Tim Ferriss Quotes

Creating demand is hard. Filling demand is easier. Don't create a product, then seek someone to sell it to. Find a market - define your customers - then find or develop a product for them.

There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,” and an optimist who says, “Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.” Either way, nothing happens. — YVON CHOUINARD,7 founder of Patagonia

If you are nervous about making the jump or simply putting it off out of fear of the unknown, here is your antidote. Write down your answers to these questions, and keep in mind that thinking a lot will not prove as fruitful or as prolific as simply brain vomiting on the page. Write and do not edit - aim for volume. Spend a few minutes on each answer.

1. Define your nightmare, the absolute worst that could happen if you did what you are considering.
2. What steps could you take to repair the damage or get things back on the upswing, even if temporarily?
3. What are the outcomes or benefits, both temporary and permanent, of more probably scenarios?
4. If you were fired from your job today, what would you do to get things under financial control?
5. What are you putting off out of fear?
6. What is it costing you - financially, emotionally, and physically - to postpone action?
7. What are you waiting for?

The means of learning are abundant — it’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.

Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.

The fishing is best where the fewest go,

Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.

This book argues that ... the was sparked—caused is perhaps not too strong a word—by the scientific revolution, and that science continues to foster today. It's not just that scientific creativity has produced technological improvements, which in turn have enhanced the prosperity and security of the scientific nations, although that is part of the story, but that the freedoms protected by liberal democracies are essential to facilitating scientific inquiry, and that democracy itself is an experimental system without which neither science nor liberty can flourish.

The Logic of the Double or Triple Threat On “career advice,” Scott has written the following, which is slightly trimmed for space here. This is effectively my mantra, and you’ll see why I bring it up: If you want an average, successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths: 1) Become the best at one specific thing. 2) Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things. The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. I don’t recommend anyone even try. The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.

The minimum effective dose (MED) is defined simply: the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome.

On Diversification for Stress Management The below came from me asking, “What advice would you give your 30-year-old self?”: “My 30-year-old self wouldn’t have access to medical marijuana, so I’d have a limited canvas with which to paint. I’ve always made it a top priority since I was a teenager — and had tons of stress-related medical problems — to make that job one: to learn how to not have stress. I would consider myself a world champion at avoiding stress at this point in dozens of different ways. A lot of it is just how you look at the world, but most of it is really the process of diversification. I’m not going to worry about losing one friend if I have a hundred, but if I have two friends I’m really going to be worried. I’m not going to worry about losing my job because my one boss is going to fire me, because I have thousands of bosses at newspapers everywhere. One of the ways to not worry about stress is to eliminate it. I don’t worry about my stock picks because I have a diversified portfolio. Diversification works in almost every area of your life to reduce your stress.

All 250 + episodes to date can be found at tim.blog/ podcast and itunes.com/ timferriss Jamie Foxx on Workout Routines, Success Habits, and Untold Hollywood Stories (# 124) — tim.blog/ jamie The Scariest Navy SEAL I’ve Ever Met . . . and What He Taught Me (# 107) — tim.blog/ jocko Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (and Much More) (# 60) — tim.blog/ arnold Dom D’Agostino on Fasting, Ketosis, and the End of Cancer (# 117) — tim.blog/ dom2 Tony Robbins on Morning Routines, Peak Performance, and Mastering Money (# 37) — tim.blog/ tony How to Design a Life — Debbie Millman (# 214) — tim.blog/ debbie Tony Robbins — On Achievement Versus Fulfillment (# 178) — tim.blog/ tony2 Kevin Rose (# 1) — tim.blog/ kevinrose [If you want to hear how bad a first episode can be, this delivers. Drunkenness didn’t help matters.] Charles Poliquin on Strength Training, Shredding Body Fat, and Increasing Testosterone and Sex Drive (# 91) — tim.blog/ charles Mr. Money Mustache — Living Beautifully on $ 25–27K Per Year (# 221) — tim.blog/ mustache Lessons from Warren Buffett, Bobby Fischer, and Other Outliers (# 219) — tim.blog/ buffett Exploring Smart Drugs, Fasting, and Fat Loss — Dr. Rhonda Patrick (# 237) — tim.blog/ rhonda 5 Morning Rituals That Help Me Win the Day (# 105) — tim.blog/ rituals David Heinemeier Hansson: The Power of Being Outspoken (# 195) — tim.blog/ dhh Lessons from Geniuses, Billionaires, and Tinkerers (# 173) — tim.blog/ chrisyoung The Secrets of Gymnastic Strength Training (# 158) — tim.blog/ gst Becoming the Best Version of You (# 210) — tim.blog/ best The Science of Strength and Simplicity with Pavel Tsatsouline (# 55) — tim.blog/ pavel Tony Robbins (Part 2) on Morning Routines, Peak Performance, and Mastering Money (# 38) — tim.blog/ tony How Seth Godin Manages His Life — Rules, Principles, and Obsessions (# 138) — tim.blog/ seth The Relationship Episode: Sex, Love, Polyamory, Marriage, and More (with Esther Perel) (# 241) — tim.blog/ esther The Quiet M

If you don’t believe in an afterlife, then you [should realize] that this is such a short and precious life, it is really important that you don’t spend it being unhappy. There is no excuse for spending most of your life in misery. You’ve only got 70 years out of the 50 billion or however long the universe is going to be around.

If I want a better-than-average career, I can’t simply ‘go with the flow’ and get it. Most people do just that: they wish for an outcome but make no intention-driven actions toward that outcome. If they would just do something most people would find that they get some version of the outcome they’re looking for. That’s been my secret. Stop wishing and start doing.

The Purpose of Life Is a Life of Purpose.” This is Stan’s answer to “If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, what would it say?” It is a quote from Robert Byrne.