“Don’t let someone knock you off your course after you’ve put in all the work.”– Soman Chainani

This is a special episode of the podcast, which features three guests: author Soman Chainani (@SomanChainani), author Susan Cain (@susancain), and East Rock Capital co-founder and investor Graham Duncan.

All three are featured in my latest book, Tribe of Mentors, and all three share something in common: they’re experts at mitigating risk. All of them have been great at capping downsides and making various career decisions that have paid off in large ways.

I hope you enjoy this episode with these three brilliant guests!

Want to hear a conversation with a mentor from Tribe of Mentors? Listen to this episode with Tim Urban, in which we discuss the future, how to deal with procrastination, AI, and much much more. Listen to it here (stream below or right-click to download):

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

• Connect with Soman Chainani:

Website|Twitter|Instagram|Facebook|YouTube

• Connect with Susan Cain:

Quiet Revolution | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

• Connect with Graham Duncan:

Website |East Rock Capital

• The School for Good and Evil Series Complete Box Set: Books 1, 2, and 3 by Soman Chainani
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
• Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
• Mother Dirt AO+ Mist Live Probiotic Skin Spray
• Headspace
• ALF
• The Best of Archie Comics: 75 Years, 75 Stories by Archie Superstars
• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (includes Liking What You See: A Documentary)
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverted Kids by Susan Cain, Gregory Mone, and Erica Moroz
• Susan Cain’s TED Talk: The Power of Introverts
• Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen
• Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen
• Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
• Hinach Yafah (You Are Beautiful) by The Idan Raichel Project
• Saudade: An Untranslatable, Undeniably Potent Word by Jasmine Garsd, alt.latino
• O Canto Da Saudade (Pam) by Madredeus
• Saudade by Cesária Évora
• East Rock Capital
• SubPac M2X Wearable Physical Audio System
• Making Sense of People: The Science of Personality Differences by Samuel Barondes
• The Big Five Personality Theory: The 5 Factor Model Explained by Courtney Ackerman, Positive Psychology Program
• The Big Lebowski
• In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life by Robert Kegan
• Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World by Jennifer Garvey Berger
• Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
• The Tim Ferriss Show, Episode 22: Ed Catmull, President of Pixar, on Steve Jobs, Stories, and Lessons Learned
• Parable by Louise glück
• Work with Source
• “One Last Time” — Hamilton at the White House
• FINIS Freestyler Hand Paddles
• Cressi Palau Short Snorkeling Swim Fins
• Matiz Gallego Sardines
• Vital Choice Redtresca Salmon Bellies
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• This is Water by David Foster Wallace
• Integration is Better Than Rigidity or Chaos by Dr. Arnie Kozak
• The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
• Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
• The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency — Nick Szabo

Show Notes

• Introducing Soman Chainani. [06:18]
• Three books that help Soman work creatively, live genuinely, and explore humanity. [07:11]
• What recent purchase of less than $100 had the most positive impact on Soman’s life? [11:18]
• A failure that taught Soman a valuable, but humbling lesson. [13:42]
• Soman’s billboard and musings on life, death, and meditation. [17:11]
• One of the best investments of energy, money, or time Soman has ever made. [19:31]
• An unusual habit or absurd thing that Soman loves, and why he feels the best stories are universal. [22:08]
• In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved Soman’s life? [24:12]
• What advice would Soman give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the real world — and what advice would he ignore? [26:19]
• Bad advice Soman hears given often to artists. [28:27]
• In the last five years, what has Soman become better at saying “no” to? [29:48]
• What does Soman do to overcome feeling unfocused or overwhelmed? [31:12]
• Introducing Susan Cain. [32:32]
• How has a failure or apparent failure set Susan up for later success? [33:30]
• One of Susan’s most worthwhile investments of time. [36:14]
• An unusual habit or absurd thing Susan loves. [37:40]
• Susan’s favorite word in any language. [39:01]
• What advice would Susan give a smart, driven college student about to enter the real world? [40:02]
• What does Susan do to overcome feeling unfocused or overwhelmed? [43:06]
• Introducing Graham Duncan. [44:02]
• An unusual habit or absurd thing Graham loves. [45:07]
• What would Graham’s billboard say? [45:43]
• Books that have greatly influenced Graham’s life and the mental models that guide how he thinks about people and teams. [47:17]
• What recent purchase of less than $100 had the most positive impact on Graham’s life? [57:44]
• How has a failure or apparent failure set Graham up for later success? [58:49]
• Bad recommendations Graham often hears in his field. [1:01:20]
• What does Graham do to overcome feeling unfocused or overwhelmed? [1:02:59]
• In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved Graham’s life? [1:03:50]
• What advice would Graham give a smart, driven college student about to enter the real world? [1:04:51]

People Mentioned

Posted on: January 18, 2018.

Please check out Tribe of Mentors, my newest book, which shares short, tactical life advice from 100+ world-class performers. Many of the world's most famous entrepreneurs, athletes, investors, poker players, and artists are part of the book. The tips and strategies in Tribe of Mentors have already changed my life, and I hope the same for you. Click here for a sample chapter and full details. Roughly 90% of the guests have never appeared on my podcast.

Who was interviewed? Here's a very partial list: tech icons (founders of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Craigslist, Pinterest, Spotify, Salesforce, Dropbox, and more), Jimmy Fallon, Arianna Huffington, Brandon Stanton (Humans of New York), Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ben Stiller, Maurice Ashley (first African-American Grandmaster of chess), Brené Brown (researcher and bestselling author), Rick Rubin (legendary music producer), Temple Grandin (animal behavior expert and autism activist), Franklin Leonard (The Black List), Dara Torres (12-time Olympic medalist in swimming), David Lynch (director), Kelly Slater (surfing legend), Bozoma Saint John (Beats/Apple/Uber), Lewis Cantley (famed cancer researcher), Maria Sharapova, Chris Anderson (curator of TED), Terry Crews, Greg Norman (golf icon), Vitalik Buterin (creator of Ethereum), and nearly 100 more. Check it all out by clicking here.