Tweet

Timothy Ferriss Articles

Written by: Timothy Ferriss

How to Use Philosophy as a Personal Operating System: From Seneca to Musashi - Click To Read Article
The following interview is a slightly modified version of an interview that just appeared on BoingBoing. It explores philosophical systems as personal operating systems (for better decision-making), the value of college and MBAs, and the bridge between business and military strategy, among other things. Avi first reached out to discuss my practical obsession with the philosopher Lucius Seneca, so that’s where we start…

Five Minutes on Friday, Six Minutes on Saturday: Listen to Music, Save Japan; Email a Company, Save 200,000 Sharks - Click To Read Article
It doesn’t take a lot of time, money, or sacrifice to do an incredible amount of good. Hence the name of this post (and potential series): Five Minutes on Friday. Even if it’s not Friday, this post might interest you…

How to Bribe People to Start Companies - Click To Read Article
Once upon a time, two entrepreneurs had an idea: what if we used traditional bookbinding to make iPad cases? It was a fun idea.

The Slow-Carb Diet™ Cookbooks - Available for 72 Hours - Click To Read Article
This will be my shortest post to date. For fun (and karma), I’ve been quietly working to compile two cookbooks with simple and delicious recipes for The Slow-Carb Diet™

‘Unrealistic’ Athletic Goals: Why and How to Pursue Them - Click To Read Article
Pavel Tsatsouline was punching me in the ass. It’s not every day that you have a former Soviet Special Forces instructor punch you in the butt cheeks.

So, You Want to Be a Writer? Read This First. - Click To Read Article
Neil Strauss has written six New York Times bestsellers and is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine. From the standpoint of most aspiring writers, he’s reached the pinnacle of success.

12 Lessons Learned While Marketing “The 4-Hour Body” - Click To Read Article
Charlie Hoehn first reached out to me through Ramit Sethi in 2008. Almost three years later, he is still working with me.

Feeling Stuck? Read This… - Click To Read Article
Big successes often seem like foregone conclusions. In reality, most entrepreneurs (read: creators) who appear to have unique genius suffer through the same frustration as the masses of unknowns. They simply test and persist a few steps further.

From First TV to Dr. Oz – How to Get Local Media…Then National Media - Click To Read Article
Let’s start with what you think you want. “I want to get on Oprah eventually, and we’ve been pitching The New York Times, who’s interested.” Good news or game over?

Engineering a “Muse”: Case Studies of Successful Cash-Flow Businesses - Click To Read Article
This post has been in the works for a while. One common challenge for readers of The 4-Hour Workweek is the creation of a “muse”: a low-maintenance business that generates significant income. Such a muse is leveraged to finance your ideal lifestyle, which we calculate precisely based on Target Monthly Income (TMI).

How It Works: Clinton’s “Reality Distortion Field” Charisma - Click To Read Article
This is a guest post from Michael Ellsberg, a good friend who’s spent the last several years studying interpersonal persuasion and language (spoken and unspoken).

Let Me Promote Your Product (or Location) to Millions - Click To Read Article
This post will be short and sweet. The book launch for The 4-Hour Body, the follow-up to The 4-Hour Workweek (#1 NY Times, 35 languages), will be enormous. There will be big media, incredible partnerships, never-before-seen experiments, and much, much more. Here are two things I’m looking to add to the mix:

How to Buy a Round-the-World Plane Ticket (That Kicks Ass) - Click To Read Article
Chris Guillebeau travels the world and writes for a small army of remarkable people at The Art of Non-Conformity blog. He is a master of clever air travel (among other things), and this is a guest post on perfecting one of the rare gems that can truly change your life: Round-the-World (RTW) tickets. Enter Chris…

Blogging by Numbers: How to Create Headlines That Get Retweeted - Click To Read Article
There is an art and science to getting blog posts to travel like wildfire. This post will look at both, based on number crunching with 281 posts, 39,000+ comments, and almost 2,000,000 click-throughs via my Twitter profile and Facebook fan page in the last six months. Here’s what I’ve found to work well

How Authors Really Make Money: The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing - Click To Read Article
Print is dead! This has become a popular headline, and a great way to get quoted, as Nicholas Negroponte has shown. Iconic author Seth Godin, after 12 bestsellers, just announced that he will no longer pursue traditional publishing, and the writing seems to be on the wall: the e-book is the future, plain and simple.

How to Create Your Own Real-World MBA - Click To Read Article
It’s fun to think about getting an MBA. They’re attractive for many reasons: developing new business skills, developing a better business network, or - most often - taking what is effectively a two-year vacation that looks good on a resume.

Tim Ferriss Scam! Practical Tactics for Dealing with Haters - Click To Read Article
I recently spent a week in Amsterdam enjoying bicycles, canals, Queensday, and… ahem… coffee shops. For real. Honest. The best coffee I’ve had in Europe has to be De Koffie Salon.

Why Grow? and Other Wisdom from 37Signals - Click To Read Article
I’ve known the guys at 37Signals for a little while. I first met Jason Fried at SXSW in 2008, and I then got to know David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) over e-mail and in person last year. On a fundamental level, I think, our philosophies just mesh well

How I Work: The 4-Hour Workweek - Click To Read Article
How I Work: The 4-Hour Workweek

How to Never Forget Anything Again - Click To Read Article
The human brain is a wonderful thing, but it’s a bit faulty as a tool for remembering things. Luckily for us (and for our frazzled brains), technology has stepped in to help out.

Thank You, Facebook Bankruptcy, and Late Christmas Presents - Click To Read Article
Thank you… Thank you… Thank you!

4-Hour Case Studies: Can You Redesign a Life in 48 Hours? - Click To Read Article
This past Monday, I gave a presentation at SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX titled The 4-Hour Workweek: Secrets of Doing More with Less in a Digital World. It was my first public presentation on the principles in the book. It ended up standing room only and has caused some waves, being mentioned in the SF Chronicle, Wired, and other media since.

Pavel: 80/20 Powerlifting and How to Add 110+ Pounds to Your Lifts - Click To Read Article
Pavel Tsatsouline, former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor, has made a name for himself in the world of strength. He wrote the below article, outlining the simple routine of Russian Master of Sports, Alexander Faleev, for Built magazine, which folded before publication. Pavel contacted me to publish the piece here, and I am pleased to offer it to you as an exclusive.

Jedi Mind Tricks: How to Get $250,000 of Advertising for $10,000 - Click To Read Article
In December 2008, well-known marketing consultant John Jantsch asked me what my small business predictions were for 2009. This was my answer:

June 1st, 2009 Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose Discuss Their Top 5 Must-Read Books - Click To Read Article
Up to no (coherent) good once again, The Random Show returns.

Real Mind Control: The 21-Day No-Complaint Experiment - Click To Read Article
“This $@#&ing mac will be the death of me. Intuitive, my ass.” It just slipped out, and I don’t think I can be blamed. I was ready to leave the PC behind and take my mac overseas for the first time when I couldn’t figure out how to resize photos. On a friggin’ mac? I felt swindled. I also now had to move the bracelet.

Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes - Click To Read Article
How much more could you get done if you completed all of your required reading in 1/3 or 1/5 the time?

The 10 Most Common Words You Should Stop Using Now - Click To Read Article
Words are thoughts. The better we choose our words, the more we hone our thinking machine, and just like software, it’s a case of GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. Thinking hard is pointless if we don’t use the right tools.

The 7 Commandments of Blogosphere (and Life) Self-Defense - Click To Read Article
I love and hate blogs. One minute I feel like David Weinberger and the next I feel like Andrew Keen.

The Fortune 500 4-Hour Workweek: Multiplying Output in Groups - Click To Read Article
There is a misconception that lifestyle design is just for entrepreneurs or CEOs. In reality, the principles — borrowed from economics and behavioral psychology — can be applied within organizations and groups with even more dramatic effects.

Start-up Strategy: To Change the Game, Change the Economics of How It’s Played - Click To Read Article
Several weeks ago, I found myself in the passenger seat of a car going nowhere fast.

The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen - Click To Read Article
Long time no see! I just landed back in CA from a long overdue mini-retirement through London, Scotland, Sardinia, Slovak Republic, Austria, Amsterdam, and Japan.

The Entertainment Gathering - How to Hang with Bezos, Yo-Yo Ma, and More - Click To Read Article
The Entertainment Group (The EG) is the most incredible weekend gathering you’ve never heard of.

The Power of Less: Changing Behavior with Leo Babauta - Click To Read Article
To learn a skill, I often look — not for the best in the world — but for people who’ve made the greatest progress in the shortest period of time.

New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar - Click To Read Article
“You’re nobody here at $10 million,” said Gary Kremen, the 43-year old founder of Match.com, of Silicon Valley.

Rethinking Investing: Common-Sense Rules for Uncommon Times - Click To Read Article
I’ve learned quite a few things in the last 18 months of exploring—and experimenting with—the world of investing. This post is my first attempt to share the findings.

How to Surf Life: Attorney Turned Surf Guru - Click To Read Article
Many a false step was made by standing still. -Fortune Cookie

How to Hold Your Breath Like David Blaine, World Record Holder (and Now, Me) - Click To Read Article
Last night, world-famous magician and endurance artist David Blaine taught me how to hold my breath.

Do You Really Know Bill Gates? The Myth of Entrepreneur as Risk-Taker - Click To Read Article
Before I had to establish my no-blurb/no-review policy for books due to volume (picture: one day’s mail), I received an e-mail from Rick Smith, the founding CEO of the World 50, one of the most exclusive senior executive networking companies on the planet, with members and contributors like Bono, Francis Ford Coppola, and Phil Knight…

Gout: The Missing Chapter from Good Calories, Bad Calories - Click To Read Article
Last week, I had a wonderful conversation with Gary Taubes, my favorite science journalist and author of the incredible (and I consider definitive), Good Calories, Bad Calories. His ability to synthesize and recall research, both in writing and in speaking, is one of the most amazing feats I’ve ever witnessed.

The Best Decline Letter of All-Time: Edmund Wilson - Click To Read Article
Edmund Wilson, recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal for Literature, was one of the most prominent social and literary critics of the 20th century. He realized, like most uber-productive people, that, while there were many behaviors needed to guarantee high output, there was one single behavior guaranteed to prevent all output:

The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now - Click To Read Article
“Not-to-do” lists are often more effective than to-do lists for upgrading performance. The reason is simple: what you don’t do determines what you can do. Here are nine stressful and common habits that entrepreneurs and office workers should strive to eliminate. The bullets are followed by more detailed descriptions. Focus on one or two at a time, just as you would with high-priority to-do items. I’ve worded them in no-to-do action form:

The Creativity Elixir: Is Genius On-Demand Possible? - Click To Read Article
I celebrated when I sold my first book. For about 5 minutes. Then I panicked.

The Benefits of Pissing People Off - Click To Read Article
Right alongside the cash and credit cards, I keep a number of strange things in my wallet.

The Philosophies of Work: A Conversation with Derek Sivers of CD Baby - Click To Read Article
Derek Sivers is a stud. I thought I’d share the conversation we had at SF MusicTech Summit. Dozens of topics covered include: - Testing asssumptions vs. cheating - PR and reaching out to unreachables - Micro-testing ideas and products: from The 4-Hour Workweek to Trent Reznor - Personal outsourcing for creatives - Filling the void and creating meaning outside of the inbox and office

Stoicism 101: A Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs - Click To Read Article
“There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing harder to learn.” -Seneca

Picking Warren Buffett’s Brain: Notes from a Novice - Click To Read Article
“Excuse me. Where is the most difficult to reach microphone?” I was out of breath from running up the steps but had managed to find one of the microphone stands, manned by two headset-wearing volunteers. More than 10,000 people had waited on the sidewalks overnight to be first in the doors of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, and I had made a choice: I would go for the mics instead of the front row.

How I Did It: From $7 an Hour to Coaching Major League Baseball MVPs - Click To Read Article
This article will tell the inspiring story of Jaime Cevallos, who went from $7 an hour to coaching MVPs in Major League Baseball, automating his income in the process. Jaime is now - in many respects - set. But how did he do it?

The Top 5 Uncommon Timesavers for Bloggers/Writers - Click To Read Article
Greetings from a jazz bar in Sardinia, Italy!

Simplicity and Start-up Alchemy: An Interview with WordPress Creator, Matt Mullenweg - Click To Read Article
Shame on me. I don’t know how to code. I should, but I need to get my Indonesian and Arabic fix before I can tackle Python and Ruby on Rails and Sugar-Coated Sugar Bombs. That is part of the reason that I love WordPress, the blogging platform this blog runs on. The simple-to-use and open-source WordPress, or WP, is a favorite of diehard bloggers, and its 22-year old lead developer, Matt Mullenweg, is #16 on The 50 Most Important People on the Web list by PC World. Damn. That’s bad-ass.

Lifestyle Investing: “Compound Time” Like Compound Interest? - Click To Read Article
I met David Kutoff in Omaha at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, and he asked me an interesting question: Do you think that the value of time can compound like interest?

How to Respond to Criticism – Learning from Dr. King - Click To Read Article
I am embarrassed to tell you that, up until three weeks ago, I had never read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham City Jail. It is, without a doubt, one of the best case studies in how to deal with criticism I’ve ever come across.

How to Buy Domain Names Like a Pro: 10 Tips from the Founder of PhoneTag.com - Click To Read Article
I have used my success and failure in buying domains to create a step-by-step process that should help secure the domain you want…

From Al Gore's Chief Speechwriter: Simple Tips for a Damn Good Presentation - Click To Read Article
What happens when you say “laugh at all my jokes and I’ll breakdance for you at the end”—and someone calls you on it?

Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies - Click To Read Article
In this video, Kevin Rose — founder of Digg and others — and I talk about how we invest in other companies as “angels” and how we choose names for companies. Topics include:

Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose Discuss Their Top 5 Must-Read Books - Click To Read Article
Up to no (coherent) good once again, The Random Show returns. In episode 3, Kevin Rose and I discuss our top 5 must-read books, how we use them, and who should read them.

Dean Kamen - Don't Tell Me It's Impossible - Click To Read Article
Dean Kamen – Don’t Tell Me It’s Impossible

Investment Series Preview: The “Good Bye and F__k You” Letter - Click To Read Article
I’m in the process of preparing a series of posts on the investment lessons I’ve learned in the last 18 months.

How to Do The Impossible: Create a Paperless Life, Never Check Voicemail Again, Never Return Another Phone Call… - Click To Read Article
“I must create a System, or be enslav’d by another Man’s.” -William Blake

How to Check E-mail Twice a Day… or Once Every 10 Days - Click To Read Article
If you don’t yet use Twitter, don’t start. It’s pointless e-mail on steroids. I had to laugh when I saw a post by the one-and-only Robert Scoble on the 19th titled “Productivity up 200%, Twitter Down.”

3 Bibles for Developing Clear Thinking and Problem Solving (Plus: Get an Original 4HWW Manuscript with Extra Content!) - Click To Read Article
Feeling overwhelmed? Chances are that—after looking everywhere else—unclear or cluttered thinking is the root problem.

The Best (and Worst?) Autoresponders of 2007 - Click To Read Article
An increasingly popular approach for escaping the inbox is the routine use of e-mail autoresponders.

How Does a Bestseller Happen? A Case Study in Hitting #1 on the New York Times - Click To Read Article
Last Friday, the impossible happened and a lifelong dream came true: The 4-Hour Workweek hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list! Thank you all for your incredible encouragement and support. More unbelievable, this week 4HWW is simultaneously #1 on the NY Times and #1 on the Wall Street Journal business bestseller lists. How is this possible? How could a book from a first-time author — with no offline advertising or PR — hit both of these lists and stick for three months and counting?

The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades - Click To Read Article
Are the days of Da Vinci dead? Is it possible to, at once, be a world-class painter, engineer, scientist, and more?

The Karmic Capitalist: Should I Wait Until I’m Rich to Give Back? - Click To Read Article
Should I wait until I’m rich to give back? This is a question I have fought with a lot over the years.

How to Resurrect Your High School Spanish...or Any Language - Click To Read Article
How can you possibly maintain fluency in two foreign languages — let alone five or six — if the opportunities to use them are months or years apart?

How I Prostitute Myself (and other options for you) - Click To Read Article
Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Embracing Ignorance as Advantage—a Case Study - Click To Read Article
1:30am Bratislava, Slovakia, this past September 31 One cappuccino, two cappuccino, three cappuccino, four. Neurons humming but still no dice. It was time to get nervous.

How to Test-Drive Friends and Irritate People - Click To Read Article
Sometimes you need to make friends and influence people. Other times, you should just test drive them and push their buttons.

Don’t Like Meditation? Try Gratitude Training. - Click To Read Article
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk and zen teacher once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., has a knack for making the esoteric understandable.

Lack of Seriousness - The Last Interview with Vonnegut - Click To Read Article
Kurt Vonnegut is one of my few idols, an elegantly simple poet-philosopher of the first class. I grew up near where he lived in Sag Harbor, and I’ve enjoyed his writing since I was in junior high, where I silently hoped to one day have the courage to visit him.

When “Keeping in Touch” Hurts vs. Helps You - Click To Read Article
Contacting would-be VIP mentors is something most people have trouble with. The question isn’t just “how do I contact them?” but also “how should I communicate with them once I do?” I teach students how to reach the unreachables in my guest lectures at Princeton, and here is my response to a recent e-mail about the latter.

5 Boundary-Setting Tips for the Work Obsessed - Click To Read Article
If you are so passionate about your work that you border on obsessed, you might find it near impossible to turn work off.

7 Tips for Fighting Information Overload on Valentine’s Day and Beyond - Click To Read Article
Here are 7 tips for avoiding information overload from Ron Geraci:

Is Technology Failing to Simplify Life? Tim Ferriss on Economist.com - Click To Read Article
I was recently invited to participate in a debate sponsored by The Economist, and it just went live. The proposition: If the promise of technology is to simplify our lives, it is failing. Do you agree or disagree?

Escaping the Entrepreneurial Seizure: Interview with Michael Gerber - Click To Read Article
Michael Gerber’s name should sound familiar. I recommend his bestseller, The E-Myth Revisited, as the must-read classic on automation. It brief, it discusses how to create scalable businesses that are based on rules and not outstanding employees; and how to become an owner instead of constant micromanager. Michael also had a enormous influence on me as a first-time writer. His words to me were simple during our first lunch:

GetFriday and the Cost of Success: Exclusive Letter from the CEO - Click To Read Article
Do you want to get a promotion, make $500,000 per year, appear on Oprah, or have 10x the number of customers? Be careful what you ask for.

The Lazarus Philosophy: The Danger of Expectations and The Beauty of Duty - Click To Read Article
Here are some excellent tenets of self-interested (not self-centered) lifestyle design from The Notebooks of Lazarus Long by the inimitable Robert Heinlein:

The Unusual ROI of Going Green: From Saving to Eco-Friendly Index Funds that Beat the Market - Click To Read Article
Bestselling author David Bach used to use Flonase, Alegra D, and Singulair. He used Advair for almost ten years before he made one change that eliminated all of these medications. He moved into a The Solaire, a green-optimized building in NYC.

How to Get George Bush or the CEO of Google on the Phone - Click To Read Article
The below article, titled “Fail Better” and written by Adam Gottesfeld, explores how I teach Princeton students to connect with luminary-level business mentors and celebrities of various types. I’ve edited it to be shorter and clearer in a few places.

The Art of Speed: Conversations with Monster Makers - Click To Read Article
I had a blast organizing and moderating the “Art of Speed” panel at the incredible SXSW conference a few months ago. It was standing room only (at least from what I could see), and I learned a ton from some of the best at creating monster hits.

5 Tips for E-mailing Busy People - Click To Read Article
Even after outsourcing my e-mail to a virtual assistant, there are still a few messages that come over the transom.

Why Bigger Goals = Less Competition - Click To Read Article
SPRING 2005, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY I had to bribe them. What other choice did I have?

Mom-and-Pop Multinationals: How to Go Global - Click To Read Article
Here is the beginning of a worthwhile article in the current issue of Businessweek called “Mom-and-Pop Multinationals.” Ever wondered how much personal outsourcing really costs? How to divide and delegate the various tasks that consume your time? This article includes several useful case studies:

Push vs. Pull Processes - Click To Read Article
Waste is a constraint. Reducing waste in your organization is one the easiest ways of reducing constraints.





Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

In the Year 2020 . . . Process

International Employment Background Checks

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.