Am I hunting antelope or field mice? I often ask myself this, and I lifted it from the most unlikely of sources: former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. Now, I don’t know Newt, and I strongly disagree with a lot of his politics and deliberate hyper-polarization, but he had periods of nearly unbelievable effectiveness. He is considered by some to be one the most influential conservative leaders in the history of the Republican Party. How did he do it? And how did he even cross my radar? Around 2012, I wandered into a used bookstore and chanced upon Buck Up, Suck U ..read more

Illustration via 99designs “I was born wild. I’m a wild animal. These creatures that I interact with taught me I’m a wild animal. It was almost like I was walking along the shore and then that ocean to the one side was my wild self and the land to the right was this tame self. And I was trying desperately to find a balance.” — Craig Foster Craig Foster (@seachangeproject) is an Oscar- and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, naturalist, author, and ocean explorer. His films have won more than 150 international awards. He is the co-founder of the Sea Change Project, an NGO dedicated to the long-term conser ..read more

Illustration via 99designs Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types to tease out the habits, routines, favorite books, and so on that you can apply and test in your own life.  This time, we have a very special episode I recorded with my close friend Kevin Rose at SXSW in Austin, Texas! This week is officially the podcast’s 10-year anniversary, and there is no better way to commemorate such a wild milestone than with Kevin Rose and a little tequila. As many listeners know, Kevin was my ver ..read more

Illustration via 99designs “It’s never true to hate yourself or to condemn yourself.” — Martha Beck Dr. Martha Beck (@themarthabeck) has been called “the best-known life coach in America” by NPR and USA Today. She holds three Harvard degrees in social science and has published nine non-fiction books, one novel, and more than 200 magazine articles. The Guardian and other media have described her as “Oprah’s life coach.” Her recent book, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, was an instant New York Times Best Seller and an Oprah’s Book Club selection. Her next book, Beyond An ..read more

Illustration via 99designs “One of the things I love about working with hypnosis is people are surprised at what they can do because they’re trying out being different and seeing what it feels like.” — Dr. David Spiegel Dr. David Spiegel is Willson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he has been a member of the academic faculty since 1975. Dr. Spiegel has more than 40 years of clinical and research experi ..read more

Illustration via 99designs “Hope is everything.” — Reed Hastings Reed Hastings (@reedhastings) became executive chairman of Netflix in 2023, after 25 years as CEO. He co-founded Netflix in 1997. In 1991, Reed founded Pure Software, which made tools for software developers. After a 1995 IPO and several acquisitions, Pure was acquired by Rational Software in 1997. Reed is an active educational philanthropist and served on the California State Board of Education from 2000 to 2004. He is currently on the board of several educational organizations including KIPP and Pahara. Reed is also a board me ..read more

Tim Ferriss and Scott Glenn “If you love it, make it your life. And right along with that, be tenacious. Learn that the most important thing about being knocked down is getting back up. And if you can put yourself in the spot where you say, ‘I don’t care how many times I get knocked down, I’m getting back up every single time and going after what I want,’ that’s the answer.” — Scott Glenn Scott Glenn’s acting career spans nearly 60 years. His impressive film resume includes performances in Apocalypse Now, Urban Cowboy, The Right Stuff, Silverado, The Hunt for Red October, The Silence of the L ..read more

“How to Start a War” is a short story by yours truly. I’ve never shared fiction on this blog before, and it makes me quake in my boots, but this year will be a year of firsts. The story was originally published in NFT form to learn more about the technology and play footsie with my friend Kevin Rose. It’s a little tale about mercenaries, modern life, and the games we all play. The prose, handwriting, and concept is by me. The graphic design, which you can see at this link, is by Lisa Quine. And how much of this is actually fiction? Well, that’s a damn good question… “If you want to start a ..read more

Illustration via 99designs “I did five years of Akimbo. It was in the top one percent of all podcasts, and then I just stopped. And I stopped not because I didn’t love it — I did love it — I stopped because if I kept doing it, there’s something else I wouldn’t do instead. And creating a vacuum is required so that I will do the hard work of filling the vacuum. But if I just keep doing the thing, then there is no vacuum.” — Seth Godin Seth Godin is the author of 21 international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about work. His books have been translated into 38 languages and i ..read more

Illustration via 99designs “You have to have loftier goals than your expected outcome.” — Hugh Howey Hugh Howey (@hughhowey) is the New York Times bestselling author of Wool, Beacon 23, Sand, Machine Learning, Half Way Home, and more than a dozen other novels. His Silo trilogy was recently adapted by Apple TV, becoming their #1 drama of all time. A series based on his novel Beacon 23, starring Lena Headey, also released last year with season two due in March. Hugh’s works have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold millions of copies around the world. He lives in New York C ..read more