Off and on, I listen to the Tim Ferriss Show podcast. It’s interesting, but since I discovered it when I was living in Bolivia, I really go back and forth on being into it, and then not. I’m not really sure why–it’s usually pretty worth listening to. If you’re unfamiliar, he’s the guy who is probably most famous for his book “The 4 Hour Work Week” and other “4 hour” books like “The 4 Hour Body” and “The 4 Hour Chef,” etc. You can probably guess, he’s all about optimization, and how it is a pathway to success. In his podcasts, he interviews experts of all kinds to try to get at what makes them successful. I have to say, it can be pretty engaging. His guests really run the gambit, and sometimes when I see who is cropping up in his feed, I get giddy with anticipation to see what they will have to say. For example; when he interviewed my favorite Dharma teacher, Tara Brach! As an example of how broad he is, one of the most interesting episodes I’ve listened to was his interview with Glen Beck. Needless to say, it’s a spectrum.
Anyway, I started back on a Tim Ferriss kick again as of today, driving to Molalla for work. (All the driving I do give ample opportunity to consume content!) I discovered today that Tim Ferriss has started doing mini-podcasts in which he shares about something worthwhile he has found, for maybe 20 minutes. The first one I listened to was “The Magic of Mindfulness,” in which he gave some great little tips on how he works to cultivate mindfulness in his own life, through actual actionable little things. I loved it. I want to try EVERY tip he talked about. So I am starting here, to have a functional list of the things he mentioned, and document it in order to keep on top of it!
Tim’s list of things to try:
21 day No Complaint Experiment. This is so fantastic I have started it already. I’m just going to quote the post I just linked, because it’s said better than I could in re-writing it.
The author Will Bowen has “…recognized that word choice determines thought choice, which determines emotions and actions. It’s not enough to just decide you’ll stop using certain words, though. It requires conditioning.
Will designed a solution in the form of a simple purple bracelet, which he offered to his congregation with a challenge: go 21 days without complaining. Each time one of them complained, they had to switch the bracelet to their other wrist and start again from day 0. It was simple but effective metacognitive awareness training.
The effects were immediate and life-changing.
The bracelets spread like wildfire as others observed these transformations, and, to date, more than 5,900,000 people have requested the little devices.”
SO MINDFUL! LOVE IT. You don’t need the official bracelet, of course. I’m using a rubber-band. I don’t think I’m a big complainer, but I know on some topics I can be (cough my mother!). I’m going to try it and see what happens. Tim does give folks a pass that the original author doesn’t, though he recognizes it’s still cheating a little. That pass is that if you make a complaint but with a comment about what you’re going to do differently or what you learned from the negative thing, you don’t have to start from zero or switch the bracelet. Either way, I think the effect is the same: you become more mindful about your own negative thoughts and where you get stuck, and hopefully, you are prompted to change those negative patterns! YAY!
“Practicing poverty.” Tim does this on a quarterly basis for a week. He gets this idea somewhat from Seneca and the Stoics. The nutshell version of what that it means to him is to completely simplify/cut out everything in one’s life for a period of time in order to give oneself perspective and relinquish fear over the things one thinks would be terrible if they were to occur. Here’s a quote from his blog post about it that helps explain the why:
“Seneca, who enjoyed great wealth as the adviser of Nero, suggested that we ought to set aside a certain number of days each month to practice poverty. Take a little food, wear your worst clothes, get away from the comfort of your home and bed. Put yourself face to face with want, he said, you’ll ask yourself “Is this what I used to dread?”
I like the idea, and it seems like a practical way to keep myself grounded. I’ll give it a shot.
“The Jar of Awesome” or The “!” Jar This is what it sounds like. You write down awesome things when they happen, and put them in the jar! The point is to help yourself to celebrate the victories and small joys that are so easily forgotten, when we are conditioned to always be thinking about what we need to accomplish next. Tim, as well as many of my great teachers, have pointed out again and again how noting the good things in life and practicing gratitude is truly essential to a peaceful happy heart. In my own life, gratitude is often my best pathway out of depression. In college, when I used to be religious, I had a “prayer wall” with a similar function. It truly helped me to be more mindful. The “!” jar is such an easy practical way to bring intentional gratitude into daily practice. I’m going to try it!
21 minutes of meditation every morning. The extra minute is to help you settle down. I am already doing this to some extent, but not 20 minutes. 20 minutes is actually what my Dharma teacher (Robert Beatty) recommends–apparently (per Robert) it takes 20 minutes for some physiological shifts to occur that make a big difference. Tim’s major contribution for me personally is that he does it right when he wakes up. I think this might be the key to consistency. Not after my shower, not after getting dressed, RIGHT when I get up. I’m going to try it. I’m going to start with 11 minutes this week, and go to 21 next week. I’ve been doing 5 and sometimes 10 for a long while, but I have been missing a lot of days. I want that consistency, and I think it’s a good idea to work up to it, but not too slowly. GONNA DO IT.
5 Minute Journal. You don’t have to buy it, but the official one is kind of cool and makes it easier to keep yourself accountable. So the 5 minute entry happens once in the morning and once at night, every day. In the morning, it includes bullet lists of:
- 3 things you are grateful for
- 3 things that would make today great
- 3 affirmations, beginning with “I am”
*Note: Tim makes a good point that often in these kinds of lists you end up defaulting to the same sorts of macro things repeatedly, if you aren’t more intentional about it. He suggests breaking down the grateful category into subcategories of:
- A relationship that has impacted you in the past
- An opportunity (big or small) that you will have today
- Something that was good or great yesterday
- Something simple near you (i.e. I am so grateful for my phone and it’s ability to play me podcasts!)
At night, the 5 minute journal includes bullet lists of:
- 3 amazing things that happened today
- How could I have made today better?
That’s the 5 min journal! I LOVE IT. I’M GOING TO TRY IT. Tim says in this little episode that the 5 minute journal is the one thing that many of his long-time listeners and close friends say has made the largest impact on their lives. Because, it is such a quick, simple practice which MAKES THEM MORE MINDFUL. I also have had a goal of writing more regularly for quite some time, and I think this makes it so much more manageable. DOIN’ IT.
Thank one person every day. NOT just in your mind, though that’s a good start. He means ACTUALLY. Via text or email or phone call or in person. Tell them why you are thankful, or if you are brave enough, tell them you love them. He even recommends going WAY back into people in your past sometimes, who have made a lasting impact on you, through the miracle of social media. He says he knows it sounds “hokey” but he also says that great adage about how if you don’t know how to make yourself happy, start by doing things that make someone else happy. Not to warp that into putting others before you to the point of unhealthiness, but you get the point. LOVE IT.
Lastly, give yourself a 3-deep-breaths-break. Tim has had folks recommend to him 10 deep breaths, but he says that was a little intense for him, and it’s kind of a long time! For him, 3 deep breaths does the same thing–it’s a great way to recenter and return to a present moment. As the breath is an anchor in my meditation practice and in most other meditation practices, this one is pretty straightforward. It’s good to be reminded though! WHOO.
So that’s it! It looks like a lot, but each thing is SO small! Doable, I think! I want to go about trying all of these things much in the way that Katie and I have set up our “self-improvement” challenges, to begin with. Because really, though all of these things are so very small, they could potentially be huge in creating new mental pathways! It’s cognitive therapy! I really have gotten to the point where I believe, so strongly, that our habits, especially our THOUGHT HABITS run our lives, and create our own misery. These tools are potentially a great way to bring more awareness and joy into the everyday. Lay all that pain down, man. Revel in the GOOD.
SO TO MAKE IT ACTIONABLE, I’m going to use the bullet journal I made out of a notebook a friend gifted to me to help me try and keep up with it! Wish me luck!
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