What I Learned from Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris: The Wealthy Chapters

Tools Of Titans: The Wealthy Chapters

Wealthy:

Having a great deal of money, resources, or assets; rich.

I am continuing my journey into the MONSTER of a book that is, Tools Of Titans by Tim Ferriss. The first part was all about athletes, doctors, and health in general. I really enjoyed those chapters but I feel the guests in the Wealthy section were a lot more to my liking.

The Wealthy chapters do not just talk about wealth. They dive into the mindsets and techniques these Titans use every single day. As I said before, the book is massive and that is why I am breaking these reviews into parts.

I wanted to write this review a little different from the first. Instead of trying to write a generic book review and highlight some of the stuff I liked the most, I decided to pick just the topics that stood out to me the most and elaborate on those. The following are the top takeaways I learned from The Wealthy Chapters:

Chris Sacca:

Tonight I will be in my bed

No matter what happens, we will be home and in our bed. The tough times do not last. Our day can be filled with drama and bullshit, but at the end of the day we lay our heads on that pillow and get the rest we need.

I am not saying that our thoughts are not racing when we lie down, but we always get home.

This stood out to me because, just as everyone else on this planet, we have good days and bad. In either of these instances, where will we end up at the end of the day? In our beds.

The next time you are going through something tough that you think will never end, remember that quote. It will lift at least a little of the weight off your shoulders.

Schedules:

Chris also talks about keeping schedules in Tools Of Titans. I have detailed in my other review the schedule I am currently following. When I finally do lay down at night, I can lie down with a smile on my face as long as I hit the goals on my daily schedule. My schedule is as follows:

Get my 5-Minute Journal done as soon as I wake up: It gets my mind out of the gutter and into gratitude. You cant be angry starting your day writing down three things you are grateful for.
Having 2-3 cups of black coffee in the morning while fasted: I am currently on a new regimen as far as my diet goes. I am using black coffee as a tool to aid in my weight loss. I do not use any cream or sugar because it negates the awesome benefits that black coffee has. The reason I drink coffee in the morning is that…
Intermittent Fasting until 12:30 PM: As I said, I am currently trying to lose weight. The intermittent fasting is a tool that I am using combined with the black coffee. Having black coffee while in a fasted state is incredible for our health and you will not have your body get used to the caffeine while in this state.
Hitting my macros and counting calories with MyFitnessPal: My eating window after I break the fast is 8 hours long. I make sure in those hours I am hitting my daily goals because I am in the gym again and am trying to add some muscle while dieting.
Reading for one hour a day: The best purchase I made in 2016 was without a doubt the Kindle Paperwhite. I can take it with me anywhere I go, it small enough to fit in any sized bag, and the screen on it I mind blowing. The Kindle comes with me at all times so I can make sure I am hitting at least one hour of reading every day. It also has great tools for note taking and highlighting sections of books.
Doing something around the house no matter how big or how small: I always got out of work, came right home, and took a nap. The nap could’ve lasted anywhere from 10-60 minutes and when I woke up I always felt worse than when I laid down. In 2017, I replaced that with getting something done around the house. The cleaning doesn’t pile up and I feel better having contributed to the house.
Hit the gym immediately following the housework: Once I get the house chores done, I immediately hit the gym to get a workout in. I usually go for 90 minutes with a lifting/cardio split.
Meditation: I make sure I get my meditation in. It is a new habit I am implementing in 2017. So far it has been amazing. I use the Headspace app (recommended a TON in Tools Of Titans) since it has really great guided meditation.
Create Every day: Whether it’s hitting my daily mark of writing 1000 words or making a video/podcast on my YouTube channel. I make sure I am creating every day. This is the biggest to do of the new year for me.
Complete the night time part of my 5-Minute Journal: Just the same as the morning with a few different entry categories. It gets me to reflect on my day and see where I can improve the next.

When I hit all of the above, that qualifies as my perfect day. I do things for myself while doing things for others as well and it doesn’t stop after my job. If you implement even one of these things it will help you as well.

Tony Robbins:

If you let your learning lead to knowledge, you become a fool. If you let your learning lead to action, you become wealthy

I know, I know. My first 5 posts on this site were books dealing with improving yourself. I do love books like these because they help put me in a good place and reinforce I stay there.

What I learned from that quote above and from the section on Tony in Tools Of Titans is: I could read 100 books on improving myself, but if I just read and do not implement anything I learned then what is the use? I read about blogging for a year and saw the benefits writing could bring to my life, but I never started.

2017 is all about reading less self-help and implementing more of the stuff I read. I am going to limit it to the authors I follow on a daily basis (hence why I am reading James Altuchers Reinvent Yourself next) and take notes to implement the teachings I learn.

James Altucher:

We all have, let’s say, two or three dozen massive pain points in our lives that everyone can relate to. I try to basically write about those, and then I try to write about how I attempted to recover from them

What am I embarrassed to be struggling with? And what am I doing about it?

The two quotes above are probably the best quotes I have ever read about writing. SeftimorLive is about helping people. It is about the struggle and triumphs I go through on a day to day basis and the lessons I learn from them.

When I read those quotes in Tools Of Titans, they inspired me to change up my writing a bit. Instead of writing plain old reviews, I would relate the things I was learning in my own life and share with you to relate to as well.

The quotes above got me to write more personally. I know everyone goes through things every day and if I could help other people by writing about how I got over them, then that is the greatest of achievements to me.

Scott Adams:

Obviously, the brains involved, but what I mean is that as I’m thinking of these ideas and they’re flowing through my head, I’m monitoring my mind. And when my body changes, I have something that other people are going to care about, too

This is what I mean when I talk about reigniting that spark. The change in your body when you have an idea that you know will be great. Electricity flowing through you as you can’t wait to start a new project because it will help someone.

You want to be always striving to keep that spark alive. Always be striving towards greatness, but make sure you are watching and listening to your body. When that spark comes, you will feel it and you will know you need to share it with the world.

Shaun White:

I say, “At the end of the day, who cares? What’s the big deal? I’m here, I’m going to try my best, and I’m going to go home, and my family’s there… Even though my whole world’s wrapped up in this, who cares?”

Learning to do what you want to do and do not worry about the outcome. Obviously, I am not talking about doing bad shit, but I mean not worrying about putting yourself out there. If you want to take that leap then take it. We only live once. I know that cliche is used more times than we care to discuss, but its used because it’s true. As long as you are hitting your goals on the daily and putting your best effort in (even if you fail) you can rest assured you are doing you to the fullest. We all have our loved ones that will love us unconditionally. If we try something and fail we still have them. And remember…Tonight I will be in my bed.

Dan Carlin:

If I’ve learned anything from podcasting, it’s don’t be afraid to do something you’re not qualified to do

Dan Carlin has the Hardcore History podcast. He took a chance on podcasting about history because he would tell these stories to his family and friends. They asked him why he wasn’t telling the world about it.

He didn’t think he could because he was not an authority on it at the time.

That is the thing, we learn through the process.

We are never going to get good at writing or podcasting or whatever you feel like doing if we do not just take that first step and do it. I would have never started this blog or learned how to design a website. Hell, I didn’t know how to do any of this until a few months ago. Designing a website I did this past weekend, learning from YouTube videos.

What I am saying is if you want to do something but you think you need to be perfect, that is bullshit. Take the first steps towards something you want even if you are not an authority on it. The learning and the perfection are all in the process.

1000 True Fans – Revisited:

Success need not be complicated. Just start with making 1000 people extremely, extremely happy

True fans are not only the direct source of your income, but also your chief marketing for for ordinary fans

Everybody wants to be rich. Everybody wants to be famous. But you do not need 1 million subscribers or fans to measure success. You can acquire 1000 true fans. People that will buy anything and everything you put out.

Work your way to acquiring true fans instead of trying to conquer the world at first. When you have true fans, you can cater your content to the people who actually give a shit and will be interested in all things you do.

As I write this, I am still looking for one fan….

Tracy DiNunzio:

When you complain, nobody wants to help you

If you spend your time focusing on things that are wrong, and that’s what you express and project to people you know, you don’t become a source of growth for people, you become a source of destruction for people

I never heard of Tracy DiNunzio before Tools of Titans, but her section struck a big chord with me.

Complaining is something I do way too much in my day to day life. I am not talking about just complaining, I am talking about gossiping and criticizing as well.

I started a 21 Day No Complaint, Gossiping, or Criticizing Challenge, I couldn’t even get to 10 am. All this time we waste on bullshit that no one wants to hear but everyone talks about. I want to be about growth not about destruction. This new year I will make it a full day without doing one of those three things and I will become a place for growth. Not only for myself but for other people as well.

Domino Foods:

The last part of the Wealthy section in Tools of Titans had to punch me right in the gut. It is my single biggest struggle I encounter every day: FOOD.

Domino Foods are when we eat that one bad thing that spirals us out of control and into a binge eating marathon. I struggle with this every day, I cant have one piece of pizza because I will eat a whole pie or have one potato chip because then the bags were gone.

Fortunately, this is where Intermittent Fasting is helping me in a huge way. When I fast and I hit my goal of not eating until 12:30, it allows my body to not have all those cravings I would usually have after eating breakfast. It detoxes me and gets rid of the bad shit that gave me cravings.

Mind you, if I break the fast early and eat something that doesn’t coincide with my diet, then what happens when you knock one domino down? All the others come tumbling down with them.

Part 3: Wise is underway:

I hope you are enjoying these reviews in parts. I am currently already deep into the final section of Tools Of Titans: Wise and I could already tell it is going to be my favorite. Make sure to watch for future updates to see all I learn from Section Three in Tools of Titans.