Question 1: What if I did the opposite for 48 hours?
If you’re stuck and not getting the performance you want, maybe you need to invert what you’re doing. If you try the opposite for just 48 hours, the damage is limited – at worst, you fail and go back to your normal routine. At best, you find a totally new successful way to do things.
As a salesman for a tech product early in his career, Tim wasn’t meeting his sales numbers. At a loss for what to do, he looked at what the other salespeople were doing, and decided to do the opposite. He didn’t have much to lose, and this inversion might lead to new insights.
For example, he noticed that salespeople made calls from 9AM to 5PM. The problem was that during these hours, the people he was trying to reach – the CTOs and the CEOs – were guarded by their receptionists, and he could never get through. What if he did the opposite of what everyone else did? So he called his sales targets from 7AM-9AM, and from 6PM-8PM. During this time, the executives were working, but their receptionists weren’t. He got through.
He applied this thinking elsewhere in his role. Instead of being a hard-pushing salesman blabbing about his product, what if he just spent his time asking questions and understanding his target’s problems? Eventually, his inversions boosted him to the top performing salesperson in his region.
Question 1 recalls Charlie Munger’s advice of “Invert, always invert.” Don’t take for granted what the standard wisdom is.
Question 2: What do I spend a lot of money on? How might I
scratch my own itch?
This is a perfect question if you want to start a business but you don’t know what problem to solve. Chances are, you’ve been solving that problem for yourself.
When the dotcom crash happened, Tim Ferriss wanted to start his own company. Instead of doing deep market research, he looked at his credit card statements – he was spending $500 per month on sports supplements on an annual income of $40k. This validated a personal need that he could turn into a business. Even better, as an avid consumer, he knew how the industry worked – which ads worked best, which vendors had the highest reputation. He created a supplement he couldn’t find on the market called BrainQUICKEN, launched a business, and paved the way to the 4-Hour Workweek and beyond.
Tim’s story corroborates Paul Graham and Y Combinator’s advice of “solve your own problem.” By solving your own problem, you guarantee that at least ONE customer exists for what you want to build. And given the 7 billion people in the world, chances are that thousands of people face your very problem. If you can attract a small group of intensely loyal users (or 1000 true fans), you’re off to a great start.
When the dotcom crash happened, Tim Ferriss wanted to start his own company. Instead of doing deep market research, he looked at his credit card statements – he was spending $500 per month on sports supplements on an annual income of $40k. This validated a personal need that he could turn into a business. Even better, as an avid consumer, he knew how the industry worked – which ads worked best, which vendors had the highest reputation. He created a supplement he couldn’t find on the market called BrainQUICKEN, launched a business, and paved the way to the 4-Hour Workweek and beyond.
Tim’s story corroborates Paul Graham and Y Combinator’s advice of “solve your own problem.” By solving your own problem, you guarantee that at least ONE customer exists for what you want to build. And given the 7 billion people in the world, chances are that thousands of people face your very problem. If you can attract a small group of intensely loyal users (or 1000 true fans), you’re off to a great start.
Question 3: What would I do if I had $10 million? What’s my real target monthly income?
Are you enduring a crushing career, hoping to one day escape into the nirvana of retirement? Life is short – try to design the life you want today, rather than put it off 20-40 years into the future (when, heaven forbid, a tragic accident or illness might cut it short).
Your ideal life might be deceptively easy to achieve.
While building BrainQUICKEN, Tim Ferris was stretched to his energy limit and felt trapped in his caffeinated, overworked mental state. He stopped and asked himself the questions above. “What would I want to do, have, and be if I had $10 million in the bank?” For the lifestyle he wanted, how much in monthly income did he REALLY need?
After quick calculations, Tim realized his target lifestyle cost far less than he anticipated. The resource he lacked was time and flexibility, not cash. Based on his work since, I imagine Tim’s answer to the $10 million question was to learn esoteric stuff and teach people at scale on how to improve their lives.
There’s a useful variant of this question: How can you spend a little money today to get the lifestyle you want?
You don’t have to postpone your target lifestyle to retirement. You can spend a little money to enjoy it today. If you dream of traveling the world, then plan smaller trips on long weekends. If you want to have a yacht, rent one for a few days. If you want to be an artist, then pay for advanced classes and work on it on the weekends.
Your ideal life might be deceptively easy to achieve.
While building BrainQUICKEN, Tim Ferris was stretched to his energy limit and felt trapped in his caffeinated, overworked mental state. He stopped and asked himself the questions above. “What would I want to do, have, and be if I had $10 million in the bank?” For the lifestyle he wanted, how much in monthly income did he REALLY need?
After quick calculations, Tim realized his target lifestyle cost far less than he anticipated. The resource he lacked was time and flexibility, not cash. Based on his work since, I imagine Tim’s answer to the $10 million question was to learn esoteric stuff and teach people at scale on how to improve their lives.
There’s a useful variant of this question: How can you spend a little money today to get the lifestyle you want?
You don’t have to postpone your target lifestyle to retirement. You can spend a little money to enjoy it today. If you dream of traveling the world, then plan smaller trips on long weekends. If you want to have a yacht, rent one for a few days. If you want to be an artist, then pay for advanced classes and work on it on the weekends.
Question 4: What are the worst things that could happen? Could I
get back here?
Anxiety has its roots in the uncertain. You don’t get anxious about turning on your faucet, because you know what’s going to happen. But you get anxious about asking someone on a date, or quitting your job to start a business, because you don’t know what’s going to happen.
This question pushes you to make your fear concrete. By defining your demons, they become easier to fight.
When Tim Ferriss was super stressed about BrainQUICKEN, he dreamed of taking a year-long travel sabbatical. The business was running on all cylinders and he was intimately tied to its operations. So his dream remained a dream for 6 months.
Finally, he forced himself to question his assumptions. What was the worst that could possibly happen?
Well, his business could grind to a halt and possibly go bankrupt. A quality issue could occur, and he’d get sued. His bank account would plummet, and his belongings would be stolen. Then he might contract malaria on his travels.
So…was that it?
After picturing the worst case scenario, Tim realized it really wasn’t that bad. Even in this worst case, he could recover. He could sell all his belongings, move into a low cost apartment, and bartend to make a small living. From a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being no impact and 10 being permanently life changing, Tim realized his worst case was a temporary impact of 3.
Even better, by defining the problems, he could tackle them today. If his business operations would fail in his absence, how could he make them more robust? How could he protect himself from malaria? These problems were easier than he realized.
This question pushes you to make your fear concrete. By defining your demons, they become easier to fight.
When Tim Ferriss was super stressed about BrainQUICKEN, he dreamed of taking a year-long travel sabbatical. The business was running on all cylinders and he was intimately tied to its operations. So his dream remained a dream for 6 months.
Finally, he forced himself to question his assumptions. What was the worst that could possibly happen?
Well, his business could grind to a halt and possibly go bankrupt. A quality issue could occur, and he’d get sued. His bank account would plummet, and his belongings would be stolen. Then he might contract malaria on his travels.
So…was that it?
After picturing the worst case scenario, Tim realized it really wasn’t that bad. Even in this worst case, he could recover. He could sell all his belongings, move into a low cost apartment, and bartend to make a small living. From a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being no impact and 10 being permanently life changing, Tim realized his worst case was a temporary impact of 3.
Even better, by defining the problems, he could tackle them today. If his business operations would fail in his absence, how could he make them more robust? How could he protect himself from malaria? These problems were easier than he realized.
Question 5: If I could only work 2 hours per week on my business, what would I do?
How do you get the most out of your time? If someone pointed a gun at your head and forced you to work for only 2 hours a week, how could you maximize your chances of not getting fired?
This question is especially good for managers. But even if you’re not a manager, it can also yield insights into your own work.
Tim Ferriss used this question to make his year-long sabbatical from BrainQUICKEN a reality. He focused on the concentrated products and customers that provided the most profits, and fired his highest-maintenance customers. He automated order handling to streamline operations.
This type of thinking led him to his famous 4-Hour Workweek concept.
This question is especially good for managers. But even if you’re not a manager, it can also yield insights into your own work.
Tim Ferriss used this question to make his year-long sabbatical from BrainQUICKEN a reality. He focused on the concentrated products and customers that provided the most profits, and fired his highest-maintenance customers. He automated order handling to streamline operations.
This type of thinking led him to his famous 4-Hour Workweek concept.
Question 6: What if I let them make decisions up to $100? $500? $1,000?
Tim Ferriss frames this as a management-centered question, but I’ll expand it after his story.
When managing BrainQUICKEN, Ferriss spent 40 hours a week on customer service, fighting fires and answering questions. He’d get interrupted with special product requests or customs forms. He felt responsible for making the calls.
So (as per Question 1), he did the opposite – he gave power to his customer service agents. “If it involves less than $100, please make the decision yourself,” he emailed. To combat abuse, he reviewed these scenarios once a week with his staff.
Surprisingly, few catastrophes happened, and he gradually raised the threshold to $500 and then $1,000. Reviews went from weekly to monthly to never. Consequently, he reduced his personal customer service time spend from 40 hours/week to 2 hours/week.
Clearly Tim Ferriss’s situation is rooted in management, but I’ll try to extend this to a general question more people can use. Even if you’re not a manager, you probably have people who depend on you for answers, and asking for your guidance soaks up time.
When managing BrainQUICKEN, Ferriss spent 40 hours a week on customer service, fighting fires and answering questions. He’d get interrupted with special product requests or customs forms. He felt responsible for making the calls.
So (as per Question 1), he did the opposite – he gave power to his customer service agents. “If it involves less than $100, please make the decision yourself,” he emailed. To combat abuse, he reviewed these scenarios once a week with his staff.
Surprisingly, few catastrophes happened, and he gradually raised the threshold to $500 and then $1,000. Reviews went from weekly to monthly to never. Consequently, he reduced his personal customer service time spend from 40 hours/week to 2 hours/week.
Clearly Tim Ferriss’s situation is rooted in management, but I’ll try to extend this to a general question more people can use. Even if you’re not a manager, you probably have people who depend on you for answers, and asking for your guidance soaks up time.
Question 7: What’s the least crowded channel?
This question prompts you to find undervalued ways to achieve your goals.
When launching his first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss asked best-selling authors, “What were the biggest wastes of time in promoting your book? What would you never do again? What would you do more of?”
Consistently, he heard about blogging. Without knowing much about blogging, he went to a trade show and hung around bloggers, eavesdropping on conversations and asking questions. This prompted him to start his 4hourworkweek blog, which led to his first viral posts.
If you’re selling a product or service, this question more literally applies to you. How can you reach people in a way most competitors are ignoring?
But for non-entrepreneurs, I’ll extend the question, once again.
When launching his first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss asked best-selling authors, “What were the biggest wastes of time in promoting your book? What would you never do again? What would you do more of?”
Consistently, he heard about blogging. Without knowing much about blogging, he went to a trade show and hung around bloggers, eavesdropping on conversations and asking questions. This prompted him to start his 4hourworkweek blog, which led to his first viral posts.
If you’re selling a product or service, this question more literally applies to you. How can you reach people in a way most competitors are ignoring?
But for non-entrepreneurs, I’ll extend the question, once again.
Question 8: What if I couldn’t pitch my product directly?
People don’t like announcements or being sold products. They like hearing narratives.
When promoting The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss couldn’t get journalists to introduce his book. But he fashioned engaging stories around concepts in the book.
He showcased success stories from the book, people who redesigned their lifestyles. He wrote about his own personal body transformations, like in Geek to Freak. He released The 4-Hour Chef on audiobook for free on BitTorrent. These were stories worth spreading, and by extension his books got more publicity.
This reflects a broader psychological bias toward accepting reasons for doing things. A famous experiment showed how giving a nonsensical reason could excuse your behavior. Here’s how it worked:
A researcher would see someone waiting at the copy machine. The researcher would then ask the person one of the following questions:
Version 1: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”
Version 2: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”
Version 3: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”
Version 2 and 3 gave a reason, but Version 3 gave a nonsensical reason – everyone is there to make copies!
For each version, what percentage of people would you predict let the researcher cut in front? Here are the results:
Version 1: 60 percent
Version 2: 94 percent
Version 3: 93 percent
Astoundingly, the nonsensical reason worked just as well in convincing the other person.
Granted, this effect may be enriched for a small favor like this, whereas a larger deliberate decision would be subject to more scrutiny (“I have to buy an aircraft carrier because we want to patrol the seas!”). But the general point stands – people like having reasons for acting. Tim Ferriss couldn’t promote his book directly, but people did want to share unusual stories surrounding the book.
When promoting The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss couldn’t get journalists to introduce his book. But he fashioned engaging stories around concepts in the book.
He showcased success stories from the book, people who redesigned their lifestyles. He wrote about his own personal body transformations, like in Geek to Freak. He released The 4-Hour Chef on audiobook for free on BitTorrent. These were stories worth spreading, and by extension his books got more publicity.
This reflects a broader psychological bias toward accepting reasons for doing things. A famous experiment showed how giving a nonsensical reason could excuse your behavior. Here’s how it worked:
A researcher would see someone waiting at the copy machine. The researcher would then ask the person one of the following questions:
Version 1: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”
Version 2: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”
Version 3: “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”
Version 2 and 3 gave a reason, but Version 3 gave a nonsensical reason – everyone is there to make copies!
For each version, what percentage of people would you predict let the researcher cut in front? Here are the results:
Version 1: 60 percent
Version 2: 94 percent
Version 3: 93 percent
Astoundingly, the nonsensical reason worked just as well in convincing the other person.
Granted, this effect may be enriched for a small favor like this, whereas a larger deliberate decision would be subject to more scrutiny (“I have to buy an aircraft carrier because we want to patrol the seas!”). But the general point stands – people like having reasons for acting. Tim Ferriss couldn’t promote his book directly, but people did want to share unusual stories surrounding the book.
Question 9: What if I created my own real-world MBA?
Any graduate program or trained course costs a lot of cash and opportunity cost. Instead of attending the program, could you take all that money and get equivalent or better training?
Early in his career, Tim Ferriss thought an MBA might be useful for developing new skills, developing a better network, or having it look good on his resume.
Eventually he realized he could tie all three goals together in startup investing. Estimating the cost of an MBA at $120k over 2 years, he set aside $120k to make small $10k-20k investments in companies.
Importantly, Tim was prepared to lose it all – much as he would have lost the tuition to business school. This prompted him to actually take action rather than being scared.
Even if his investments failed, he saw the experience and the added network as well worth the $120k. By learning from dozens of founders and investors, he created his own investment rules and made a few investments. His investments eventually panned out, making back double what he invested.
Tim’s viewpoint can be applied to all graduate degrees, training programs, or even college. The actual monetary cost is often huge – MBAs can total $160k, including all expenses. Insidiously, the opportunity cost is huge, because when you’re in school, you’re not earning salary. MBAs could be giving up $200k in income during that time.
Early in his career, Tim Ferriss thought an MBA might be useful for developing new skills, developing a better network, or having it look good on his resume.
Eventually he realized he could tie all three goals together in startup investing. Estimating the cost of an MBA at $120k over 2 years, he set aside $120k to make small $10k-20k investments in companies.
Importantly, Tim was prepared to lose it all – much as he would have lost the tuition to business school. This prompted him to actually take action rather than being scared.
Even if his investments failed, he saw the experience and the added network as well worth the $120k. By learning from dozens of founders and investors, he created his own investment rules and made a few investments. His investments eventually panned out, making back double what he invested.
Tim’s viewpoint can be applied to all graduate degrees, training programs, or even college. The actual monetary cost is often huge – MBAs can total $160k, including all expenses. Insidiously, the opportunity cost is huge, because when you’re in school, you’re not earning salary. MBAs could be giving up $200k in income during that time.
Question 10: Do I need to make it back the way I lose it?
Have you lost something recently? Your natural instinct is to make it back the same way you lost it. But this ignores the value of your time and could be inefficient.
In 2008, Tim Ferriss owned a house in San Jose and lost money in the recession. Selling then would mean a $150,000 loss. His friends counseled him to rent the house until the value could rebound. Tim followed the advice and was miserable from all the property management headaches that followed.
Instead, he realized the valuable asset here was his time, not cash. By babysitting his house, he might be able to recoup the $150,000 over 5 years. But using the same time and energy, he might be able to grow his brand and business by $500,000.
Tim decided to sell the house.
We’re all subject to similar thoughts as Tim. In this case, sunk cost fallacy, loss aversion, and anchoring all make him try to recover the loss. Since his first investment in the house, Tim continued to obsess about the value of his house. All rent, mortgage, and time considerations were confined to the scope of the house problem.
But by stepping above this, Tim saw that cash and time were fungible assets that could be shuffled between projects. And his ROI for cash and time were higher in other projects than in saving this house.
If you lose $1,000 at the blackjack table, is this where you should try to recoup it? Probably not.
An interesting take on this question is to expand beyond just cash, as you’ll see next.
Question 11: What if I could only subtract to solve problems?
In 2008, Tim Ferriss owned a house in San Jose and lost money in the recession. Selling then would mean a $150,000 loss. His friends counseled him to rent the house until the value could rebound. Tim followed the advice and was miserable from all the property management headaches that followed.
Instead, he realized the valuable asset here was his time, not cash. By babysitting his house, he might be able to recoup the $150,000 over 5 years. But using the same time and energy, he might be able to grow his brand and business by $500,000.
Tim decided to sell the house.
We’re all subject to similar thoughts as Tim. In this case, sunk cost fallacy, loss aversion, and anchoring all make him try to recover the loss. Since his first investment in the house, Tim continued to obsess about the value of his house. All rent, mortgage, and time considerations were confined to the scope of the house problem.
But by stepping above this, Tim saw that cash and time were fungible assets that could be shuffled between projects. And his ROI for cash and time were higher in other projects than in saving this house.
If you lose $1,000 at the blackjack table, is this where you should try to recoup it? Probably not.
An interesting take on this question is to expand beyond just cash, as you’ll see next.
Question 11: What if I could only subtract to solve problems?
Removing things is often easier than adding things. What can you simplify to achieve growth?
This is counterintuitive, because it seems like more motion in more areas should lead to more progress. But your different activities have different ROI. And you should focus your energy on those.
Tim already showed subtraction when running BrainQUICKEN – how could he reduce his customer support time? How could he reduce the number of decisions he had to make? This prompted automation of order fulfillment and giving his employees more autonomy.
This applies to small tactical items too, like your product design or website. Removing the number of distracting items can improve conversion rate.
Question 12: What might I put in place to allow me to go off the grid for 4 to 8 weeks, with no phone or email?
This is counterintuitive, because it seems like more motion in more areas should lead to more progress. But your different activities have different ROI. And you should focus your energy on those.
Tim already showed subtraction when running BrainQUICKEN – how could he reduce his customer support time? How could he reduce the number of decisions he had to make? This prompted automation of order fulfillment and giving his employees more autonomy.
This applies to small tactical items too, like your product design or website. Removing the number of distracting items can improve conversion rate.
Question 12: What might I put in place to allow me to go off the grid for 4 to 8 weeks, with no phone or email?
If you’re feeling burned out, some time away will help you regain clarity. Making sure your business or work runs smoothly while you’re gone will reveal optimizations you can implement today. This question is useful even if you don’t plan on taking any time off.
Tim Ferriss poses the question with two specific wordings:
you specifically have to go “off the grid” – it’s not just a vacation. During this time, you cannot check your email.
you also are away for 4 to 8 weeks. Taking off 2 weeks is too short – people will just let small issues pile up, knowing you’re back in 2 weeks. When they know you’re gone for 8 weeks, they have to solve the issues themselves.
Answering this question will reveal the ways in which you’re being a firefighter and not spending your time on the big picture. If you’re going away for 8 weeks, you have to entrust people with authority, clarify their goals, implement automated systems that streamline processes, and more.
This will allow operation of your business or work without your continuous presence, which in turn will reduce stress and help you focus on the big picture.
Tim Ferriss poses the question with two specific wordings:
you specifically have to go “off the grid” – it’s not just a vacation. During this time, you cannot check your email.
you also are away for 4 to 8 weeks. Taking off 2 weeks is too short – people will just let small issues pile up, knowing you’re back in 2 weeks. When they know you’re gone for 8 weeks, they have to solve the issues themselves.
Answering this question will reveal the ways in which you’re being a firefighter and not spending your time on the big picture. If you’re going away for 8 weeks, you have to entrust people with authority, clarify their goals, implement automated systems that streamline processes, and more.
This will allow operation of your business or work without your continuous presence, which in turn will reduce stress and help you focus on the big picture.
Question 13: Am I hunting antelope or field mice?
Do you spend your days tackling the most important items, or minor details?
The analogy comes from James Carville’s book:
“A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death. A lion can’t live on field mice. A lion needs antelope. Antelope are big animals. They take more speed and strength to capture and kill, and once killed, they provide a feast for the lion and her pride.”
“Are you spending all your time and exhausting all your energy catching field mice? In the short term it might give you a nice, rewarding feeling. But in the long run you’re going to die. So ask yourself at the end of the day, “Did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?”
Don’t chase all the small details. If you get the big picture items right, everything else will fall into place.
One of my favorite metaphors from Tools of Titans comes from Kaskade. Imagine you have a glass jar, and next to it big rocks, pebbles, and sand. If you put the sand and pebbles in first, they take up the space, and you can’t fit the big rocks in. But if you add the big rocks, then the pebbles, then the sand, everything fits.
The analogy comes from James Carville’s book:
“A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death. A lion can’t live on field mice. A lion needs antelope. Antelope are big animals. They take more speed and strength to capture and kill, and once killed, they provide a feast for the lion and her pride.”
“Are you spending all your time and exhausting all your energy catching field mice? In the short term it might give you a nice, rewarding feeling. But in the long run you’re going to die. So ask yourself at the end of the day, “Did I spend today chasing mice or hunting antelope?”
Don’t chase all the small details. If you get the big picture items right, everything else will fall into place.
One of my favorite metaphors from Tools of Titans comes from Kaskade. Imagine you have a glass jar, and next to it big rocks, pebbles, and sand. If you put the sand and pebbles in first, they take up the space, and you can’t fit the big rocks in. But if you add the big rocks, then the pebbles, then the sand, everything fits.
Question 14: Could it be that everything is fine and complete as is?
You may be hard-wired to seek achievement, to being perpetually happy being unhappy.
What if you can be happy with what you currently have?
Tim Ferriss found that expressing gratitude for his past and present has made him substantially happier. In his daily morning journal, he thanks 3 things that make him happy – like a good cup of tea or a friend he saw a year ago.
Take a few minutes to do the same.
What if you can be happy with what you currently have?
Tim Ferriss found that expressing gratitude for his past and present has made him substantially happier. In his daily morning journal, he thanks 3 things that make him happy – like a good cup of tea or a friend he saw a year ago.
Take a few minutes to do the same.
Question 15: What would this look like if it were easy?
People tend to overcomplicate routes to success. Again, the feeling of struggle and being perpetually stressed makes what you’re working on seem so important.
What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if there was a way to apply your skills to a much bigger problem, where growth was easier to find?
Reid Hoffman suggests “part of business strategy is to solve the simplest, easiest, and most valuable problem.”
In Tools of Titans, Seth Godin tells a story of designer Lynn Gordon, who had trouble getting business for her toy designs. Seth told Lynn that toy companies didn’t work that way – they didn’t accept pitches from outsiders. He counseled her to switch to the book business, where publishers were hungry for new ideas. She quickly got a hit with her 52 Activity card deck series.
Don’t overcomplicate things or feel like you need to struggle. Like above, simplify for the greatest efficiency. Look for a way to roll a rock downhill.
What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if there was a way to apply your skills to a much bigger problem, where growth was easier to find?
Reid Hoffman suggests “part of business strategy is to solve the simplest, easiest, and most valuable problem.”
In Tools of Titans, Seth Godin tells a story of designer Lynn Gordon, who had trouble getting business for her toy designs. Seth told Lynn that toy companies didn’t work that way – they didn’t accept pitches from outsiders. He counseled her to switch to the book business, where publishers were hungry for new ideas. She quickly got a hit with her 52 Activity card deck series.
Don’t overcomplicate things or feel like you need to struggle. Like above, simplify for the greatest efficiency. Look for a way to roll a rock downhill.
Question 16: How can I throw money at this problem? How can I waste money to improve the quality of my life?
The motivation here: the one limited resource affecting every person on Earth is time. If you can buy more time with money, this is often well worth it.
Tim Ferriss suggests, “in the beginning of your career, you spend time to earn money. Once you hit your stride, you should spend money to earn time.”
Tim Ferriss suggests, “in the beginning of your career, you spend time to earn money. Once you hit your stride, you should spend money to earn time.”
Question 17: No hurry, no pause.
In Tools of Titans, Derek Sivers gives the story of a 25-mile bike ride near his house. He’d push as hard as he could, sweating and huffing, and it’d take 43 minutes.
This was stressful, so he decided to take it easy one day. He’ll go at less than his normal pace and enjoy the ride, admiring the blue sky and the birds. When he finished the ride, he found the ride took 45 minutes.
So he endured extreme stress for just an extra 2 minutes.
The point being: You don’t need to go through life huffing and puffing. You’ll get nearly all the way there by putting one foot in front of the other, continuously. Thus “no hurry, no pause.”
This was stressful, so he decided to take it easy one day. He’ll go at less than his normal pace and enjoy the ride, admiring the blue sky and the birds. When he finished the ride, he found the ride took 45 minutes.
So he endured extreme stress for just an extra 2 minutes.
The point being: You don’t need to go through life huffing and puffing. You’ll get nearly all the way there by putting one foot in front of the other, continuously. Thus “no hurry, no pause.”
