Okay, this one is a monster, and I'm going to do my best to pick out highlights, but there are many. Tools of Titans is an anthology of the best takeaways from guests on Tim's podcast. This book is huge – 673 pages, but I read every one, and enjoyed most. Tim divides the book into three parts: healthy, wealthy, and wise, a nod to the Benjamin Franklin saying:
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
I did not follow Tim's instructions to skip, but I did enjoy every bit of this book. There is a lot of actionable wisdom contained in this tome. Tim's skill in asking questions that get to the heart of his guests is what makes this book so great. We get the best of his guests and Tim's own great commentary.
Key Takeaways:
Favorite Quotes:
There are way too many quotes to share them all here. I highlighted no less than 84 different quotes that I enjoyed. Many are quotes that he chose from other sources, and I'll share some here:
Rating: 9.5/10
There's enough in here for everyone to enjoy 75% of the guests. The only downside is it's long, and you don't know which 75% you'll enjoy going in. I look forward to reading Tribe of Mentors, which is a similar concept.
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
I did not follow Tim's instructions to skip, but I did enjoy every bit of this book. There is a lot of actionable wisdom contained in this tome. Tim's skill in asking questions that get to the heart of his guests is what makes this book so great. We get the best of his guests and Tim's own great commentary.
Key Takeaways:
- ~80% of the people showcased have mindfulness meditation built into their daily routine.
- Many share the belief that failure is not a permanent state. Failure is a stopping point on the road to success.
- These people have achieved their goals by transforming weaknesses into strengths.
- Mental toughness succeeds above and beyond luck or innate ability.
Favorite Quotes:
There are way too many quotes to share them all here. I highlighted no less than 84 different quotes that I enjoyed. Many are quotes that he chose from other sources, and I'll share some here:
- "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." – Ludwig Wittgenstein
- "Great men have almost always shown themselves as ready to obey as they afterward proved able to command." – Lord Mahon
- "The struggle ends when the gratitude begins." – Neale Donald Walsch
- "There is no way to happiness – happiness is the way." – Thich Nhat Hanh
- "What you seek is seeking you." – Rumi
- "Many a false step was made by standing still." – Fortune Cookie
- "Named must your fear be before banish it you can." – Yoda, from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- "Our life is frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify, simplify . . . . A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." – Henry David Thoreau, Walden
- "When people seem like they are mean, they're almost never mean. They're anxious." – Alain de Botton
- "The most important trick to be happy is to realize that happiness is a choice that you make and a skill that you develop. You choose to be happy, and then you work at it. It's just like building muscles." – Naval Ravikant
- "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." – Mark Twain
- "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." – Lao Tzu
- "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – J. Krishnamurti
- "In the end, winning is sleeping better." – Jodie Foster
- "If you set your goals high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success." – James Cameron
- "If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly." – Colonel David Hackworth
- "Not my circus. Not my monkeys." – Polish Proverb
Rating: 9.5/10
There's enough in here for everyone to enjoy 75% of the guests. The only downside is it's long, and you don't know which 75% you'll enjoy going in. I look forward to reading Tribe of Mentors, which is a similar concept.