30 Days of Genius- Tim Ferriss

Ah, Tim Tim Talk Talk. We meet again!

Tim Ferriss's words are in bold. My personal comments are in italics. 

• "Work on projects that, even if they are viewed as a failure to the outside world, give you skills that carry over to your next project."
• Tim borrows from Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic, when he discusses "systems thinking," or the pursuit of skills. If, in your current activities, you are not gaining any new skills that you can tangibly refer to in future endeavors, you are missing an opportunity to do so. Every assignment is an opportunity for education, and every endeavor, regardless of success in the market, should be a success in personal development.

• "What would this look like if it were easy?"
• An extension of Tim's constant critique of the self-prescribed 'busy-ness', it is important to bring things to their simplest level. Whatever you are trying to pursue- what would would make it easier? Want to write a book? Write 2 crappy pages a day. Want to start a podcast? Remove all editing. Want to have good customers? Set your rules and if anyone doesn't like them, you shouldn't care if they leave.
• "In negotiation, the one who cares the least, wins." 

• "The feeling that you are winning is a precursor to actually winning. Celebrate the small wins."
• Make things easy for yourself. Build confidence. If learning to code, you'll quit if you can't turn the page blue, and if you don't appreciate how awesome that small thing is. If starting a podcast, you need to celebrate the first 10 listeners. Go have a drink. You've earned it.
• Meditation and gratitude are two tools used to be appreciative of what you have today. Notice the beautiful clouds outside, and be grateful you can live beneath them. Notice how far you've come in your learning of "insert thing here." And be proud of yourself, no matter how little it seems to be.
• Comparison is the root of unhappiness. Don't compare to anyone except your past self. 

• "Creativity is an infinite resource. The more you spend, the more you have."
• A Chase Jarvis quote that I love. Work on your photography, you'll be more observant and a better podcaster. Work on your podcasting and you'll develop a taste for production to make better music. Creativity crosses disciplines.

• "Do things just for the hell of it- and make them as absurd as possible."
• Opportunities come from experimentation, and success comes from enjoyment. If you don't try something just for shits and gigs, you won't open doors for yourself. And if you don't have fun, you won't succeed. 

• "Wake up earlier."
• When asked for his advice to people who have two kids, a full time job, and 6 other things on their plate and just don't have the time to do whatever they dream of doing, Tim has simple advice: wake up earlier. We all have the same 24 hours to work with. How will you spend yours?
• Khaled Hosseini was working full time as a doctor and father of two children. He would wake up early every day, no matter how tired he was or what he needed to get done, and ensure that he had 45 minutes to write. And what came of it? Not much. Just the New York Times bestseller, "The Kite Runner," which sold over 7 million copies in the US alone.

• The importance of routine.
• A routine helps build habits, and habits lead to success. Knowing the 4 things you're going to do every morning immediately upon waking up ensures that you do them efficiently and effectively and, perhaps most important, consistently.

• "You can choose the record."
• Everyone, including the most successful, has someone (or a voice inside their head) constantly nagging at them. Everyone is influenced by sudden flashes of emotion. What is important to remember is that these are completely within our control. We can choose what we feel, how we act, and what we think. We can choose how our mind works, and what records play in it.

• "Once you have the constraint to do more with less, only then can you do more with more."
• Tim places constraints on himself like removing the word "pretty" from his vocabulary, or limiting his blog posts to 500 words, or dancing tango with one arm behind his back. Once you can do that well, you can fully appreciate the advantage of re-introducing additions.

• "You’re the average of the 5 people you associate with most."
• We are a different version of ourselves with everyone we meet. And who we truly build ourselves to be is a mosaic of the 5 versions of ourselves we spend the most time being. 

FUCK! Sorry, it felt wrong to do a Tim Ferriss writeup without cursing at least once. Long Island baby!