Tribe of Mentors Index
This synopsis of the entire book has been primarily prepared for the mobile application HabitCoach. http://www.gethabitcoach.com/
Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss
Tim Ferriss interviewed more than 300 famous people from all kinds of industries. He asked them a set of questions about their life and their way of living and facing problems. His book Tribe of Mentors is a collection of the best answers from his interviewees. One question that Ferriss asked is very actionable: “In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?” Answers to this one question gave us plenty ideas on how to improve your life the most.
Index Do really hard physical exercises with friends.
Improve your courage, not your confidence.
Choose and develop your happiness.
Consider listening to books before you fall asleep.
Define clearly when you work and when you relax.
Try Transcendental Meditation.
Exercise with friends.
Try vinyasa yoga.
When something goes wrong, use this thought process.
Practice gratitude.
Connect with others to change the world and have fun.
Do a series of stretches just after waking up.
Learn to enjoy the process.
Practice Zen Buddhism
Start to believe that we are all mini gods.
Ask the right questions.
Make your life great one day at the time.
Use Imago Dialogue to solve conflicts in your relationship.
Take the Enneagram test to better understand who you are.
Do daily journaling.
Engage in your “fear practice” for two minutes each day.
Do you read books, but they do not change your life? The key is repetition and reflection. Practice this and many more books with HabitCoach: http://www.gethabitcoach.com/
Productivity
Do really hard physical exercises with friends.
1. The exercise must be really hard. Everything else afterward will be easy. 2. Find a group of friends and do it together. Otherwise, it will not be hard enough.
Courage
Improve your courage, not your confidence.
1. Don’t wait for confidence to arise; take a step. Confidence develops naturally when you take a risk. 2. Be careful with being over-confident. People who try to be confident are often perceived as annoying or arrogant.
Happiness
Choose and develop your happiness.
1. Don’t wait for happiness; choose to be happy now. It’s your decision that will make you happy, not circumstances. 2. Don’t accept the voice in your head as the source of all truth. The voice, the memory, and the identity are burdens from the past. They prevent you from living freely in the present and being happy.
Learning Speed
Consider listening to books before you fall asleep.
Carefully set a timer that will turn off the audiobook automatically. Rewind it a little when you wake up, so that you are ready the next evening to listen again.
Productivity
Define clearly when you work and when you relax.
1. Set hours in your calendar for your work and follow it. 2. When there is leisure time, don’t do any work. Zero. 3. If you work from home, consider going to coffee shops or coworking places to draw a clear line between work and leisure time.
Success
Try Transcendental Meditation.
Find a therapist nearby that offers courses for this type of meditation.
Productivity
Exercise with friends.
1. Find a health community and exercise with it. . . . as opposed to going to the gym and just doing your routine. 2. Exercise outdoors and change locations. Consider ending with a sauna or ice session.
Self-Esteem
Try vinyasa yoga.
Find a school nearby that teaches this type of yoga. Practice it with other people.
Decision-Making Skills
When something goes wrong, use this thought process.
1. Don’t assume that you did something wrong. Instead, ask this question: “What policy was I following that produced this bad outcome, and do I still expect that policy to give the best results overall, occasional bad outcomes notwithstanding?” 2. Your policies will fail some of the time, and you don’t want to abandon them right after something went wrong.
Happiness
Practice gratitude.
1. Create your grateful ritual. For example, listen to your gratitude playlist, and then think of three things that you are genuinely grateful for. Be specific. 2. Do it properly and genuinely. Reflect on it. 3. Make a habit to practice it every day. Do it either just after waking up or before going to sleep.
Interpersonal Skills
Connect with others to change the world and have fun.
1. Connect with others. Do so whenever possible. 2. Strive to always create fun and delight for others. Do this with enthusiasm. 3. Learn into each moment and expect to encounter magic—or miracles. Instead of focusing inward on your ideas, focus on connecting with others.
Success
Do a series of stretches just after waking up.
1. Start with a two-minute plank. 2. Then do downward dog. 3. Finish with a series of stretches.
Success
Learn to enjoy the process.
1. Never forget to enjoy the moment. The process is the most important part. . . . not the goal itself. 2. When you feel that you just want to get through it, stop for a moment and remind yourself about this.
Happiness
Practice Zen Buddhism
We recommend starting with these two books: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki and What Is Zen? Plain Talk for a Beginner’s Mind by Norman Fischer
Happiness
Start to believe that we are all mini gods.
To change your belief, you must repeat it every day, until it becomes part of you. Reflect on it. This is the foundation: You have unlimited power—the power to solve any problem you’re facing or anyone else is facing. You create your reality. Being a mini god means you never lack. You know you already have everything. You are complete. You are full—so full that you can give without counting.
Interpersonal Skills
Ask the right questions.
1. Dive deeper into conversation and understand why someone behaves the way they do. What motivates them? 2. Don’t scrape only the surface in the conversation. Instead, ask someone how they feel and why they behaved in certain way.
Happiness
Make your life great one day at the time.
1. Every evening, ask yourself, “How happy and satisfied am I with my life right now?” Simply find out what it takes to have a great day. 2. To have a great life, maximize your “up” time and minimize your downs. Look at every activity and think, “Is it contributing to me having a better day?” 3. Start by waking up from a good sleep, eating good food, leaving your phone/newspaper/computer behind, and simply writing down your plan for what will make the day great. Have more of this stuff and less of the fluff. 4. Include physical activity, hard work, socializing, and giving help to others.
Interpersonal Skills
Use Imago Dialogue to solve conflicts in your relationship.
Imago Dialogue is a communication tool designed by Dr. Harville Hendrix and Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt. It’s a structured way to talk with your spouse or significant other, especially when you’re fighting. Look it up online for more details on how it works.
Understanding Others
Take the Enneagram test to better understand who you are.
1. Find a free Enneagram test online. 2. Ask your friends to do it as well. Compare the results.
Self-Awareness
Do daily journaling.
1. Journaling can be used for catharsis and healing or for growing and expanding learning capacity. 2. Entries can be very short or long; it doesn’t matter here. 3. Typically, it takes two to four weeks before you will see and feel positive results of journaling. 4. In order to have better results, write by hand (not on the computer). 5. The only regret you will have is that you did not start the process earlier.
Happiness
Engage in your “fear practice” for two minutes each day.
First, locate the fear in your body; sometimes it’s in your jaw or shoulders, sometimes in your forehead. Then, do this three-step process: 1. Spend 15–30 seconds affirming that it’s natural to feel discomfort. You should be scared when you are doing big things. Acknowledging this can be life-changing. 2. Spend the next 15–30 seconds on understanding what your current relationship with this discomfort is. If the anxiety is out of proportion to the situation or is irrational in any way, that means that you are ignoring fear, and therefore it speaks louder or acts out. If this is the case, ask what fear is trying to tell you that you didn’t acknowledge (e.g., “Write a new speech; the one you have sucks”). 3. Spend as long as it takes to feel it (usually 30–60 seconds). Don’t try to get rid of it. Feel the emotion by spending some time with it. Fear, feeling acknowledged and heard, often dissipates.
Do you read books, but they do not change your life? The key is repetition and reflection. Practice this and many more books with HabitCoach: http://www.gethabitcoach.com/
Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss
Tim Ferriss interviewed more than 300 famous people from all kinds of industries. He asked them a set of questions about their life and their way of living and facing problems. His book Tribe of Mentors is a collection of the best answers from his interviewees. One question that Ferriss asked is very actionable: “In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?” Answers to this one question gave us plenty ideas on how to improve your life the most.
Index Do really hard physical exercises with friends.
Improve your courage, not your confidence.
Choose and develop your happiness.
Consider listening to books before you fall asleep.
Define clearly when you work and when you relax.
Try Transcendental Meditation.
Exercise with friends.
Try vinyasa yoga.
When something goes wrong, use this thought process.
Practice gratitude.
Connect with others to change the world and have fun.
Do a series of stretches just after waking up.
Learn to enjoy the process.
Practice Zen Buddhism
Start to believe that we are all mini gods.
Ask the right questions.
Make your life great one day at the time.
Use Imago Dialogue to solve conflicts in your relationship.
Take the Enneagram test to better understand who you are.
Do daily journaling.
Engage in your “fear practice” for two minutes each day.
Do you read books, but they do not change your life? The key is repetition and reflection. Practice this and many more books with HabitCoach: http://www.gethabitcoach.com/
Productivity
Do really hard physical exercises with friends.
1. The exercise must be really hard. Everything else afterward will be easy. 2. Find a group of friends and do it together. Otherwise, it will not be hard enough.
Courage
Improve your courage, not your confidence.
1. Don’t wait for confidence to arise; take a step. Confidence develops naturally when you take a risk. 2. Be careful with being over-confident. People who try to be confident are often perceived as annoying or arrogant.
Happiness
Choose and develop your happiness.
1. Don’t wait for happiness; choose to be happy now. It’s your decision that will make you happy, not circumstances. 2. Don’t accept the voice in your head as the source of all truth. The voice, the memory, and the identity are burdens from the past. They prevent you from living freely in the present and being happy.
Learning Speed
Consider listening to books before you fall asleep.
Carefully set a timer that will turn off the audiobook automatically. Rewind it a little when you wake up, so that you are ready the next evening to listen again.
Productivity
Define clearly when you work and when you relax.
1. Set hours in your calendar for your work and follow it. 2. When there is leisure time, don’t do any work. Zero. 3. If you work from home, consider going to coffee shops or coworking places to draw a clear line between work and leisure time.
Success
Try Transcendental Meditation.
Find a therapist nearby that offers courses for this type of meditation.
Productivity
Exercise with friends.
1. Find a health community and exercise with it. . . . as opposed to going to the gym and just doing your routine. 2. Exercise outdoors and change locations. Consider ending with a sauna or ice session.
Self-Esteem
Try vinyasa yoga.
Find a school nearby that teaches this type of yoga. Practice it with other people.
Decision-Making Skills
When something goes wrong, use this thought process.
1. Don’t assume that you did something wrong. Instead, ask this question: “What policy was I following that produced this bad outcome, and do I still expect that policy to give the best results overall, occasional bad outcomes notwithstanding?” 2. Your policies will fail some of the time, and you don’t want to abandon them right after something went wrong.
Happiness
Practice gratitude.
1. Create your grateful ritual. For example, listen to your gratitude playlist, and then think of three things that you are genuinely grateful for. Be specific. 2. Do it properly and genuinely. Reflect on it. 3. Make a habit to practice it every day. Do it either just after waking up or before going to sleep.
Interpersonal Skills
Connect with others to change the world and have fun.
1. Connect with others. Do so whenever possible. 2. Strive to always create fun and delight for others. Do this with enthusiasm. 3. Learn into each moment and expect to encounter magic—or miracles. Instead of focusing inward on your ideas, focus on connecting with others.
Success
Do a series of stretches just after waking up.
1. Start with a two-minute plank. 2. Then do downward dog. 3. Finish with a series of stretches.
Success
Learn to enjoy the process.
1. Never forget to enjoy the moment. The process is the most important part. . . . not the goal itself. 2. When you feel that you just want to get through it, stop for a moment and remind yourself about this.
Happiness
Practice Zen Buddhism
We recommend starting with these two books: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki and What Is Zen? Plain Talk for a Beginner’s Mind by Norman Fischer
Happiness
Start to believe that we are all mini gods.
To change your belief, you must repeat it every day, until it becomes part of you. Reflect on it. This is the foundation: You have unlimited power—the power to solve any problem you’re facing or anyone else is facing. You create your reality. Being a mini god means you never lack. You know you already have everything. You are complete. You are full—so full that you can give without counting.
Interpersonal Skills
Ask the right questions.
1. Dive deeper into conversation and understand why someone behaves the way they do. What motivates them? 2. Don’t scrape only the surface in the conversation. Instead, ask someone how they feel and why they behaved in certain way.
Happiness
Make your life great one day at the time.
1. Every evening, ask yourself, “How happy and satisfied am I with my life right now?” Simply find out what it takes to have a great day. 2. To have a great life, maximize your “up” time and minimize your downs. Look at every activity and think, “Is it contributing to me having a better day?” 3. Start by waking up from a good sleep, eating good food, leaving your phone/newspaper/computer behind, and simply writing down your plan for what will make the day great. Have more of this stuff and less of the fluff. 4. Include physical activity, hard work, socializing, and giving help to others.
Interpersonal Skills
Use Imago Dialogue to solve conflicts in your relationship.
Imago Dialogue is a communication tool designed by Dr. Harville Hendrix and Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt. It’s a structured way to talk with your spouse or significant other, especially when you’re fighting. Look it up online for more details on how it works.
Understanding Others
Take the Enneagram test to better understand who you are.
1. Find a free Enneagram test online. 2. Ask your friends to do it as well. Compare the results.
Self-Awareness
Do daily journaling.
1. Journaling can be used for catharsis and healing or for growing and expanding learning capacity. 2. Entries can be very short or long; it doesn’t matter here. 3. Typically, it takes two to four weeks before you will see and feel positive results of journaling. 4. In order to have better results, write by hand (not on the computer). 5. The only regret you will have is that you did not start the process earlier.
Happiness
Engage in your “fear practice” for two minutes each day.
First, locate the fear in your body; sometimes it’s in your jaw or shoulders, sometimes in your forehead. Then, do this three-step process: 1. Spend 15–30 seconds affirming that it’s natural to feel discomfort. You should be scared when you are doing big things. Acknowledging this can be life-changing. 2. Spend the next 15–30 seconds on understanding what your current relationship with this discomfort is. If the anxiety is out of proportion to the situation or is irrational in any way, that means that you are ignoring fear, and therefore it speaks louder or acts out. If this is the case, ask what fear is trying to tell you that you didn’t acknowledge (e.g., “Write a new speech; the one you have sucks”). 3. Spend as long as it takes to feel it (usually 30–60 seconds). Don’t try to get rid of it. Feel the emotion by spending some time with it. Fear, feeling acknowledged and heard, often dissipates.
Do you read books, but they do not change your life? The key is repetition and reflection. Practice this and many more books with HabitCoach: http://www.gethabitcoach.com/
