The Idea of Tim Ferris Learning

Tim Ferris, photo from Entrepreneur Magazine
There aren't many people in this world whom I listen to regularly, but Tim is one of them. I've been "hooked' on his The Tim Ferriss Show podcast for about a year, since my friend Natalka Boiko has introduced it. If you haven't heard about Tim Ferris, here is a quick intro:
  • The Tim Ferriss Show is often the #1 business podcast on all of Apple Podcasts, and it’s been ranked #1 out of 500,000+ podcasts on many occasions. It is the first business/interview podcast to pass 100,000,000 downloads, and it has been selected as “Best of” Apple Podcasts for three years running, and readers of Fortune Magazine‘s Term Sheet recently selected The Tim Ferriss Show as their top business podcast. It has now surpassed 300M downloads.
  • Past guests include Arnold Schwarzenegger, LeBron James, Ray Dalio, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Edward Norton, Tony Robbins, Maria Sharapova, Jamie Foxx, Maria Popova, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Amanda Palmer, Malcolm Gladwell, Vince Vaughn, Rick Rubin, Reid Hoffman, Jon Favreau, Whitney Cummings, Mike Shinoda, and 300+ more.
Photo credit: myob.com
I like about Tim's episodes that they are diverse and touch topics that I am certainly interested in. He invites some of the world's best A-level performers and achievers in different domains - business, tech, science, sport, art and holds candid conversations with them. What I specifically admire about Tim is his ability to ask fabulous profound well-researched questions that often lead to insightful answers. His show simply is a gem of knowledge and wisdom from some of the world's best people (in my subjective definition of best). On top of that, I discovered stuff I haven't heard before, for example, psychedelics and its applicable benefits for mental health and wellbeing. 

So what's the point
Every podcast is full of advise on books and other resources you can dive into to upgrade your knowledge in specific domain. And I always wanted to get my hands and mind into that. The idea to experiment with is to take one episode and just go in depth - read all the books and references that were mentioned and discuss it in the group (Tim makes it easy to do via after the show notes on his blog). I believe it would lead to better internalisation and application of the knowledge heard/learned.  

Photo credit: CGTN
A while ago I took a course on Coursera Learning How to Learn (very short, fun and can't recommend highly enough). It discusses that the best way to learn - is to teach others or learn in the group of peers. So I want to form a small community or find a friend who would have similar interest, and do it together - self-learning based on Tim Ferris Shows! It would be more fun and it's widely reported that the support of peers helps to achieve goals. 

Based on the experience of The Economic Club of Hong Kong, I know such thing can definitely work. The learned knowledge and wisdom can be actually applied to your personal life (in relationship, career, business, etc). It's more about strategies and tactics how you can elevate the quality of your life, your perceptions, resolve internal issues or overcome barriers of what you want to achieve. And within this study-group we can experiment and share thoughts, reflections and experiences. 

Photo credit: projectsmart.co.uk

A way of doing it

At this point, I don't have any other goal than simply learning and reflecting on it. This may or may not lead into something else. And I don't have all the answers. However, I set five principles to begin with:
  1. It has to be online/ digital via Skype or Google Hangouts with video. I am constantly on the road these days and will be like that for the next couple of months. Thus way I can make it for physical meeting (which has its advantages). But the good thing about it - Hey! you can be anywhere on the planet and join. 
  2. Maximum 5 people in the group. I may sound little ambitious here, but I am sure there must be at least one more person (maybe you?) who would want to give it a try. What if more than 5 people would want to give a shot? Well, we can form independent group units.
  3. Free to join, no fee or whatsoever, can drop out anytime if find it is not your thing or have other priorities, no hard feelings at all, I still will love you as a friend. 
  4. Come prepared: actually listen to podcast and read books or check other materials that are being referenced in the show notes. The base line is to listen to agreed / selected podcast. And then it's up to you to decide how deep you want and have time to dive in with reading books, checking the websites, videos, other people works etc. 
  5. Meet regularly. We have to agree on the pace if we are to run together. I suggest to start with once every two weeks. But you can choose to do once every four weeks (just to skip the upcoming podcast, as long as there is a spot available). The best day of the week for me would be Saturday. So I would set second Saturday at 9 am and fourth Saturday 9 pm Hong Kong time of each month for a regular meetings. Meeting duration is expected to last no longer than an hour.
These principles can be and most probably will be revised. Time may change, principles may change. 

What's the next?

Here is the schedule and suggested topics for four next meetings:

***

Dr. Peter Attia vs. Tim Ferriss (#352) 
Jan 12th, 9 am (Hong Kong Time)
“Unhappiness is at the root of more pain, I would suspect, than any ailment that falls in the ‘physical’ body. And to think that we have compounds that could play such an important role that are really facing challenges in getting approved, I just find that really frustrating.” — Dr. Peter Attia


***
Adam Robinson — Outflanking and Outsmarting the Competition (#322)
Jan 26th, 9 pm (Hong Kong Time)
“If I realize my focus is off, and certainly when I’m experiencing any negative emotions, I ask myself, ‘Where should my attention be right now?’ Almost always, the answer is ‘my mission,’ which is like a beacon that always beckons.” — Adam Robinson


***
Credit: O Hello Media, Eric Ananmalay
Patrick Collison — CEO of Stripe (#353) 
Feb 9th, 9 am (Hong Kong Time)
“If people around you don’t think what you’re doing is a bit strange, maybe it’s not strange enough.” — Patrick Collison

***

Ray Dalio, The Steve Jobs of Investing (#264)
https://tim.blog/2017/09/13/ray-dalio/, transcript here (if you prefer to read)
Feb 23rd, 9 pm  (Hong Kong Time)
“Pain plus reflection equals progress.” – Ray Dalio 

Note: time or topic may change, please confirm it once joined the group.
How to join?

I've created Whatsapp group and Google hangouts - welcome to join both (just press on hyperlinked text). Once you've joined, please introduce yourself briefly (your name, profession, hobby and link on your Linkedin). No commercial promo, no sales, insurance etc.

If you do not actively participate or contribute to the group in the meaningful way, I will remove your number from the group. You can drop out/ leave any moment, no hard feelings. By joining you agree with listed principles above. If you aren't sure which meeting to join or just want to take a look or ask some questions, please write me personally on whatsapp +852 5663 zero70six. Looking forward to hear from you!

Last point: all the written above shall be taken with the grain of salt, regarded not as a service, but as a privilege, an idea/ startup/ whatever that may fail and discontinued anytime, thus no expectations. But if you join, I'd love you to support and help out wholeheartedly, constructive feedback how to do better is welcomed with willingness to contribute and execute your ideas on it.

And thank you so much for reading this and being with me.

Cheers, 

Sergii


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