Tim Ferriss Quotes

Get good at being a troublemaker and saying sorry when you really screw up

What's the worst that could happen?

Companies that start by redesigning the economics of an industry often finish by redesigning the whole industry-and owning it.

To do the impossible, you need to ignore the popular.

I have plenty of money to do what I want to do, and I have the relationships.

There are certain things I will automate, but when it comes to quality control, I want to keep a very close eye.

Seemingly unrelated [things] that are in fact really related, that's the stuff I like to talk about. Like dancing, language learning, swimming, three-pointers ...

Luxury, to me, is not owning a lot of stuff. Luxury, to me, is feeling unrushed.

Sometimes you need to go on a low-information diet.

The bottom line is that you only have the rights you fight for.

I think time management as a label encourages people to view each 24-hour period as a slot in which they should pack as much as possible.

The best entrepreneurs I've ever met are all good communicators. It's perhaps one of the very few unifying factors.

Focus on impact, not approval. If you believe you can change the world, which I hope you do, do what you believe is right and expect resistance and expect attackers. Keep calm and carry on!

The key to having more time is doing less, and there are two paths to get there, both of which should be used together: (1) Define a short to-do list and (2) define a not-to-do list.

Luxury is feeling unrushed. It is designing a life that allows you to do what you want with high leverage, with many options, all while feeling unrushed.

People are smarter than you think. Give them a chance to prove themselves.

If you don't have time, the truth is, you don't have priorities. Think harder; don't work harder.

Alternating periods of activity and rest is necessary to survive, let alone thrive. Capacity, interest, and mental endurance all wax and wane. Plan accordingly.

Be bold and don't worry about what people think. They don't do it that often anyway.

You can lose money and make it back, you can't do that with time.

Compile your to-do list for tomorrow no later than this evening.

The first thing I would do for anyone who's trying to lose body fat, for instance, would be to remove foods from the house that he or she would consume during lapses of self-control.

Short, sweet, and to the point. Clear writing, and therefore clear commands, comes from clear thinking. Think simple.

Being called a huckster and a charlatan started several years ago, so that's something I'm accustomed to. In most cases, it doesn't bother me.

Fun things happen when you earn dollars, live on pesos, and compensate in rupees.

One can steal ideas, but no one can steal execution or passion.

If you take a strong stance and have a clear opinion or statement on any subject online, you're going to polarize people. And without that polarity, there's no discussion. Discussion is what I want, which means that I'm fine with the consequences.

Changing the world doesn't require much money. Again, think in terms of empowerment and not charity. How much were Gandhi's teachers paid? How much did it cost to give Dr. Martin Luther King the books that catalyzed his mind and actions?

That's precisely the question everyone should be asking-why the hell not? - Why not you, why not now ...

Every time I find myself stressed out, it's because I do things primarily driven by growth.

Personally, I now aim for one month of overseas relocation or high-intensity learning (tango, fighting, whatever) for every two months of work projects.

Creating demand is hard. Filling demand is easier. Don't create a product, then seek someone to sell it to. Find a market - define your customers - then find or develop a product for them.

Information is useless if it is not applied to something important or if you will forget it before you have a chance to apply it.

Are you better off than you were one year ago, one month ago, or one week ago? If not, things will not improve by themselves.

The best way to improve mental performance, is to improve physical performance

If you look at the purported dangers of salt or fat, there is no consensus of support in scientific literature. So I would ask first: 'Is it possible to have an informed government that actually follows the science?' From what I've seen, it's not likely.

Avoid results-by volume approach, instead focus on few critically important but uncomfortable actions.

An entrepreneur isn't someone who owns a business, it's someone who makes things happen.

People frequently fail when they try to do everything at once. They approach a massive project and quickly get discouraged. Taking small, but high-value steps takes less time, and you learn more in the long run.

Emphasize strengths, don't fix weaknesses.

The downstream effects are unknown. Do your best and hope for the best. If you're improving the world-however you define that-consider your job well done.

Everyone is going to binge on a diet, for instance, so plan for it, schedule it, and contain the damage.

If you don't have time, you don't have priorities.

The most important actions are never comfortable.

Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.

There are two components that are fundamental to enjoy life and feel good about yourself: continual learning and service.

Remember - boredom is the enemy, not some abstract failure.

I still feel there are much smarter self-promoters out there than me. I am very methodical about my messaging, and I know how to gain attention very quickly.

I've seen the promised land, and there is good news. You can have it all.

$1,000,000 in the bank isn't the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows.

If you see distraction externally, you end up creating an internally distracted state.

Most people are good at a handful of things and utterly miserable at most.

If we define risk as 'the likelihood of an irreversible negative outcome,' inaction is the greatest risk of all.

Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task (whether important or not) in the most economical manner possible. Being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe.

Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic.

I do my best writing between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.. Almost every friend I have who is a consistently productive writer, does their best writing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. My quota is two crappy pages per day. I keep it really low so I'm not so intimidated that I never get started. I will do the gathering of interviews and research throughout the day. I'll get all my notes and materials together and then I'll do the synthesis between 10 p.m. to bed, which is usually 4 or 5 a.m.

Dreamlining is so named because it applies timelines to what most would consider dreams.

There are tons of things in your home and life that you don't use, need, or even particularly want. They just came into your life as impulsive flotsam and jetsam and never found a good exit. Whether you're aware of it or not, this clutter creates indecision and distractions ...

I discourage passive skepticism, which is the armchair variety where people sit back and criticize without ever subjecting their theories or themselves to real field testing.

Massive elimination is the most important step and the most neglected step for entrepreneurs.

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.

Never check email first thing in the morning. Instead, complete your most important task before 11:00 A.M. to avoid using lunch or reading email as a postponement excuse.

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?

You are who you associate with.

Lacking an external focus, the mind turns inward on itself and creates problems to solve, even if the problems are undefined or unimportant. If you find a focus, an ambitious goal that seems impossible and forces you to grow, these doubts disappear.

Perfection is an impossible destination

Awareness, even at a subconscious level, beats fancy checklists without it, track or you will fail.

You think you're fatigued, therefore you can't exercise. In fact, you choose not to move, therefore you feel fatigued.

Role models who push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress - stress that is healthful and the stimulus for growth.

What might you do to accomplish your 10-year goals in the next 6 months, if you had a gun against your head?

Fear is your friend. It is an indicator. Sometimes it shows you what you shouldn't do, more often than not it shows you what you should do.

Am I being productive, or just active?
Am I inventing things to do, to avoid the important?
Focus on demonstrating results instead of showing dedication.

I'm prepared to do battle for a dream that is worth dreaming.

For uncommon solutions, you have to look in uncommon places.

Just because something has been a lot of work or consumed a lot of time doesn't make it productive or worthwhile.

There are two types of mistakes: mistakes of ambition and mistakes of sloth.

I always point people to the article '1,000 True Fans' by Kevin Kelly. If you choose your thousand ideal customers or readers properly and find the single author blog that targets that audience, you never have to do any more marketing. You're done. That is a lesson that very few product developers and marketers have learned, and it's unfortunate.

Most people can do absolutely awe-inspiring things. Sometimes they just need a little nudge.

Reality is negotiable. Outside of science and law, all rules can be bent or broken, and it doesn't require being unethical.

With a decrease in the number of pirates, there has been an increase in global warming over the same period. Therefore, global warming is caused by a lack of pirates. Even more compelling: Somalia has the highest number of Pirates AND the lowest Carbon emissions of any country. Coincidence?

Just because you are embarrassed to admit that you're still living the consequences of bad decisions made 5, 10, 20 years ago shouldn't stop you from making good decisions now. If you let pride stop you, you will hate life 5, 10, and 20 years from now for the same reasons.

Tomorrow becomes never. No matter how small the task, take the first step now!

Unbeknownst to most fun-loving bipeds, not all stress is bad. Indeed, the New Rich don't aim to eliminate all stress. Not in the least.

The manifesto of the dealmaker is simple: Reality is negotiable.

Becoming a member of the NR is not just about working smarter. It's about building a system to replace yourself.

The universe doesn't conspire against you, but it doesn't go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never perfect.

To have an uncommon lifestyle, you need to develop the uncommon habit of making decisions, both for yourself and for others.

Learn to ask, If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?

Three ingredients of luxury lifestyle design are time, income, and mobility.

People who avoid all criticism fail. It's destructive criticism we need to avoid, not criticism in all forms.

I take notes like some people take drugs ...

Pacifists become militants. Freedom fighters become tyrants. Blessings become curses. Help becomes hindrance. More becomes less.

Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference.

Different is better when it is more effective or more fun.