Everything Tim Ferriss has recommended in 5-Bullet Friday — 2,122 books, articles, quotes, films, products and more, gathered from 480 issues since 2015. Browse by category, sort by what the community values or how often Tim has returned to it, and spend your 25 votes on what matters most to you. Each item's note is quoted from Tim's own words in the newsletter.
“How Do You Serve a Friend in Despair?” by David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) for The New York Times. For related philosophies and tools that have literally saved my life, please start here: “Some Practical Thoughts on Suicide” and projects supported by the Saisei Foundation. If you are unable to read the NYT article at the first link, try this one.— Tim Ferriss
Therm-ic C-Pack 1300 Bluetooth with Heat Kit. This is a heated boot system that has been a lifesaver for my toes on cold days. Note that I would likely buy the 1700 version next time to have a longer battery life, but these less expensive 1300s are great for sessions of six hours or less. This system has three heating intensities, and a roughly six-hour session is using the second, middle intensity. If you keep it on the lowest setting, I think it’s fair to assume you could get 10 hours, but I have Raynaud’s disease, and my toes get abnormally cold. Another tip that is counterintuitive: thin s— Tim Ferriss
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks (@arthurbrooks). Thank you to Peter Attia, MD (@PeterAttiaMD) for the recommendation. From the description: “Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs. What can we do, starting now, to make our older years a time — Tim Ferriss
“The very secret of life for me, I believed, was to maintain in the midst of rushing events an inner tranquility.” —
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. This is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever found. The dialogue is burst-out-loud funny, and the writing is spectacularly visual. I’d heard the name Lonesome Dove many times over the years, and I finally dove in after a friend mentioned that it’s his all-time favorite book. Here’s the description: “A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, Lonesome Dove, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America. Two retired Texas Rangers, Captains Woodrow Call and Augustus ‘G— Tim Ferriss
Stio’s Environ XT Jacket. I recently replaced my old ski jacket/shell with this, and I’m thrilled that I did. It’s lightweight, durable, and has made even windy negative temperatures easy to handle with a proper base layer and midlayer. The Stio Environ XT is one of SKI Magazine’s “Best Men’s Ski Jackets of 2023,” and I chose Afternoon Azure for color. Here’s the description from the website: “Primed and ready for sidecountry hits, all-day tours, and storm laps in the resort, this jacket is for the minimalist who never uses his powder skirt and the purist who knows exactly what he needs.”— Tim Ferriss
“I want to risk hitting my head on the ceiling of my talent. I want to really test it out and say, ‘Okay, you're not that good. You just reached the level here.’ I don't ever want to fail, but I want to risk failure every time out of the gate.” —
ORTOVOX Merino Thermovent Hoody. From the description: “The HOODY is made of 99% fine merino wool. Thanks to the mesh structure in the torso and arm areas, this super-lightweight base layer wicks moisture away perfectly and provides ventilation. And the air pockets in the special structure make it particularly warm. Merino wool is naturally temperature- and moisture-regulating. A small pack size and ideal weight-to-warmth ratio will delight all tourers who value comfort and low weight.”— Tim Ferriss
GOLD by Rumi, translated by Haleh Liza Gafori (@halehliza).
“The Great Contemplation: Reflections on the impact of the ‘4-Hour Workweek’ 15 years later” by Paul Millerd (@p_millerd). From the post: “They had never read it. If they did, they would have found that it is a philosophical wake-up call disguised as a bunch of life hacks. The whole book is basically him channeling the energy of poet Mary Oliver and yelling, ‘Don’t waste your wild and precious life!’” Hat tip to Jim O'Shaughnessy for bringing this to my attention.— Tim Ferriss
“You don’t play against opponents; you play against the game of basketball.”
“Runnin’ Down a Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love.” This speech focuses on one topic: finding your dream path, where what’s easy for you is hard for others and what’s fun for you is work for others. Delivered by former basketball player and legendary venture capitalist Bill Gurley (@bgurley), it contains good reminders for people in all stages of life. The below quotes are all from one of his case studies, Bobby Knight…— Tim Ferriss
Sheng Wang: Sweet and Juicy. I saw Sheng Wang (@shengwangtime) open for Ali Wong (@aliwong) in NYC a few years ago, and I laughed my ass off. He’s dry like Mitch Hedberg and takes on the tough task of clean comedy like Jim Gaffigan (@JimGaffigan). Here’s the description: “Sheng Wang delivers a laid-back set on juicing, mammograms, how snoring is an evolutionary mistake, and the existential angst of buying pants from Costco.” I’m omitting links to trailers on purpose, as I don’t think they do the special justice.— Tim Ferriss
“Waffle” (Tom Lord-Alge Mix) (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music) by Sevendust (@Sevendust). Sevendust is one of my favorite bands, especially for exercise, and they are one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. I only experienced the latter for the first time in fall of 2021 with Dave Elitch.— Tim Ferriss
A 5-Bullet Friday exclusive! A short motivational video from Arnold Schwarzenegger, just for you. For more motivation and tactical advice from Arnold, click here to sign up for his daily newsletter called The Pump Daily. On the linked-to page, you’ll also get a free ebook describing how Arnold sets and achieves goals, a simple home-based workout, and his hardcore 1970s chest and back workout for anyone who wants to risk a trip to the hospital. And by the way… Arnold handwrites his emails. Check out this gem from earlier this week, shared with permission:— Tim Ferriss
“Second MAPS-Sponsored Phase 3 Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD Completed.” This is the first time a pivotal and confirmatory Phase 3 trial has been completed for a psychedelic therapy. Moreover, more than 12 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from the debilitating effects of PTSD, and it’s now estimated that before the end of 2024, these people will likely have access to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a novel treatment option. For those wondering why I’ve been personally involved with this for years and why this treatment fundamentally differs from conventional approaches, please — Tim Ferriss
Chemical composition analysis of 102 ayahuasca brews. This is a great thread on (1) the difficulty of treating ayahuasca as a singular, standardized medicine and (2) the importance of collaborating with indigenous healers whose botanical knowledge far exceeds our limited grasp of these species. Brew method is another huge variable.— Tim Ferriss
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” —
“The Elliotts” on Heavyweight, hosted by Jonathan Goldstein ) (@J_Goldstein). The description: “In 1525, the Archbishop of Glasgow placed a curse on the Elliott family. Now, 500 years later, one very unlucky branch of the Elliotts wants it lifted.” I found this incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking. Placebo effect or not, you’ll have a lot of laughs along the way.— Tim Ferriss
Carlos Ghosn: The Last Flight (YouTube, Apple TV). From the description: “Carlos Ghosn, charged with financial crimes, stunned the world by fleeing Japan. This documentary sheds light on this complex and multilayered story and divulges new details on his spectacular escape.” You can watch the trailer here. I wasn’t initially excited about this, as I assumed it was a straightforward case of fraud. It turns out to be more like a Russian nesting doll of companies vs. companies, countries vs. countries, and a hyper-aggressive businessman (Ghosn) vs. the odds. It doesn’t paint him as a supervillain— Tim Ferriss
“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.’” —
“The Most Vicious Heavyweight In History - Jack Dempsey.”— Tim Ferriss
“The leaf blower parable” by Seth Godin. Please, someone fix this!— Tim Ferriss
“You 2.0: Decide Already!” (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast) by Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam.— Tim Ferriss
“The art and science of picking winning teams” by Ed Smith (@edsmithwriter), author of Making Decisions. For the cricket-naive folks, like me, think of “selector” as a scout or recruiter. From Wikipedia: “A selector in cricket is a person given the administrative duty to choose the players that will represent a particular team in a match. There is typically heavy scrutiny on national team selectors, including those of the major Test cricketing nations like Australia, England, and India." My favorite part of this article is related to the importance of accepting negative metrics if you want to — Tim Ferriss
“Bedia” (YouTube, Spotify) by Rajery. Watch the YouTube video. Rajery is missing the fingers on his right hand, which I didn’t realize until watching the music video. It makes the virtuoustic playing all the more impressive. The backstory: “Fighting against the odds has been part of my life ever since an old lady in a marketplace gave me poisoned meat at 11 months old. It cost me the fingers of my right hand….” (Source).— Tim Ferriss
Heart Valley: Life Lessons from a Shepherd (NewYorker.com, YouTube), a short film by Christian Cargill (@christiancarg), which won Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival. One of my takeaways: the more anxiety you have, the more real-world tasks you need. Watch the trailer here. The documentary runs just under 20 minutes. FYI that the Welsh shepherd Wilf has had at least one major stroke. I mention this because it’s context I wish I’d had up front. Special thanks to @lebowski_eth for the recommendation!— Tim Ferriss
“What I feel fortunate about is that I’m still astonished, that things still amaze me. And I think that that’s the great benefit of being in the arts, where the possibility for learning never disappears, where you basically have to admit you never learn it.” —
The Legend of CØCKPUNCH™. This is my first scripted podcast, narrated by brilliant voice actors. It launched and landed at #1 in “Fiction” on Apple Podcasts, as well as in the Top 100 overall. I’m having a blast, and the first few episodes are very short—roughly five minutes each. I hope you give it a shot. It’s unusual, to be sure, but that’s the point. The goal is to add some mystery, laughter, and levity to a world dominated by doomscrolling and pessimism. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.— Tim Ferriss
This bullet solves several headaches, starting with the clumsy, multi-click approach I’ve been using for creating new Google Doc pages. The fix: just type “doc.new” into Chrome in the URL bar, which will create a brand-new Google Doc. Next headache: when I copy and paste text from “Notes,” it often comes with formatting/HTML that is invisible to my eye but that screws up tweets, etc. The fix: copy and paste your text into the new Google doc, select/highlight the entire text, right-click and select “Clear formatting.” You can also “clear formatting” inside Gmail when composing an email, althoug— Tim Ferriss
Facing Nolan (Amazon, Apple TV). I don’t follow baseball, but I love studying anyone who defies the odds and rides the lightning for decades. Nolan Ryan is legendary, even among legends. From the description: “In the world of Major League Baseball, no one has created a mythology like Nolan Ryan. Told from the point of view of the hitters who faced him and the teammates who revered him, Facing Nolan is the definitive documentary of a Texas legend.” Here is the trailer.— Tim Ferriss
[ RIFFUSION ]. AI-enhanced art and music is blowing my mind, and this is one of the latest tech mashups to give a real glimpse of the future. If you want to skip around, I suggest jumping to the 20-step interpolations from “typing to jazz” or “church bells to electronic beats.” Things are going to get very, very interesting very, very quickly. This is a preview. Click here to try your own prompt. Hat tip to Chicken + Pineapples for the recommendation. Related: I am now sponsoring an AI art competition with $2,000 USD going to each of three winners. It starts today, and here are the details.— Tim Ferriss
“Creative people, as I see them, are distinguished by the fact that they can live with anxiety, even though a high price may be paid in terms of insecurity, sensitivity, and defenselessness for the gift of the ‘divine madness,’ to borrow the term used by the classical Greeks. They do not run away from non-being, but by encountering and wrestling with it, force it to produce being. They knock on silence for an answering music; they pursue meaninglessness until they can force it to mean.” — (via Cody Swift and Riverstyx Foundation)
“The Narrative Holy Trinity of World, Character, and Plot, with Fonda Lee.” You can listen with the embedded web player at that link, or you can find the transcript here.— Tim Ferriss
“Tinder Experiments II: Guys, unless you are really hot you are probably better off not wasting your time on Tinder — a quantitative socio-economic study” Ruh roh! Special thanks to Andy D. “How I Learned SQL in 4 Months Coming from a Non-Technical Background”— Tim Ferriss
Goliath. I might be late to the party, but, man, this series is fantastic. The writing is great, the production value is high, and it checks a lot of boxes. Stars include Billy Bob Thornton, Nina Arianda, and Tania Raymonde (@taniaraymonde), among others. Here is the official description: “Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. When he reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the biggest client of the massive law firm he helped create, Billy and his ragtag team uncover a vast and deadly conspirac— Tim Ferriss
“My major hobby is teasing people who take themselves and the quality of their knowledge too seriously.” —
“How to take JPEG pictures on your iPhone instead of HEIC” Here are the instructions: Settings → Camera → Formats → Select “Most Compatible.” To switch back to HEIC, simply switch from “Most Compatible” to “High Efficiency.”— Tim Ferriss
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters Chapter One I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost... I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter Two I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But, it isn’t my fault. It still takes me a long time to get out. Chapter Three I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in…It’s a habit…but, my eyes are open. I know where I
“The Ultimate AeroPress Technique (Episode #3)” by James Hoffmann. See the video’s description for details and step-by-step instructions.— Tim Ferriss
“This Guy Is Relentless.” Rich Roll (@RichRoll), I loved your interview with Casey Neistat (@casey). Both of you are inspiring… and irritatingly handsome.— Tim Ferriss
“Viking berserkers may have used henbane to induce trance-like state” by Jennifer Ouellette (@JenLucPiquant) for Ars Technica.— Tim Ferriss
“You’re 90% done. Congratulations! You only have 50% left.”
“Krom the Barbarian” (Apple Podcasts, Spotify) from Hello from the Magic Tavern, hosted by Arnie (Arnie Niekamp), Chunt (Adal Rifai), Usidore (Matt Young), and Krom the Barbarian (Mark Logsdon). This is truly hilarious improv. PLEASE listen through to the end of the dream journal section. Deep bow to Eric and friends for the outstanding recommendation. The “Offices and Bosses” miniseries from Hello from the Magic Tavern is also great, but it makes more sense if you have some D&D experience. “Halfling Bards” requires no D&D background and will make you spit out your coffee. Because of the humor— Tim Ferriss
“What Are Sanderson’s Laws Of Magic?” by Brandon Sanderson. Hat tip to Sahil Lavingia. “How I got 50 high-profile angel investors to join our seed round” by Niels Hoven (@NielsHoven).— Tim Ferriss
“The Most Important Algorithm Of All Time” From the video description: “The Fast Fourier Transform is used everywhere, but it has a fascinating origin story that could have ended the nuclear arms race.” Derek Muller (@veritasium) is the creator of Veritasium, one of my favorite YouTube channels. Veritasium is “a channel of science and engineering videos featuring experiments, expert interviews, cool demos, and discussions with the public about everything science.”— Tim Ferriss
“The worst thing a son of a bitch can do is turn you into a son of a bitch.” —
I’m experimenting with posting clips on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok. Check out this hilarious Boyd Varty story and this Bill Burr clip on bombing, as well as my evening routine and some advice on speed reading. Which other videos should I cut into shorts? Or what subject matter would you like covered? Let me know on Twitter at @tferriss and add #TimTok at the end so I can easily find it.— Tim Ferriss
“Japanese Supermarkets / 日本のスーパー” by Dōgen (@Dōgen). Having recently returned from Japan, this made me laugh. Why is the lighting in Japan SO bad?! What’s going on with all the battling music?! Thanks to Father Craig Mod (@craigmod) for turning me on to Dōgen, whose Japanese is truly spectacular.— Tim Ferriss
“Watch Your Mouth” (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast) from Hidden Brain. This podcast episode really captures why I study multiple languages. Here’s the official description: “If you’re bilingual or multilingual, you may have noticed that different languages make you stretch in different ways. This week, we revisit a favorite 2018 conversation with cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky. She studies how the structure of the languages we speak can change the way we see the world. Then, a 2017 conversation with linguist and author John McWhorter, who shares how languages evolve and why we’re somet— Tim Ferriss
“The Days of Duveen: A legendary art dealer and his clients.” by S. N. Behrman. This New Yorker profile is a masterpiece. Not only is the subject matter fascinating, arguably the greatest art dealer of the last few centuries, but the writing is also spectacular. And if you think some of the language is dated, you’re right. It was originally published in 1951. Huge thanks to the inimitable Cozomo de’ Medici for sending this to me. For further reading on Duveen, Duveen: The Story of the Most Spectacular Art Dealer of All Time (Amazon, AbeBooks) has been recommended to me by both Cozomo and Seth — Tim Ferriss
“‘What is the secret of your serenity?’ Said the Master, ‘Wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable.’” —
The Camino de Santiago. From Wikipedia: “The Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried. As Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘It is a way sown with so many demonstrations of fervor, repentance, hospitality, art, and culture, which speak to us eloquently of the spiritual roots of the Old Continent.’”— Tim Ferriss
“2001 Instrumental” (YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music) by Dr. Dre (@drdre).— Tim Ferriss
“If you can’t tell what you desperately need, it’s probably sleep.” — (@kevin2kelly)
L’eggs Women’s Everyday Knee Highs. OK, OK, hear me out. An old Italian fella, veteran of the Camino de Santiago, shared this gem with a close friend of mine: Skip fancy sock liners and just put these on before your hiking socks. Et voilà! No blisters. So far, it’s worked like a charm.— Tim Ferriss
“To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.” — , The Left Hand of Darkness