The above video is one of my favorite presentations I’ve given in 2009, an opening keynote at the last San Francisco WordCamp, titled “How to Blog without Killing Yourself”. More than 700 people from 32 countries were in attendance, which made for a wonderful experience.

The original title was “Scalable Blogging Behaviors: How to Grow from 1 to 1,000,000 Readers” and the content did not change.

In the above presentation, including detailed screenshots, I cover… Read More

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(Photo: vramak)

It’s finally time to tell you all.

My next book will be a hacker’s guide to the human body. The working title is “From Rapid Fat Loss to Strongmen: A Guide to Becoming Superhuman.” It has actually been planned for more than two years.

I’ve recorded almost every workout I’ve done since age 15, and my house looks like an ER, with dozens of gadgets and medical devices for capturing data. I’ve had hundreds of blood tests performed and have been doing this since 1996, with costs now totalling well over $100,000. I’ve taken my weight from 145 lbs. to 225 lbs. (lean) and back down, and I can remove or add 20 lbs. in 3-4 weeks on-demand.

So, what is the result of all this OCD madness?

I can show you how I safely do things outdated physiology textbooks tell you is impossible. This isn’t because I have some unique intelligence. It’s because I’ve tested the most basic assumptions of nutrition and exercise… and I experiment with outrageous alternatives that end up working.

Cut 2% bodyfat in two weeks? No problem. Increase muscular strength 30% in 48-72 hours, or drop 50-100 pounds of fat? Not an issue. I’ve done the guinea pig shotgun approach so you don’t have to. I’ll spare you the 10,000 pages of literature on a given topic and give you the one unusual 1-2-3 method that produced unbelievable results. That is not to imply this book will not be limited to me. I’ll attempt to include replicable results on multiple subjects (of both genders and including 60+-year olds) instead of “It worked for me, therefore it will work for you” in almost all cases.

Self-experimentation galore, cutting-edge labs from the Ivy League to the Middle East, interviews with superhuman athletes, and a guru-killing examination of results with some of the brightest PhDs and MDs in the world will form the backbone of this book. It will be equally designed for men and women.

And I need your help.

I am looking for research assistants to help with this book, as well as elite athletes (national level or above), trainers of elite athletes, case studies, MDs/PhDs/researchers doing interesting work, and anyone else who thinks they have something that could fit in human performance. Normal people who’ve made incredible progress or found an unusual method that works? Let me know.

Just send me a quick note here.

The 4-Hour Workweek has been sold in 35 languages, has been on The NY Times business bestseller list for more than 2 years unbroken, and has hit #1 NY Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and #1 BusinessWeek, among others. I expect this next book to be MUCH bigger. The names and findings of those featured will be launched worldwide.

Some of the topics I will address include: fat loss, muscular hypertrophy, and reversing injuries (acute, but especially chronic). There will be dozens more, but I have to keep them under wraps for now. I apologize, but trust me — you won’t be disappointed.

Can you help, or know someone who can? Please let me know here.

Exciting times ahead :)

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This is a recent 5-minute presentation I gave at Google I/O Ignite called “The Practicality of Pessimism: Stoicism as a Productivity System.”

In it, I discuss the two most effective productivity techniques I’ve found since 2004, both borrowed from Stoicism. I include personal usage examples, as well as several from Seneca and Cato. The audio is quite low, so you’ll need to up the volume.

Ponder this: could defining your fears be more important than defining your goals?

Suggested and related posts:
Fireside Chat at Google with Timothy Ferriss
The Secrets of Super-Productive CEOs – QA with Timothy Ferriss (Inc. Magazine)
Stoicism 101: A Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs
On The Shortness of Life: An Introduction to Seneca

For those who’d like to taste the various approaches to this format, here are all of the Ignite videos in one uncut sequence. There are some outstanding speakers:

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I’m so excited about SU.PR, it’s hard to contain.

For the last few weeks, the brilliant team at StumbleUpon and I have collaborated on the creation of a new product designed to do one thing: get you more traffic in less time.

It might just become the hub of your social media empire… Read More

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Up to no (coherent) good once again, The Random Show returns.

In episode 3, Kevin Rose and I discuss our top 5 must-read books, how we use them, and who should read them.

The 10 books are… Read More

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This is a simple and amazing bar trick that allows you to balance a fork and spoon on a toothpick. Two forks also works well.

It will turn any dull conversation into a “WTF?!” moment where people start pulling out cameras. No training or special items required — you can learn it in about 30 seconds.

It might be as inane as my video on how to peel hard-boiled eggs without peeling them. Then again, that video got more than 2 million views, so at least a few of you seem to enjoy sleight-of-hand and general tomfoolery as much as I do.

Be careful with the glasses!

Elsewhere on the Interwebs:
Tim Ferriss – 3 Tips for Would-Be Dancers: From 1st Class to World-Class in 6 Months

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Vanity metrics: good for feeling awesome, bad for action. (photo source: UK Guardian)

This is a guest post by serial entrepreneur Eric Ries. He was most recently co-founder and CTO of IMVU, which has more than 20 million registered users and generates $1,000,000+ in revenue per month. Eric is also a venture advisor to Kleiner Perkins.

How do you get to $1,000,000 per month in sales? By testing the right things. Eric is a metrics man.

Here is just one business-changing example, taken from the outstanding “How IMVU Learned its way to $10M a year” on Venture Hacks… Read More

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Random Episode Numero 2 from Glenn McElhose on Vimeo.

Kevin and I are at it again in this 2nd episode of what is still being called “Random”. Have a better name or topic suggestions? Tell us in the comments!

This time, we discuss recent discoveries and experimentation – from new internet apps and electronic gadgets to knives and functional MRI (fMRI). Looking for just the audio? Download or stream it here.

Have a great weekend!

—

Related and Suggested:
Tim Ferriss Fireside Chat at Google
Tim Ferriss on Twitter
The Top-7 Tim Ferriss YouTube Videos (4 million views and counting)

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(photo: laffy4k)

Several weeks ago, I found myself in the passenger seat of a car going nowhere fast.

My friend, Peter Sims, who had earlier introduced me to the Stanford D.School, was leading the charge into the unknown, hurtling us (hopefully) towards dinner in exotic Burlingame, where people from SF and Palo Alto compromise to break bread.

The “us” included Alan M. Webber, whom I’d never met. He sat behind me, and — as getting lost tends to promote — we ended up talking about nothing in particular and everything in general: publishing, the game of business, Mr. T, you name it. I didn’t know Alan, but it soon became clear that I should listen as much as possible.

Alan was co-founder of Fast Company magazine and former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review.

More specifically related to this post, Alan developed a very interesting habit more than 20 years ago, when he began to carry a supply of 3 x 5 index cards wherever life took him. He wrote down and collected the lessons and insights he gleaned from his experiences travelling the world and in his interactions with people ranging from CEOs and spiritual leaders to basketball coaches, novelists, and stars from dozens of other worlds… Read More

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Tim Ferriss on Vibram Shoes from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.

“The human foot is a work of art and a masterpiece of engineering.”
—Leonardo Da Vinci

“OK, dude, what’s up with the goofy shoes?”

It was the second day of Pavel’s RKC kettlebell course, and I’d seen more than a few people wearing what appeared to be gecko feet. The sheer goofiness compelled me to ask Rudy Tapalla, a CrossFit instructor from Chicago, why on earth he would put these ridiculous gloves on his toes. He seemed to have good mojo — he was shorter than me but had a vertical jump to match Michael Jordan — so I figured he might have good reasons.

He did, though I didn’t realize it at the time.

I remained a skeptic but tested them a month later. Now, I have three pairs and find it hard to wear other shoes. Vibram Five Fingers shoes (”VFFs” to the die-hard fans) are worth a closer look.

After two weeks of wearing them, the lower-back pain I’d had for more than 10 years disappeared and hasn’t returned since I started experimentation about 8 weeks ago.

Sound ridiculously implausible?

It doesn’t once we look at how feet and posture adapt… Read More

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