Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show! It will showcase some of my favorite advice and profiles from the audiobook of Tools of Titans. Thousands of you have asked for years for the audiobook versions of Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors, and they are now available.

Go to audible.com/ferriss for more details or to download. 

Today’s episode will focus on Tools of Titans and features the introduction of the book, as well as the profiles of Derek Sivers, BJ Miller, and Christopher Sommer.

Just a few notes on the audiobook’s format: I recorded the introduction and selected three fantastic, top-ranked narrators to handle the rest, along with some surprise appearances from friends. 

The short bios, which you will hear at the beginning of each profile, are read by Kaleo Griffith. Ray Porter reads the bulk of each profile including all of my own words. Ray actually narrated my first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, and did an incredible job. Quotations from female guests are read by the wonderful Thérèse Plummer.

The audiobook of Tools of Titans contains the distilled tools and routines I’ve gathered after interviewing hundreds of world-class performers. 

Everything has been vetted and applied to my own life in some fashion. The techniques, strategies, and philosophies in Tools of Titans have made me more effective, saved me years of wasted effort and frustration, and helped me navigate many periods of darkness and uncertainty. The advice has truly made me a happier, healthier person and changed my life. I hope that they help change yours as well. 

Please enjoy this episode, and if you’d like to listen to the other 100-plus profiles and chapters from Tools of Titans, just head to audible.com/ferriss.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

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 Derek Sivers:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

• Connect with BJ Miller:

Twitter

• Connect with Coach Christopher Sommer:

GymnasticBodies.com | Instagram | YouTube | Coach Sommer at Facebook | GymnasticBodies at Facebook

• Rue Saint-Jacques: Paris’ Oldest Street | French Moments
• Pain au Chocolat | Wikipedia
• CliffsNotes Study Guides
• Searching for Bobby Fischer | Prime Video
• The Matrix | Prime Video
• How to 10X Your Results, One Tiny Tweak at a Time | The Tim Ferriss Show #144
• The Sixth Sense | Prime Video
• The Usual Suspects | Prime Video
• Red Teaming | Wikipedia
• Tara Brach on Meditation and Overcoming FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) | The Tim Ferriss Show #94
• Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #398
• The Magic of Mindfulness: Complain Less, Appreciate More, and Live a Better Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #122
• chiliPAD Cube 2.0
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Charles T. Munger
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
• The “Pros” and Cons of Spec Work | JUST Creative
• Place Louis Aragon | No Worries Paris
• Paris American Academy
• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
• The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
• The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
• Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
• Von Restorff Effect | Laws of UX
• The Primacy/Recency Effect | Dataworks Educational Research
• Siddhartha: A Novel by Hermann Hesse
• CD Baby | Wikipedia
• Derek Sivers | TED
• Wood Egg
• Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers
• Books I’ve Read | Derek Sivers
• Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin
• Seeking Wisdom Notes | Derek Sivers
• Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! by Tony Robbins
• Post RE: Dedicating My Next Book to Derek Sivers | Facebook
• Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness, and Saying “No” to Millions | The Tim Ferriss Show #125
• Mona Lisa | Louvre Museum
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Berklee College of Music
• Paradox Resolved: Buridan’s Ass by Steve Patterson
• How to Say “No” When It Matters Most (or “Why I’m Taking a Long ‘Startup Vacation'”) | tim.blog
• Marvin Braude Bike Trail | Wikipedia
• The Plight of the Pelican | Los Angeles Times
• PostgreSQL
• Milford Sound | New Zealand
• Worldwide Accent Project: Iceland | Krista Bjork
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World | Prime Video
• Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
• Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Most Successful Email Derek Sivers Ever Wrote | tim.blog
• BJ Miller: What Really Matters at the End of Life | TED Talk
• 7 Tips for City Stargazing from Chicago’s Park Astronomer | The Trust for Public Land
• Joseph Swan Winery
• Scuderia West | San Francisco
• Grizzly Man | Prime Video
• The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training | The Tim Ferriss Show #158
• The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training Part Two — Home Equipment, Weighted Stretches, and Muscle-Ups | The Tim Ferriss Show #180
• Gymnastic Bodies Illustrated | New Territory Fitness
• AcroYoga International
• Functional Movement Systems
• Functional Movement Screen | FMS
• Jefferson Curls (J-Curls) | GymnasticBodies
• Weighted Pike Stretch | GymnasticBodies
• Straddle Lifts (Pulse) | RoutineFit
• How to do a Maltese on the Rings | Strength Project
• Ring Thing | Power Monkey Fitness
• Making a Dream Machine by Michael Traynor | GymnasticBodies
• Iron Cross Trainers Review/Demonstration | Ringsking
• 3 Exercises to Build Better Shoulder Mobility | GymnasticBodies
• Thoracic Bridge Progression | GymnasticBodies
• Straddle Press to Handstand Tutorial | GMB Fitness
• Stalder Press to Handstand Tutorial | Jack Monx
• Hypertonicity: Insights on Excessive Muscle Tension | Landis Movement Systems
• Hitachi Magic Wand “Massager”

SHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added soon. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

• How to use this book (and why I wrote it).
• What makes the people featured in this book different?
• Performance-enhancing details — why 10x results don’t always require 10x effort.
• What do the tools presented here have in common?
• Two rules for getting the most out of this book.
• What do I hope to convey in this book? Here are two principles to remember.
• A few important notes on the way this book has been organized — from structure, included quotations, patterns, humor, spirit animals, non-profile content, and the omission of most URLs.
• The three tools that allow all the rest, courtesy of Siddhartha (and Naval Ravikant).

Derek Sivers

• Who is Derek Sivers?
• Derek’s rank-ordered book reviews and two of his life-changing favorites.
• How Derek’s first appearance on this show changed a listener’s life.
• It’s not what you know — it’s what you do consistently.
• The best plan is the one that lets you change your plans.
• Who does Derek think of first when he hears the word “successful” — and why is the third person who comes to mind probably more successful?
• Just starting out? Say “yes” to everything — even if it’s playing acoustic guitar at a pig show in Vermont.
• The standard pace is for chumps.
• Advice Derek would give to his 30-year-old self.
• Business models can be simple: you don’t need to constantly pivot.
• Once you have some success: if it’s not a “Hell, yes!” it’s a “No.”
• Feeling busy? Lack of time is lack of priorities.
• What would Derek’s billboard say?
• On taking 45 minutes instead of 43.
• Why Derek has no morning routines.
• Treat life as a series of experiments.
• The most successful email Derek ever wrote.

BJ Miller

• Who is BJ Miller?
• What would BJ’s billboard say?
• Stargazing as therapy.
• What purchase of $100 or less has had the most positive impact on BJ’s life in recent memory?
• A good reason to question your “I can’ts.”
• The miracle of a snowball in the burn ward.
• The power of bearing witness and listening.
• How BJ would honor an introverted hospice patient’s request for something to watch, do, or absorb without human interaction.
• Some people say laughter is the best medicine. But sometimes it’s cookies. Or art. Or anything that allows us to live in the moment “on behalf of nothing” but the enjoyment of that thing.
• Advice BJ would give to his 30-year-old self.

Coach Christopher Sommer

• Who is Coach Christopher Sommer?
• How did gymnastic strength training and AcroYoga remodel my body at age 39?
• “If you want to be a stud later, you have to be a pud now.” — Coach Sommer
• Flexibility versus mobility.
• Consistency over intensity.
• The difference between “diet and exercise” and “eat and train.”
• How exactly does someone fail warmup?
• Why Olympic gymnasts have gigantic biceps.
• Three movements everyone should practice.
• Good goals for adult non-gymnasts.
• Sometimes you just need a vibrator.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

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