
Questions that changed my life (2016) - galfarragem
https://tim.blog/2016/12/07/testing-the-impossible-17-questions-that-changed-my-life
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dougmwne
Tim Ferriss changed my life about 6 years ago. This is an embarrassing
revelation for me because it was a bunch of somewhat trite and unrealistic
advice from the book, 4 hour work week. The reason it changed my life is
because at his core, Ferriss challenges people to stop doing things because of
inertia and because it's how it's always been done, then seek a better way. I
was ready and capable of this, I think I just needed someone's permission and
example that this way of thinking would work out in the end.

For my own story, my work, location and daily activities were not aligned with
the life I wanted to live and weren't ever going to get me closer to what I
wanted. I'd spent my 20's figuring out how to fit in, be likable, be a good
employee. But the American dream is quite dead for most people and it was dead
for me. Following the crowd was never going to even get me a white picket
fence in my city, even if I'd wanted one.

The result has been the 6 most fantastically awesome years of my life. It's
taken me to a new career, new locations, and new ways of doing everything. If
you've read 4 hour work week, you'll know that Ferriss had years of adventures
that most will never experience. It's been like that, but better.

If this is speaking to you. DO IT.

~~~
Swizec
Congratz on finding the life you want!

For me the revelation after trying some of those things has been really odd.
Turns out that deep down I love the grind. Any time I go on an extended
optimize-for-life-lived journey (1 month +), I come back and think _”Well
shit, that was an entire month I got nothing done towards everything I want to
achieve in life”_

That is to say, it’s important to try these things but don’t get too hung up
on not having them. Maybe deep down you just don’t wanna.

But you gotta try to find out. That part is true.

~~~
dougmwne
Cool! And it sounds like you've learned something really valuable as well. I
think that's the exact value of running lifestyle experiments. I also realized
I wanted more than sightseeing tours and umbrella drinks, though for me it's
probably 40% work and 60% life. And I got a lot clearer on my goals in both
areas in the process.

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nogabebop23
Tim Ferriss is an unapologetic self-promoter who often comes across as greasy
and his major product is the Tim Ferriss id, but he's also right so much of
the time. He offers very good advice from someone I would never want to be,
and that's OK. I highly recommend reading beyond the slick SEO-optimizing
presentation; there is a lot of good, actionable stuff in there.

~~~
timoth3y
I've found the best way to learn from Tim Ferriss is to ignore what he says an
watch what he does.

I've never found much value in his books, but he is an amazing marketer and
promoter.

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kqr
I really like question 12:

> What might I put in place to allow me to go off the grid for 4 to 8 weeks,
> with no phone or email?

This echoes a sentiment I recently read in _Turn the Ship Around_ : managers
are frequently recognised and praised for things that happen while they are
actively leading a team.

This sounds obvious, but it skews their leadership toward shorttermism. We
should be better at recognising great leaders by how smoothly things run _when
they aren 't present_.

It's definitely worth keeping in mind for individual contributors without
direct reports too. Would something grind to a halt or progress very slowly if
you unexpectedly go offline? At least for me, probably more than I'd like.

~~~
war1025
This is similar to the idea of praising the people who are always putting out
fires because their actions are visible, vs the people more in the background
who design systems that don't catch fire and just hum along without complaint.

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war1025
I really like a lot of Tim Ferris' ideas, but a common theme through that
general "lifestyle optimization" genre is single people without a family to
support.

But I guess maybe there is still value to the idea that often the "show
stoppers" that keep you from breaking out of your familiar ruts are really
just fears that you haven't actually examined yet.

~~~
gengelbro
This is also what came to my mind when reading this article. Not everyone is
capable of pivoting their life because of dependents and other inflexible
obligations.

I've dubbed articles and advice like this as "manic pixey tech guy" syndrome.

~~~
war1025
Care to elaborate on the "manic pixey" part? I've never heard that phrase
before.

~~~
hardwaregeek
It's a play on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl)

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dexen
Under the somewhat clickbait-y title, the post is both insightful and also
encourages further thinking and exploration.

~~~
nogabebop23
He is a marketer at heart, so his material often comes across like this, but
there is good content in there if the presentation doesn't turn you away too
soon.

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simonebrunozzi
Nice questions. Good food for thoughts.

I still hate how spammy Tim's website is. You click an "X" to remove a sidebar
ad, and instead it pops up another bigger ad in front of your face.

I thought the whole thing was to be happy with enough money (TMI, as he calls
it). In an alternative universe, Tim Ferriss blogs for free, from a nice
affordable location in the Caribbean, and "works" only 4 hours per week,
instead of perhaps 50 or 60.

~~~
agustif
Capitalism and Marketing at works.. He makes good content but sells thhe shit
out of it

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TeeWEE
Wow this smells so much like bullshit. Looks like one of these guys making
money on food supplements, but actually making money on guys thinking they can
make money the way he does. The internet is full with these get rich quick
guys.

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XCSme
I listened to the first 10 minutes of the audio, half of it is promotion to
his other giggs, 40% is just fluff and only one or two sentences are actually
useful. I stopped listening after that and skimmed through the questions, but
didn't see any "wow" question that I never asked myself before.

