Quotes from Timothy Ferriss

There is just less competition for bigger goals.

It is fatal to know too much at the outcome: boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as to the novelist who is overcertain of his plot. —PAUL THEROUX, To the Ends of the Earth

What will the people who don't hold you in highest regard say about you?

80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes

To quote the industrial statistician George Box: "Every model is wrong, but some are useful.

What we really need to do, to design, is look at the extremes. The weakest, or the person with arthritis, or the athlete, or the strongest, the fastest person, because if we understand what the extremes are, the middle will take care of itself." In other words, the extremes inform the mean, but not vice versa.

And if all else fails, I try to obey this message I got in a Chinese fortune cookie (which I have since taped to my laptop): "Avoid compulsively making things worse.

Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask. After all, conscious thinking is largely asking and answering questions in your own head.

I overhear Bobby Flay say, "Take risks and you'll get the payoffs. Learn from your mistakes until you succeed. It's that simple." I

Borrow liberally, combine uniquely, and create your own bespoke blueprint.

These individuals have riches just as we say that we 'have a fever,' when really the fever has us." –Seneca Roman Stoic philosopher, famed playwright

Love yourself . . . You've got to love yourself before you can love others. Without it, nothing productive is going to happen, and we can all bang our heads on the wall.

Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.

Look creatively at your resume, work experience, physical habits, and hobbies and compile a list of all the groups, past and present, that you can associate yourself with.

No newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio. Music is permitted at all times. No news websites whatsoever (cnn.com, drudgereport.com, msn.com,10 etc.). No television at all, except for one hour of pleasure viewing each evening. No reading books, except for this book and one hour of fiction11 pleasure reading prior to bed. No web surfing at the desk unless it is necessary to complete a work task for that day. Necessary means necessary, not nice to have.

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." –Marcus Aurelius

YOU TOOK YOUR SHOT." Instantly I felt free and in control. I knew from then on that I could have the courage to fail on my own terms. From that moment, I decided that if I was going to succeed or fail, it was going to be up to me. I was changed forever.

The genuine love for reading itself, when cultivated, is a superpower. We live in the age of Alexandria, when every book and every piece of knowledge ever written down is a fingertip away. The means of learning are abundant—it's the desire to learn that's scarce.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly." –Colonel David Hackworth

What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. As

The minimum effective dose (MED) is defined simply: the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome.

And if you say you're not creative, look at how much you're missing out on just because you've told yourself that. I think creativity is one of the greatest gifts that we're born with that some people don't cultivate, that they don't realize it could be applied to literally everything in their lives.

It is fatal to know too much at the outset. Boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as the novelist who is over certain of his plot." –Paul Theroux

If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time. —CHINESE PROVERB