The Most Useful Book I’ve Ever Read: Tools of Titans
Most personal development books are like the latter. They speak in samey platitudes phrased slightly differently. Rarely is there any new information or strategy placed on the table. It is still useful to read them to reinforce good principles though. On occasion an original thought does come to the surface to consider and that’s where the gold is. That’s what keeps me reading these things.I’m on my third read through of one particular book though. I’ve read it cover to cover twice so far and also spot reference it. I’ve got a full notebook full of notes from my read throughs and each time I go through it I pick up something different.
The book I refer to is unequivocally the most useful book I’ve ever read. That book is “Tools of Titans” by author Tim Ferriss. Ferriss is most known for his “Four Hour Work Week” book which was also my first taste of him as an author and entrepreneur. I would recommend reading this also. I know, I know, a lot of the stuff in the pages of that book is not practical for the 9-5 corporate grind (or rather they might not let you try it). However, the pages of that book blew my mind. It forced me to challenge how I prioritized work. It made me re-think how I was planning my day. It also taught me how to be more efficient then ever. Truly putting the 80-20 rule to work and getting back the most valuable commodity of all: time.
Ferriss also wrote the “Four Hour Body” and “Four Hour Chef” which are also both great testaments to rapid learning and efficiency. The first launched article of this website was inspired by “From Geek To Freak”, an article both found in the “Four Hour Body” and Ferriss’ blog. I faithfully reproduced the experiment. I know full well that it is impossible to gain more than x amount of muscle in a 4 week period of time but I was intrigued by the idea of it. The book taught me about results based thinking for your body, efficiency, and supplementation use in a way I’d never considered before. I was starting to treat all endeavors in a strategic and passionate way and I was never more consistently motivated.
Ferriss colors himself as a human guinea pig. Something that I’m sort of aspiring to be myself as I work through all of my long term experiments for this site.
Of all the things Ferriss has written though, his massive following continues to grow and his (seeming) medium of delivery is his blog/podcast. In this podcast he interviews a host of professionals, celebrities, people that are generally the best at what they do and it is phenomenal. Ferriss as an interviewer might be his greatest skill. Even if you think his personal philosophies are garbage, the guy knows how to ask great questions and has the medium to ask them to very important people.
Ferriss has kept copious notes from all interviews that he has done whether it is from his podcast or otherwise.
Enter “Tools of Titans”
Ferriss took those notes and painstakingly pooled them together in a massive compendium. That compendium is “Tools of Titans”. Actors, Doctors, Artists of all kinds, Athletes, Coaches, Entrepreneurs, Military, Political Figures, a veritable whose who of success. If you opened its pages and read through the list of over a hundred people you will find someone you respect. Picking the brains of all of these people is priceless.
Tony Robbins, whom I wrote an article about last week has a quote:
“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Maybe even more interesting then the individual highlights from each of these people is the things they actually have in common. Reading through the pages I saw that the majority of these people had certain routines that they do very similarly to each other. The specific recommended reading books from each interview is very interesting. So many of the most successful people have read and tend to gift the same books over and over again.
There’s also an interesting section in many of the interviewees which lists there best purchase for under $100 dollars making highly impactful buys available to everyone (not just the uber rich).
So how do I use this book? First off let me say that you can read it cover to cover, or randomly pick a page and you will stumble across something useful. For my purposes and since I am very systematic in my approach, chose to read it cover to cover. What I ended up doing was filling a notebook split into sections in the same way that “Tools of Titans” is split: Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise.
As I read through I would take a note of something that I found curious, or a book that gets mentioned or a technique that I would like to try. I ended up on my first read through with a list just shy of 400 things that I wanted to try. I re-read certain tidbits and narrowed it down. I knew it would be impossible to do everything at once.
The things I have done have been mentioned on this site for the most part. Reading Tony Robbins was one thing. I also started watching tons of Ted Talks. I read “The Tao Te Ching”. I read “The Artist’s Way”. I read “Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feyman”. There is a host of other books in my queue to read now as well. I paid attention specifically to the ones that were mentioned several times as being read or consistently gifted by the interviewees. Ferriss also realizes the value in this and puts an appendix at the back of the book that lists all of the books mentioned within the pages. This list alone is worth a copy of “Tools of Titans”.
I noted that most of the uber successful people I respected had a meditation routine so I started Headspace (I’m on day 138). I regained a passion for language and started Italian on DuoLingo (I’m on day 130). I started using Evernote to help organize my research notes. I’ve tried a handful of recommended supplements for different purposes (hydrolyzed gelatin for soft/connective tissue support for example). I’ve added different exercises and stretches to my routine. I started using the freedom app to lock down my phone for focus. I read the Valve employee handbook (I recommend you do to).
I started keeping a daily journal.I cannot possibly explain in words the level to which this book has impacted my life. This is only the beginning of a long relationship with that book. I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of value. Perhaps the biggest skill it has given me is a meta skill. As in the value I see in Ferriss’ interviewing abilities the book has made me re-think what questions hold the most value. In true efficient format, what are the most meaty, impactful questions you can ask someone to see what makes them tick?
I’m also not suggesting that you take everyone at their word. You’ll find throughout the pages many conflicting philosophies depending on the interviewee. What you do have is a good source of information and see how certain things worked well for some people that didn’t work so well for others. Pick and choose what might be useful to you and test test test. What you won’t run out of is things to try.
I am in no way affiliated with the author and have no stake in promoting the book. I even understand that some people may be off-put by his particular way of operating or philosophy. Even those people have to see the value in this sort of book.
“Tools of Titans” is just what the title says. It is your way of taking those tools and testing them for yourself. Stack the deck in your favor. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel in a lot of these cases. I see this book as a shortcut to discovering good habits. It’s a booster seat which will help me get to my own original tidbits of genius (or madness).
Long story short. If you want to have a good coffee table read, or want to do some serious soul searching. If you want to be inspired or need a quick motivation shot. If you want to peruse casually or if you want to be an OCD madman like yours truly…go out there and get a copy of this book. You will not regret it. Stay geeky!
Supergeek holding Tools of Titans
