Harness the habits of billionaires image of crescent wrenches
Wealth
December 7, 2016

Harness the habits of billionaires

Tim Ferriss on achieving success through modeling the habits of successful people

Whether you want to take your life to the next level, make a real breakthrough or achieve a big goal, you need a clear strategy with actionable steps. Whether it is in your relationship, your career, your health, your finances, your happiness – you need to know how to make the shift. Tony Robbins has spent the majority of his life uncovering and developing strategies that bring quick results with less pain and more enjoyment. The most powerful strategy he has discovered is modeling.

Success leaves clues. If someone is consistently successful, they aren’t just lucky, they have a strategy that works. Study their success and learn to adopt their patterns to save yourself from decades of trial and error. This is the key to unlocking an extraordinary life.

Take your life to the next level

Millionaire Tim Ferriss is one of the most successful students of the modeling strategy. Tim has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People,” one of Forbes’ “Names You Need to Know” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor and advisor for household-name corporations like Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo and Alibaba. Tim is also the author of New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers including The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Chef. His podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, has exceeded 700 million downloads and helped set the stage for his book, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers.

Tools of Titans contains tips and life lessons from incredibly successful people. Tim studies everything from their morning mindfulness rituals, daily habits and workout regimens to their core beliefs, values and perspectives. Through his in-depth vetting, exploration and experimentation, he has created a 600+ page book full of tools that could completely change your life.

In this episode with Tim Ferriss, Tony and Mary B. speak with Tim about his growth and discoveries throughout this process. They hammer down on the power of asking better questions, mastering your key strengths and shedding your limiting beliefs. They examine pattern recognition, internal synthesis and the processes of building physical and mental strength. They explore some of the greatest tips, tools and tactics Tim has learned from masters like Peter Thiel, Chris Sacca, Dr. BJ Miller and Peter Diamandis. Finally, they have a candid conversation about coping with the darker periods of life, and how Tim’s perspective on his life’s mission has changed over the years.

The importance of a healthy mind and body

It may seem like a given, but if you want an extraordinary life, you need to fuel your mind and body properly. All of the people Tim studied for this book have solid sleep schedules as well as healthy eating habits and quality exercise routines. Feeding their minds with quality information is also high on their priority list. To be your best self, you have to make yourself and your health a priority.

Asking the right questions

In this interview, you’ll hear Tim talk a lot about the power of asking better questions. Are you asking the right questions in your life – both of other people and yourself? Asking good questions is key to identifying what you really want out of life. It gives you the opportunity to be honest about your own tendencies to hold yourself back while helping you identify how to find fulfilling work and lead an extraordinary life.

Learn how to ask better questions by getting an outside perspective so you can challenge yourself to think in new ways. Working with a business or life coach can help you achieve this goal. Deepen your understanding of yourself and others and form better connections by asking thought-provoking questions such as “What is something I can do to add value to the world today?” and “What do I value most in my life?”

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Developing empowering beliefs

During their chat, Tim brings up some interesting ideas on limiting beliefs and the stories we tell ourselves about our abilities and talents. Tim states that if he only ever did what he was qualified to do, he’d still be pushing a broom. Instead, he developed empowering beliefs that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to, no matter what skill set or knowledge he was lacking. Learn from his example by asking yourself what stories you are telling yourself that reveal your limitations. Do you feel you don’t have enough time, education, knowledge or talent to accomplish a certain goal? Do you believe you’ll always be poor or overweight because it runs in the family?

Examine those beliefs and replace limiting ones with empowering ones. Trust the belief that you can do anything you set your mind to. This helps you turn obstacles into opportunities and shows you that life is happening for you, not to you.

Throughout this interview, Tim shares stories of successful people such as Dr. BJ Miller, Robin Williams, Chris Sacca, Warren Buffet and Ray Dalio. In each of their stories that he shares, you will find tidbits of genius that you can model as you work toward achieving success and building an extraordinary life.

You can find a number of other tips in this Tim Ferriss interview and in his book Tools of Titans.

Image of Tim Ferriss
SHOW NOTES

[1:00] Tony Robbins & Mary B. introduce Tim Ferriss
[3:00] Hello Tim!
[3:20] What’s the genesis of Tim Ferriss? Where did this human guinea pig come from?
[4:20] Leaders are readers
[5:40] Runt wrestling
[6:00] Weight Cutting 178 to 152 twice a week
[7:30] Princeton bound
[8:15] OCD: physical or mental, it’s all the same machine
[8:30] Tony: We’re all grateful for the crazy
[8:50] Tim Ferriss: Undergrads, immunity bracelets, deadlines, disappointment, and suicide
[15:00] Ivy League libraries and Mom’s mailing address grace
[16:00] Suicide is …
[17:00] Mind over body became BODY over MIND
[18:30] A collection of stories (A.K.A. Nonsense), Darkness, Kittens & Rainbows
[19:45] Tim Ferriss: The most important thing I’ve ever written
[20:25] Tony Robbins on running ‘til you puke, recovering from mistakes, and consequences
[21:06] We’re all flawed creatures
[21:25] The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions.
[22:10] Tim Ferriss on assumptions, worst case scenarios, and the lies we tell ourselves
[22:35] My first job, cold calling, trial-and-error secret hacks, and sales closers
[23:50] Facebook’s first investor Peter Thiel thinks you can accomplish a 10-yr plan in 6 months
[24:15] Absurd notions, breaking the framework, and Peter Diamandis
[25:24] The second skill Tim takes with him everywhere
[26:30] Tony on Tim’s 2 master skill-sets, obsessive certainty and creating patterns
[27:55] Tim Ferriss had “given up on writing books” until the ultimate Cliffs Notes,Tools of Titans
[29:00] Mary B. tells the secret quirks of Tony Robbins and Tim Ferris (Hint: Notebooks, Moleskine journals, tablecloths, closet walls, etc.)
[32:15] Healthy, Wealthy, Wise = Tools of Titans = sequels to Four Hours Workweek, Body, Chef
[33:00] Misinterpretations of Tim Ferriss, and Mary B. probes personal evolution in public forum
[35:10] “Constant Low-Grade Anxiety” and “Plant Medicines”
[36:10] Achievement & Appreciation. “Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.”
[37:35] Crazy-Ass Over-Achievers and Mindfulness
[38:00] Robin Williams
[39:06] Woo-Woo, Appreciation, Didgeridoos, Crystals, Meditation and Northern California
[40:30] Repetition is the mother of skill; practice gratitude
[42:00] Tony and Tim have interviewed the greats, here’s what surprised them
[43:00] Sleep, Rick Rubin, Kelly Starrett, Navy Seals, morning people, and sharing a bed
[45:00] The pre-bedtime cocktail Tim Ferriss swears by (the “elephant tranquilizer dart”)
[46:00] Patterns that help induce flow and Tim’s soundtrack of excellence
[46:45] One of Tim’s most surprising interviews – Dr. BJ Miller
[48:50] The beauty of purposelessness
[50:15] What brings people out of funks – the small things
[51:00] The similar patterns of Dr. BJ Miller and Ed Cook – star therapy
[51:30] Gaining perspective through star therapy
[53:40] Pick a game you can win
[54:00] Analytical, informational, behavioral and structural advantages
[54:15] Why Warren Buffet has an advantage
[55:00] Incorporating a structural advantage to your finances
[55:55] Ray Dalio’s use of red-teaming: how to disrupt and destroy your company
[56:20] Creating a portion of a team whose job it is to destroy your company
[57:00] The difference in speech patterns between the financially successful and everyone else
[57:40] Capping the downside and minimizing risk
[58:15] Don’t be afraid to try what you’re not qualified to do
[58:20] Watching Chris Sacca’s journey
[58:50] Chris Sacca in executive Google meetings
[59:15] People’s expectations can change depending on your actions
[59:45] “If I always did what I was qualified to do, I’d be pushing a broom somewhere.”
[1:00:30] Organizing your life by asymmetrical risk
[1:01:15] The value of Tim’s podcast
[1:02:40] Tim’s upcoming television show “Fear Less”
[1:03:00] What the future looks like for Tim
[1:03:25] Shifting focus to 6 to 12 month projects and to upholding values
[1:05:00] Tony’s influence on Tim
[1:05:05] Why the future is wide open for Tim
[1:06:30] What does Tim do for pure joy?
[1:06:50] Embracing absurdity
[1:08:19] Releasing absurd content to see reactions
[1:09:00] The relevance of trickster gods
[1:09:50] Learn to be more open to the possibilities and seize the opportunities that come along
[1:10:50] Who is Tim Ferriss at his core?
[1:11:20] Creating a benevolent army that is made up of creative problem solvers
[1:12:00] Where you can find Tools of Titans

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