Tim Ferriss, the famous author of the ‘4-Hour’ series (4-Hour Workweek, 4-Hour Body, 4-Hour Chef), embodies the spirit of biohacking, which basically is all about improving oneself using techniques that give you a high return on your investment capital, whether that is money, time, or energy.
Now, that covers a very broad spectrum. It could include things like learning a new skill or maybe a sport, raising your IQ, getting strong, losing body fat, just to name a few. One of the hallmarks of Tim Ferriss’ work is that he often finds methods that are counter-intuitive, but provide a far bigger, better, faster result than those touted by the “experts.”
In this day and age of information overload and a dwindling supply of extra time, these methods hold great appeal to many – hence the not-surprising popularity of Tim’s books and of his blog. A lot of people have tried his suggestions with great results! And soon, you will be able to tune into his own TV show! Starting on December 1, he will be hosing The Tim Ferriss Experiment (TFX). We can hardly wait to find out what he is going to talk about next! This new show will be airing Sundays at 8pm on HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News. On his website, Tim shares this about his new show:
Newsweek calls him “the world’s best human guinea pig,” as he tests the extremes for the rest of us. He believes that nearly any skill can be “hacked” and learned in 1/100th the time most people expect… but can he do it in a matter of days?
The Tim Ferriss Experiment (TFX) will push Ferriss to the breaking point as he attempts just that.
In each episode, Tim will find the world’s most unorthodox teachers and – together — demystify some of the world’s coolest and most dangerous skills. Sometimes he’ll succeed, and other times, he’ll fail spectacularly while risking life and limb.
Now you are excited about it too, aren’t you? We decided to share this TED video as a glimpse into how he approaches obstacles in life. In it, Tim shares how he used his fear to push himself to learn how to swim, how to easily learn new languages, and how to do ballroom dancing – and you can use his tips to help yourself! As he says, the best things in life are often held back by false constructs and untested assumptions.
Tim Ferriss is a very motivational guy, and you can easily see that he practices what he preaches. As a lifelong average swimmer, I can hardly wait to get back into a pool and practice hydrodynamics!
Besides providing new approaches to swimming, dancing, and learning languages, one of the best reminder’s of making the most of your time comes from Parkinson’s Law (Cyril Northcote Parkinson, British historian and author): Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Tim’s slight change of this law is “the perceived complexity of a task will expand to fill the time you allot it.” Just being realistic about how much time something will take can give you more time – maybe to focus on something more fun! Take his advice and deconstruct anything that is giving you a challenge, to find what is most important – and then concentrate on that. You too can become a champion in anything you focus on!