The menu in the Slovak Republic: full-contact video below.
Long time no see! I just landed back in CA from a long overdue mini-retirement through London, Scotland, Sardinia, Slovak Republic, Austria, Amsterdam, and Japan.
Some unpleasant surprises awaited me when I checked in on the evil e-mail inbox. Why? I let them happen.
I always do.
Here are just a few of the goodies that awaited me this time:
-One of our fulfillment companies has been shut-down due to the president’s death, causing a 20%+ loss in monthly orders and requiring an emergency shift of all web design and order processing.
-Missed radio and magazine appearances and upset would-be interviewers.
-More than a dozen lost joint-venture partnership opportunities.
It’s not that I go out of my way to irritate people — not at all — but I recognize one critical fact: oftentimes, in order to do the big things, you have to let the small bad things happen. This is a skill we want to cultivate.
What did I get in exchange for temporarily putting on blinders and taking a few glancing blows?
-I followed the Rugby World Cup in Europe and was able to watch the New Zealand All Blacks live, a dream I’ve had for the last 5 years.
-I was able to shoot every gun I’ve ever dreamed of firing since brainwashing myself with Commando. Bless the Slovak Republic and their paramilitaries (video at the end of this post).
-I was able to film a television series pilot in Japan, a lifelong dream and the most fun I’ve had in months, if not years.
-I met with my Japanese publisher, Seishisha (Tel: 03-5574-8511) and had media interviews in Tokyo, where the 4HWW is now #1 in several of the largest chains.
-I took a complete 10-day media fast and felt like I’d had a two-year vacation from computers.
-I attended the Tokyo International Film Festival and hung out with one of my heroes, the producer of the Planet Earth television series.
Once you realize that you can turn off the noise without the world ending, you’re liberated in a way that few people ever know.
Just remember: if you don’t have attention, you don’t have time. Did I have time to check e-mail and voicemail? Sure. It might take 10 minutes. Did I have the attention to risk fishing for crises in those 10 minutes? Not at all.
As tempting as it is to “just check e-mail for one minute,” I didn’t do it. I know from experience that any problem found in the inbox will linger on the brain for hours or days after you shut-down the computer, rendering “free time” useless with preoccupation. It’s the worst of states, where you experience neither relaxation nor productivity. Be focused on work or focused on something else, never in-between.
Time without attention is worthless, so value attention over time.
Here are a few questions that can help you put on the productivity blinders and put things in perspective. Even when you’re not traveling the world, develop the habit of letting small bad things happen. If you don’t, you’ll never find time for the life-changing big things, whether important tasks or true peak experiences. If you do force the time but puncture it with distractions, you won’t have the attention to appreciate it.
-What is the one goal, if completed, that could change everything?
-What is the most urgent thing right now that you feel you “must” or “should” do?
-Can you let the urgent “fail” — even for a day — to get to the next milestone with your potential lifechanging tasks?
-What’s been on your “to-do” list the longest? Start it first thing in the morning and don’t allow interruptions or lunch until you finish.
Will “bad” things happen? Small problems will crop up, yes. A few people will complain and quickly get over it. BUT, the bigger picture items you complete will let you see these for what they are–minutiae and repairable hiccups.
Make this trade a habit. Let the small bad things happen and make the big good things happen.
[This post kicked up some strong comments! If you’d like to see my responses, just search for “###” in the comments.]
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###
Odds and Ends:
–Here is another signed original 4HWW manuscript with the bonus stories that didn’t make it into the published version! Perhaps you saw recently that a 1st-printing Harry Potter fetches more than $40K. 4HWW is no Harry Potter yet, but unedited manuscripts are a rarer item. The Ebay auction is here, and you have 72 hours. The last one sold for $1,525 and there were 8 copies available. Now there are only 6 left. The total winning bid will be donated to this school in Nepal, where your name will appear on a plaque on the door. If you would like to skip the auction, just PayPal $2,000 for however many copies you want (max of 5) to timothy-at-brainquicken.com. The total will also be donated to education. If someone beats you to the punch, I’ll refund you.
-For those interested, I’m featured on pg. 67 of this month’s Men’s Fitness. Nothing fitness-related, just 4HWW stuff.
-I did a fun interview on .SAP INFO, where I talk about all things quantifiable.
Weapons of Mass Distraction: boys love guns. I’m sorry, but that’s how we are wired, especially at $80 for a full Soviet arsenal, complete with anti-tank machine gun. Don’t worry, I’m just a target shooter. No strapping guns to my bed just yet.
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
Tim everything you do and write is fascinating – you’ve ‘externalized’ and so easily subsidized your dream life! And so can now afford to to do whatever you want. Gotta love those 5USD$ an hour assistants. They are on another planet aren’t they? Sheesh. Lucky we have them. No, lucky they have us. A job is a job, food is food.
Your lifestyle is like taking an airplane, if everyone did it the world would collapse. For how could it sustain so much consumption of ‘fun’!
Einstein said, to paraphrase, ‘every morning he would remember that everything he had was made possible on the backs of others’ – from the desk he sat at, to the tea he consumed, and the shirt literally on his back.
To be aware of the cost to humanity of general in the support of the privileged – not to mention the cost of deliberate externalization (as in the case of using laborers in India or the Philippine’s to make the cost of your dream activities less, and so affordable!) You have purchased time – you are much better off than those less ‘creative’ people who spend their entire days and partial nights working to make technology and cheap pens, affordable desk lamps etc. Wow, you’ve made a morally questionable externalization, have you not? Congratulations. You’ve made it to the top of the ‘excessive’ pile.
For the rest of the world who are forced to accept disillusionment on a daily basis, there are still options to truly living more creatively and less excessively (and happily?):
http://www.diegluecklichenarbeitslosen.de/dieseite/seite/english.htm
Tim, while you are enjoying the life you are surfing on, I hope you are giving back to the people who are affording you so much luxury …
Good luck with the rest of it.
BTW I liked your language article, it is useful to compare your set of sentences in other languages.
Hey Tim, thought I would post an update. I was facing a fairly monstrous credit card bill for the end of the month. I decided to let the small bad things happen and within 24 hours I had the money to pay the bill and did it with MINIMAL EFFORT because of some of the systems I have put in Place. I’ve met some amazing likeminded people lately, it’s great. Thanks again.
Cookie
###
Congratulations!
Tim
[…] level of small problems and focus on the big things. I highly recommend reading my short article on “The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen” before outsourcing your […]
I’m at a crossroads trying to pull the plug and semi-retire to Mexico. I bought property in Todas Santos at the southern end of Baja. It’s a small artist/organic farming area with Killer surfing. I need to drop out and slow way down. Looking for my muse to facilitate my travels and comfort level to stay south permanantly.
i have a great idea that relates to all boomers who ride bikes and need help reading those maps while ridding thier criusers. Need a little help finding the manufacturing or product to solve this. I hav ealready done several surveys at rallys and all have said they would buy it form me if it were availible!
My brain is spining with possiblities and i like it.
Hey Larry, I really need to talk to you. We have two interests in common. I am already working on the motorcycle end of things. I have the power to market products the right way. Please email your contact info to
jmuleboy@gmail.com I would love to discuss some ideas
Thanks
cookie
Tim,
A deeply shallow post. Nice!
What’s important? Such a useful question.
I enjoyed this, Thanks!
Mark
[…] The habit of letting small bad things happen. Entrepreneur Filed under Entrepreneur, Blog by Kaizen […]
“I had no desire to deal with complaints or chargebacks, even if just a few, so I took the financial hit as a quality-of-life tax.”
Quality of life tax eh? Awesome idea!
[…] of an extremist, and went on a ten day “media fast.” In his post, he talks about “the art of letting bad things happen.” Tim writes: “It’s the worst of states, where you experience neither relaxation nor […]
[…] The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen explores this using case studies, but here’s one example to illustrate: is your weekend really “free” if you find a crisis in the inbox Saturday morning that you can’t address until Monday morning? […]
Tim
Nice post. I’ve often done the slightly more expensive thing in order to get stuff done NOW, and have more time later, than hunt/seek/search for the best deal, etc. I’ve found I am much happier for it.
As for the weapon shoot, the “artillery” (which is isn’t, by the way), looks to be a PKM, a 7.62x54R belt-fed light/medium machinegun. Very nice and reliable weapons. As for the rest, one thing I noticed is that you aren’t leaning into the weapon, which was most noticeable when you were firing the Spagin-series gun. Even an AK is controllable if you can do that.
Finally, come to Arizona and you can shoot much more than that… 🙂
TimW
Phoenix
Tim,
What advice do you have for someone who is already a slave? I am the CEO of a gov’t contractor company consisting only of my partner and myself. We have been trying to grow for years, but the gov’t is a hard nut to crack. I don’t even enjoy it, but am stuck working 40 hours on contract, and at least 10 more every week just to keep the company going. I can’t jump ship because we are far in debt (both business and personal). Any advice?
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[…] mildly annoying or upsetting some people in exchange for large gains in time […]
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[…] 3. Don’t scan email if you can’t immediately fix problems encountered.?? One simple example: don’t scan the inbox on Friday evening or over the weekend if you might encounter work problems that can’t be addressed until Monday. This is the perfect way to ruin a weekend with preoccupation. Remember that just as income has no value without time, time has no value without attention. […]
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[…] The myth is that a water-tight task-handling methodology, an elaborate folder system, a clockwork method for handling your inbox, a label-maker, and a set of routines come first. . . You shouldn’t be trying to do more in each day, trying to fill every second with a work fidget of some type. … [T]he person who…develops an elaborate system of folder rules … is efficient on some perverse level. … Doing something well does not make it important … What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it. -Timothy Ferriss […]
Hello Tim,
Loved your book and principles, thoughts and how to’s etc. But something is foreshadowing it all. Is all of this “conversation” for mainly young singles with no families. As a single parent of three kids my brain, my soul begins to twist with all of the concerns that family bring with it when reading about a “no location” concept of lifestyle design. You are not a parent at the moment so that reality hasn’t arrived for you yet so perhaps we all just speak from where we come from and perhaps you will write a book that will be Part Two called the 4 hour night of sleep. Hard to feel included in it all…..
###
Hi Crane,
Please take heart. There are plenty of families using 4HWW, including Jen Errico and others in the book. The parents just don’t tend to be as vocal as the singles, but they’re here, as evidenced by the videos of children in the latest post, the Ning.com groups for 4HWW and families, and so on. http://www.thenewlyrich.com is also a 4HWW-themed site focused specifically on families.
Don’t worry — you have plenty of company 🙂
All the best,
Tim
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I think you mean this site…
http://thenewlyrich.com/
A 4HWW book that focuses on how to build this life while raising children could certainly be your next bestseller. You have so many great ideas but most of the work is created in the framework of a single/childless existance. I know you have a few parents included but your ideas would be greatly valued by those who find parenting has become the ultimate call for better life re-design. Alas, most of what is written is still for the moblile single, and I know many parents would love to see this modeled by others sharing similar challenges.
Hi Tim,
Excellent blog about LETTING bad things happen.
Just finished reading your book for the 1st time. I will read it several more times. Very timely in my life.
I have an idea/muse that requires an electromechanical product to be reverse engineered and manufactured. The product is one that cannot be sold on ebay and i have done some web searching to find other sources that would sell it. So far nada.
I re-read the chapter that had to do with product development. You mentioned getting manufacturing done in india and china at 1/20th the cost but went on to share how information is a better idea. Could you refer me to a reputable india or china manufacturer that could do what i mentioned with a electromechanical device? Sure would help. Or steer me in the right direction.
Thanks in advance.
nice post Tim. I have just started reading your book. I am looking for a place where I can exit/sell my new website. Do let us know if you know any.
[…] This article is, far and away, my favorite on Tim’s blog. It was written after Tim’s mini-retirement through London, Scotland, Sardinia, Slovak Republic, Austria, Amsterdam, and Japan. Like a good disciple of his own philosophy, he didn’t check his email while on vacation. Here’s what happened: […]
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[…] One simple example: don’t scan the inbox on Friday evening or over the weekend if you might encounter work problems that can’t be addressed until Monday. This is the perfect way to ruin a weekend with preoccupation. Remember that just as income has no value without time, time has no value without attention. […]
I’m working on a muse while being mum of 3 under 4 and farmer’s wife, and I wonder sometimes how to do the 20%. and avoid the 80% in housework, childcare and farm life. I guess it takes a leap of faith, and I have employed a nanny for 3 days a week (that we currently can’t afford) to find some time to create a new information product. This is a niche market, a policy/systems manual template for dairy farmers and I’m really excited about it’s potential. My business model keeps changing – how do I determine the best course – or how do I find the right mentor?
Also, when outsourcing work,I am finding set up of system a real bottleneck, ie learning what I can achieve, and how best to ask for it??
“It’s impossible to overestimate the unimportance of most things.” – Dave Schmit, the first creative director for whom I worked. (Whether it was an original or he was quoting someone else, I don’t recall.)
This one has always stuck with me when very few quotes do. Oddly, while I remember it, I can’t say that I’ve fully applied its lesson. Yet.
Much thanks for the good reads, wisdom and inspiration.
Tim,
I am reading your book for the second time in as many weeks. When I’m finished with the library loan period, I’ll buy my own copy. Love all of it.
I’d like to respond to the parent above who expressed doubts about lifestyle design for parents. I am still encumbered by a job, and it’s one that has no option for remote work (public school teaching, alas). However, in my mind, I can envision the time when I am liberated. It took me a while to get there, because I couldn’t wrap my brain around traveling the world with a man and child, either.
But I don’t really want to travel the world constantly. I want to buy an acreage in Maine and raise chickens for eggs and fun. And I want to be available to my daughter for homework, and games, and reading at night without falling asleep during a picture book. I want the time to live life on my own terms. That’s all.
Lifestyle design is exactly that. It’s your lifestyle. Tim, I see your book as a catalyst for such design. Your talk of world adventure is fabulous, as it helps the reader to think outside the big box building.
Parents, let your imagination go. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say to your child’s teacher, “I’m available for a conference anytime. What fits your schedule?” 🙂
Amy
Denver, CO
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I have to say, it seems like a lot of the bad things that happened affected other people negatively, while the good things that offset them only affected you positively. I don’t mean to criticize, and generally agree with your sentiments, but don’t these examples seem selfish? I’m curious how you view this issue. You do have me intrigued though, and I’m going to read your book now.
Tim,
Thanks for the opening the world to so many people.
John
I am a writer in the Philippines employed by a BPO company which caters to clients in the US needing virtual assistants, and I speak on the latter’s behalf as I get to observe them everyday.
I am sorry to disappoint AAndrews, but as “laborers” in the Philippines “making the cost of Americans’ dream activities less and so affordable”, a VA’s life is not all that bad so there really is no need to guilt Tim Ferriss and others like him who rely on virtual assistants. The VAs in our company may get just a pittance of what personal assistants get paid in the US, but it is still a win-win situation because the cost of living here is after all not as high as the US’s. This case with the VAs and others like them is not the vile, repulsive thing that child labor is.
Those of us in BPO companies are professionals happy to be able to stay in our country doing work we like. We are aware of the gulf between our pay and yours, but you see, with our salaries, we get to live like your average young professionals. We make rent, send our kids to school, enjoy time with friends, indulge in hobbies, dress decently.
Here as in anywhere else, your lifestyle is a choice you make.
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Hi Tim,
A great post I come back to every now & again, one of several on your blog I have bookmarked, I find it useful to remind myself as it’s easy to slip back into trying to please everyone, and be the ‘yes’ man!
I got your book when I first started on my path into self-employment (I’m a freelance web designer in the UK) at first I was very confused on how I could ever find any form of automated/passive income.
Now a year on I’m incredibly happy to say…it’s happened! I’ve naturally progressed into affiliate sites, started earning enough of an income to fulfill my life long dream of traveling to New Zealand & Australia and am leaving in just under 3 weeks!! I’ve got myself a macbook, going to get hooked up with wireless broadband and will be traveling for 3 months working around an hour a day (not quite reached the magic 4! but on my way!!)
Thanks Tim, I hope you see this comment as wanted to say what a great inspiration you & 4HWW has been! Greg
To Greg,
Congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment. Be sure to visit Queenstown in NZ! It’s one of my favorite places on earth.
Pura vida 🙂
Tim
Thanks Tim! and Queenstown is on our route 🙂
(it’s me and my girlfriend going – can’t wait!!)
Even thinking of doing a skydive in Queenstown, although watching videos of it (including yours) not sure I’ll be able to go through with it…I’ll let you know!
Pura vida mae!
Greg
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I let little bad things happen when I have a greater agenda that would be easily distracted or outsourced by handling daily red tape. Being a single mom to a teenager with high functioning autism, this strategy has been essential to our survival, but it comes with guilt.
I juggle, pay late, on bills. I turn off the ringer on the phone. At times, I don’t return phone calls to my ex or girlfriends that need attention/favors. I’ve taken the overdraft fee, when I need to pay a bill and my paycheck hasn’t cleared yet. I ignore stupid emails. It takes too much energy to respond to people’s attempts at bullying via the internet.
It is passive aggressive, but if I didn’t do it, I would be exhausted trying to please, do things right etc. My kid requires a different kind of parenting and energy that average people don’t get. It isn’t my job to educate while we are still trying to make it through middle school.
This past year, I’ve stopped feeling bad about it. I’m glad to see in tis blog that I’m not the only one.
Tim,
I agree with what Jesse said. The good things that happened only benefited your personal whims. The bad things that happened negatively impacted numerous people other than yourself. How would you feel if one of your co-workers just up and left, leaving tons of work for you? Also, what if your one of your loved ones were dying in the hospital, but you didn’t say goodbye because you didn’t check your email and didn’t know? Some of your other posts are very interesting, but this post is unsettling.
Hi Fellow Student and Jesse,
Thanks for the comments and joining the conversation. I’d like to point out a few things:
1) I wouldn’t miss a close friend or family member in the hospital, as they would have my contact info for emergencies.
2) It is not always (actually, it is seldom) possible to make all people happy.
3) My decisions helped many other than myself — the Japanese publisher, dozens of people involved with the TV project, and dozens of others.
4) If you choose to be available 24/7 and answer to all others, what type of life will you have? If, on the other hand, you choose anything less than that, you will upset some people sometimes, which is a trade I’m willing to make.
Hope that helps,
Tim
Hey Tim
Did you manage to catch the World Champions in action at all at the RWC?
The two recent hidings of the AB by South Africa confirm their status as World Champions.
Come on Bokke!
gosh
Sound advice Tim.
We only live on this planet for one go-around…so focusing on the TRUE core things that make us what we want to be…wow…that’s all I can say.
Another bit of 4HWW wisdom.
Great advice, just hired a VA and am reading so I know what to be aware of, or anticipate 🙂
@ Jesse & Fellow Student..
“More than a dozen lost joint-venture partnership opportunities” – this negatively affected Tim, depending on how you look at it.
He points out that the world won’t end if you disappear. We’re not as singly important as we’d like to think, but everything we do should be important to us in some way or another.
Moreover, close friends and family would either have already blessed your new way of life or forsaken you, in which case, they wouldn’t be trying to reach you.
Hey Tim,
We can’t do everything, so we have to prioritize doing what’s important and ignore the rest.
We have limited resources during a day. The more things we do, the less time and energy we can put into each. If we analyze what’s important to us, and focus only on doing those things while ruthlessly ignoring the rest, we can maximize our enjoyment of them.
Getting comfortable with letting bad things happen lets us detach ourselves from situations.
Problems and the like become external objects, and we become okay with letting the occasional weed grow in our garden so that we can focus on playing in it and eating the delicious fruits and vegetables.
Thanks for sharing your story of how important 80-20’ing your life is. Seems like it was an incredible time, and I enjoyed watching the Japan episode of your show Trial By Fire (is that not getting picked up for a season I’m assuming?).
Pura vida,
Oleg
This is an amazing tip. It’s so true, most things can wait till the next day and are not truly urgent. As a pediatrician, when I was on call, this was not always true, as there are some actual true emergencies, and yet even in this situation, many things which are considered urgent can actually wait till the next morning.
Now, as I have moved away from taking call and now own a business with a few employees, I find myself still falling in the same mode of always being “on call,” and attending to “emergencies.” However, this last month, I was forced to go out of town, and what I found was… although there were many urgent issues, many of them were dealt with by my employees, which helped them become more prepared and independent for future crises, and this allowed me to trust and give them more responsibilities. And with the issues that still needed my help, being out of town forced me to set up systems (automated steps or policies) to deal with similar issues in the future. I guess it’s a start on the road to the 4-hour workweek.
If anyone is having a hard time letting the bad things happen or finding time for the big things, I would recommend a forced vacation for a few weeks where you have very little contact with your work.
[…] The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen […]
I love the alternative points of views presented by Mr. Ferriss. And though I think it would be difficult for me to transition over to this way of thinking and doing, I find it intriguing, and closer to “right” than most of the “lessons” I’ve learned in life (that make so little sense).
I did, however, have a problem with one of the “little problems” – specifically the mention of –
missed radio and magazine appearances and upset would-be interviewers –
Did I misinterpret? – did you have these meetings set up and then fail to show up as you went after your once in a lifetime dreams? Or did you only miss POTENTIAL PR opportunities?
I interpreted it as meetings already set, then missed, in which case it doesn’t seem appropriate to take their time and then waste it for them. In that case, there would be responsibility to not have made the appointments, cancel beforehand, or, if needbe (previously forgotten) on your mini retirement.
Hopefully I misinterpreted, and you were expressing you had opportunities you COULD have accepted, that they wanted you to accept, had you been home.
So much of what you say is inspiring. Thank you for your open posts, thoughts, and adventures that you share.
Hi Melissa,
Not to worry. I didn’t have anything scheduled. I don’t miss appointments. Just opportunities.
Best,
Tim
I never imagined that I would leave a message here, but I am gratified to see that you are still answering posts to these older topics.
This a great post about not letting others run your life with their “issues”.
I personally have always been a people pleaser… a hard habit to break. I let others push their priorities on me, and I do not want to disappoint, as I have always gotten my self worth satisfying others. I have strived to be true to “Know thyself”, and this is one of the things I have learned about myself over the years. Like being stuck in mud. There is a “suction” effect. Hard to get out.
Realizing large dreams means letting some be disappointed. I can’t be there for everyone for everything. They have developed a comfort level in knowing I will be there, to save them from their problems, boredom, excesses, etc. I need to let them grow by letting them step out of their comfort zones, too.
Don’t worry. I will still serve people, as that is part of making the world a better place. But I will not let them push their priorities on me.
I am working on that automation to free me for World Travel.
BTW, if you get to Phoenix, I will take you to a great mexican eatery.
Ken
I was really interested in reading Greg’s comment above – the freelance web designer – who’s now off to Australia and New Zealand courtesy of his affiliate work. I’m also in that line, but have struggled with the idea of only doing the work which I really want to do – that’s why I went freelance – which has effectively cut myself off from doing things that will actually secure my time back again. This is a very interesting conundrum. There’s so much good advice here which really shakes up my ideas about how I should or want to go about things. Many thanks indeed for that – it doesn’t happen often.
[…] The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen – Tim Ferriss on letting smaller bad things happen in order to focus on and achieve your big wins. […]
So, I just tried the “auto-response”. Within 24 hours, people in the office started to complain…to my bosses…who ordered me to turn it off. Funny thing is, it’s FINE if i don’t RESPOND to email until noon and 4pm, I just can’t TELL people that’s what i’m doing. Dumb, if you ask me. Rrrrrgh.
Watch a movie called Fight Club. Tyler Durden is a master at letting that which does not matter truly slide.
Interesting choice of headline and photo… certainly offers a lesson in not jumping to conclusions. Yet, it remains a bit unsettling as there is such a fine balance many of us feel about ‘letting things happen’ vs doing something about them when it involves guns or injustice. But I guess that was your aim.
The best message in all of this for me was your point on focus and productivity, and the high priority role that “valuing attention over time”, plays in this. Now that’s something I really will benefit from practicing! Thanks.
Coolness; more great advice. Heads-up on the strapping-guns-to-the-bed link, which is dead as of 11-26. Found your sap interview direct link here: http://en.sap.info/%E2%80%9Cthe-most-common-way-is-seldom-the-best%E2%80%9D/3851
Love the video! I’ve been trying to convince my husband to listen to the 4HWW audio book for weeks now, but this video sealed the deal – he now decided that you have credibility and put the CD set in his truck 😉
Ok first thing,
Hats off to you for donating to a school in Nepal. I am actually a Nepalese and i know how much help our education system needs. It’s always great to see people like you doing something great for people who are born in a country where opportunities are severely limited. So as a Nepalese born and raised in Nepal, I’d like to thank you Tim.
Secondly,
I am so darn JEALOUS. I’ve always wanted to know how it feels to shoot a gun. Not that i’m a violent person or anything but like you said, boys and guns lol they’re just hard wired in our brains. I’d love to do something like that someday.
Thirdly,
Your point about letting small bad things happen is something that I’ve experienced myself. and I feel sorry for those who try to make everyone happy and end up living all their lives for others. Everyone likes them but they live such depressing lives and YET it’s a very hard concept to implement for people.
Specially once you get into the habit of being an opportunist. You sorta depend on your ability to seize opportunities so that you can get to what your goals are. But after you attain a certain level of success, its more about committing to the right opportunities and not just diving towards every opportunity you find. i think it’s more a matter of choice. It becomes a much bigger factor once you get to a stage where you are flooded with opportunities on a daily basis. Just a two cents.
Anyways, once again, i think its great that you’ve decided to help out a Nepalese school.
Thank you
[…] reading the book, particularly the lesson about “The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen,” I decided to outsource support. The obvious benefit was that I no longer had to answer […]
Great article. This has been on the fore front of my mind for sometime. Dealing with crisis and stresses. I have a small start-up managing securities and growing money reserves.
It has proven to be an emotional roller coaster. Some months my partners and I are in the green and other months we’re down. I have to deal with emotions of entire team while remaining calm and indifferent.
Most recently I experienced a nearly 100% loss in the business. Emotions are running high. It’s a demanding challenge to face. I feel if I can face challenges like this. Remain calm and clear headed whilst indifferent I can face just about anything.
TF – this was short yet VERY powerful.
My g mail was blocked out for 24 hrs and now my blackberry needs 2 re-activate e mails
I kinda like the disconnect
this article definitely pushes me more towards letting e mails slide and kickin ass on the bigger stuff
good shiz bro, MUCH thnx!
–z–
Was so interested to see that 4HWW is out in Japanese and is doing so well there — congrats.
Curious about the reaction over there, and since I read Japanese, I checked out the amazon.co.jp page for the book, and according to the comments evidently the Japanese translation is riddled with errors, to the point of being very annoying. This is a common problem with books translated into Japanese, as native Japanese translators may miss the nuances, or the entire meaning, of something that is written in colloquial English (like much of 4HWW is).
In order to ensure true quality of a translation, what you need is to have a native speaker of the orignal language who is fluent in the target language check the translation. Since I qualify (native speaker of English, fluent in Japanese, and have written a bunch of books in Japanese), perhaps I could help you out? (As a Room to Read volunteer, I helped check the Japanese translation of John Wood’s book when it came out a few years ago, so I’m experienced in this kind of thing.)
It seems like the Japanese readers are disappointed, and the impact of your book is being blunted. Since the book is selling well, there’s bound to be a reprinting, which should be an opportunity to improve the translation a bit.
Wow, Tim this is great stuff!
Since I read your book, I’ve changed so much about my life. I now work 1/2 the hours as before – done instantly before I even finished reading the book. This is just the start as both my wife and I work from home and take months off each year. Your words continue to be an inspiration.
Thanks!
Scott
Tim,
Congrats on your holiday! Sounds like you really had a holiday not just working from the beach type break! Which can be good as well.
A change of pace is critical to be ready to take your life to the next level.
Thanks for the pointers on attention! I will be thinking about that as we try to grow our 2 businesses.
Take care.
Tim, i’m a 20 year old college student ‘diagnosed’ with adhd. My intelligence has gotten me this far… but school work is AGANIZING. I took aderal for the first time yesterday…. (30mg), i’m about 170, 5’9, scored 19/100 (100 being averagr) for attention deficiet disorder…. and It was a TRIP. at first i felt super focused… but it had all these side effects that were RIDICULOUS… I don’t really want to be on it… and the only reason i took it was to get my mind to stop wandering from school work…. but I HATE school. I want to be an entrepreneur, and start my company in the real world. I’m not sure i’ll get past school without the meds… as it’s gotten to be unbearable. Quite franky, i’m not sure if school is even worth it… I only really want the ‘college’ experience… i feel like i’ll ‘miss’ out if i don’t go (to a university away from home living on campus)… but then i also am worried that it’s just a waiste of time… not sure what to do. My mom thinks i would be idiotic to not get my degree. I kinda feel like I should finish what i started… but it feels unbarable, and i’m not sure wether I’m going to ever take an aderal pill again…. maybe lower dosage, but either way, drugs, besides alchohol and tobacco, make me feel ‘out of control’ and i HATE it. So i’m facing a dilemma… follow my passion or finish what i started/ enjoy the college experience… I’m sort of confused. I have a good mentor, my friend arie, persian guy, 24, entrepreneur, he mentioned you guys are friends, which is pretty cool…. but i’m just afraid on what to do and afraid of ‘missing out’ on something like the ‘wild college experience and friends, and owning the school, etc’ and i’m not sure if i really want that or i’ve been programmed that that is the ‘cool’ thing to do… just like people are programmed that college is the ‘right’ thing to do…. words of wisdom would be awesome.. And do you have adhd or anything like that, and how do you use it to your advantage and deal with it? I read that we are very able to focus on things that motivate us very intently and not on things that bore us, like school
Your solution is to be selfish and self minded. Never mind others, who cares about wasting time answering to mails (which are ways for people to communicate) ! Doing what you want is the only thing that’s important. Just care about yourself !
Great advice ! It will make the world a horrid place, but we will be better off that the others, and that’s the main and first goal of them all !
Hi Tim,
I doubt this will reach you but I figured I’d give it a shot. I recently purchased a 100lb chrome plated dumbbell set off ebay for a little over $100, upon receiving it (with free shipping no less) I noticed a powerful smell coming off the chrome plates. I tried washing and scrubbing them – no substantial improvement. What concerns me is that in just a day I’ve developed respiratory issues, sore nasal passages, red inflamed skin on my hands, and a sore throat. This doesn’t feel like a cold or flu bug, more like an allergic response.
They say caveat emptor, but I’m concerned, is it at all possible that these weights came directly from an unregulated factory in China? Could these in fact contain a powerful carcinogen like Hexavalent Chromium known to cause cancer and other issues? I noticed on the invoice it said it came from an unrelated company “SY Supllies” Misspelled and all.
I’ve been burned by Ebay for counterfeit earbuds and other merch, this is the last time I buy from them, I’m seriously concerned however that this person might be selling cancer causing weights to unsuspecting customers. Is there any way to find out? I don’t have the funds to test the materials myself but here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321042041233?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
I don’t want to seem like a hypochondriac, but it is a genuine concern.
Cheers Tim I hope this reaches you.
Just as an update I requested a refund, looks like they are all for it here’s the message I received:
Thank you for contacting with us and sorry for the inconvenience, the painting no risk for the health but no excuse, we will send return label to your email,please send it back ,we will fully refund you upon receiving them
Thank you
Annnie
Peculiar to say the least, but at least I’ll be getting a refund. I’ve sealed off the weights and effectively sanitized the environment I tried cleaning them in. Feeling markedly better today – albeit the lingering chemical smell.
Let’s hope exposure to that pseudo chrome won’t bite me in the ass years from now lol.
Hope you’ve been well in this off-holiday season!
Markedly better may not be a proper term now, mild nose bleeding today with accompanied soreness, seeing about scheduling an ENT visit. Hoping this is just a coincidence !
Hey Tim,
Great post….
Have you thought about how similar this is to the concepts in Nicholas Nassim Taleb’s new book Antifragile…?
Letting small bad things happen… protecting yourself against negative black swans…. whilst opening up to the positive ones.
Really cool how your philosophy and life is essentially an Antifragile system – getting stronger and more effective with volatility (in this case: your ‘bad things’)….
rather than the bulk of workers who set up fragile systems, where if (or more likely: when) a black swan happens, like a missed month of work due to illness, then their life might fall apart because they spent it setting up the wrong status quo (e.g. “I am always here to be interrupted and am at your beck and call, whoever you are and regardless of how important it is”)
Just some thoughts for you….thanks for changing my life!
David
I like your teachings about focus: “Time without attention is worthless, so value attention over time.”
By the way: nice video 😉
Tim! You got a sick aim, nice shooting.
I’m late to the punch but this is a great concept. I have started small with the bad things and building up courage to allow bigger bad things to occur. It’s the battle of allowing your attention to take priority over certain results.
This is an amazing tip. It’s so true, most things can wait till the next day and are not truly urgent. I personally have always been a people pleaser… a hard habit to break. I let others push their priorities on me, and I do not want to disappoint, as I have always gotten my self worth satisfying others. I have strived to be true to “Know thyself”, and this is one of the things I have learned about myself over the years. Like being stuck in mud. There is a “suction” effect. Hard to get out. The best message in all of this for me was your point on focus and productivity, and the high priority role that “valuing attention over time”, plays in this. Now that’s something I really will benefit from practicing! Your point about letting small bad things happen is something that I’ve experienced myself. and I feel sorry for those who try to make everyone happy and end up living all their lives for others. Everyone likes them but they live such depressing lives and YET it’s a very hard concept to implement for people. Specially once you get into the habit of being an opportunist. You sorta depend on your ability to seize opportunities so that you can get to what your goals are. But after you attain a certain level of success, its more about committing to the right opportunities and not just diving towards every opportunity you find. i think it’s more a matter of choice. It becomes a much bigger factor once you get to a stage where you are flooded with opportunities on a daily basis. Just a two cents. Great advice ! It will make the world a horrid place, but we will be better off that the others, and that’s the main and first goal of them all!
That MP-40 Is BAD!
On self-importance – my uncle and life-long mentor once told me: “The world will keep on spinning whether you’re on it or not”. That was a little shocking to hear as a teenager but a life lesson I’ve never forgotten.
Hey! Girls love guns too 🙂 They’re not only fun, they’re tools to experience the deeper parts of life. Shooting is, in essence, a martial art. You can learn just as much about your life path and journey through the shooting arts as any other art.
I’m a pro shooter, and study marksmanship and its life benefits — day in and day out. Glad you’ve gotten the bug to dig a little deeper into it! The only people who don’t understand, are those sadly ignorant of the real experience of its benefits and joys. Hopefully they’ll get that some day! – Kirsten Joy Weiss
Hi Tim, I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for this concept, of allowing “small bad things to happen”, in order for really big, good things to happen. As an example, I am an obstetrician-gynecologist physician; I constantly see this concept at work in allowing my residents and students to make a small mistake in order to get the MUCH greater good of the learning out of it for their future. I love your way of thinking, and I thank you for putting it out there in a way that is easy to understand and apply.
Tim – Consider a small work-team environment at a fledgling company: When implementing a mini-vacation and planning to disconnect with the additional objectives of seeing who steps up and what tasks were really important, would you suggest informing your team members that you were going to be out of touch for a couple weeks or just go quiet unannounced?
Hey Tim!
Cal Newport was on Ezra Klein’s show talking about this concept last month and Cal gave you a shoutout.
https://www.vox.com/2017/4/21/15382282/cal-newport-taking-life-back-technology
Tim, this is your best post by far! It shows that your mini-retirement worked. It’s awesome to see that you’re actually living what you teach. After reading your book I went on an e-mail fast but after a while I reverted to old habits of checking emails every so often… I noticed the immediate drop in productivity. Like you said… it lingers in the brain for hours and days. Your concept of bad things/big things reminds me of Stephen Covey’s principles in the 7 Habits book…