The Tim Ferriss Show

Murray Carter (@CarterCutlery) is a Canadian craftsman like no other. At eighteen, he fell into an apprenticeship with a sixteenth generation Yoshimoto bladesmith that lasted six years -- and was asked to take the position of number seventeen in the Sakemoto family tradition (perhaps the only Caucasian ever to have had the honor and privilege of this position).

Murray continued forging blades in Japan for twelve more years and in June 2001, he was awarded the rating of Mastersmith by the American Bladesmith Society, thus proving the highest degree of competency by Western standards. In 2005, he moved to the United States (as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability, no less) to start Carter Cutlery; he has continued forging blades in Oregon since.

This is a fascinating episode on many levels, so please enjoy!

This podcast is 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.

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_-_Murray_Carter.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:24pm EDT

Dorian Yates (@dorian_yates) is a six-time Mr. Olympia who has taken the already extreme sport of bodybuilding to a new level. He's one of my adolescent heroes whose innovations in training (e.g., Occam's protocol) influenced what I later put into The 4-Hour Body.

In this particular conversation, we dig into all sorts of topics that I've been dying to ask Dorian since I was a teenager. We discuss his relationship to pain, specific workouts, how he warms up, common mistakes and misconceptions, self-talk, his favorite books, and much more.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this conversation with Dorian Yates as much as I did!

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

This podcast is brought to you by Soothe.com, the world's largest on-demand massage service. Because I've been broken so many times, I have body work done at least twice a week -- so I have a high bar for this stuff. I do not accept mediocrity, and I wouldn't expect you to, either.

After much personal testing, I can affirm that Soothe delivers a hand-selected, licensed, and experienced massage therapist to you in the comfort of your own home, hotel, or office in as little as an hour. I was amazed at the quality of service and convenience. Think of it as Uber for massages, available in fifty†cities worldwide. Download the app at Soothe.com and use code TITAN20 to get $20 off your first massage.

This podcast is also 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!

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Dorian_Yates.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:19pm EDT

Marie Kondo (@MarieKondo, also known as "KonMari") is a Japanese organizing consultant, author, and entrepreneur.

She developed a revolutionary method of organizing known as the KonMari Method, which consists of gathering together everything you own, one category at a time, and then keeping only those things that "spark joy" -- as well as choosing a dedicated place to store them. Going far beyond a typical tidying how-to, her method is a way of life and a state of mind.

Marie captured the findings in her mega-best-selling books, including The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and its follow-up, Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up. Her books have sold more than seven million copies and have been published in more than forty countries.

Kondo's methods have become so famous that her last name has become a verb, 'Kondo-ing,' and people who share her specific values are referred to as 'Konverts.' She has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people.

Marie is also the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of KonMari Media Inc. ("KMI"), a US-based startup with a mission to "Organize the World" by combining the power of technology and a network of Konverts and partner organizations. KMI also recently launched a KonMari Consultant Training Program and certification process.

We dig into Shintoism, Marie's upbringing, specific details of her method, and much more.

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, which is non-spec. 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 MeUndiesI've spent the last year wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I've ever owned. MeUndies are designed in LA and made from sustainably-sourced MicroModal fabric 3 times softer than cotton. Even better, it includes free shipping.

If you don't love your first pair of MeUndies, they'll hook you up with a new pair or a refund. If you love the product, they have a subscription offer where you can save up to 33% after your first pair. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see all the different options.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Marie_Kondo.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:53am EDT

 Cory Booker (@corybooker) is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from New Jersey.

I generally have an allergy to politics, but Cory's story is endlessly fascinating (e.g., he's faced down death threats from gangs, run into burning buildings, and much more), and we have a few years of history together.

We cover a lot in this wide-ranging catch-up conversation, including his diet, lessons from early mentors and athletics, routines, books that have had an impact, learning how to "street fight" in New Jersey after receiving a Rhodes Scholarship, and much more.

Cory began his political career as a city councilor from 1998 to 2002 in Newark, New Jersey's largest city. He later served as mayor of Newark, which under his leadership entered its biggest period of economic growth since the 1960s -- the first new downtown hotels were constructed in forty years, the first new office towers in twenty.

He then won the Senate Democratic primary in August of 2013, and then won the general election on October 16, 2013, becoming the first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey.

Cory is also the author of The New York Times bestseller United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

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 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 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.

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

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Cory_Booker.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:04am EDT

Welcome to the second installment of The Tim Ferriss Radio Hour.

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 particular episode, I've gathered some of the best advice from past guests about fitness, nutrition, and wellness. This includes conversations with:

  • General Stanley McChrystal about thriving on one meal per day.
  • Tony Robbins about morning discipline and routines.
  • Wim Hof about consciously controlling his autonomic immune system.
  • Dominic D'Agostino about nutritional strategies for peak performers.

Without further ado, let's get started. I hope you enjoy this episode of The Tim Ferriss Radio Hour!

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

This podcast is 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 go to 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 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_-_Radio_Hour_episode_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:59am EDT

If you’re interested in the creative process of a famed author, jumpstarting your own creation, note taking, list making, or simply handling hard emotions, this episode is for you.  Recorded in front of a 2,000-plus person crowd at SXSW in Austin, Texas, this one was a blast.

My guest is Cheryl Strayed (@CherylStrayed), author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild, the New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough, and the novel Torch. Her books have been translated into forty languages around the world. Wild was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her inaugural selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0 and was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern.

Strayed's essays have been published in The Best American Essays, The New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Salon, The Sun, Tin House, and elsewhere. Strayed is the co-host, along with Steve Almond, of the WBUR podcast Dear Sugar Radio, which originated with her popular Dear Sugar advice column. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Enjoy!

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

This podcast is brought to you by iD Commerce + Logistics. I'm asked all the time about how to scale businesses quickly. Rule number one: remove unnecessary bottlenecks. Many businesses can do so by outsourcing inventory management and fulfillment to a company that makes this its primary focus.

iD Commerce + Logistics is just such a company. It helps online retailers and entrepreneurs outgrow their competition by handling all types of details -- from inventory to packing and shipping. I depended on iD to handle these types of details when I launched The 4-Hour Chef so I could focus on promoting the book. As a listener of this podcast, you can get up to $10,000 off your start-up fees and costs waived by visiting tim.blog/scale or idcomlog.com/tim.

This podcast is also brought to you by MeUndiesI’ve spent the last year wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I’ve ever owned. MeUndies are designed in LA and made from sustainably-sourced MicroModal—a fabric 3 times softer than cotton. Even better, it includes free shipping.

If you don’t love your first pair of MeUndies, they’ll hook you up with a new pair or a refund. If you love the product, they have a subscription offer where you can save up to 33% after your first pair. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see my current faves (some are awesomely ridiculous, like the camo). That’s Meundies.com/Tim.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Cheryl_Strayed.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:55pm EDT

This is round two for Debbie Millman, whose first interview on this show quickly became one of the most downloaded episodes of all time (listen to it here).

Graphic Design USA has named Debbie Millman (@debbiemillman) "one of the most influential designers working today." She is also the founder and host of Design Matters, the world's first and longest-running podcast about design, where she's interviewed nearly 300 design luminaries and cultural commentators including Massimo Vignelli and Milton Glaser.

Debbie's done it all. Her artwork has been exhibited around the world. She's designed everything from wrapping paper to beach towels, greeting cards to playing cards, notebooks to t-shirts, and Star Wars merchandise to global Burger King rebrands.

Debbie is the President Emeritus of AIGA (one of only five women to hold the position in the organization's one-hundred-year history), the editorial and creative director of Print magazine, and the author of six books. In 2009, Debbie co-founded (with Steven Heller) the world's first masters program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, which has received international acclaim.

This time around, Debbie answers the most popular questions submitted by you, the listeners. Topics include:

  • How to turn down stability for opportunity.
  • How Debbie made the leap and continues to try new things.
  • How to outsmart the competition in any job.
  • The future of graphic design.
  • Debbie's own personal creative process.
  • The most valuable lessons Debbie has learned about designing an ideal life for herself.

Here's Debbie Millman's round two. 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 4-Hour Body, 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, which is non-spec. 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 Wealthfront. Wealthfront is the future of financial advice. It's become especially popular among my friends in Silicon Valley and across the country because it provides the same high-end financial advice that the best private wealth managers deliver to the ultra wealthy -- but for any account size, at a fraction of the cost.

Wealthfront monitors your portfolio every day across more than a dozen asset classes to find opportunities for rebalancing and harvesting tax losses, and now manages more than $5B in assets. Unlike old-fashioned private wealth managers, Wealthfront is powered by innovative technology, making it the most tax-efficient, low-cost, hassle-free way to invest. Go to wealthfront.com/tim to take the risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and it'll show you -- for free -- exactly the portfolio it would recommend. If you want to just take the advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, you'll get your first $15,000 managed for free if you decide to go with its services.

 


Ricardo Semler (@ricardosemler) is the former CEO of Semco Partners, a Brazilian company best known perhaps for its radical form of industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering.

During his leadership, Semco grew from four million in 1982 to two hundred and twelve million in 2003. His innovative -- but very controversial -- business management policies have attracted widespread interest from all over the world.

He is the best-selling author of Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace and The Seven-Day Weekend: A Better Way to Work in the 21st Century (not to be confused with another book titled in an admittedly similar fashion).

Ricardo recently started a podcast called LeadWise, where he has conversations with leaders about "challenging assumptions and changing how we live and work."

Entrepreneurship and education are just two of the topics discussed in this wide-ranging conversation. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ricardo Semler as much as I did!

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 Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $5B under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it's all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they'll show you -- for free -- exactly the portfolio they'd put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it.  Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim.

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

Jerzy Gregorek (@TheHappyBody) immigrated from Poland to the United States with his wife, Aniela, in 1986 as political refugees. He subsequently won four World Weightlifting Championships and established one world record.

In 2000, Jerzy and Aniela founded UCLA's weightlifting team. As co-creator of The Happy Body Program, Jerzy has been mentoring people for more than 30 years.

In 1998, Jerzy earned an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His poems and translations have appeared in numerous publications, including The American Poetry Review. His poem Family Tree was the winner of Amelia magazine's Charles William Duke Long Poem Award in 1998.

Naval Ravikant (@naval) also joins us on this podcast, as he introduced me to Jerzy. Naval is the CEO and a co-founder of AngelList. He is an active angel investor and has invested in more than 100 companies. His deals include Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Postmates, Wish, Thumbtack, and OpenDNS, which Cisco bought for $635 million in cash.

As always, I hope you enjoy this episode!

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

This podcast is 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 go to 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 Wealthfront. Wealthfront is the future of financial advice. It's become especially popular among my friends in Silicon Valley and across the country because it provides the same high-end financial advice that the best private wealth managers deliver to the ultra wealthy -- but for any account size, at a fraction of the cost.

Wealthfront monitors your portfolio every day across more than a dozen asset classes to find opportunities for rebalancing and harvesting tax losses, and now manages more than $5B in assets. Unlike old-fashioned private wealth managers, Wealthfront is powered by innovative technology, making it the most tax-efficient, low-cost, hassle-free way to invest. Go to wealthfront.com/tim to take the risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and it'll show you -- for free -- exactly the portfolio it would recommend. If you want to just take the advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, you'll get your first $15,000 managed for free if you decide to go with its services.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Jerzy_Gregorek.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:50pm EDT

Caroline Paul (@carowriter) returns to the podcast by popular demand for a round 2 Q&A. (You can catch her first appearance here.)

Caroline is the author of four published books. Her latest is the New York Times bestseller The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure.

Once a young scaredy-cat, Caroline decided that fear got in the way of excitement, confidence, and self-reliance. She has since flown planes, climbed tall mountains, and fought fires as one of the first female firefighters in San Francisco.

In this episode, Caroline answers your most popular questions, including:

  • The best starting point for overcoming your fears
  • How to stay focused in the moment and not let your mind create anxiety and stress
  • Her biggest life-changing experiences
  • Coping strategies for dealing with life's most difficult events
  • And much, much more!

I hope you enjoy this round 2 Q&A with Caroline Paul.

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 youíll be disappointed.

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is the future of financial advice. It's become especially popular among my friends in Silicon Valley and across the country because it provides the same high-end financial advice that the best private wealth managers deliver to the ultra wealthy -- but for any account size, at a fraction of the cost.

Wealthfront monitors your portfolio every day across more than a dozen asset classes to find opportunities for rebalancing and harvesting tax losses, and now manages more than $5B in assets. Unlike old-fashioned private wealth managers, Wealthfront is powered by innovative technology, making it the most tax-efficient, low-cost, hassle-free way to invest. Go to wealthfront.com/tim to take the risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and it'll show you -- for free -- exactly the portfolio it would recommend. If you want to just take the advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, you'll get your first $15,000 managed for free if you decide to go with its services.

Direct download: The_Tim_Ferriss_Show_-_Conquering_Fear_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:35am EDT