The 4 Things I Admire Most About Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferris is one of my mentors and someone I’ve been listening to and learning from for the past few years. Why do I follow Tim so consistently instead of the thousands of others that I am sure have value to offer? It’s because I admire a few traits he holds and shares very openly.

I am sure Tim has qualities that I don’t see and traits that perhaps don’t gel with my own but that’s life. But I do believe him to be open and vulnerable.

Many of us only show a fragment to the outer world of who we really are. This is in order to protect being attacked, left open to being heavily ridiculed or judged and in safety of our ego. The perception we see of another is limited, there is a great deal we don’t see. Smoke and mirrors! With Tim I feel that what you see if what you get and there is an honest lack of BS.

I have many mentors who I learn a great deal from and the reason why I have many mentors is because I can take a little bit of something from each of them to help self-improve a little more everyday. Tim is one that I follow consistently.

One of the greatest habits of the successful, that has been proven in countless studies, is that they are great at surrounding themselves with like minded and successful people.  It is known that those that you associate with-often you become.

The relationships we choose in life will heavily affect the life we live. Choose the relationships that will only excel you forward on reaching your goals and dreams. I cannot physically meet and associate with my mentors, like Tim Ferriss however, I can, with the beauty of modern day technology, follow and learn from them.

I laugh sometimes when I notice an attitude or behaviour of mine that has clearly been adopted from one of my mentors. It’s true, habits and behaviours are contagious, as are attitudes.

If you want more good, healthy and positive habits and behaviours, then observe and learn from those that possess them. If you want bad and negative ones, then surround yourself with those that possess them.

My goal in life is to continually self-improve. To learn and improve myself each day until my body escapes me, or I escape my body.

I admit I have a man-crush! These are the three things I admire most about Tim Ferris.

1.     His mission. Tim is a life long learner and a great one. In being so he helps to inspire others to also become better learners. A perception of mine observed by the vast majority of content he releases. Blogs, podcasts and even TV shows to teach us techniques that can be adapted across disciplines to assist us in mastering an art or craft or learning, much more effectively.

He has this powerful curiosity and intrigue towards life that pushes him to ask powerful questions. Why? What? How? He then tackles what he learns through self-experimentation to deeper his learning. Knowledge without action is wasteful.

It is through this approach Tim can assess and improve effective learning techniques. Without taking what he hears, reads, or sees as gospel, Tim will test things out for himself in order to prove what’s real and what’s not.

These experiments and tests are certainly not half attempted either. He puts it all on the line; by thoroughly researching and speaking with the masters within those particular fields, he gains greater insights to help him overcome any particular barriers that may be faced.

He chooses not to learn as perhaps the way we are taught, nor does he limit his beliefs as to what is possible to learn or even how quickly we can learn something. He challenges the traditional approach to education and learning with thinking that may be regarded as outside the box.

Through all his studies and experiments in life Tim has become the expert at effective learning. When I read or listen to something from Ferriss I can be assured that its not merely just thoughts but truth based on harder evidence and fact.

Lesson for us all- become life long learners. Adapt a curiosity to everything in life you encounter, pick it apart, and take away the gold from every interaction. Everything you learn will advance you that much more helping you achieve the greatness you so desire in this life.

2.    Time Management Practices. I consider myself a highly organised person with some great in-built time management practices. I think growing up observing my mother has helped me considerably to get the most done in the time I have. With this belief aside there is always room to improve.

The various mentors that I look up to teach me various skills, some teach me how to better my mindset and attitude towards life while others I admire for their confidence. Tim has taught and helped me improve my effectiveness through increased productivity.

He has taught me how to remove distractions so that I can stay focused on the task at hand. He has allowed me to become better at prioritising so that I achieve more of my goals. There much more room to improve in this arena and I continually learn new tricks and tips from these mentors, including Tim.

Tim did a great podcast that you can find here in which he discusses some of his productivity disciplines. He claims not to be so great at being efficient but in this blog of his he explains why.

3.    His view towards the modern day lifestyle. The way I viewed money, career, lifestyle, and retirement changed when I finished reading Tim’s book The 4-Hour Workweek.

The opening chapters were so controversial to what I was bought up to believe and his views on how to approach life challenged what I thought I knew. And I loved it! The idea that we can move against the status quo and live a life by our own design was exciting.

Obviously the book is meant to inspire but also to teach us techniques on how to set up a “money machine” so that you can live the life doing those things you enjoy.

For me the book amplified my desire for freedom. Why can’t we live this life as we wish? Why do we have to do what the masses do? We don’t! It is possible to create the ideal life that you desire.

Tim’s view on things opened my mind and awakened something inside me that had gone to sleep- the drive for freedom in my life. It is really a book to encourage you to ask questions. If there is a problem, find a solution and don’t just accept the first answer you receive.

Grab a copy of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich here or download the Audible version using the ‘free book’ link below.

4.    His ability to network. He is very well known now but I am sure he would agree that it hasn’t always been this way- he had to work at it. But from my perspective what has assisted him to becoming so, is through his ability to network.

I remember him talking about launching The Four Hour Work Week and the strategy he used to get the book launched and into the public arena.

As a man with a desire to do things with the most effectiveness he researched the best way to do so and that meant attending conferences and doing a book-launch road show. This requires the skill of networking.

I am also a fan of his podcast- The Tim Ferriss Show, and the guests that he has on his show are very high calibre. This indicates further to me that his networking skills are great.

Networking is not a strength of mine but I realise that its essential on my journey so wish to only continue to improve. I will certainly observe and continue to watch Tim to see what new networking tips and tricks I can pick up.

5.    Bonus: There is no bullshit. I already mentioned this in the opening and that is I believe that what you see with Tim is what you get. I admire people who are open and vulnerable. Their authenticity shines through and they seem to lack any phoniness. This makes me want to listen to them more and certainly take their advice on-board.

This is a great quality and perhaps and is what allows you to follow and admire someone with consistently and longevity. When there is bullshit or as I say, “cheesiness”, it becomes challenging to follow someone.

Tim puts out consistently great content and I am grateful to be able to continue to learn from him.

I hope you have enjoyed my views and I would also love to hear your thoughts so leave your comments below. Until next time, peace, passion and purpose.