pay and wires, and all the other parts of wealth management that would otherwise pull me away from doing what I love most: making things, mastering skills, and spending time with the people I care about.  Schedule a call today at cressetcapital.com/Tim to see how Cresset can help streamline your financial plans and grow your wealth.

I’m a client of Cresset. There are no material conflicts other than this paid testimonial. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

This 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. 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! 

This episode is also brought to you by Maui Nui Venison. I’ve been eating ​Maui Nui Venison​ for more than five years, and I eat it practically every week. It’s the cleanest and most nutrient-dense red meat you can buy.

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The post Pablos Holman — One of the Scariest Hackers I’ve Ever Met (#827) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.