“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
— Bene Gesserit “Litany Against Fear” from Frank Herbert’s Dune
For most of us, the how-to books on our shelves represent a growing to-do list, not advice we’ve followed.
Several of the better-known tech CEOs in San Francisco have asked me at different times for an identical favor: an index card with bullet-point instructions for losing abdominal fat. Each of them made it clear: “Just tell me exactly what to do and I’ll do it.”
I gave them all of the necessary tactical advice on one 3×5 card, knowing in advance what the outcome would be. The success rate was impressive… 0%.
People suck at following advice. Even the most effective people in the world are often terrible. There are at least two reasons:
1. Most people have an insufficient reason for action. The pain isn’t painful enough. It’s a nice-to-have, not a must-have. There has been no “Harajuku Moment.”
2. There are no reminders. No consistent tracking = no awareness = no behavioral change. Consistent tracking, even if you have no knowledge of fat-loss or exercise, will often beat advice from world-class trainers.
But what is this all-important “Harajuku Moment”?
It’s an epiphany that turns a nice-to-have into a must-have. It applies to fat loss, to getting your finances in order, to getting your relationships in order, and to getting your life in order. No matter how many bullet points and recipes experts provide, most folks will need a Harajuku Moment to fuel the change itself.
Chad Fowler knows this.
Chad is a General Partner and CTO at BlueYard Capital. He was also co-organizer of the annual RubyConf and RailsConf conferences, where I first met him. Our second meeting was in Boulder, Colorado, where he used his natural language experience with Hindi to teach a knuckle-dragger (me) the primitive basics of Ruby.
Chad is an incredible teacher, gifted with analogies, but I was distracted in our session by something he mentioned in passing. He’d recently lost 70+ pounds in less than 12 months.
It wasn’t the amount of weight that I found fascinating. It was the timing. He’d been obese for more than a decade, and the change seemed to come out of nowhere. Upon landing back in San Francisco, I sent him one question via email:
What were the tipping points, the moments and insights that led you to lose the 70 lbs.?
I wanted to know what the defining moment was, the conversation or realization that made him pull the trigger after 10 years of business as usual.
His answer is contained in this post.
Even if you have no interest in fat-loss, the key insights (partial completeness, data, and oversimplification among them) will help you get closer to nearly any physical goal—lift 500 pounds, run 50 kilometers, gain 50 pounds, etc. —and it applies to much more in life.
But let’s talk about one apparent contradiction upfront: calorie counting. I regularly thrash calorie counting, and I’m including Chad’s calorie-based approach to prove a point. The 4-Hour Body didn’t exist when Chad lost his weight, and there are far better things to track than calories. But would I recommend tracking calories as an alternative to tracking nothing? You bet. Tracking anything is better than tracking nothing. The Hawthorne effect can be applied to yourself.
If you are very overweight, very weak, very inflexible, or very anything negative, tracking even a mediocre variable will help you develop awareness that leads to better behavioral changes.
This underscores an encouraging lesson: you don’t have to get it all right. You just have to be crystal clear on a few concepts. Results follow.
Much of the bolding in Chad’s story is mine.
Enter Chad Fowler . . .
The Harajuku Moment
Why had I gone 10 years getting more and more out of shape (starting off pretty unhealthy in the first place) only to finally fix it now?
I actually remember the exact moment I decided to do something.
I was in Tokyo with a group of friends. We all went down to Harajuku to see if we could see some artistically dressed youngsters and also to shop for fabulous clothing, which the area is famous for. A couple of the people with us were pretty fashionable dressers and had some specific things in mind they wanted to buy. After walking into shops several times and leaving without seriously considering buying anything, one of my friends and I gave up and just waited outside while the others continued shopping.
We both lamented how unfashionable we were.
I then found myself saying the following to him: “For me, it doesn’t even matter what I wear; I’m not going to look good anyway.”
I think he agreed with me. I can’t remember, but that’s not the point. The point was that, as I said those words, they hung in the air like when you say something super-embarrassing in a loud room but happen to catch the one randomly occurring slice of silence that happens all night long. Everyone looks at you like you’re an idiot. But this time, it was me looking at myself critically. I heard myself say those words and I recognized them not for their content, but for their tone of helplessness. I am, in most of my endeavors, a solidly successful person. I decide I want things to be a certain way, and I make it happen. I’ve done it with my career, my learning of music, understanding of foreign languages, and basically everything I’ve tried to do.
For a long time, I’ve known that the key to getting started down the path of being remarkable in anything is to simply act with the intention of being remarkable.
If I want a better-than-average career, I can’t simply “go with the flow” and get it. Most people do just that: they wish for an outcome but make no intention-driven actions toward that outcome. If they would just do something, most people would find that they get some version of the outcome they’re looking for. That’s been my secret. Stop wishing and start doing.
Yet here I was, talking about arguably the most important part of my life—my health—as if it was something I had no control over. I had been going with the flow for years. Wishing for an outcome and waiting to see if it would come. I was the limp, powerless ego I detest in other people.
But somehow, as the school nerd who always got picked last for everything, I had allowed “not being good at sports” or “not being fit” to enter what I considered to be inherent attributes of myself. The net result is that I was left with an understanding of myself as an incomplete person. And though I had (perhaps) overcompensated for that incompleteness by kicking ass in every other way I could, I was still carrying this powerlessness around with me and it was very slowly and subtly gnawing away at me from the inside.
So, while it’s true that I wouldn’t have looked great in the fancy clothes, the seemingly superficial catalyst that drove me to finally do something wasn’t at all superficial. It actually pulled out a deep root that had been, I think, driving an important part of me for basically my entire life.
And now I recognize that this is a pattern. In the culture I run in (computer programmers and tech people), this partial-completeness is not just common but maybe even the norm. My life lately has taken on a new focus: digging up those bad roots; the holes I don’t notice in myself. And now I’m filling them one at a time.
Once I started the weight loss, the entire process was not only easy but enjoyable.
I started out easy. Just paying attention to food and doing relaxed cardio three to four times a week. This is when I started thinking in terms of making every day just slightly better than the day before. On day 1 it was easy. Any exercise was better than what I’d been doing.
If you ask the average obese person: “If you could work out for ONE year and be considered ‘in shape,’ would you do it?” I’d guess that just about every single one would emphatically say, “Hell, yes!” The problem is that for most normal people, there is no clear path from fat to okay in a year. For almost everyone, the path is there and obvious if you know what you’re doing, but it’s almost impossible to imagine an outcome like that so far in the distance.
The number-one realization that led me to be able to keep doing it and make the right decisions was to use data.
I learned about the basal metabolic rate (BMR), also called resting metabolic rate, and was amazed at how many calories I would have to eat in order to stay the same weight. It was huge. As I started looking at calorie content for food that wasn’t obviously bad, I felt like I’d have to just gluttonously eat all day long if I wanted to stay fat. The BMR showed me that (1) it wasn’t going to be hard to cut calories, and (2) I must have been making BIG mistakes before in order to consume those calories—not small ones. That’s good news. Big mistakes mean lots of low-hanging fruit.1
Next was learning that 4,000 calories equals about a pound of fat. I know that’s an oversimplification, but that’s okay. Oversimplifying is one of the next things I’ll mention as a tool. But if 4,000 is roughly a pound of fat, and my BMR makes it pretty easy to shave off some huge number of calories per day, it suddenly becomes very clear how to lose lots of weight without even doing any exercise. Add in some calculations on how many calories you burn doing, say, 30 minutes of exercise and you can pretty quickly come up with a formula that looks something like:
BMR = 2,900
Actual intake = 1,800
Deficit from diet = BMR – actual intake = 1,100
Burned from 30 minutes cardio = 500
Total deficit = deficit from diet (1,100) and burned from 30 minutes cardio (500) = 1,600
So that’s 1,600 calories saved in a day, or almost half a pound of bad weight I could lose in a single day. So for a big round number, I can lose 5 pounds in a week and a half without even working too hard. When you’re 50 pounds overweight, getting to 10% of your goal that fast is real.
An important thing I alluded to earlier is that all of these numbers are in some ways bullshit. That’s okay, and realizing that it was okay was one of the biggest shifts I had to make. When you’re 50–70 pounds overweight (or I’d say whenever you have a BIG change to make), worrying about counting calories consumed or burned slightly inaccurately is going to kill you. The fact of the matter is, there are no tools available to normal people that will tell us exactly how much energy we’re burning or consuming. But if you’re just kinda right and, more important, the numbers are directionally right, you can make a big difference with them.
Here’s another helpful pseudo-science number: apparently, 10 pounds of weight loss is roughly a clothing size [XL → L → M]. That was a HUGE motivator. I loved donating clothes all year and doing guilt-free shopping.
As a nerd, I find myself too easily discouraged by data collection projects where it’s difficult or impossible to collect accurate data. Training myself to forget that made all the difference.
Added to this knowledge was a basic understanding of how metabolism works. Here are the main things I changed: breakfast within 30 minutes of waking and five to six meals a day of roughly 200 calories each. How did I measure the calories? I didn’t. I put together an exact meal plan for just ONE week, bought all the ingredients, stuck to it religiously. From that point on, I didn’t have to do the hard work anymore. I became aware after just one week of roughly how many calories were in a portion of different types of food and just guessed. Again, trying to literally count calories sucks and is demotivating. Setting up a rigid template for a week and then using it as a basic guide is sustainable and fun.
Just a few more disconnected tips:
I set up a workstation where I could pedal on a recumbent bike while working. I did real work, wrote parts of The Passionate Programmer, played video games, chatted with friends, and watched ridiculous television shows I’d normally be ashamed to be wasting my time on, all while staying in my aerobic zone. I know a lot of creative people who hate exercise because it’s boring. I was in that camp too (I’m not anymore. . . it changes once you get into it). The bike/desk was my savior. That mixed with a measurement system:
I got a heart rate monitor (HRM) and started using it for EVERYTHING. I used it while pedaling to make sure that even when I was having fun playing a game I was doing myself some good. If you know your heart rate zones (easy to find on the Internet), the ambiguity non-fitness-experts feel with respect to exercise is removed. Thirty minutes in your aerobic zone is good exercise and burns fat. Calculate how many calories you burn (a good HRM will do it for you), and the experience is fun and motivating. I started wearing my HRM when I was doing things like annoying chores around the house. You can clean house fast and burn serious fat. That’s not some Montel Williams BS. It’s real. Because of the constant use of an HRM, I was able to combine fun and exercise or annoying chores and exercise, making all of it more rewarding and way less likely I’d get lazy and decide not to do it.
Building muscle is, as you know, one of the best ways to burn fat. But geeks don’t know how to build muscle. And as I’ve mentioned, geeks don’t like to do things they don’t know are going to work. We like data. We value expertise. So I hired a trainer to teach me what to do. I think I could have let go of the trainer after a few sessions, since I had learned the ‘right’ exercises, but I’ve stayed with her for the past year.
Finally, as a friend said of my difficulty in writing about my insights for weight loss, a key insight is my lack of specific insights.
To some extent, the answer is just “diet and exercise.” There were no gimmicks. I used data we all have access to and just trusted biology to work its magic. I gave it a trial of 20 days or so and lost a significant amount of weight. Even better, I started waking up thinking about exercising because I felt good.
“It was easy.”
It was easy for Chad because of his Harajuku Moment. So let’s get to it:
What’s a small step you could take today? Right now?
You’ll almost never have complete information, and you don’t generally need it. It’s often an excuse for avoiding something uncomfortable. Who could you call or email today to get the bare minimum needed for your next step?
What is the cost of your inaction? This is important. What is your status quo costing you, and how can you make the pain painful enough to drive you forward? Do this exercise.
What’s a single decision you could make that, like Chad’s one-week meal plan, removes a thousand decisions?
You don’t need more how-to information.
You need 1) a painful and beautiful reckoning (e.g., what does life look like if you leave this as-is for 3-5 years?), and 2) simple actions that compound over time.
So what’s next?
This post was adapted and updated from The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss.
TOOLS AND TRICKS
“Elusive Bodyfat: Where Are You Really?“ in The 4-Hour Body. To find your own numbers and create a simple system that works, this chapter will help.
Clive Thompson, “Are Your Friends Making You Fat?” New York Times, September 10, 2009. Reaching your physical goals is a product, in part, of sheer proximity to people who exhibit what you’re targeting. This article explains the importance, and implications, of choosing your peer group.
End of Chapter Notes
1 Tim: This type of low-hanging fruit is also commonly found by would-be weight gainers when they record protein intake for the first time. Many are only consuming 40–50 grams of protein per day.
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.
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Thanks, Tim. I did not know the term until this article, but I learned of the concept by witnessing the ripple effect of The 4-Hour Body. I gifted it to my father, a physician. He was someone who “knew” about nutrition and health, and yet, when he had his own “Harajuku Moment” (reading about the NASA scientist in the book and thinking to himself “I am also good at everything I put my mind to”) he proceeded to lose 65 lbs in the next 12 months, started running marathons, and has never been healthier as he heads towards 70. My brother-in-law read the same book, but his “Harajuku Moment” came from an entirely different part, and my father-in-law’s only came after he could not keep up with the rest of the family on a light hike. I think that is the brilliance of your way of storytelling (in the 4HB as well as 4HWW) – it gives the readers SO many ways to relate to one of the stories and have that “Harajuku Moment.” (NOTE: I totally copied this technique in my own book!). All to say, yes, for sure. I have seen this over and over again, and 100% believe in the power, and the necessity of the “Harajuku Moment” to effect real and meaningful change in a person’s life.
Thanks so much for these stories, Andrew! These made my day. The real case studies keep me writing, so this is welcome (and necessary) fuel for the fire. Have a great weekend, Tim
This is approach seems to be good if you have a problem, but what if you don’t? I don’t need to learn a language or instrument but I want to and I find it hard to stay consistent. I could try to track data on my learning progress but I find it hard to decide what to measure. Time spent feels a bit too general when learning an instrument and figuring out what to focus on can be challenging. I am curious to hear if you have any thoughts on doing things that may be difficult but also could be viewed as less important.
Hi Tommy – I do have thoughts on this. The “Meta-Learning” section of The 4-Hour Chef covers this specifically and actually gives examples from both music and language learning. If you visit that category on this blog (4HC or 4-Hour Chef), you might find a few examples. Otherwise, the hardcover is the easiest to read.
The first time I got catastrophically sick, I thought I was pretty healthy. And I thought I recovered well. And then I got catastrophically sick *again*. I was 37, and in four years I’d had leukemia twice, and a bone marrow transplant. My children were 8 and 4. I had to figure out how to keep the promise I made to my husband, when I told him I wasn’t going to die of this. How could someone like me get a cancer like that?
The road was long and often dark, but I found a way through, and, when I did, I discovered that I had been barreling along on trajectories that other people had conceived for me. I had wasted so much energy as a kid learning to play the game that I had never realized I wasn’t making plans based on who *I* was, and what *I* wanted; I was torn in two. It took ten more years to get whole. I look in the mirror now and I finally see the golden temple bell that lay hidden all those years under clay.
Thank you for the comment, Sarah. It’s so true: so many of the games we play weren’t games we ever chose for ourselves in the first place. They are from parents, well-meaning friends, classmates, and so on. I’m glad you found the golden temple bell.
🦋Me, too. I never knew health could feel like this, that life could feel like this. I never really knew what it meant to be fully alive, my vital force “ruling with unbounded sway,” in the words of Samuel Hahnemann
Next month it will be one year since I retired. Within 1 month I lost about 10 pounds. It was easy because I was no longer stress eating candy all day and I wasn’t sitting on my butt all day. Low hanging fruit for sure. I’ve managed to stay at the same weight (more or less) for almost a year. I’m sure if I continue making small changes (which I am) things will continue to improve. Did I also mention my doctor took me off my blood pressure medication?
Congrats, Suzie!
please keep writing Tim.
This lands. I’ve got a lot of things going for me, like Chad, but I’ve always wanted to dedicate myself to an artistic endeavor but have been afraid of making the time/effort commitment knowing that my art might never see the light of day. I’m going to try writing every day, and logging it, to help the habit stick and to build confidence. At the end of the day it is more painful to continue wondering “what if” than it is to do the damn thing. Thanks, Tim!
Also, it helps to think about athletic pursuits as proof of “trusting the training.” If I could write like I train for races then I’d be on to something!
Thanks for blogging Tim.
Good to see your back to blogging Tim!
So, what was the tactical advice on the 3×5 card that no one took advantage of?
Awesome blog. Thank you Tim and computer geek, Chad. My turning point for gaining muscle and learning martial arts was getting my a*** kicked. (Black eyes, sore ribs, etc. ). I never had a weight problem, but I have an on-going broke problem. Despite hard work, education and saving, I keep falling into debt. How about an article on beating poverty. Keep up the good work.
–Doug Setter. [Moderator: Website redacted from comment but preserved in intake field.]
Ramit Sethi is a good person to follow for money psychology stuff that might help you get to the root of this!
Hey Doug,
Remit Seti is great. You may also check out the book Surviving Debt by the National Consumer Law Center.
(*anything I post in blog comments cannot be construed as financial advice :))
Hi Doug,
Sometimes, those money problems (and many others) stem from well hidden limited beliefs. So what do you do with that, you might ask? Two techniques I’m investigating personally, that have shown to work for many people: Tapping (or EFT) and the Belief code(Dr Bradley Nelson). Of course, that’s not to say that following very good advice from money pundits is not worthwhile, but if a deep-rooted belief is in the background of your mind, telling you that “you’ll always be broke”, it’s possible that good advice gets hijacked.
Hope that helps
Just keep writing Tim ! I love every one of your posts
Loved this story. And really into your blogging again.
Great article, Tim. Please keep writing!
I’ve been contemplating lately what it is exactly that inspires action and real change— what it is that makes you do the consistent, deliberate work that leads to real results over time. I’ve determined everything must start simply with an intention. But this post raises a great point: the trigger for those intentions to take action often requires a painful reckoning with the way things are.
“The key to getting started down the path of being remarkable in anything is to simply act with the intention of being remarkable.”
Beautiful 🙏🏽
Great post, yes, I had a couple of Harajuku moments in the last two years and they changed my life.
Thank goodness they did. 🥳
In the past couple years I’ve found it easy to intellectualize the idea of self-improvement without actually making a change in my life. I will read something or listen to something and get motivated briefly but then would revert to old habits.
The only times that I have found lasting change is when I make it a daily practice to be conscious of what new habits I want to take part in and track my progress.
Goes a long way to explaining why my guitar playing has stayed decidedly rudimentary for so long.
My takeaway is that it sounds like Chad put in some upfront effort into learning about BMR, calorie counts, and similar items, then hit autopilot and watched the weight drop off. I can do that too!
I read the 4 hour body years ago but this is a great reminder that it only takes small nudges to make a big difference
Brilliant and so important
Good to see you blogging again. And as someone who’s been a fitness semi-professional for the past half a century or so, I think you’re exactly on point with this one. It’s amazing how many people “can’t” get into shape…but then something happens (like an upcoming class reunion) and all of a sudden it happens. Perhaps “Harajuku moment” will become part of the lexicon.
A well timed slap in the face. Thsnjs
Indeed! Me too! Sometimes we just need a bloody good slap across the face!!
Reminds me of the great Derek Sivers quote. “If [more] information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”
I really enjoyed the blog post. Please keep writing!
Love Derek Sivers!
Tim is back! Saying FU to the standard way of doing things is why I fell in love with your content in 2007 and what made the early days of the pod so good. The pod is now ‘the man’…the blog is you and what people want.
Thanks for being you, you’ve changed many lives for the better mine included – these last couple posts have that potential again
Great blog! Interesting insight. The important thing being the moment of taking action. The momentum doesn’t build until after the first step.
I’m feeling a little Kismet is I read this on my second unofficial cheat day. PAAG arrives Monday to mark the official start(dexa scheduled for the 21st) I’m halfway through the Four Hour Body (and 10 pounds of dried beans.) I’m all in brother. Thanks for doing all the heavy, lifting research wise. pun intended.
Thanks for this refresh and reminder. As someone who lost 130 pounds in my late mid-20’s (I’m 40 now). I’ve often wondered why I can’t consistently apply that focus and dedication to everything I want to change. I remember the day I started my weight loss journey – I was lying bed, waiting to fall asleep, and I realized I didn’t want to live like I was living. I got up and went to the gym; I haven’t missed more than a week since. I think, though, I’ve felt like Harajuka moments can’t be contrived – but I wonder if, instead, they are an accumulation of small moments that build into an aha moment that seems serendipitous. If so, that suggests that learning about why and how to change is still beneficial even if it doesn’t always translate into immediate action.
I loved this read. It made me realize I too have parts of my life that I consider fixed and have felt helpless about for too long. Your blog posts are inspiring – please keep writing!
Yes, Tim! Please more blogging. Of course, I love your pod but I am finding myself wanting more pieces to read than listen to now. I am always overflowing with podcast content… and your episodes aren’t short (but that’s what makes them great..)
My wife and I have both been exercising more lately and I believe she recently had her “harajuku” moment… we’ll see!
I now realize I was vague… real-life example: Holding her ~4 month old nephew and realizing he is heavy, so wanting to gain strength now for potentially a newborn of her own. Harajuku in action!
More of these, please!
I was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s last year at age 50 and that was my Harajuku moment. I decided I was going to make that diagnosis the best thing that ever happened to me and the catalyst for a complete transformation of my life. I had done various practices for years but most had fallen off or were very inconsistent, but now I was motivated, I had everything to lose if I didn’t take action. I knew I wanted my quality of life to last long enough to be able to keep up with my kids into their adulthood…the cost of my inaction would be to lose that.
I did the research to learn as many things as possible that would be beneficial, and then I systematically started adding each of them at a manageable level over time. Once a new habit was established, I expanded to integrate the next one.
1. Dramatic reassessment of what matters and what should stress me out. Memento Mori, every moment counts.
2. Ruthless prioritization of sleep.
3. Daily meditation- Usually Yoga Nidra in the morning, supplemented by listening to binaural audio at different times in the day
4. Daily Tai Chi or Qigong
5. Microdosing psilocybin…thanks Tim for all the education on this.
6. Playing brain games on phone rather than doom scrolling
7. Strength Training a minimum of 3 times per week, cycling through major muscle groups, moderate to heavy weight, 2-4 sets per group.
8. Reduced simple carb intake- most meals are either keto or slow-carb now, but I’m not a zealot about it.
9. Cold Plunges many mornings…this was a psychological hurdle to get over, but now I crave it and any day that I do it, tends to rock. I figured, I can survive anything for 3 minutes and that was the point of diminishing returns…some mornings it’s still hard.
10. Replacing my second cup of coffee for the day with Yerba Mate, both help Parkinson’s medicine uptake, but Yerba Mate increases dopamine too and has shown signs of being neuroprotective for dopamine receptors.
11. Volunteering for a stage one clinical trial for an anti-inflammatory that crosses the blood brain barrier. Theory being that if the inflammation in the brain caused by Parkinson’s is reduced, the brain can do its job and heal the damage. This felt risky but also was the best way I could see serving the greater good and moving us forward to a cure.
12. Being transparent about my condition and the trial by openly sharing to build community for myself, raise awareness, and help others. I was so afraid to do this, but once I did the outpouring of love and support was incredible, I had no idea and it’s inspired others to look for support and share their own struggles. Your transparency about struggles with depression helped me be brave enough to do this.
Once the trial is over in the coming months I plan to integrate
1. Cycling a couple of times a week to start preparing for a ride to fundraise for the Michael J Fox Foundation
2. Experimenting with Amanita Muscaria microdosing, I’ve found a couple of references in scientific literature to it being beneficial for Parkinsons due to it behaving in a similar fashion to the experimental medication I am taking.
3. Starting to learn the drums for the cross brain synchronization challlenges.
The results: Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually I am in the best shape at least since my 30s, possibly of my life. I’ve lost 25 lbs. I have a new level of stillness and presence. I have deeper more meaningful connections with the people in my life and new people I meet. My metabolic panel bloodwork has come back optimal. My primary says I’ve “gotten younger” My neurologist says that I’m “doing all the right things,” and “its people who have one thing wrong with them who live the longest because they hear the wake up call and take their health seriously.”
Tim, you have been such an incredible influence on me and the success I am having facing this disease. Through your work and the people you have exposed me to over the years like Andrew Huberman, Michael Polan, Wim Hof and Ryan Holiday I’ve learned so much of the things that I am doing both in mindset and in action. I plan to beat Parkinson’s or at least manage it until I am in old age. Thank you. So much gratitude.
I usually don’t comment but after reading your post I have to say Fantastic! Your description of your situation and how you are conducting your life to meet these new challenges is inspiring.I wish you a long happy life!
What an incredible and moving testimonial. Thank YOU for sharing!
The most powerful point for me here was the ‘directionally right’ bit in this part – ‘But if you’re just kinda right and, more important, the numbers are directionally right, you can make a big difference with them.’ People get too caught up in things being accurate, and it’s just a away to avoid doing anything about their problems or moving towards their goals.
Oldie but a goodie!
Thanks for sharing.
So good Tim!!
I have gone through this in my own life. I vividly remember being 16, nearly 200lbs, and at a leadership retreat with my high school. I was walking ahead of my classmates with a friend who turned to me and said “isn’t it funny that the bigger girls are ahead of everyone else?” That was my Harajuku Moment – was I really in the category of “big girl”? I went on to lose over 60lbs and haven’t looked back since.
One of my favourite quotes from Annie Lalla is “the extent to which you are unconscious of a habit is the extent to which it persists.” The way you have written about tracking reminds me of the quote. The tracking brings awareness to patterns, trends, behaviors and ultimately helps you see your ways of being instead of coasting on auto-pilot.
When I worked as a nutrition coach it amazed me how little I needed to do to support transformation. The mere fact that my clients would need to check in with me about how their week went and share some data points was enough to already kick start the process!
Chad’s transformation is incredible – my favorite piece of it all is his realization of how he can transfer success and work ethic in certain areas of life to ALL areas of life.
SO impressive!!
This hit for me in a different way. I tend to churn through books to learn something game changing but will usually move on before initiating any meaningful change. Maybe without the H.M. and the commitment to make change I just kick the can to the next shiny object/book. Makes me think: “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” (or maybe deep is smooth and smooth is fast) and about the magic of compound interest.
Stoked you’re back at the blog, Tim!
amaze(low calorie) balls
I usually don’t read blogs. But this one is different! Thank you for this reminder.
Yep. I love writings about weight loss and lack of action. Keep writing.!
Thanks, Tim! I definitely enjoy your insights, advice, and writing style. Keep ‘em coming!
Like it – please keep writing.
Thanks for the blog perfect size for a train read. Gives good thinking points. Yes a weekly meal based on a basic direction is a great idea.
This landed as full truth. I’m currently wearing a CGM for the 4th time in 12 months and it’s only now that I’m really understanding the choices and the changes. This time I’m doing a full 30 days without alcohol. Holy crap – my resting heart rate has dropped significantly as well as my breathing rate. Data is powerful for tracking and motivation.
Great content keep it up!
YES!
Very loosely quoting Lao Tzu here: “Only when your sickness gets sick will your sickness go away.” For real change to take hold, you have to be sick of the status quo (whatever that may be) and simply cannot go on one more day with it. And, also from the Master (famously, loosely, quoted): “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” That change you seek with getting rid of your sickness will not happen overnight. There is no hack.
One recent “sickness” for me was with my art. I would read ALL the art instruction books, buy webinars, follow many artists on IG all under the guise of gathering knowledge and inspiration. All I was really gathering was stagnation: I accomplished nothing and felt annoyed and discouraged that I was producing nothing of value. Art was no longer fun – it had turned into a chore. After much journaling and thought, I finally admitted to myself that I genuinely did not want the goal to be me becoming a full-time artist. I allowed myself to think this was the end goal by all the shiny posts on IG and elsewhere. I genuinely wanted art as a hobby, to do it for myself and rediscover the fun and joy of it. I quit IG several months ago, stopped attending to the year-long mentorship I purchased for watercolor painting, and just started painting in my sketchbooks when I had the time. It’s been great! The love of art returned and there’s no looking back. I sometimes peak back into IG, and go back out within a minute. The allure is gone and I couldn’t be happier about that.
Thanks for another great post, Tim! Hope your art is still coming along. I do miss your posts in IG, but gratefully to still have you now blogging and, of course, for your 5-Bullet Fridays.
Enjoyed this and read to the end!
Hi Tim,
Thank you! For your hard work and your advice. I enjoy reading your blog and books and listening to your podcasts.
I’ve learn so much from you over the years. I don’t have an older brother and I feel like you are my Literary older brother. Kinda like a Jane Ausren is my older Literary sister.
I found your blog looking up easy ways to learn Spanish when my middle daughter was a baby and She just turned 15!!! so I have been growing up and my kiddos have been growing and you are too!
I want you to know how much your work and writing Is appreciated and all the good and beautiful things that happened in many lives and most of us being educated and changed for the better because of you,Tim
I came across a quote that says, write back to your favorite Author, even a simple comment means a lot. And so, here I am writing in your comment section. Keep up the good work Tim. And thanks for sharing yourself, your time and energy with us. We love you. ❤️
Incredibly useful blog post, thank you for writing it Tim. I was aware of the overflow of How-To recipes in my life and knew they weren’t the answer. I wasn’t aware of the power of simply tracking something to make progress. Now I understand why there are so many tracking devices / apps out there. A good thing to implement into life.
I understand Tim uses the Fear-Setting exercise on a monthly or quarterly basis, and the yearly review to track. Is anyone aware of any other methods he uses (non-tech methods, that is)?
Thank you for picking up blogging again Tim.
Great article, thank you for writing it.
My Harajuku Moment came when I was carrying my youngest son up the stairs to put him to bed and was absurdly winded when I reached the top. It made me realize that the boys were only going to get bigger and if I did the same, there would be no way I could enjoy it to the fullest. So, I started running. No research or deep dives, I just started running. I would run, then walk, and the only thing I measured was how far I could run around my neighborhood before I had to walk. I would remember the exact mailbox I got to last time and just try to get to the next one. The simplicity of that measuring strategy was not intentional, I just didn’t know any better, but it worked. It’s been 8 years now, and at 43 I’m in the best shape of my life. That journey has required many Harajuku Moments along the way, but I’ll never forget the first one that caused the smallest domino to fall.
Great Story! Thank you, Tim.
Hell yes – love this!!
“When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”
Great stuff, thanks for sharing Tim! Looking forward to your next blog post!
I comment or engage on blogs, social media maybe 2x a year. At best. But this, this was worth all the time I’ve spent. It hits something I’ve been thinking – that the answers are not in books. This puts a half formed frustrating thought into words.
All I can say is Thank You.
It’s so good! The writing ✍😍
As a coach sometimes I wonder – do I really provide much insight or just tracking, awareness, accountability met with the Harajuku moment?
Love it Tim!
I love that you’re getting back to your roots and writing again. Greatly appreciated!
-AK
Very glad you’re blogging again, please keep it up if you can. I needed this particular reminder at just this moment.
I’m surprised you didn’t include the goal of doing something remarkable in your summary! It felt like a strong cornerstone of this blog post ^^
Either way, thank you so much for sharing! This one feels like advice that can’t ever come at the wrong time.
Please keep writing, Tim!
Blogging Tim is back!
Superb analysis! Applicable to all paths of change and transitions. We may need to write a Relief-let™ and include some of these key insights. We’ll call it “The Warsaw Moment” or something like it:)
GREAT post and very timely for me. Thank you, Tim!
Great message. Start. Track. Don’t worry about being perfect. It’s amazing how the knowing-doing gap is a ubiquitous issue across many endeavors … knowing is not enough to drive action. Some studies show that 25% of people who have a heart attack make no behavioral changes – talk about a compelling event.
Thanks for sharing Tim.
Tim, such a good article. Thank you. There are recipes, like in Tools of Titans, for success in any area of life. In the vast majority of cases, the need is not more or better information. It’s out there. The crux is finding the leverage needed to get yourself to do the actions and use momentum to build habits to do those actions consistently over time.
Thanks for spending the time and thought to put this together. It happened to appear while I’ve been in the midst of overly cerebral approaches to action oriented problems. Perfect timing for me to pivot over to the more tried and true “ready, fire, aim” sort of approach to my particular problem set. I would write more, but there are some actions for me to take…
Thank you. This has given me lots to think about.
Loved this post. It’s inspired me to finally read 4HB! I know you wrote it ~15 years ago – anything you’d change if you had to update it today?
Tim, really thoughtful and helpful post, not surprisingly right when I needed the message. Please keep posting, they fill an important space in your overall contribution. Thank you!
Seeking advice:
He says:
“If I want a better-than-average career, I can’t simply “go with the flow” and get it. Most people do just that: they wish for an outcome but make no intention-driven actions toward that outcome.”
How might one go about defining an outcome for a part of their life when it’s not as obvious or drastic as ‘I’m obese and I need to lose weight’?
What if you recognise you’re on the path to a good but not great career and want what you might consider a great career, but you just don’t have clarity on what that looks like for you? How does one go about defining that vision?
Excellent article. Love the podcast but also appreciate the extra effort with a written piece.
This is just the kind of inspiring kick in the ass everyone needs, and all your fans want when turning in to your podcast or reading your other writing. Thanks.
Reading about financial management systems lately and one of the key takeaways has a parallel here: we set up complex systems when simple systems would suffice. We want fancy diet books because that makes us less responsible. And too much complexity means I’m more likely to throw my hands up and say “this too hard” (consciously or unconsciously).
I like this…! Hoping I’ll be able to apply it myself.
I absolutely love hearing and reading about people’s Harajuku moments.
Great post, glad you’re writing!
I think you might like this poem by David Wagoner.
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
David Wagoner
Very helpful! Thanks for sharing this.
I’m not going to lie, my first reaction to this post was, “Haven’t I seen this somewhere already?”. Then I saw at the bottom how it was excerpted from the 4HB 😆 (I’ve read nearly all your books). The ending was the clincher for me. Tying this in to your other work. Your TED talk, the questions you’ve been asking in one form or another for years. I don’t know how or why I haven’t been able to tie this all together myself, but it’s something of an epiphany for me. Keep up the inspiration Tim. Love it.
Dear Tim: Loved this post, thank you. My Harajuku Moment occurred in 2015, when I was about 20 lbs overweight and had been for years. The “moment” was me realizing I was always the fat person at family and friend parties, and I resolved I was done with that. That happened in December. In January 2016, I joined a CrossFit gym and later started yoga. I have successfully kept off that 20 lbs and kept working out weekly, while also paying more attention to my food choices. I’m not perfect at any of it. But, without that Harajuku Moment, I don’t honestly think the switch would have flipped to “on”. 🙂
Keep doing what you’re doing, sir. It matters more than you know. Be well, Ed
I cried out of frustration by the time I reached the end. As someone with physical disabilities after an accident, my body has limited me in ways I never imagined. I like the advice here, yet I cannot continuously push my body like the able bodied, but would love to find a way. Without great medical insurance, I’ve been working on my own regimen and progress feels slow. I Can walk again and am finally at a mile, but it’s not enough. I am not happy with my health, but not sure how to go about it in a way where I can safely avoid my muscles going into total spasm for days. Where does someone like me find a practical solution?
I related to this so much. I had a “Double Harajuku Moment” in my health journey. I was working too much, eating garbage at my desk most days and drinking to blow off steam, and using the work hours as an excuse to neglect my workouts. I was up to 225 pounds at 5 foot 9 inches.
My first Harajuku moment came when I was buckling my 3-year-old niece into her car seat. “You have boobies,” she giggled. I was embarrassed, my sister was horrified, but it shocked me into action. I cut my drinking and eliminated junk/fast food, and just doing those things got me to 205 pounds. I thought I was good and maintained my weight there. The problem was, I was still eating a lot of processed foods. I would just cut my calories and dabbled in intermittent fasting if the scale increased but I wasn’t eating healthier.
A few years later my primary doctor moved out of state. At my first appointment, my new doctor asked me about my lifestyle habits and peered at me over his glasses. “You know if you don’t clean up your diet and lose 30 pounds it’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a matter of ‘when’ you get diabetes.”
Talk about Harajuku Moment #2. Both of my parents had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and were on insulin, so his statement hit home. I dove into learning about eating whole, non-processed foods and increasing the amount of protein, vegetables, and fiber I was eating. I quit counting calories, overhauled my exercise routine, and just focused on following healthy habits.
A year later, I was down to 170 pounds, and I have stayed there for 12 years. I feel better at 48 than I did at 25, and I have also helped a handful of friends do the same thing (hopefully, they see me as helpful and not annoying).
Tim, you are a living legend and authentically innovative thinker. From speed reading to finding your purpose in life, to Jiu Jitsu, you are always showing how empowering life is outside the box.
Thank you, Tim! I have used the Derek Sivers quote “If more information was the answer, we would all be billionaires with six-pack abs” for years, but this is such a practical build on that. I am looking forward to sharing it with people after I first use it for myself.
Articles, please!
Tim, I started using myfitnesspal again and I have been using it for the past week and I have it synced to my garmin. So I am now tracking 24/7 how many calaries I burn and consume. I am also meeting my fiber and protein goals keeping track on a daily basis. This article helped me change my behavior and I know it will lead to results in the long term. Thank you, Joe
Godo to see you writing Tim 😉
Thanks for writing Tim.
This and your other recent one were great.
This feels like one of the most important lines from this, especially for us perfectionists out there who think getting every little detail right is required for success.
This underscores an encouraging lesson: you don’t have to get it all right. You just have to be crystal clear on a few concepts. Results follow.
Thank you for taking the time to write this post. I have been putting off reading it, probably because I knew it would push me, and I guess I wasn’t really ready to be pushed. I hope you’ll find the time and the inspiration to keep writing here, because I’d love to keep reading.
I’ll share my take. My moment was September, 20th, 2020. I began The Entrepreneur Experiment at 5:00 AM after feeling crushed by my business.
Here is the BEFORE phase.
1) Created a lifestyle company before the internet to gain freedom and happiness but compromised satisfaction to do what I love at work.
2) Cashed out of that to find a place in the world, failed, and then built what is now a passive income virtual company before the pandemic. No happiness.
3) Exhausted by this, decided to enter the pandemic economy and start over again. Used EOS and other methods to drop the rope on that Sept. day.
This is the TRANSITION period.
1) Began to scale social media mountain, create free experience instead of pipelines, and learned the nuances of persuasion marketing and leverage.
2) Created brands and products that felt like opportunities not challenges, felt enjoyable, and gave me a sense of purpose and meaning.
3) When one called Solopreneur Inc. began to succeed realized in February of 2023 that I’d made a horrible mistake and collapsed into a heap of despair.
Then the GROWTH moving to the right and up the coordinate grid.
1) Shifted my awareness INSIDE and ignored OUTSIDE that led to the realization that everything that I was taught is wrong and I know the answers.
2) Crashed into the barriers inside myself, stopped listening to guru advice, and entered the depths of sage wisdom to examine all of my beliefs.
3) Realized that winning this war could not be done by mastering the world of the battlefield, gave up trying, released the brake, and eliminated baggage.
Finally the logorithmic ACCELERATION up the Y Axis
1) Created from my imagination, like a painter or artist, the Red Pill Pathway and Change Agent Board collecting data as experimental subject and object.
2) Began to lose everything that I knew, loved, and that felt familiar including having most of my email list unsubscribe and watched my finances collapse.
3) Felt a massive acceleration of freedom, satisfaction, and happiness shifted my attention to new tracking metrics like inner state experiences.
Next is evidence of success.
1) Created the Red Pill Pathway beta group, shed more baggage, and recording hours of content that nobody understood but published it.
2) Got cancelled by YouTube for a channel called Everything that We Were Taught is Wrong, started the pilot group, and knew success was inevitable.
3) Taking on an angel investor focused on Return on Impact (ROI), succeeding with the pilot group, and completed the structure for a $30M biz at 85% net.
It’s been a better way to go then what I learned from the habit books, Tim. Thanks for your work. I’m on this road less traveled myself now.
It’s going to mainstream more and more as many of us tire of the social media and influencer game that culminates in Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian.
I’m going my small part to lead as the Experience-Sharing Economy emerges as nobody wants to “Be Like Mike” but prefers to find their own pathway.
hi tim
i listened to your recommended Jinjer and was blown away!
Here’s another, kindly provided me by my son, who was a little challenged (when he found me watching – with great enjoyment) Jinjer!
Arch Enemy’s The Eagle Flies Alone….
I’m 67 btw
blessings
alison