Tim Ferris likes to call himself human guinea pig and his approach is that of a passionate scientist. NYT Bestselling author, entrepreneur and advisor to multinational companies, Tim has mastered the art of learning skills. Be it cooking, archery or learning a new language, Tim has gained mastery over these skills in a record time.
In The Tim Ferris Show, Tim interviews world class performers in order to gain insight into what makes them who they are. His guest list ranges from chess champions to celebrity actors and performance coaches to best-selling authors. These people have achieved excellence in their respective fields. How did they do it? That’s what Tim aims to find out in each of his podcasts. With nearly 200 guests in the last two years and close to a 100 million downloads, TFS is at the top of podcasts list. Tim’s latest book, aptly named Tools of Titans, distills these podcasts into a format that is easier to absorb.
Tim’s approach is very logical. With each guest, he is looking for the underlying beliefs, habits and philosophy that makes them who they are. What is their morning routine? Their favourite books? What are the essential rules to succeed in their area of expertise? Which philosophy do they live by?
Tools of Titans is probably unlike any book you have read. First of all, it is not meant to be read from start to finish. As Tim says in the introduction, skim through it, pick up what you need and come back to the skipped part later. I don’t think I will ever finish reading Tools of Titans. This is like a reference book that you come back to time and again.
A Personal Experience
One of the podcasts on TFS that changed my life was the one where Tim interviewed Pavel Tsatsouline. Pavel is former physical training instructor to the Soviet special forces and current subject expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Nave SEALs. Now most of the stuff that Tim and Pavel talk about – very advanced physical training techniques like deadlift techniques or one-arm swing – is not remotely applicable to me. I am never going to do it. But it took just one simple advice from Pavel that proved extremely effective. He says (and I quote from the book), “To increase your pull-up numbers, start doing half the reps you’re capable of (e.g., sets of 4 if your personal best is 8) in repeated sets throughout the day with at least 15 minutes rest.” Pavel also describes the biochemistry behind this approach.
Think for a moment how simple and counter-intuitive this advice is compared to the popular “no pain, no gain” advice. Normally when you decide to work-out (most probably during first week of January every year), you try to surpass your maximum capability every day. Your body aches or worse you get injured. The workout resembles punishment for prisoners in eighteenth century and in two or three weeks, you suddenly get ‘too busy’ to find time for workout. Pavel’s approach is a complete paradigm shift. You need not do your best every time, just do half and repeat many times during the day. “Training is something that should be enjoyed”, Pavel says.
Using this approach my fitness level has increased beyond expectation during the last year or so. (A big Thank You to Tim and Pavel!) I am still far from where I want to be but I feel much healthier that I ever did in my life. Since I started using this approach, my HDL cholesterol level gradually rose from a measly 43 mg/dl to a whopping 81.5 mg/dl! This approach is not for bodybuilding by the way, but for strength training. Pavel’s father-in-law, 64, went from 10 to 20 strict pull-ups using this approach, something he could not do even when he was a young marine.
This is just a tiny glimpse of the ‘Healthy’ section of Tools of Titans. There are two more sections called ‘Wealthy’ and ‘Wise’. Do not be fooled by the simplicity of many of the rules and tactics described in the book. As Tony Robbins says, “Tiny changes produce huge results”. Tony is world’s best known performance coach whose client list is, in fact, a Who’s Who – Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mikhail Gorbachev – to name just a few. In Tools of Titans, Tony shares his routines, hacks and beliefs that help him achieve peak performance every day.
Well known author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn used to say, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Spending time with people leads to you picking their habits, ways of thinking and attitudes – both consciously and unconsciously. Reading Tools of Titans is equivalent to a unique opportunity to spend time with some of the world’s best performers. This is supplemented by amazing quotes throughout the book. One of my favorites is by Maria Popova – creator of Brain Pickings – when she describes formula for greatness as “Consistency driven by a deep love of the work.”
I have stopped buying physical books in favour of Kindle but in this case I am thinking of getting a hard copy as well. Simply opening Tools of Titans at random and see where it takes you can be a revealing experience. And a hard copy makes it much easier to mark passages and stick post-it notes.
An added delight in Tools of Titans was to read the foreword by none other than the great Arnold Schwarzenegger who also features in the book. What a remarkable man! (The number of times I have seen the Terminator series is well into double figures now.) In a moving essay, Arnold describes his hardships in Austria and his journey to America and states quite passionately that contrary to popular belief, he is not a self-made man. His ending is what I liked the best,
“Now, turn the page and learn something.”
