The Tim Ferriss Show (general)

This is a special episode of the podcast. After more than 200 conversations with the world's top performers, you start to spot certain patterns. These are the shared habits, hacks, philosophies, and tools that are the common threads of success, happiness, health, and wealth.

These commonalities were the premise of my most recent book, The New York Times #1 bestseller Tools of Titans -- a compilation of my favorite lessons, routines, and tips of many of my guests.

In this episode, I've gathered some of the best advice from past guests about morning routines. This includes conversations with:

  • Jocko Willink
  • Seth Godin
  • Jamie Foxx
  • Scott Adams

Enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at tim.blog/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world's largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca, and I've also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you're happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run...

This podcast is also brought to you by Four SigmaticI reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now -- this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you'll be disappointed.

 

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Morning_Routines_and_Strategies.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:02pm EDT

Mark Bell (@MarkSmellyBell) is the founder of Super Training Gym in Sacramento, which is often referred to as "the strongest gym in the West." Prior to opening his own gym, he spent time studying training under the legendary Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell.

Mark is no stranger to the iron at all. His best "geared lifts" in competition include a 1,025 lb. squat (465 kg), an 832 lb. bench press (77 kg), a 738 lb. deadlift (335 kg). Mark is also the inventor of the patented Slingshot, a device used to assist a lifter in maintaining proper bench press form while also allowing him or her to use more weight or perform more reps.

Mark now has an entire line of products and has been spectacularly successful. In this episode, we cover a lot, including:

  • Mark's most important lessons for building strength.
  • How to avoid injury and breakdown.
  • Lesser-known training techniques that nearly everyone overlooks.
  • How Mark became a millionaire by offering his gym memberships for free.
  • And much, much more.

We recorded this interview while touring his facility in Sacramento, looking at some crazy equipment that you can see by visiting tim.blog/supertraining.

Please enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world's largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca, and I've also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you're happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run...

This episode is also brought to you by LegalZoom. I've used this service for many of my businesses, as have quite a few of the icons on this podcast -- such as Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.

LegalZoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted for everything from setting up wills, proper trademark searches, forming LLCs, setting up non-profits, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.

LegalZoom is not a law firm, but it does have a network of independent attorneys available in most states who can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business with complete transparency and up-front pricing. Check out LegalZoom.com and enter promo code TIM at checkout today to save 15% and see how the fine folks there can make life easier for you and your business.

 

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Mark_Bell.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:56pm EDT

Kyle Maynard (@kylemaynard) is a motivational speaker, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and ESPY award-winning mixed martial arts athlete, known for becoming the first quadruple amputee to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Aconcagua without the aid of prosthetics.

Oprah Winfrey called Kyle "one of the most inspiring young men you will ever hear about." Arnold Schwarzenegger described him as "the real deal," "a champion human," and "one of the most inspiring people" he's ever met. Even the great Wayne Gretzky has spoken of Kyle's "greatness."

Despite being born with a rare condition that left him with arms that end at the elbows and legs that end near his knees, he learned early on with the support of his family to live life independently and without prosthetics. Kyle thrives on physical challenges and, following a few rough middle school football seasons, he went on to become a champion wrestler, CrossFit Certified Instructor and gym owner, competitive MMA/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, world record-setting weightlifter, and skilled mountaineer.

This episode comes from my new television show Fear{less}, where I interview world-class performers on stage about how they've overcome doubt, conquered fear, and made their toughest decisions. You can watch the entire first episode with illusionist David Blaine for free at att.net/fearless. (To watch all episodes, please visit DIRECTV NOW.)

We recorded three hours of material and only one hour was used for the TV show. This podcast episode is almost entirely new content that didn't appear on TV.

Enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by WordPress, my go-to platform for 24/7-supported, zero downtime blogging, writing online, creating websites -- everything! I love it to bits, and the lead developer, Matt Mullenweg, has appeared on this podcast many times.

Whether for personal use or business, you're in good company with WordPress -- used by The New Yorker, Jay-Z, FiveThirtyEight, TechCrunch, TED, CNN, and Time, just to name a few. A source at Google told me that WordPress offers "the best out-of-the-box SEO imaginable," which is probably why it runs nearly 30% of the Internet. Go to WordPress.com/Tim to get 15% off your website today!

This podcast is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world's largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca, and I've also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you're happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run...

 

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Kyle_Maynard.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:48am EDT

In this episode, I'm answering your questions. I'm responding to the most upvoted questions from subscribers to 5-Bullet Friday, the newsletter I send out every week. It explores five cool things I've found, including apps, books, gadgets, albums, articles, new hacks/tricks, and — of course — all sorts of weird stuff I dig up around the world.

It's free, it's always going to be free, and if you want to check it out, you can go here: tim.blog/friday.

If you're a longtime listener to this podcast, you'll find at least one or two actionable pieces of information here. Enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by AudibleI have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

  1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  2. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is visit Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It's that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

This podcast is also brought to you by Four SigmaticI reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement, and right now this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you'll be disappointed.

 

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_5BF_Questions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:46pm EDT

This episode of the podcast features Blake Mycoskie (@blakemycoskie).

Blake Mycoskie is the Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS, and the person behind the One for One® business model, which helps a person in need with every product purchased.

This simple idea has grown into a global movement: TOMS Shoes has provided more than 60 million pairs of shoes to children since 2006, TOMS Eyewear has restored sight to more than 400,000 people since 2011, and TOMS Roasting Company has helped provide over 335,000 weeks of safe water since launching in 2014. In 2015, TOMS Bag Collection was founded with the mission to help provide training for skilled birth attendants and distribute birth kits containing items that helps women safely deliver babies. As of 2016, TOMS has supported safe birth services for more than 25,000 mothers.

In this episode we cover:

  • Early entrepreneurial ventures
  • The power of journaling
  • How "the stool analogy" changed Blake's life
  • Lessons from Ben Franklin
  • And much, much more…

This episode comes from my new television show Fear(less), where I interview world-class performers on stage about how they’ve overcome doubt, conquered fear, and made their toughest decisions.  You can watch the entire first episode with illusionist David Blaine for free at att.net/fearless. (To watch all episodes, please visit DIRECTV NOW).

We recorded three hours of material and only one hour was used for the TV show. This podcast episode is almost entirely new content that didn’t appear on TV.

Enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This episode is brought to you by InktelEver since I wrote The 4-Hour Workweek, I've been frequently asked about how I choose to delegate tasks. At the root of many of my decisions is a simple question: "How can I invest money to improve my quality of life?" Or, "how can I spend moderate money to save significant time?"

Inktel is one of those investments. It is a turnkey solution for all of your customer care needs. Its team answers more than one million customer service requests each year. It can also interact with your customers across all platforms, including email, phone, social media, text, and chat.

Inktel removes the logistics and headache of customer communication, allowing you to grow your business by focusing on your strengths. And as a listener of this podcast, you can get up to $10,000 off your start-up fees and costs waived by visiting inktel.com/tim. That's inktel.com/tim.

This podcast is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world's largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

I used them to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca, and I've also had them help with display advertising and illustrations. If you want a more personalized approach, I recommend their 1-on-1 service. You get original designs from designers around the world. The best part? You provide your feedback, and then you end up with a product that you're happy with or your money back. Click this link and get a free $99 upgrade. Give it a test run...

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Blake_Mycoskie.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:36am EDT

On this special episode, we're going to share with you the "10 Commandments for Startup Success." They're drawn from the new podcast Masters of Scale, which is hosted by my friend and today's guest Reid Hoffman (@reidhoffman). Reid has been on the show before, and you might remember him as the co-founder of LinkedIn, and the partner at Greylock who invested early in Facebook, Airbnb, Zynga, and a bunch of other startups that experience dramatic success.

On this new podcast, Reid shares his theories on how companies scale from zero to a gazillion, and he tests them with famous founders like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Reed Hastings of Netflix. He and his team pulled together a special remix for us to use on today's show -- distilling the very best, most actionable advice from the first season of Masters of Scale into these 10 commandments. They've included a lot material that hasn't aired yet. So even if you're already a subscriber, you'll hear some new things here.

Stick around after we count down the 10 commandments because Reid was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Please enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now -- this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you'll be disappointed.

This podcast is also brought to you by Headspace, the world's most popular meditation app (with more than four million users). It's used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace's free Take10 program -- 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It's like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn't need to be complicated or expensive, and it's had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Reid_Hoffman.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:29am EDT

Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly) might be the real-life Most Interesting Man In The World. I've always wanted to travel with him, and we recently headed to Uzbekistan together. This episode covers some of our favorite travel tools.

Kevin is Senior Maverick at Wired Magazine, which he co-founded in 1993. He also co-founded the All Species Foundation, a non-profit aimed at cataloging and identifying every living species on earth. In his spare time, he writes bestselling books, co-founded The Rosetta Project, which is building an archive of all documented human language, and serves on the board of The Long Now Foundation. As part of The Long Now Foundation, he's investigating how to revive and restore endangered or extinct species, including the Wooly Mammoth.

His newest critically acclaimed book is The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. As journalist David Pogue has said: "Anyone can claim to be a prophet, a fortune teller, or a futurist, and plenty of people do. What makes Kevin Kelly different is that he's right..."

This episode touches on a lot of cool stuff, and we had a blast recording it in the back of a car in the mountains. Enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by WordPress, my go-to platform for 24/7-supported, zero downtime blogging, writing online, creating websites -- everything! I love it to bits, and the lead developer, Matt Mullenweg, has appeared on this podcast many times.

Whether for personal use or business, you're in good company with WordPress -- used by The New Yorker, Jay Z, FiveThirtyEight, TechCrunch, TED, CNN, and Time, just to name a few. A source at Google told me that WordPress offers "the best out-of-the-box SEO imaginable," which is probably why it runs nearly 30% of the Internet. Go to WordPress.com/Tim to get 15% off your website today!

This podcast is also brought to you by TrunkClub. I hate shopping with a passion. And honestly, I'm not good at it, which means I end up looking like I'm colorblind or homeless. Enter TrunkClub, which provides you with your own personal stylist and makes it easier than ever to shop for clothes that look great on your body. Just go to trunkclub.com/tim and answer a few questions, and then you'll be sent a trunk full of awesome clothes. They base this on your sizes, preferences, etc. The trunk is then delivered free of charge both ways, so you only pay for clothes that you keep. If you keep none, it costs you nothing. To get started, check it out at trunkclub.com/tim.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Cool_Tools.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

Jason Khalipa (@jasonkhalipa IG, Twitter) is one of the fittest men in the world – a title that was officially his when he won the CrossFit Games in 2008.  He is an 8-time CrossFit Games competitor, a 3-time Team USA CrossFit member, and -- among other athletic feats -- he has deadlifted 550 pounds, squatted 450 pounds, and performed 64 pullups at a bodyweight of 210 pounds.

This podcast also has a bunch of video bonuses and tutorials from Jason, which you can find at youtube.com/timferriss.

Beyond sports, Jason is also a successful entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of NC Fit, which has more than 20 locations in 8 different cities. And he is the co-founder of "Box to Business," a non-profit that helps gyms become profitable businesses. Jason uses the proceeds from “Box to Business” to help fight pediatric cancer.

In this episode, we cover a lot of cool stuff, including

  • His training and diet
  • The hardest workouts he's ever performed
  • The mentor who taught him how to sell anything
  • How he and his family has coped with his daughter’s battle with cancer
  • How he’s navigated going from competitive athlete to business owner
  • And much, much more

I hope you enjoy the episode as much as much as I did, and don’t forget to see the bonus videos at youtube.com/timferriss.

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This episode is brought to you by InktelEver since I wrote The 4-Hour Workweek, I’ve been frequently asked about how I choose to delegate tasks. At the root of many of my decisions is a simple question: “How can I invest money to improve my quality of life?” Or “how can I spend moderate money to save significant time?”

Inktel is one of those investments. They are a turnkey solution for all of your customer care needs. Their team answers more than 1 million customer service requests each year. They can also interact with your customers across all platforms, including email, phone, social media, text, and chat.

Inktel removes the logistics and headache of customer communication, allowing you to grow your business by focusing on your strengths. And as a listener of this podcast, you can get up to $10,000 off your start-up fees and costs waived by visiting inktel.com/tim. That’s inktel.com/tim.

This episode is also brought to you by LegalZoom. I've used this service for many of my businesses, as have quite a few of the icons on this podcast -- such as Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.

LegalZoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted for everything from setting up wills, proper trademark searches, forming LLCs, setting up non-profits, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.

LegalZoom is not a law firm, but it does have a network of independent attorneys available in most states who can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business with complete transparency and up-front pricing. Check out LegalZoom.com and enter promo code TIM at checkout today to save 15% and see how the fine folks there can make life easier for you and your business.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Jason_Khalipa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:04pm EDT

David Blaine (@davidblaine) is an American magician, illusionist, and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records.

A while back, he taught a group of TEDMED attendees and me how to hold our breath for longer than Harry Houdini's lifelong record of three minutes and thirty seconds -- which still pales in comparison to David's own record of just over seventeen minutes.

This episode comes from the premiere of my new television show Fearless. If you want to watch the entire first episode, you can see it for free at att.net/fearless. (To watch all episodes, please visit DIRECTV.  Don't worry if you've seen it or plan on seeing it because we recorded three hours of material and only one was used for the show. This episode is almost all bonus content that you won't see on the show. Please enjoy!

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This episode is brought to you by Exo Protein. These guys are making protein bars using cricket protein powder. Before you look disgusted, I bet they taste better than any protein bar you've ever had before! With recipes that were developed by a three-Michelin-star chef, the bars are paleo-friendly, with no gluten, no grains, no soy, no dairy, and they won't spike your glycemic response. In fact, they're less processed than any other protein bars you'll be able to find.

Exo Protein is offering a deep discount to Tim Ferriss Show listeners if you go to ExoProtein.com/Tim, you can try a sampler pack with all of the most popular flavors for less than $10. This is a startup with limited inventory that sells out all the time, so act fast!

This podcast is also brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now — this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_David_Blaine.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:34am EDT

Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4) is a polymath. The breadth and depth of his interests and knowledge are truly astounding.

He's a computer scientist, legal scholar, and cryptographer best known for his pioneering research in digital contracts and cryptocurrency.

The phrase and concept of "smart contracts" were developed by Nick with the goal of bringing what he calls the "highly evolved" practices of contract law and practice for the design of electronic commerce protocols between strangers on the Internet. Nick also designed Bit Gold, which many consider the precursor to Bitcoin.

This wide-ranging conversation is co-hosted by Naval Ravikant, a mutual friend and one of the most successful investors in Silicon Valley, who also happens to be one of Nick's biggest admirers.

We cover a lot, including:

  • What is Bitcoin, what are cryptocurrencies, and what problem do they solve?
  • What is "social scalability?"
  • What is Ethereum and what makes it unique? Strengths and weaknesses?
  • How will smart contracts actually get adopted or go mainstream?
  • What are ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings)?
  • Blockchain governance -- is there any existential risk?
  • "Wet" versus "dry" code
  • Pascal's scams
  • Quantum thought
  • What fields will you be working on in the future?

Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients.

FreshBooks tells you when your clients have viewed your invoices, helps you customize your invoices, track your hours, automatically organize your receipts, have late payment reminders sent automatically and much more.

Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter "Tim" in the "how did you hear about us" section.

This podcast is also brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

  1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  2. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is visit Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It's that easy. Go to†Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

 

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Nick_Szabo.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:23am EDT