Tools of Titans

26. Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Going into this ~700 page tome, know that Ferriss's goal is that you'll like 50%, love 25%, and find 10% indispensable. Why didn't he cut the book in half? What people found useful or worthless varied widely from person to person so you are left to wade through it on your own. There is no index.

Profiles are loosely broken into 3 categories: healthy, wealthy, and wise.

He encourages you to look for patterns amongst those profiled and points out a few. What I noticed most is that the book features a lot of dudes. Since Ferriss interviews people to learn how to enhance *his* performance and life, it's not surprising he would mainly seek out other men. There's still a lot of useful info in the book for anyone, but it kind of feels like watching TV or movies where nearly all the main characters driving the action are men. (I don't really watch those anymore.)

If you are looking for actionable tips, you might want to start with the non-profile chapters. If you read one and like it, usually the profile preceding it also relates to it. Otherwise the contents are just a list of the people profiled in the book.

My copy is full of small pieces of torn paper for bookmarks. Alas, I don't have an eidetic memory, so I need to go back through to see what caught my interest. I do have a long list of more books I want to read, some are in the list at the back of the book but I liked reading why people liked them in their profiles and also added books they'd written in some cases.

A lot of the book's "tools" are really about mindset. However, there are also diagrams of acroyoga poses, a chapter on computer privacy settings, specs for a barrel sauna, info on psychedelic drugs and angel investing (not at the same time). A wide range of topics are included. You're bound to find something that interests you.

I'm generally curious so I found most of it interesting though not necessarily useful or applicable. The small chunk that is really helpful is not easily found again amidst everything else, so that's why I rate this 3 stars.


9 years ago on TTaT: I continue to loathe health insurance