Tools of Titans

by Timothy Ferriss

  Willink, Jocko: About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior (Colonel David H. Hackworth), Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West (Cormac McCarthy)

  Wilson, Rainn: The Family Virtues Guide: Simple Ways to Bring Out the Best in Our Children and Ourselves (Linda Kavelin Popov, Dan Popov, and John Kavelin)

  Young, Chris: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (Harold McGee), Essential Cuisine (Michel Bras), The Second Law (P.W. Atkins), Seveneves (Neal Stephenson), The Last Lion Box Set: Winston Spencer Churchill, 1874–1965 (William Manchester)

  Zimmern, Andrew: Rain and Other South Sea Stories (W. Somerset Maugham)

  What Would You Put on a Billboard?

  Adams, Scott: “It would say, ‘Be useful,’ and it would be everywhere.”

  Altucher, James: “‘It’s not about what happened. It’s about what happens next.’” And “‘Spend life running from something. Or spend life running towards something.’”

  Amoruso, Sophia: “If I could have a billboard, I’d put nothing on it and I’d put it everywhere.” TIM: “Just an empty billboard?” SOPHIA: “Yes.” TIM: “You know, I’m going to cheat here. I’m going to go back and see if there’s anything else that . . . you had ‘stop telling women to smile.’” SOPHIA: “Yeah, it’s such a grumpy billboard though. I changed my mind. I’d rather have nothing.”

  Andreessen, Marc: “Right in the heart of San Francisco, it will be a billboard with just two words on it: ‘Raise prices.’”

  Attia, Peter: “‘This is water.’ (à la David Foster Wallace).” And “‘What would Richard Feynman Do?’”

  Bell, Mark: “I like some of the quotes we have in the gym, but one of my favorite quotes of all time is, ‘Either you’re in, or you’re in the way.’”

  Belsky, Scott: “‘It’s not about ideas, it’s about making ideas happen.’”

  Betts, Richard: “‘Love yourself.’”

  Birbiglia, Mike: “I’d put it in Times Square and it would say, ‘None of these companies care about you.’”

  Blumberg, Alex: “‘The first draft always sucks.’”

  Boone, Amelia: “Something along the lines of, ‘No one owes you anything.’ I feel that there’s such a level of entitlement now in people. That, ‘I deserve this,’ or, ‘I blah, blah, blah this.’ At the end of the day it’s hard work.”

  Boreta, Justin: “‘Starve the ego, feed the soul.’”

  Brach, Tara: “‘LET YOUR HEART BE AS WIDE AS THE WORLD.’”

  Brewer, Travis: “I have a slogan that I live by: ‘Spreading positive energy through your movement.’”

  Brown, Brené: “I would put it in Washington, D.C. And it would say, ‘Shut up and listen.’ [But because her kids are not allowed to say shut up:] I would say ‘Talk less, listen more.’ But in my heart, I would be saying ‘Shut up.’”

  Callen, Bryan: “‘WHAT you think isn’t as important as HOW you think.’”

  Carl, Shay: “‘You’re going to die someday,’ or maybe I’d just have it say ‘You’re going to die.’ And that seems gruesome, but my grandpa taught me this—he bought his coffin 5 years before he actually died. So when people would come over, he would take them down into the garage and show them his coffin.”

  Chin, Jimmy: “It’s funny because the two things that came into my mind immediately; one was, ‘Chill.’ The other one was, ‘Get after it.’ They are diametrically opposed.”

  Cooke, Ed: “‘Be thankful that you will never understand time.’”

  de Botton, Alain: “It would say, ‘Life is only 400,000 hours long. Be kind.’ Or something like that. Just to grab the motorists as they’re speeding down the highway at insane speed.”

  De Sena, Joe: “‘Spartan the Fuck Up.’”

  Diamandis, Peter: “‘The future is better than you think.’”

  Dubner, Stephen: “‘Watch the road!’”

  Eisen, Jonathan: “‘Save the microbes.’”

  Engle, Dan: “‘Be curious.’”

  Fadiman, James: “‘Awareness Cures.’”

  Foxx, Jamie: “It would be the billboard saying, ‘Ball out, dog. Have a great time, go to church, love somebody, teach somebody, get angry a little bit.’ It would change. And the end of the last one would be, ‘Have as much fun as you can.’ Because in the blink of an eye we’ll all be gone. 100 years compared to infinity is nothing. My billboard would change constantly ’cause I think we all change.”

  Fussell, Chris: “‘Life is a series of choices—take accountability for yours.’”

  Fussman, Cal: “‘Listen.’”

  Gazzaley, Adam: “‘All of life is a celebration of life.”

  Gladwell, Malcolm: “Probably a picture of one of my favorite runners.” → Asbel Kiprop

  Godin, Seth: “Jay Levinson, another old friend who passed away recently, wrote Guerrilla Marketing, and he used to say the best billboard in history said, ‘Free coffee next exit.’”

  Goldberg, Evan: “‘Accept each other.’”

  Goodman, Marc: “‘Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.’—Neale Donald Walsch.”

  Hamilton, Laird: “‘Laugh more and have more fun.’”

  Harris, Sam: “‘Tolerance of intolerance is cowardice.’”

  Hof, Wim: “‘Breathe, motherfucker!’”

  Hoffman, Reid: “I would put the billboard in Washington, D.C. I would target congresspeople, and I’d say, ‘Have you worked with someone across the aisle today?’ Because what matters is not partisan conflict, but how we govern our country to actually have a better future.”

  Holiday, Ryan: “‘And this too shall pass.’”

  John, Daymond: “‘There’s no reason why I could do it and you can’t.”

  Johnson, Bryan: “I would put it in New York and it would say, ‘Do an anonymous and random act of kindness today.’” From later exchanges: “‘Author life.’”

  Kagan, Noah: “‘Keep it real.’”

  Kamkar, Samy: “‘You are awesome.’”

  Kass, Sam: “‘VOTE!!!!!!!’”

  Kelly, Kevin: “‘You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind.’—Timothy Leary.”

  Koppelman, Brian: “‘Calculate less.’”

  Libin, Phil: “So just imagine it’s me with a big glass of whiskey. And the caption will say, ‘Evernote helps you remember. Suntory helps you forget.’”

  MacAskill, Will: “It would be outside the Gates Foundation, or maybe outside Bill Gates’s house . . . where ultimately, he’s going to donate $100 billion. And it would say, ‘Bill, you have spoken about the risks and potential upside in the long run from development of artificial general intelligence, yet you’re not doing anything about it yet. You haven’t gotten involved.’”

  MacKenzie, Brian: “‘Ego is how we want the world to see us. Confidence is how we see ourselves.’”

  McCarthy, Nicholas: “‘Anything is possible.’ I wholeheartedly believe that. Why wouldn’t I think that? Because for a guy who’s from a non-classical background, from a non-money background, from a very small village in England—no one’s really done a great deal where I’m from—and with one arm as well, and the age that I started, to then enter this arena of highbrow classical music and honing your craft to the highest level . . . I think by me doing that, I 100% think that anything is possible. Of course, hard work, determination—those things go hand in hand.”

  McChrystal, Stanley: “It would be in a high traffic area, probably an airport, a city like New York, or maybe on a street in a busy city, New York or Chicago or San Francisco. And it would have a simple quote from an individual named Robert Byrne. And it would say, ‘The purpose of life is a life of purpose.’”

  McCullough, Michael: “I’d probably do what you do, Tim, ‘Pick something you’re afraid of every day, and go after it,’ and I’d put that on people’s way to work.”<
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  McGonigal, Jane: “‘Play Tetris for 10 minutes within 24 hours of experiencing or witnessing something traumatic to prevent unwanted flashbacks and other symptoms of PTSD (as demonstrated to work in multiple randomized controlled studies).’”

  Miller, BJ: “‘Don’t believe everything you think.’”

  Neistat, Casey: “‘Be nice.’”

  Nemer, Jason: “‘Play!’ I feel like people are so serious. And it doesn’t take much for people to drop back into the wisdom of a childlike playfulness. If I had to prescribe two things to improve health and happiness in the world, it’s movement and play, those two things. Because you can’t really play without moving, so they’re kind of intertwined.”

  Ohanian, Alexis: “‘Lives Remaining: 0.’”

  Palmer, Amanda: “‘Radical empathy is our only hope: Please pull over at the next rest stop and call someone you need to make peace with.’”

  Patrick, Rhonda: “‘Don’t exercise to lose weight . . . do it to improve your brain.’”

  Paul, Caroline: Caroline asked Tim for his answer. Tim said his answer would be Amelia’s, and Caroline changed hers to the same: “We’ll change it—‘Nobody owes you anything at all.’”

  Polanco, Martin: “‘Choose love.’”

  Poliquin, Charles: “‘Know yourself.’”

  Popova, Maria: “‘Kindness. Kindness. Kindness.’”

  Potts, Rolf: “‘Time is the truest form of wealth.’”

  Randall, Lisa: “‘Be curious and try to find solutions to problems.’”

  Ravikant, Naval: “‘Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want’ (paraphrased from an old blog called Delusion Damage).”

  Reece, Gabby: “‘Yielding to your fellow man is not getting taken advantage of. We are all in it together.’”

  Rodriguez, Robert: “One that I say a lot to people is, ‘Don’t follow the herd.’ It’s easier when people can visually see it, but I’m pointing in one direction. And I say that when you hear me talking about the network and the network sizzle. I’ll say, ‘If everyone’s going that way—to the left—we’re going to go this way, to the right.’ Because that’s how you stumble upon new things, by just going down the unbeaten path. It’s always rewarding. In any way you choose, not just business but life in general and everything . . . you just go that way. And really cultivate your instincts. Cultivating that instinct so that you can always rely on that. Because if you always have to rely on the advice of other people, which is all good, when they’re not there, you’re screwed. You’ve got to be able to follow that inner voice and cultivate that, and know when it serves you. And when it doesn’t serve you, trust that it’s not serving you just at the moment . . . over the long haul, it’s actually in your best interest.”

  Rose, Kevin: “‘Strive to share your fears and secrets with the world.’”

  Rubin, Rick: “‘choose peace’ (all lowercase).”

  Sacca, Chris: “This form of advertising is archaic and unaccountable. Don’t waste your money.”

  Sethi, Ramit: “‘Tell me a secret you’ve never told anyone. I’ll keep it confidential. Email me: ramit.sethi@iwillteachyoutoberich.com.’”

  Silva, Jason: “‘We are as gods and might as well get good at it.’—Stewart Brand”

  Sivers, Derek: “Well, my real answer, if I was taking that literally, is that I would remove all the billboards in the world, and ensure that they were never replaced. . . . So, my better answer is, I would make a billboard that would say, ‘It Won’t Make You Happy,’ and I would place it outside any big shopping mall or car dealer.”

  Starrett, Kelly: “‘Every human being should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves.’”

  Strauss, Neil: “‘The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.’—Norman Vincent Peale”

  Tan, Chade-Meng: “‘Meditation is like sweating at the gym. Minus the sweating. And the gym.’”

  Teller, Astro: “‘Live Fearlessly.’”

  Tsatsouline, Pavel: “‘You can be anything you want. But you must be strong first.’”

  von Ahn, Luis: “‘It would be in front of the Google Pittsburgh office and it would say ‘Duolingo is hiring.’”

  Waitzkin, Joshua: “‘LIVE ALL IN.’”

  Weinstein, Eric: “Somehow, people have to learn that consensus is a huge problem. There’s no arithmetic consensus because it doesn’t require a consensus. But there is a Washington consensus. There is a climate consensus. In general, consensus is how we bully people into pretending that there’s nothing to see—move along, everyone. And so I think that in part, you should start to learn that people don’t naturally come to high levels of agreement unless something is either absolutely clear, in which case consensus isn’t present, or there’s an implied threat of violence to livelihood or self.”

  Willink, Jocko: “I guess my mantra is a very simple one, and that’s ‘Discipline equals freedom.’”

  Wilson, Rainn: “Maybe it would be a billboard that says ‘Don’t be an asshole.’ Because that would make the world a lot better place. Maybe someone driving along would be like, ‘Oh, you know what? Maybe I’m just gonna be not as much of an asshole today. I’m not gonna cut people off on the road and ignore my kids, backstab someone at work.’”

  Young, Chris: “I think I might have to erect it outside of my high school and I don’t know exactly how I would art-direct this, but it’s going to be something to the effect of, ‘It all worked out anyway.’ High school was not a great time for me.”

  Zimmern, Andrew: “‘There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.’ This quote is mistakenly attributed to Herbert Spencer, most famously in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, but is actually now credited to William Paley, an 18th-century theologian.”

  Favorite Films and TV Shows

  Documentaries and TV series are noted in parentheses. Any entry lacking parentheses is a fictional film.

  Adams, Scott: Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (doc)

  Altucher, James: High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell (doc), Hoop Dreams (doc), Comedian (doc)

  Amoruso, Sophia: The Color of Pomegranates, Girl Boss Guerilla

  Andreessen, Marc: Mr. Robot (TV), Halt and Catch Fire (TV), Silicon Valley (TV)

  Attia, Peter: Pumping Iron (doc), The Bridge (doc), Bigger, Stronger, Faster (doc)

  Beck, Glenn: Citizen Kane

  Betts, Richard: The Breakfast Club, Baraka (doc)

  Birbiglia, Mike: Tickled (doc), Captain Fantastic, Other People, Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, Stop Making Sense, No Refunds (Doug Stanhope comedy special)

  Blumberg, Alex: Man on Wire (doc), Hoop Dreams (doc), Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals (doc)

  Boone, Amelia: The Goonies

  Boreta, Justin: Meru (doc), Grizzly Man (doc), Daft Punk Unchained (doc)

  Brach, Tara: Race: The Power of an Illusion (doc), Breaking Bad (TV)

  Callen, Bryan: Fed Up (doc), Ken Burns’s Baseball (doc), Ken Burns’s Jazz (doc)

  Carl, Shay: Captain Fantastic, Transcendent Man (doc), Forks over Knives (doc), big fan of the documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock

  Cooke, Ed: Withnail and I, The Armando Iannucci Shows (TV), Monty Python’s Flying Circus (TV), Alan Partridge (fictional personality)

  Costner, Kevin: Coney Island (doc), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Sugarland Express, Minority Report

  Cummings, Whitney: Buck (doc), Comedian (doc)

  D’Agostino, Dominic: “An Advantaged Metabolic State: Human Performance, Resilience and Health” (talk by Peter Attia at IHMC)

 
de Botton, Alain: Seven Up! From the Up series (doc)

  De Sena, Joe: Sugar Coated (doc), Food Inc. (doc), Finding Vivian Maier (doc)

  Diamandis, Peter: Transcendent Man (doc), Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (doc), An Inconvenient Truth (doc)

  DiNunzio, Tracy: The Overnighters (doc), The True Cost (doc), The Fog of War (doc)

  Dubner, Stephen: Seven Up! From the Up series (doc)