Book Summary:
“Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferriss, contains shortened interviews from many of the people Ferriss grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. The book is similar to “Tools of Titans” but covers different guests and questions.
No matter your challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help.
Among other things, you will learn:
More than 50 morning routines—both for the early riser and those who struggle to get out of bed.
The best purchases of $100 or less (you'll never have to think about the right gift again).
How to overcome failure and bounce back towards success.
How to meditate and be more mindful (and not just for those that find it easy).
Ways to thrive (and survive) the overwhelming amount of information you process every day.
And much more.
Author Bio:
Tim Ferriss is an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, and Tools of Titans. He runs the Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 200 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running.
Author Timothy Ferriss.
Lessons:
1) If You Want To Be A Writer, Start Writing
“I had always wanted to be a writer. So I started writing that very evening. The next day I signed up for a class at NYU in creative nonfiction writing. ”
The quote above is from an interview Tim Ferriss did with Susan Cain, a New York Times bestselling author. However, Cain didn’t pursue her passion for writing for decades. She actually went to Harvard Law School and worked as a corporate lawyer on Wall Street.
One day a senior partner in the firm told Cain that she wouldn’t be promoted to partner and Cain started crying and left the office. She went for a bike ride around Central Park and contemplated her future. She remembered that she had always wanted to be a writer so that evening she went home to write and signed up for a class at NYU the next time.
Boom.
She wanted to be a writer, so she pursed writing. Just like that.
And you may not even need school to become a writer.
Neil Strauss, an eight-time New York Times best-selling author, got rejected from journalism school earlier in his life. He looks back on this with a smile since he ended up learning through experience rather than academics and eventually became a columnist for the NYT.
So if you want to be a writer, start writing–today.
Author Tim Ferriss talking about his book “Tribe of Mentors.”
2) Failure Is Part of the Path to Success
“Adversity. Everybody spends their life trying to avoid it. Me too. But the best things that ever happened to me came during the times when the shit hit the fan and I had nothing and nobody to help me. Who are you really? What do you really want? Get out there and fail and find out.”
That quote is from Steven Pressfield, an accomplished writer who has worked in advertising, screenwriting, fiction, narrative, non-fiction and self-help. But before he was a well-known writer, he wrote for 17 years before earning his first penny from writing.
That’s right, he worked on his craft for 15+ years before finally getting paid for his work.
During those years, Pressfield taught school, drove tractor-trailers, worked on offshore oil rigs, and picked fruit as a migrant worker. Instead of looking for a life-hack or shortcut to success, Pressfield advises college students to “Get out into the real dirt world and start failing” (pg 6).
And Kyle Maynard would agree.
Kyle Maynard.
Kyle Maynard is a best-selling author and entrepreneur. He is known for becoming the first quadruple amputee to reach the summits of Mount Kilimanjaro.
When Ferriss interviewed him, Maynard said “It’s almost more difficult to think of a time when an apparent failure didn’t set me up for success. Failure is inextricably connected to any major success I’ve ever had” (pg 15).
So if you do fail, don’t fret. Pick yourself up and keep moving. Just like Pressfield and Maynard have done.
3) Being Busy Is A Decision
“If we use busy as an excuse for not doing something what we are really, really saying is that it’s not a priority. Simply put: You don’t find the time to do something you make the time to do things.”
That quote comes from Debbie Millman, one of the most influential designers of today and founder of Design Matters, the world’s first and longest-running podcast about design.
Millman says that using “I am too busy” as an excuse to not do something, is pure nonsense. People do things that they want to do, period. People will make time to watch Game of Thrones, but will be ‘too busy’ to read a book or exercise.
The problem with these excuse is that is lies to people. It can make someone believe that they are justified for not doing something that they need to do. Millman says that “If you want to do something, you can’t let being busy stand in the way, even if you are busy. Make the time to do the things you want to do and then do them” (pg 26).
Conclusion:
“Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferriss is an interesting book because instead of diving deeply into one subject, readers get a little peek into many different topics and gain nuggets of wisdom from a wide-range of experts.
That said, this book is a jack of all trades, but master of none–which isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing. The best way to use this book is to skim through it, and if you read something that interests you, check out the full podcast on Tim Ferriss’ website or learn more about the guest by reading their books or watching their videos.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
If you’ve enjoyed this article and want to get the book, click here or on the image below!
If you already read “Tribe of Mentors” here are some additional books by Tim Ferriss:
For literally 5 bucks and a few hours of time, a book can give you an enormous amount of valuable information that will help you in life. It’s practically highway-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
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