This blog post will share the first chapter in my new book, Tools of Titans. It’s been nearly five years since my last book.
But before we get to that, a short story…
Three weeks before my book deadline, I was burning the midnight oil on rural Long Island. I’d set up a treadmill desk and purchased endless supplies of yerba mate tea, powdered MCT oil, and other assorted goodies to keep me sharp at 3am.
Joining me in the insanity was Kamal Ravikant, a close friend. He’d just finished his first novel and volunteered to help proofread chapters with fresh eyes. During our first day together, we rotated between reading, editing, and sauna breaks.
Kamal was uncharacteristically quiet, which made me nervous.
Had I screwed up the structure? Were the profiles hard to read? He kept his eyes on the screen, and I kept my insecurities to myself. We continued into dusk and, soon, it was dark outside. Eventually, we popped a bottle of wine in the living room to relax for 30 minutes before diving back in. It was at this point that I couldn’t help myself — I asked Kamal how his proofing was going. He paused, smiled, and looked at me:
“You know, Tim, I’ve given The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body to specific friends. One might want to start a business, another might want to lose a few pounds. But my God… This book applies to everyone.”
I smiled and he took a swig of wine:
“I mean, look,” he pointed at his phone, “I’ve been taking notes on new things to do and try, starting tomorrow. I’ve ordered 11 things on Amazon Prime so I can start using them as soon as I get home. There is so much gold here. The truth is that I feel like I’ve already improved. I’d buy it for anyone, even my mom.”
Flash forward to today — I couldn’t be happier with how Tools of Titans has turned out.
Just three notes before the sample chapter:
– Even if you’ve heard every podcast episode, there is a ton of new content in this book. New recommendations and details from past guests, new “guests” you haven’t heard, new content from me, and much more.
– I rarely make direct “asks,” but I will here. If you’ve benefited from any of my work in the past, including the blog (700+ free posts) or podcast (~200 free episodes), please grab Tools of Titans for yourself and consider it for your family, friends, or employees. It’s one hell of a holiday gift. I can promise you that. It delivers.
– I am NOT planning on doing an audiobook version anytime soon. More to come on this, as I have some crazy ideas, but suffice to say: don’t wait for audio. Please grab the print and/or ebook version, and don’t miss the illustrations.
Now, please enjoy this little sample to whet your appetite…
READ THIS FIRST—HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
“Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. Big, undreamed-of things—the people on the edge see them first.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.”
— W.H. Auden
I’m a compulsive note-taker.
To wit, I have recorded nearly every workout since age 18 or so. Roughly 8 feet of shelf space in my home is occupied by spine upon spine of notebook upon notebook. That, mind you, is one subject. It extends to dozens. Some people would call this OCD, and many would consider it a manic wild goose chase. I view it simply: It is the collection of my life’s recipes.
My goal is to learn things once and use them forever.
For instance, let’s say I stumble upon a picture of myself from June 5, 2007, and I think, “I really wish I looked like that again.” No problem. I’ll crack open a dusty volume from 2007, review the 8 weeks of training and food logs preceding June 5, repeat them, and—voilà—end up looking nearly the same as my younger self (minus the hair). It’s not always that easy, but it often is.
This book, like my others, is a compendium of recipes for high performance that I gathered for my own use. There’s one big difference, though—I never planned on publishing this one.
As I write this, I’m sitting in a café in Paris overlooking the Luxembourg Garden, just off of Rue Saint-Jacques. Rue Saint-Jacques is likely the oldest road in Paris, and it has a rich literary history. Victor Hugo lived a few blocks from where I’m sitting. Gertrude Stein drank coffee and F. Scott Fitzgerald socialized within a stone’s throw. Hemingway wandered up and down the sidewalks, his books percolating in his mind, wine no doubt percolating in his blood.
I came to France to take a break from everything. No social media, no email, no social commitments, no set plans . . . except for one project. The month had been set aside to review all of the lessons I’d learned from nearly 200 world-class performers I’d interviewed on The Tim Ferriss Show, which has more than 90,000,000 downloads. The guests included chess prodigies, movie stars, four-star generals, pro athletes, and hedge fund managers. It was a motley crew.
More than a handful of them had since become collaborators in business and creative projects, spanning from investments to indie film. As a result, I’d absorbed a lot of their wisdom outside of our recordings, whether over workouts, wine-infused jam sessions, text message exchanges, dinners, or late-night phone calls. In every case, I’d gotten to know them well beyond the superficial headlines in the media.
My life had already improved in every area as a result of the lessons I could remember. But that was the tip of the iceberg. The majority of the gems were still lodged in thousands of pages of transcripts and hand-scribbled notes. More than anything, I longed for the chance to distill everything into a playbook.
So, I’d set aside an entire month for review (and, if I’m being honest, pain au chocolat), to put together the ultimate CliffsNotes for myself. It would be the notebook to end all notebooks. Something that could help me in minutes but be read for a lifetime.
That was the lofty goal, at least, and I wasn’t sure what the result would be.
Within weeks of starting, the experience exceeded all expectations. No matter the situation I found myself in, something in this book was able to help. Now, when I’m feeling stuck, trapped, desperate, angry, conflicted, or simply unclear, the first thing I do is flip through these pages with a strong cup of coffee in hand. So far, the needed medicine has popped out within 20 minutes of revisiting these friends, who will now become your friends. Need a reassuring pat on the back? There’s someone for that. An unapologetic slap in the face? Plenty of people for that, too. Someone to explain why your fears are unfounded… or why your excuses are bullshit? Done.
There are a lot of powerful quotes, but this book is much more than a compilation of quotes. It is a toolkit for changing your life.
There are many books full of interviews. This is different because I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something or replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested. Everything in these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of these tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration. They work when you need them most.
Some applications are obvious at first glance, while others are subtle and will provoke a “Holy shit, now I get it!” realization weeks later, while you’re daydreaming in the shower or about to fall asleep.
Many of the one-liners teach volumes. Some summarize excellence in an entire field in one sentence. As Josh Waitzkin (page 577), chess prodigy and the inspiration behind Searching for Bobby Fischer, might put it, these bite-sized learnings are a way to “learn the macro from the micro.” The process of piecing them together was revelatory. If I thought I saw “the Matrix” before, I was mistaken, or I was only seeing 10% of it. Still, even that 10%—“islands” of notes on individual mentors—had already changed my life and helped me 10x my results. But after revisiting more than a hundred minds as part of the same fabric, things got very interesting very quickly. For the movie nerds among you, it was like the end of The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects: “The red door knob! The fucking Kobayashi coffee cup! How did I not notice that?! It was right in front of me the whole time!”
To help you see the same, I’ve done my best to weave patterns together throughout the book, noting where guests have complementary habits, beliefs, and recommendations.
The completed jigsaw puzzle is much greater than the sum of its parts.
WHAT MAKES THESE PEOPLE DIFFERENT?
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”
— Pierre-Marc-Gaston de Lévis
These world-class performers don’t have superpowers.
The rules they’ve crafted for themselves allow the bending of reality to such an extent that it may seem that way, but they’ve learned how to do this, and so can you. These “rules” are often uncommon habits and bigger questions.
In a surprising number of cases, the power is in the absurd. The more absurd, the more “impossible” the question, the more profound the answers. Take, for instance, a question that serial billionaire Peter Thiel likes to ask himself and others:
“If you have a 10-year plan of how to get [somewhere], you should ask: Why can’t you do this in 6 months?”
For purposes of illustration here, I might reword that to:
“What might you do to accomplish your 10-year goals in the next 6 months, if you had a gun against your head?”
Now, let’s pause. Do I expect you to take 10 seconds to ponder this and then magically accomplish 10 years’ worth of dreams in the next few months? No, I don’t. But I do expect that the question will productively break your mind, like a butterfly shattering a chrysalis to emerge with new capabilities. The “normal” systems you have in place, the social rules you’ve forced upon yourself, the standard frameworks—they don’t work when answering a question like this. You are forced to shed artificial constraints, like shedding a skin, to realize that you had the ability to renegotiate your reality all along. It just takes practice.
My suggestion is that you spend real time with the questions you find most ridiculous in this book. Thirty minutes of stream-of-consciousness journaling (page 224) could change your life.
On top of that, while the world is a gold mine, you need to go digging in other people’s heads to unearth riches. Questions are your pickaxes and competitive advantage. This book will give you an arsenal to choose from.
PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DETAILS
When organizing all of the material for myself, I didn’t want an onerous 37-step program.
I wanted low-hanging fruit with immediate returns. Think of the bite-sized rules within these pages as PEDs—performance-enhancing details. They can be added to any training regimen (read here: different careers, personal preferences, unique responsibilities, etc.) to pour gasoline on the fire of progress.
Fortunately, 10x results don’t always require 10x effort. Big changes can come in small packages. To dramatically change your life, you don’t need to run a 100-mile race, get a PhD, or completely reinvent yourself. It’s the small things, done consistently, that are the big things (e.g., “red teaming” once per quarter, Tara Brach’s guided meditations, strategic fasting or exogenous ketones, etc.).
“Tool” is defined broadly in this book. It includes routines, books, common self-talk, supplements, favorite questions, and much more.
WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?
In this book, you’ll naturally look for common habits and recommendations, and you should. Here are a few patterns, some odder than others:
- More than 80% of the interviewees have some form of daily mindfulness or meditation practice
- A surprising number of males (not females) over 45 never eat breakfast, or eat only the scantiest of fare (e.g., Laird Hamilton, page 92; General Stanley McChrystal, page 435)
- Many use the ChiliPad device for cooling at bedtime
- Rave reviews of the books Sapiens, Poor Charlie’s Almanack, Influence, and Man’s Search for Meaning, among others
- The habit of listening to single songs on repeat for focus (page 507)
- Nearly everyone has done some form of “spec” work (completing projects on their own time and dime, then submitting them to prospective buyers)
- The belief that “failure is not durable” (see Robert Rodriguez, page 628) or variants thereof
- Almost every guest has been able to take obvious “weaknesses” and turn them into huge competitive advantages (see Arnold Schwarzenegger, page 176)
Of course, I will help you connect these dots, but that’s less than half of the value of this book. Some of the most encouraging workarounds are found in the outliers. I want you to look for the black sheep who fit your unique idiosyncrasies. Keep an eye out for the non-traditional paths, like Shay Carl’s journey from manual laborer to YouTube star to co-founder of a startup sold for nearly $1 billion (page 441). The variation is the consistency. As a software engineer might say, “That’s not a bug. It’s a feature!”
Borrow liberally, combine uniquely, and create your own bespoke blueprint.
THIS BOOK IS A BUFFET—HERE’S HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF IT
RULE #1: SKIP LIBERALLY.
I want you to skip anything that doesn’t grab you. This book should be fun to read, and it’s a buffet to choose from. Don’t suffer through anything. If you hate shrimp, don’t eat the goddamn shrimp. Treat it as a choose-your-own-adventure guide, as that’s how I’ve written it. My goal is for each reader to like 50%, love 25%, and never forget 10%. Here’s why: For the millions who’ve heard the podcast, and the dozens who proofread this book, the 50/25/10 highlights are completely different for every person. It’s blown my mind.
I’ve even had multiple guests in this book—people who are the best at what they do—proofread the same profile, answering my question of “Which 10% would you absolutely keep, and which 10% would you absolutely cut?” Oftentimes, the 10% “must keep” of one person was the exact “must cut” of someone else! This is not one-size-fits-all. I expect you to discard plenty. Read what you enjoy.
RULE #2: SKIP, BUT DO SO INTELLIGENTLY.
All that said, take a brief mental note of anything you skip. Perhaps put a little dot in the corner of the page or highlight the headline.
Could it be that skipping and glossing over precisely these topics or questions has created blind spots, bottlenecks, and unresolved issues in your life? That was certainly true for me.
If you decide to flip past something, note it, return to it later at some point, and ask yourself, “Why did I skip this?” Did it offend you? Seem beneath you? Seem too difficult? And did you arrive at that by thinking it through, or is it a reflection of biases inherited from your parents, family, friends, and others? Very often, “our” beliefs are not our own.
This type of practice is how you create yourself, instead of seeking to discover yourself. There is value in the latter, but it’s mostly past-tense: It’s a rearview mirror. Looking out the windshield is how you get where you want to go.
JUST REMEMBER TWO PRINCIPLES
I was recently standing in Place Louis Aragon, a shaded outdoor nook on the River Seine, having a picnic with writing students from the Paris American Academy. One woman pulled me aside and asked what I hoped to convey in this book, at the core. Seconds later, we were pulled back into the fray, as the attendees were taking turns talking about the circuitous paths that brought them there that day. Nearly everyone had a story of wanting to come to Paris for years—in some cases, 30 to 40 years—but assuming it was impossible.
Listening to their stories, I pulled out a scrap of paper and jotted down my answer to her question. In this book, at its core, I want to convey the following:
- Success, however you define it, is achievable if you collect the right field-tested beliefs and habits. Someone else has done your version of “success” before, and often, many have done something similar. “But,” you might ask, “what about a first, like colonizing Mars?” There are still recipes. Look at empire building of other types, look at the biggest decisions in the life of Robert Moses (read The Power Broker), or simply find someone who stepped up to do great things that were deemed impossible at the time (e.g., Walt Disney). There is shared DNA you can borrow.
- The superheroes you have in your mind (idols, icons, titans, billionaires, etc.) are nearly all walking flaws who’ve maximized 1 or 2 strengths. Humans are imperfect creatures. You don’t “succeed” because you have no weaknesses; you succeed because you find your unique strengths and focus on developing habits around them. To make this crystal-clear, I’ve deliberately included two sections in this book (pages 197 and 616) that will make you think: “Wow, Tim Ferriss is a mess. How the hell does he ever get anything done?” Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. The heroes in this book are no different. Everyone struggles. Take solace in that.
A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES ON FORMAT
STRUCTURE
This book is comprised of three sections: Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise. Of course, there is tremendous overlap across the sections, as the pieces are interdependent. In fact, you could think of the three as a tripod upon which life is balanced. One needs all three to have any sustainable success or happiness. “Wealthy,” in the context of this book, also means much more than money. It extends to abundance in time, relationships, and more.
My original intention with The 4-Hour Workweek (4HWW), The 4-Hour Body (4HB), and The 4-Hour Chef (4HC) was to create a trilogy themed after Ben Franklin’s famous quote: “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
People constantly ask me, “What would you put in The 4-Hour Workweek if you were to write it again? How would you update it?” Ditto for 4HB and 4HC. Tools of Titans contains most of the answers for all three.
PATTERNS
Where guests have related recommendations or philosophies, I’ve noted them in parentheses. For instance, if Jane Doe tells a story about the value of testing higher prices, I might add “(see Chase Jarvis, page 170),” since he explains in depth how and why he chose to “go premium” with his pricing as a photographer from day one.
HUMOR!
I’ve included ample doses of the ridiculous. First of all, if we’re serious all the time, we’ll wear out before we get the truly serious stuff done. Second, if this book were all stern looks and no winks, all productivity and no grab-assing, you’d remember very little. I agree with Tony Robbins (page 210) that information without emotion isn’t retained.
NON-PROFILE CONTENT AND TIM FERRISS CHAPTERS
In all sections, there are multiple non-profile pieces by guests and yours truly. These are typically intended to expand upon key principles and tools mentioned by multiple people.
YOUR SEND-OFF — THE 3 TOOLS THAT ALLOW ALL THE REST
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is recommended by many guests in this book. There is one takeaway that Naval Ravikant (page 546) has reinforced with me several times on our long walks. The protagonist, Siddhartha, a monk who looks like a beggar, has come to the city and falls in love with a famous courtesan named Kamala. He attempts to court her, and she asks, “What do you have?” A well-known merchant similarly asks, “What can you give that you have learned?” His answer is the same in both cases, so I’ve included the latter story here. Siddhartha ultimately acquires all that he wants. Bolding is mine:
Merchant: “. . . If you are without possessions, how can you give?”
Siddhartha: “Everyone gives what he has. The soldier gives strength, the merchant goods, the teacher instruction, the farmer rice, the fisherman fish.”
Merchant: “Very well, and what can you give? What have you learned that you can give?”
Siddhartha: “I can think, I can wait, I can fast.”
Merchant: “Is that all?”
Siddhartha: “I think that is all.”
Merchant: “And of what use are they? For example, fasting, what good is that?”
Siddhartha: “It is of great value, sir. If a man has nothing to eat, fasting is the most intelligent thing he can do. If, for instance, Siddhartha had not learned to fast, he would have had to seek some kind of work today, either with you, or elsewhere, for hunger would have driven him. But, as it is, Siddhartha can wait calmly. He is not impatient, he is not in need, he can ward off hunger for a long time and laugh at it. ”
I think of Siddhartha’s answers often and in the following terms:
“I can think” → Having good rules for decision-making, and having good questions you can ask yourself and others.
“I can wait” → Being able to plan long-term, play the long game, and not misallocate your resources.
“I can fast” → Being able to withstand difficulties and disaster. Training yourself to be uncommonly resilient and have a high pain tolerance.
This book will help you to develop all three.
I created Tools of Titans because it’s the book that I’ve wanted my entire life. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Pura vida,
Tim Ferriss
Paris, France
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Tools of Titans is available at Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, iBooks, Indiebound, Indigo, and more.
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.)
A big thank you for the book. You had a great impact on my life and it looks like I will follow your work for the next 10 years:) mata ne
Fabulous news Tim. Have ordered in Australia on Booktopia.com release date of Dec 7th for those Aussies out there! Can’t wait, all your previous work has been a game changer for me in some respect. Andrew J. Gold Coast, QLD
Ok, done. I didn’t even read the chapter yet, but there’s a hardcopy with my name on it.
Will there be signed copies available?
Tim– Do you have any thoughts or resources on sensory processing disorder?
I have recently listening to your 4 hour work week…. love it!!! It has inspired me to do some projects in order to possibly free myself from my job. But I’m stuck… Can you share with me a programmer for phone apps, that a first timer like me can afford?
Thank you so very much!!!!
Rod Haynes
Tim – just preordered, can’t wait for this to come out!
Hi Tim,
Quick suggestion; Can you please interview Tony Hawkes? He is an outlier in skateboarding. Another suggestion could be Tommy Emmanuel (an outlier in guitar world)
Cheers from Oz,
Jas
Hi Tim–You totally nailed it. I will add a fourth bullet–I BELIEVE. You’ve yet to disappoint with any of the lofty expectations unknowingly placed on you by me;-) and I’m certain TT will exceed even loftier expectations.
You’ve already added years to my life, improved the quality of it and made me appreciate it–what next? I can’t wait.
God Speed,
Scott Norris
If you have no food to eat, fasting is a great skill. The monk is a genius. Great show Tim. I’ve ordered a copy. Paul Uduk
I pre-ordered it today. Really excited for this book.
Ordered it, at last. First time I’ve ever pre ordered a book. Really looking forward to it now, especially after reading the first chapter.
Guess that’s my Christmas reading sorted.
I knew you would make it Tim! AWESOME!!! Can’t wait for this compendium of wisdom to become a new bestseller. OR, even more likely, my new favorite bedside book. BOOOM!!!!
Fed
When I was 18 I read 4HWW on a plane to Bangkok. I can’t even begin to describe how much that book, and this blog have impacted my life and the lives of many people I know in the last 10 years. Tim has been a true “digital” mentor to me and I can say with absolute certainty that if I had never discovered him my life would be completely different (and probably shittier).
This is my first comment ever. Just goes to show the scope of his impact. Looking forward to this book and 10 more years of living experimentally.
Thanks Tim.
I’ve listened to almost all podcasts. I loved most of them, however they also created a problem. A big one.
Thing is, I’m a deep thinker and immediately when listening to an episode, I recognized this invaluable set of principles, habits etc.
When I was listening to an episode, mostly while driving, I seeked to internalize the wisdom of the episode. That would, given that I want to get more out of it than scratching the surface, require to listen to it a second time in idle time, take notes and think it through. The goal is to implement, not to learn a phrase like “Every successful person has a morning routine”. Listening a few times to an episode fixes the “knowledge part” but still not the implementation. For me that required focused work, in average twice the time of the episode.
Having to run my company, I just had no idle time – except while driving. The fact to know that such essential, possibly lifechanging content was just in front of me but I just wasn’t able to reach it, I started to feel anxious, like if I really had to do this but just wasn’t able to accomplish this and was therefore missing out.
So Tim, THANK YOU FOR THIS BOOK, I’m really grateful and since I ordered I’m back to listening to every episode with great joy!
You read my mind Martin. I almost felt anxious when a new podcast would post. “Shit, what am I missing today that I almost certainly need to begin implementing immediately” Then the TT email showed up for a pre-order and the anxiety went away. Martin thanks for the post and Tim thanks again for the book.
Pre-ordered one here in India.
Loads of Bro-love, adulation and support for you Tim Ferris. I have pimped you like no other. I hope I am able to make you proud…and meet you to tell that I have made you proud …
Dear Tim,
I would like to thank you, first of all, for everything you have been doing to date. Your Four Hour Work Week book has been both a revelation and a big inspiration to me when I first read it! It is my “go to” book in my permanent book collection. Your podcasts are even more important to me: through you I have access to some of the best minds of our century! I am so grateful to people like you who seem to have captured the essence of what it is to be a human being reaching his true potential and who are so generous to share their wisdom with others!
I do read a lot, mainly to inspire myself and to keep improving my entrepreneurial spirit. People like you inspire me: I respect immensely smart people, not just theoretically/ academically smart, but those who actively learn from the best of the best and then put everything into practice to always push their limits to reach their full potential which, I believe, is limitless.
All your interviews with brilliant and unique people, so courageous to live their lives to the fullest and so daring to test the unknown, to passionately pursue their dreams, who also seem to be so genuinely good people always thinking about others, not just themselves, in a sense of not doing harm while pursuing their dreams, enrich my own understanding of life and my mission in life for which I am forever grateful!
Your own desire for constant improvement, all the knowledge you gained from other titans (I consider you one of them!), place you in a great position to see a big picture of our humankind evolution and it’s certain systemic deficiencies in areas like our overall education system, for example. Those who read your books, listen to your podcasts and actively learn from you are already somewhat enlightened. They have the inner drive to change themselves and the world through that action, for that matter. What about others (the majority of people!) who do not even realize that change is possible when they believe that they are in fact “the masters of their fate, the captains of their souls”? Have you thought about reaching out to them to awaken them? What could we do to raise our children to follow you and other titans’ footsteps, the independent thinkers who are confident they can master their own lives and change the course of our evolution for the best by eliminating addiction to drugs, terrorism, hunger, homelessness, to name just a few of our nowadays problems?
I always wonder what I personally can do to instill in kids from day one of their lives (they actually have this innate ability and faith in themselves when they are born but our system/ we, the adults, successfully destroy that faith while raising them) confidence that they can do anything they put their mind to!
I am sure people of your caliber could identify the real cause of the problems we are facing as a society and come up with a solution to address them… I would really love to hear your thoughts on the above.
Sincerely yours,
Faith
P.S. I am so looking forward to my own copy of your new book as soon as it becomes available!
Tim,
Ran over to Amazon for the Kindle version only to see “Tools For Titans” isn’t released until December 6. Guess I can wait. 🙂
Carl Kruse
Tim, It’s not available in indian ibooks store. Do you wish to force your readers to download pirated versions?
waiting for
December 6th can’t come soon enough. Looking forward to the great read.
I look forward to receiving and reading Tools of Titans which I haveI pre-ordered from Amazon.
I think I am (only) the third person to suggest that you make the book available in audio form.
Please consider doing this. I know it would be time consuming, but if you do this could you please be the reader and not hire someone else to read it.
I bought your diet book in both book and audio form. I was disappointed that the audio was done by someone other than you.
You should be written in history as the Dale Carnegie of our time.
Or Drucker 🤘😜👍
Shared your post with peeps at my company, and just pre-ordered two copies. Looking forward to it!
Tim, Four Hour Work changed my life (specifically the “question everything” part thanks to our dear friend Pareto) and I reread parts of it probably every month.
FYI, you inspired me to boot up Photoshop and do a quick mashup of the “I can think, I can wait, I can fast.” quote with fanart by Anato Finnstark (https://www.artstation.com/artist/anto-finnstark) from my favorite online game Overwatch. Here is the result, which just became my wallpaper: http://imgur.com/mVdqjEy
Maybe somebody else will also enjoy having it up as wallpaper 🙂
Can’t wait for it to come out next month. I just read and implemented Tim’s teachings in the updated 4HWW book- started my own muse – and about to launch it.
Tim, you’re like the 21st century reincarnation of Napoleon Hill. I think this book could be the 21st century version of Hill’s Law of Success book. I appreciate what you do, keep up the great work my friend.
Just pre-ordered mine. Looking forward to reading such an amazing book. Mostly sure this one will be one of my all time favorites. Thanks for your awesome work Tim!
Tim you BEAST. Preordered this ages ago from one of your 5 bullet Friday emails. Stop teasing us already and just release this early?
Totally looking forward to it, keep up the great work!
Mr Ferriss I hope your day is going wonderful so far! Please forgive my poor grammer, English is my 3rd language and still requires a lot of polishing.
First of all let me express how fascinated I am by your work an personality!Frankly, I am not the person who gives an empty complements. Your achievements, knowledge and wisdom are truly extraordinary.
Couple month ago my boyfriend gave me your book as a present “4 hours workweek”. The book that fundamentally changed his life. I guess that was his way of saying how my 60 hours work week just isn’t healthy.
Because of an inspiration and wisdom that he obtained from your book today he is launching his own company. I never in my life men anyone like him. And even though I am 28 I lived places, met people and blessed with an experience of making mistakes and gaining wisdom from it.
I am so exited about your new book!!! Congratulations to you and all of us ))))
Frankly I am absolutely abscessed with an idea to give “Tools of Titans” as a Christmas present to my boyfriend! If only you would make my dream come true and agree to sighn it for him. I live in Charleston SC but if I have to I can fly to NY after it will be published. Or I even don’t know…I would do whatever it takes!!!!
Thank you so much for your time and I hope I will heat back from you! Gosh, if you just know how badly I want it!))))
Thank you once again,
Anna
Thanks for all your hard work – Excited to read this when i can get my hands on it.
Additional Books referenced in this article as follows :
– Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
– The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
– Sapiens
– Poor Charlie’s Almanack
– Influence
– Man’s Search for Meaning
Some light reading while the tools of titan are coming off the press.
I am guessing a reference for all books referenced in the tools of titan will be added.
Looking forward to this Tim!
I had thought about how useful a summary of our podcasts and blogs would be.
Faraz
Hey Tim,
I am making some big changes thanks to all the great material you have put together. One of those things is to build out my network by sending out your new book as a gift, with a note to pass the book along to someone else (downloading the kindle version if they want their own copy) and putting emails in the front cover to track the books journey. My list is up to 23 prominent folks and growing (prominent to me at least). Was wondering if there was a channel for discount on larger purchases?
Please let me know. And I hope you keep enjoying what you doing, it is fantastic and has changed my life very much to the better.
Cheers,
Ben
Just A Big Thank YOU to You for this !!!!
Hi Tim,
Can you please send out an email notification when your new book is released?
Thanks,
Danny
December 6th on the calendar 😉
“…It’s been nearly five years since my last book….”
I predict that “The 4-Year Author” will be your next bestseller!
On a serious note, I can’t wait to read the entire Tools of Titans—I’ve preordered it on iBooks!
Literally can not wait for this new book. You’ve outdone yourself this time, Tim.
Waaooh, that’s a big surprise since I was disconnected for longtime. Already pre-ordered 3 = 2 different print versions + Kindle for key word searches.
Just 6-7 days to wait.
Congrats man, I was sure you wouldn’t write after the Trio 4H’s 😉
Thanks for continuing.
Reading this post, got me very emotional, because I’ve been listening to the podcats for the past 2 years. It literally changed my life. I am meditating daily, read great books including Sapiens(mind blowing) working on passive income, and doing consistent little things daily to improve. Thank you Tim, I can’t wait to get your new book, it just gets more exciting!
Just ordered, can’t wait to get my hands on it 🙂
Any ideas of where to the get hardback edition of Tools of Titans in Europe? amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr all only have paperback version in stock. Would be nice to have a hard back edition as I think this is going to get well used.
looking forward to your new book… but since I am a terrible reader I will despite your comments wait for the audiobook and hope that you will have some mercy with those that cannot read 🙂 so PLEASE do make an audiobook!!!!
thanks and cheers
Will there be an audible version of tools of titans
Can’t wait to read it!
Tim, love everything you do. Although I love the content in Tools of Titans, it would have been great if you could have included an index or organized by topics so that you could look up a specific subject like “weight loss” or “meditation” or “sales” etc. Just a suggestion for future releases. Thanks for everything you do.
Pura Vida to you too!!
Hi Tim:
Could you tell me when is Audible releasing Tools of Titans?
Thank you
Ram
Hey Tim,
I know you recently asked about people we’d like to hear you interview. I would recommend my (fellow) author crush and inspiration, Maggie Stiefvater. She’s a powerhouse YA (young adult) author and we are both repped by agent Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Lit Agency. Maggie is a NYT best selling author, early 30s, mom to 2 young kids, driver of motorcycles and racing cars, owner of fainting goats, was homeschooled, player of several musical instruments (in high school, a competitive bagpipe player), singer and professional caliber artist/painter. A few of her books I believe are being optioned for films. Her TED talk at NASA a while back was in part about being suicidal and depressed around age 18, then going on to be a prolific writer. An all around facinating person and master of social media with a seriously passionate fandom, committed to art, the storytelling craft and living life on her own terms without need for others’ approval. She’s on the move. Check her out!
p.s. A few more useful morsels about Maggie to ponder: I believe her first novel pubbed when she was 25, she’s written over the years in her own humor-art blog about her habits and practices for efficiency/productivity as a writer, she and John Green did a race car showdown last year (for a benefit cause I believe, in which JG’s car caught on fire, but he was okay), she’s produced music in her at home studio with collaborators (some of them other ridiculously talented family members) and created original art for book trailers she’s put out for several of her novels, she’s blogged about overcoming OCD and other sensitive topics, deep dived (dove?) into the craft of writing and spoken out against sexism she’s encountered as a woman race car driver/afficionado and knowledgeable mechanic. She’s thoughtful and funny, has hilarious stories to tell and is just an all around bad ass, fascinating, high performing human. #takesofffangirlhatagain
Does anyone knows the name of that café in Paris?
In the Wim Hoff “A Mind Blowing Experiment” section, #4 says to do push-ups with “empty” lungs. Does that mean to not take another breath, or just that your lungs are empty from the breathing exercise? This may be a dumb question. Thanks!
Is there a list of all the people Tim interviewed in Tools of Titans that is available via word document other than via hardcopy?
Will Tools of Titans be available on Audible?
My son Jacob gave me the book for Christmas and I cant put it down.
I Love the Podcast, please keep them coming..!
Thank you
Tim, I am devouring Tools of Titans and just read the interview with Paulo Coelho. You two have been my favorite living authors for quite some time. As I travel around the world struggling to attain consistency and discipline in many areas of life, it is comforting to know that my role models have, and consistently overcome similar struggles.
Ps… we never got that tea you invited me to in ’09 🙂
Is this post available in audio anywhere?
I’m reading the bookat the moment and loving it! I allready read your other books and I’m listening to the podcasts but as an audiblie junkie… Damn I wish there was an audio version.. please consider it!
Rachel, London
Hy Tim,
How do I order this Tool Box?
Else any chance for pdf?
Cordially yours
MYK NWACHUKWU
NIGERIA.
GREAT insight, discovered you on you tube.In an important transition period when I realized I wanted/ was necessary, to find an income/business, which will allow me an easy Life!!
.Then found 4hour-workweek in a small library in the far off island of Sardinia,very good italian translation!Read it back and forth, learned enormously and definitely intend to read the Tool of Titans!
Have found the map, now need to find the road from A to Z!!
Thank you
Monica
IS THEIR AN AUDIO VERSION OUT
This book has become my Bible. You speak to so many amazing, accomplished people, would you ever consider sitting down to chat with a normal ass dude? I feel like that type of perspective could be very helpful to a large portion of the audience, including myself. Thank you for the energy you put into your work and the world.
-Dave K.