2025-04-17 21:11:21
RT Philip Goff
The second half of this was one of the best discussions I've had about spirituality. @tferriss and I had a great connection.
2025-04-16 03:44:43
During a tough period several years ago, @nntaleb sent me the following aphorism, which was perfect timing and perfectly put:
“Robustness is when you care more about the few who like your work than the multitude who hates it (artists); fragility is when you care more about the few who hate your work than the multitude who loves it (politicians).”
Choose to be robust.
2025-04-16 03:43:54
Life is a full-contact sport, especially on the Internet.
The sharp elbows and body checks can take many forms.
Here is one of the first Amazon reviews I ever received for The 4-Hour Workweek, while I was still a wee lad finding his Bambi legs on the web:
“This book is mistitled. The subtitle should be ‘Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, Join the New Rich, and Become the World’s Biggest Jerk.’ Don’t buy it. He’ll probably use your money to set a Guinness Book record for the most kittens strangled in one minute.”
Ah, welcome to town, kid. Want a tissue?
2025-04-16 03:23:05
RT Tim Ferriss
"How to Heal the Anxious Self"
I had the pleasure of sitting down with David Whyte for an interview a few months ago, and he proved as wonderful in person as he is on the page. During our conversation, he read from his most recent work, Consolations II. Now, I have a dog-eared hardcover copy by my bedside. It’s indispensable. No matter the challenge, dream, mystery, or feeling of stuckness, he has a poem or essay within that will help you.
I’ve recently been rereading one of his essays in particular, and David kindly agreed to allow me to share it with you.
I’ve bolded some of my favorite parts. If a sentence is bolded and underlined, I found it particularly impactful.
Read the essay below 👇
2025-04-16 01:27:02
“I don't trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me ‘I love you.’ … There is an African saying which is: ‘Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.’” — Maya Angelou
2025-04-15 03:58:37
Avoid these 9 mistakes 👇
1. Losing sight of dreams and falling into work for work’s sake (W4W).
2. Micromanaging and e-mailing to fill time. Set the responsibilities, problem scenarios and rules, and limits of autonomous decision-making—then stop, for the sanity of everyone involved.
3. Working where you live, sleep, or should relax. Separate your environments—designate a single space for work and solely work—or you will never be able to escape it.
4. Not performing a thorough 80/20 analysis every two to four weeks for your business and personal life.
5. Striving for endless perfection rather than great or simply good enough, whether in your personal or professional life. Recognize that this is often just another W4W excuse. Most endeavors are like learning to speak a foreign language: to be correct 95% of the time requires six months of concentrated effort, whereas to be correct 98% of the time requires 20–30 years. Focus on great for a few things and good enough for the rest. Perfection is a good ideal and direction to have, but recognize it for what it is: an impossible destination.
6. Blowing minutiae and small problems out of proportion as an excuse to work.
7. Making non-time-sensitive issues urgent in order to justify work. Focus on life outside of your bank accounts, as scary as that void can be in the initial stages. If you cannot find meaning in your life, it is your responsibility as a human being to create it, whether that is fulfilling dreams or finding work that gives you purpose and self-worth—ideally a combination of both.
8. Viewing one product, job, or project as the end-all and be-all of your existence. Life is too short to waste, but it is also too long to be a pessimist or nihilist. Whatever you’re doing now is just a stepping-stone to the next project or adventure. Any rut you get into is one you can get yourself out of. Doubts are no more than a signal for action of some type. When in doubt or overwhelmed, take a break and 80/20 both business and personal activities and relationships.
9. Ignoring the social rewards of life. Surround yourself with smiling, positive people who have absolutely nothing to do with work. Happiness shared in the form of friendships and love is happiness multiplied.
