Timothy “Tim” Ferriss (b.1977) is an American self-help author, entrepreneur, and public speaker. A great self-promoter, he is also an investor in Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Evernote, and Uber, and other Silicon Valley companies.
Ferriss’s first best-selling self-help book, The 4-Hour Workweek (2009,) was initially rejected by 26 publishers. He followed it up with two more books on the “4-hour” theme—The 4-Hour Body (2010) and The 4-Hour Chef (2012.) Ferriss later wrote Tools of Titans (2016) and Tribe of Mentors (2017.)
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Just a few words on time management: forget all about it.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Management, Time Management
Money is multiplied in practical value depending on the number of W’s you control in your life: what you do, when you do it, where you do it, and with whom you do it. I call this the freedom multiplier.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Life, Freedom, Money, Control, Work, Act
It isn’t enough to think outside the box. Thinking is passive. Get used to acting outside the box.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Thinking, Act, Acting, Think
The commonsense rules of the “real world” are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions.
—Tim Ferriss
A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Success, Life, Work
Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness? Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Happiness, Work, Sin, Desire
Alternating periods of activity and rest is necessary to survive, let alone thrive.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Act, Rest
Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of mental laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Act, Work, Thinking, Busy, Action, Think
Believe it or not, it is not only possible to accomplish more by doing less, it is mandatory. Enter the world of elimination.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Believe, Work, Doing
Options—the ability to choose—is real power.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Power
Most people are good at a handful of things and utterly miserable at most.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: People, Good, Work
I’ve seen the promised land, and there is good news. You can have it all.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Good, Work, New
Emphasize strengths, don’t fix weaknesses.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Weakness, Work
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Security, People, Work, Goals, Best
Personally, I now aim for one month of overseas relocation or high-intensity learning (tango, fighting, whatever) for every two months of work projects.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Learning, Learn, Persona
Tomorrow becomes never. No matter how small the task, take the first step now!
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work
Being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Rest, Doing, Work, Focus
Don’t suffer fools or you’ll become one.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work
Focus on being productive instead of busy.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Focus, Busy, Work
That’s precisely the question everyone should be asking—why the hell not?
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work
The benefits of becoming fluent in a foreign tongue are as underestimated as the difficulty is overestimated. Thousands of theoretical linguists will disagree, but I know from research and personal experimentation with more than a dozen languages that (1) adults can learn languages much faster than children when constant 9-5 work is removed and that (2) it is possible to become conversationally fluent in any language in six months or less. At four hours per day, six months can be whittled down to less than three months.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Zen, Persona, Rest, Learn, Work
There is a direct correlation between am increased sphere of comfort and getting what you want.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work
The most important actions are never comfortable.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Action, Act, Work
The opposite of love is indifference, and the opposite of happiness is—here’s the clincher—boredom.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Love, Happiness
Resolve to do one thing every day that you fear.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Fear
People are smarter than you think. Give them a chance to prove themselves.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work, Give, People, Think
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Rest, Work, Think, Better
What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Work
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Doing, Work, Fear
It’s amazing how someone’s IQ seems to double as soon as you give them responsibility and indicate that you trust them.
—Tim Ferriss
Topics: Trust, Responsibility, Give, Work
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