The following is an excerpt from the appendices of The 4-Hour Body, which explores a common question: Can self-experimentation be valid at all, compared to placebo-controlled studies?
As we shall see, self-experimentation need not be extreme (I do the extremes so you don’t have to), and you can make significant discoveries with a sample size of one.
I’ll let a professional, Dr. Seth Roberts, explain how… Read More
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.”
- Mark Twain, 1904 notebook
For The 4-Hour Body, I wanted to do things a little differently. The above video trailer is one of those things. This also marks the launch of the official 4-Hour Body site.
It was directed, edited, and animated by the incredible Adam Patch. Detailed bios of the athletes featured are coming in a more in-depth “behind the scenes” post on how the video was made.
The music is a new track — Splinter — from one of my all-time favorite bands, Sevendust. How did I finally connect with them? Through Twitter with your help, of course :) Sincere thanks to the uber-consigliere Aaron Ray at The Collective in LA for making the permissions happen.
I wrote at least 50% of the new book to Sevendust’s music, depending heavily on the latest Cold Day Memory album and their virtuosic live acoustic album, Southside Double-Wide.
So, what do you think of the trailer? I was even considering doing some Ninja Scroll-style animated shorts.
Should I do more video or animation? For a rare change, I ask that you don’t tell me here…
Please let me know in the video comments on YouTube! (There are even some amusing haters you can chat with) For a host of reasons, I only have 24 hours left to make the video “pop” on YouTube, and comments are extremely helpful for this, as is traffic and views.
@tferriss so self-promo by referring to yourself in the third person can work. It’s ironic given the content of this http://su.pr/3BZbFL
This was in response to my tweet, which read:
Inc. Magazine – Tim Ferriss on the Pitfalls of Personal Branding: http://su.pr/3BZbFL
Ironic? Not really. Let me pose a question: what does a follower need to do if I write “My take on the Pitfalls of…”?
Before they retweet it (even with “RT @tferriss”), many will feel compelled to rewrite “My” as “Tim Ferriss’s” or “@tferriss’s”. Editing means fewer retweets. The same logic applies to some blog post titles, like this one, both for ease-of-sharing and SEO… Read More
Some of you have no doubt noticed that I’ve been experimenting with advertising for several months, whether at the top-right, through skyscrapers in the sidebar, or even under posts on a rare occasion.
It’s been a learning experience. Sometimes, it doesn’t turn out totally awesome. Case in point:
I think I can do better. I also have an incentive: the new book, The 4-Hour Body. But then I realized, I think you all can be FAR better. Collectively, I think you can be AWESOME.
So, I’m running a competition. Here are the prizes:
1) The fantastic North Face Prophet 65 Trekking Pack (Retail: $319)
2) A round-trip anywhere in the world Star Alliance airlines fly (or $1,000 cash)
3) All 4-Hour Body revenue via ads on my site for two weeks (potentially every post ever written), using your Amazon affiliate code. Untold riches.
4) Fame, public credit, and eternal glory for being the best.
The deadline for the competition is next Wednesday, 10/20, at 10pm PST. It pays to get started as soon as possible. Here’s the idea… Read More
I could not be happier with the end product. Truly, I am ecstatic.
If you want a minimalist guide to hacking the human body, this is it.
In each chapter (more than 50 topics total), I test everything on myself so you don’t have to. In “Reversing ‘Permanent’ Injuries,” for example, I tested the moderate options like over-the-counter supplementation and Feldenkrais, but I also imported stem-cell growth factors from Israel and had them injected. That was just for starters. The end result of that chapter? 90%+ of the injuries that plagued me for decades are now gone. I’m stronger and faster than I was at age 20.
If you want to know the two safe things out of 100 that worked abnormally well, I can tell you… Read More
Have you ever gone on safari in Africa?
Been trained by world champions?
Crossed the Atlantic on a 119-foot schooner?
Taken a private tour of an Indian archipelago, complete with tigers, crocodiles, and… Miss India?
Now you can. Or… if you simply want thousands of dollars of cutting-edge gadgets, you can have those, too.
Welcome to “The Land Rush,” intended to be the largest book promotion in history… Read More
PLEASE NOTE: THE PROMOTION AND THE CONTEST ARE BOTH OVER. THANKS!
Today is the day.
After three years of work, The 4-Hour Body is available everywhere!
I work very hard on my books. My first and previous book, The 4-Hour Workweek, has an 5-star average on Amazon with more than 1,000 reviews, and it has been a Top-10 Amazon Customer Favorite:
Compared to that book, I spent 3 TIMES longer on the new book — The 4-Hour Body — to ensure it worked with men and women, with young and old.
It is the definitive choose-your-own-adventure guide to the human body, ranging from fat-loss and muscular gain to sex and sleep. Everything is tested and it all works.
I have now negotiated the price down to a mere $14.50.
Why? Because I’m proud of this book and want it to be #1 on The New York Times bestseller list. That said, I have a very tough opponent. The Guinness Book of World Records is #1 for this week every year. Last I looked, Guinness was barely ahead of me:
With your help, I can beat them.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS PROMOTION AND THE CONTEST ARE BOTH OVER. THANKS!
In this post, and until 12 midnight Friday (Dec. 17), I will:
- Offer complementary “thank you” gifts to anyone who has, or will, buy a copy of The 4-Hour Body.
- Offer $260 of kick-ass goods to anyone who buys 3 copies (costs less than $45).
- Offer a free $16,000 trip to the person who promotes The 4-Hour Body best this week.
In addition to getting new readers, I also want to reward people who pre-ordered long ago, and help readers who missed past prizes due to tech glitches. So, here we go, one at a time…
Until Friday at midnight PST, you can get a FREE digital PDF copy of The 4-Hour Workweek (usually $20) and a free copy of “The Slow-Carb Diet: Volume 1″ (not available anywhere else), both hosted by E-Junkie.
STEP ONE:
If you haven’t already, buy The 4-Hour Body for about $14.50 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or through any other retailer. If you buy it in a book store, keep the receipt. Only hardcover counts for the bestseller lists, so it’s easily the most helpful for me (please!), but you can buy any format: Audiobook (abridged), Kindle, Nook, etc..
Three Books (US shipping addresses for the books, please)
If you want to buy 3 copies, you can get $260 of bonuses for less than $45 of books:
- 1 bottle of Super Cissus RX ($45), one of my staple supplements.
- 3-month Daily Burn Pro membership ($30)
- 1-year of ‘Performance Menu Journal’ Magazine ($30)
- 3 months Evernote Premium (first 500 only!) ($15)
- “Find Your First Profitable Idea” with Ramit Sethi ($100 for full course)
- Digital copy of “The 4-Hour Workweek” ($20)
- The Slow-Carb Cookbook ($20)
STEP ONE:
Buy three copies on Amazon or elsewhere.
If you want to go for the gold, get amped and promote The 4-Hour Body this week (deadline is 12 midnight PST, Friday) and tell me what you did in the comments. Measure your impact (clicks, sales, etc.) whenever possible.
If you are the best promoter, judged by me and a panel of friends, you get to pick one trip of a lifetime… for free. I will almost definitely be in attendance:
8-Day Argentina Snow Adventure in Patagonia
10-Day Private Tour of India, including Miss India
How to promote? That’s up to you. E-mail your friends, share links (like www.fourhourbody.com) on Facebook, join relevant LinkedIn groups, give a copy to a popular radio station as a giveaway… it’s entirely up to you!
Here are the descriptions:
8-Day Argentina Snow Adventure in Patagonia
Eight-day guided ski-snowboard adventure in mystical Patagonia, Argentina. Your guides introduce you to the best skiing, local culture, outstanding meals and red wines. Visit charming villages, situated on glacier cut lakes and national parks.
Also includes roundtrip economy airfare from and back to the U.S. I’m almost 100% that I’ll be there, as I LOVE Argentina, especially Patagonia. Provided by Powderquest — check ‘em out. Yoga in between runs, if you like? Malbec or hot chocolate? Yes, please.
Date: TBD based on your availability.
(Photo: DJ DeepS) 10-Day Private Tour of India, including Miss India
10-day “SamaSundarbans” trip to West Bengal with Tim Ferriss and his friends, where you will meet some of Samasource’s Service Partners and experience the beauty of India. After two days visiting Samasource’s Service Partners in Kolkata, enjoy a five-day tour across the Sundarbans.
Bengali for “beautiful forests,” the Sundarbans are an “alluvial archipelago” of 102 islands settled between the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers and accessible only by boat. Take a river cruise and observe the region’s diverse wildlife including saltwater crocodiles, bullsharks, and the Royal Bengal Tiger. After enjoying your eco-friendly expedition and luxury lodging in the Sundarbans, journey back to Kolkata and let our field associates and former Miss India Sandhya Chib give you an authentic taste of India! Long known as the cultural capital of India, Kolkata is the main business, commercial, and financial hub of eastern India and burgeoning urban metropolis. After exploring the city’s historical and popular landmarks, enjoy a special South Asian dinner in your honor, hosted by Miss India and special guests.
Includes: Economy airfare to and from India. Accommodations and internal transportation for entire trip in West Bengal, meals during Sundarbans tour, dinner with Miss India, Tim Ferriss, and special guests.
Date: TBD based on your availability.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS PROMOTION AND THE CONTEST ARE BOTH OVER. THANKS!
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Which adventure will you choose in this choose-your-own-adventure post?
No matter what, there’s one starting point: The 4-Hour Body.
Start a domino effect that will make 2011 your best year yet.
On this blog, I try and strike a balance — well, it’s more like a ratio — of 80% useful content and 20% fun for sh#$% and giggles.
If the blog isn’t fun for me to write, it will end up boring to read, so I sometimes visit Random Land. This is such a time. I think athletic girls are fantastic (don’t worry, ladies — goodies for you soon), and I like stickers. So what do you get?
The 4-Hour Body is almost exactly 4 weeks away, and each week, I will be debuting a new countdown sticker, ending with a launch sticker. This week features my friend Taryn Southern, whose new video “Keep It In Your Pants” might just make your head explode or your boss fire you.
How do you get the stickers? Simple:
– “Check-in” via the GetGlue app or website
– If needed: click the “Reading Book” icon, search for the book by title or “Ferriss”, and then click “Check-in”.
– You get a digital sticker automatically, but…
– Once you earn 15 stickers (via “check-ins”) for any of the books, movies, TV shows, etc. on GetGlue, you can have free 4-Hour Body physical stickers shipped to you! Put them on your dog’s forehead, laptop, or iPhone.
Crazy times. Three years ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be promoting stickers, half-naked women, and erections. Just goes to show that what my parents told me is true: when you grow up, you can do ANYTHING that you want.
“This is no fairy story and no joke; the meat will be shoveled into carts and the man who did the shoveling will not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one.”
— Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
Total post read time: 6 minutes.
I have become fascinated by meat in the last several months, after both experimenting with vegetarianism and tracking health data.
The catalysts for my newfound carnivore enthusiasm were two-fold: reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and getting to know local butchers in the San Francisco area. I’ve come to realize that, if conscious eating — knowing where your food comes from and how it’s both raised and killed or harvested — is the key to ethical eating, labels are the new battleground for your mind and dollars… Read More
