The Tim Ferriss Show

Jim Collins has published multiple international bestsellers that have sold in total more than eleven million copies worldwide, including the perennial favorite Good to Great. His new book is What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire, and the Self-Knowledge Imperative.
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Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:02:43] More energy at 68 than 37: Jim’s mysteriously expanding battery.
[00:04:57] Two mornings a day.
[00:08:24] How Marcelo Garcia avoids the “simmering six.”
[00:10:24] The portable coffee ritual.
[00:12:44] Side passions of high performers: Disco dancing, the occult, and Sunday school.
[00:18:20] Genesis of “What to Make of a Life” and the sage down the hall: John W. Gardner.
[00:20:51] Joanne’s IRONMAN triumph: winning by 90 seconds on a shattered hamstring — then the cliff.
[00:26:01] Cliff events, matched pairs, and the bigger question that swallowed the smaller one.
[00:31:35] The fog-clarity inversion: clear on life, foggy on projects.
[00:34:56] Fog happens to everyone — don’t freak out about it.
[00:40:38] Jim’s wife’s one-word review of life with him.
[00:47:29] When the fire went from red molten rage to a green-yellow warming glow.
[00:54:18] Encodings vs. strengths: The window frame metaphor and John Glenn’s click moment.
[01:01:49] My encoding candidates.
[01:08:07] 70 points on trust: Discovering your encodings matters, but trusting them matters more.
[01:12:43] Enneagram as an acceptable horoscope for tech guys.
[01:15:21] The 1,000 creative hours rule and Warren Buffett’s punch card: Life is the ultimate finite resource.
[01:23:37] “The most wonderful, disappointing answer”: How Jim’s team says no with grace.
[01:27:14] Right people, right seats, encoded edition: When management angst shrinks to almost nothing.
[01:38:23] Return on luck deep dive: What luck, who luck, and zeit luck.
[01:46:24] Natalie moments: Not all time in life is equal.
[01:46:52] Maximizing surface area of luck, return on luck, and Jim’s chain of who luck.
[02:04:47] Cardiss Collins and return on bad luck: Cliff events that expose encodings you never knew you had.
[02:08:33] A warning for founders: Sell your company, lose a decade — the cliff nobody plans for.
[02:11:23] “An option to come back has negative value”: Irv Grousbeck’s counterintuitive wisdom.
[02:14:22] Signing the Declaration as a death warrant: When there’s no option, the mind focuses.
[02:16:01] The hunt for Roger Sherman: Choosing matched pairs and the man who saved the Constitution twice.
[02:20:48] The mythology of youthful creativity: Jim’s rebuttal — Toni Morrison wrote Beloved at 56.
[02:34:35] Flipping the arrow of money: Is money fuel for your work, or is your work fuel for money?
[02:38:42] Commonwealth Club event: Jim Collins live in San Francisco, April 9th.
[02:39:44] The ultimate definition of success: “My spouse likes and respects me evermore as the years go by.”
[02:43:08] A plus-two day and parting thoughts.

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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
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This episode is a bit different, and I am in the hot seat. Dan Harris (@danharris) interviewed me for his show, the 10% Happier with Dan Harris podcast, and I thought it was worth sharing here. Dan is a wonderful interviewer, and we got in the zone. He is also the bestselling author of 10% Happier and Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book.
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New clients get 3.30% base APY from program banks + additional 0.75% boost for 3 months on your uninvested cash (max $150k balance). Terms and conditions apply. The Cash Account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (“WFB”) member FINRA/SIPC, not a bank. The base APY as of 1/30/26 is representative, can change, and requires no minimum. Tim Ferriss, a non-client, receives compensation from WFB for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of WFB, which creates a conflict of interest. Individual experiences and outcomes will differ. Instant withdrawals may be limited by your receiving firm and other factors. Investment advisory services provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Securities investments: not bank deposits, not bank-guaranteed or FDIC-insured, and may lose value.
Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:02:16] The simple social secret that has me feeling better than self-help and isolation ever did.
[00:05:55] 70–80% depression remission with accelerated TMS and the SAINT Protocol.
[00:10:14] One day of TMS + an old tuberculosis antibiotic flipped the OCD switch to near-zero.
[00:14:10] The pros and cons of TMS accessibility for all.
[00:18:09] Dan’s parallel confession: The “desertification” of social life under workaholism.
[00:22:10] “It’s the relationships, stupid.” Evolutionary biology meets self-improvement.
[00:26:51] What you’re optimizing for should come before how.
[00:28:33] Health optimization made personal.
[00:31:12] Intermittent fasting: Just changing when I eat has been the single biggest needle-mover for my bloodwork.
[00:32:54] Working with your doctors: Replicate tests, respect diurnal cycles, and resist the four-drug opening salvo.
[00:37:17] AI as health co-pilot: Use LLMs for medical literacy and contraindication checks — but always fact-check one tool with another.
[00:41:48] Full-body MRIs: Over 40, you will find something. But Dan’s wife (a doctor) says skip ’em — and Rumi might have agreed with her.
[00:45:22] How my actual daily life compares to a poorly programmed Roomba.
[00:47:30] Jerry Seinfeld’s grand unified life theory: Lift weights and do TM. That’s pretty much it.
[00:51:28] The No Book: 800 pages, six years deep, co-written with Neil Strauss — because even the most accomplished people can’t say no.
[00:55:25] “I can’t do the life Tetris.” Martha Beck’s masterclass in declining without defending.
[00:59:04] Rocks, gravel, and sand: How to protect your life-changing commitments from death by a thousand small distractions.
[01:04:50] Three years without social media on my phone, fear-setting as clarity, and two hours of daily focus as the new top 1%.
[01:08:46] Coyote: My card game with Exploding Kittens, and why I only choose projects that let me win even if they fail.
[01:13:05] Parting thoughts.

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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
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Tish Rabe (@tishrabebooks) is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 children's books with more than 11 million copies sold. She has written for Sesame Street, Disney, PBS Kids, Curious George, Clifford, and many more. She now heads her own children's book publishing company, Tish Rabe Books.
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Timestamps
[00:00:00] Who is Tish Rabe?
[00:00:24] How an opera major became a bestselling children’s author and songwriter.
[00:03:12] Tish’s trashy debut on television treasure Sesame Street.
[00:03:36] Pitching a childhood memory to dead silence — and landing book number one.
[00:07:27] The value of writing a story’s ending first.
[00:09:42] Jim Henson: The kind, gentle giant with a mind of steel.
[00:10:58] Keeping kids and their parents entertained with double-level humor.
[00:11:38] How Tish put her music training to work with Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.
[00:18:56] From nine-note auditions to signing on with Sesame Street‘s mission to level the kindergarten playing field.
[00:22:48] Churning out children’s books and writing bangers about animal gestation periods and lumber measurement for 3-2-1 Contact.
[00:26:56] The zero-rhyming genius of Joe Raposo’s “Bein’ Green” and why it works.
[00:29:59] Curriculum is king: Focus groups, orange Oscar, and making sure the kids aren’t lost.
[00:32:16] Random House rejected her book, but the late Dr. Seuss took a second look.
[00:37:17] Accepting the Widow Seuss’s challenge to write a book for babies in utero and ending up with a bestseller.
[00:40:39] The secret to perfect rhyme in Dr. Seuss’s paradigm.
[00:44:14] Is rhyming a part of Tish’s DNA, or did she learn it along the way?
[00:48:12] The time Tish transformed a planet from pizza into nickels to make her deadline.
[00:49:45] Has music as a mission preserved Tish’s cognition?
[00:55:10] What does Tish aim to do with the company she started in her 70s?
[01:01:18] Sometimes Apart, Always in My Heart: A military kid’s book born from a POW father’s legacy and a high-five traced on paper.
[01:05:30] Alaska the stuffed dog, financial literacy bunnies, hallucinated seagulls, and 843 acres of Central Park in 24 pages.
[01:12:54] Tish’s campaign to get free books to kids in underserved neighborhoods.
[01:14:02] Advice for aspiring children’s book authors.
[01:15:42] Tish doesn’t get derailed by writer’s block — she prepares for it.
[01:17:24] When Michelle Obama added 16 pages to a book Tish thought would be boring.
[01:19:37] Big Bird in China, 1982: One hand-painted costume, 13 days of rain, zero coffee, and a five-year-old who memorized the wrong script.
[01:23:41] Tish’s billboard.
[01:24:38] Kindness is Caring, Friendship is Sharing and other parting thoughts.
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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
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Jordan Jonas (@hobojordo) grew up on a farm in Idaho, rode freight trains across the US, spent time in remote Russian villages, fur trapped and travelled for several years with nomads in Siberia, and won Alone Season 6, after being the first contestant to truly thrive in the wilderness and harvest big game. You can learn more about Jordan's axes at JordanJonas.com/Axe.
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TIMESTAMPS:
[00:00:00] Who is Jordan Jonas?
[00:02:20] The Siberian axe gospel: Single bevel, wide eye, and why your Lowe's hatchet is basically a butter knife.
[00:07:16] A Montana downpour baptism.
[00:08:04] Feather sticks and ferro rods.
[00:12:36] A gnarly axe-ident, a quest for an abandoned boot, and frontier convalescense in a tipi.
[00:19:59] First Russian word learned, courtesy of a Moscow airport officer with zero chill.
[00:21:18] Jordan's youthful faith crisis and a Trans-Siberian prayer.
[00:29:16] From building an orphanage to living with the Evenki.
[00:31:29] Experiencing tug-of-war hospitality between ex-con Siberian families.
[00:39:34] Reindeer vs caribou.
[00:45:42] The Gulag Archipelago at 17.
[00:49:36] The homeschooling advantage: Finishing academics by noon, then deep-diving history for fun.
[00:53:50] Campfire psychology for gentlemen.
[00:56:00] Why llamas are more practical than reindeer on Jordan's expeditions in the northern United States.
[01:01:37] How Jordan's grandparents found purpose and built a joyful family after surviving Assyrian genocide.
[01:11:18] Dad's 12-year health collapse and facing death with radical joy.
[01:18:49] Freight train philosophy and evolutionary dopamine alignment.
[01:30:03] Grandma moose rodeo.
[01:33:07] Alone Season 6: The "Super Bowl of survival" just south of the Arctic Circle.
[01:40:38] How Jordan survived 77 days in the woods barely breaking a sweat.
[01:48:21] Harvesting a moose at day 20 via Russian fence-funneling tactics.
[01:56:21] Wolverine vs. man with axe, a tin can alarm, and a wife who likes rustic jewelry.
[02:03:05] The crappy fate of less-than-lucky rabbit feet.
[02:04:59] Fat as a survival bottleneck, and how to experience the wild with Jordan.
[02:09:31] Jordan hopes his upcoming book will help readers build reservoirs of resilience before they're needed.
[02:12:27] The most overlooked part of the Serenity Prayer: "Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace."
[02:14:48] The wilderness as political neutral ground and other parting thoughts.

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.
Follow Tim:
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tim McGraw (@thetimmcgraw) is a Grammy Award-winning entertainer, author, and actor who has sold more than 106 million records worldwide, with 49 number-one singles and 19 number-one albums. He is one of the most-played country artists since his debut in 1992, has four New York Times bestselling books, and has acted for both film and television, including the movies Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side and Paramount Network’s Yellowstone. He recently starred alongside his wife Faith Hill and Sam Elliott in Yellowstone’s prequel—the three-time-Emmy-nominated 1883. You can find tickets for his upcoming Pawn Shop Guitar Tour at TimMcGraw.com.
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TIMESTAMPS
[00:00:00] Who is Tim McGraw?
[00:01:51] Two Tims walk into a podcast.
[00:02:56] “The song always has to win.”
[00:05:02] Recording “Live Like You Were Dying” at 2 a.m. with Uncle Hank in a puddle in the corner.
[00:09:22] Sensing when the moment is right.
[00:10:29] The song Nashville hated that Tim heard his first night off the Greyhound.
[00:13:18] The one-two punch that saved Tim from novelty-act purgatory.
[00:15:22] Turning down the CMAs because the song wouldn’t fit the time slot.
[00:20:11] Why you can’t let the audience steer the ship when testing material live.
[00:25:51] Coping with the physical toll of performing for three decades.
[00:34:04] The Four Christmases wake-up call that changed everything.
[00:37:42] What training smarter looks like for Tim.
[00:41:22] When Tim found out his dad was a baseball legend whose picture was already on his wall.
[00:54:53] Important advice for aspiring parents.
[00:55:41] When Tim pawned his high school ring for a $20 guitar.
[00:58:27] Learning guitar from CMT videos and fret diagrams.
[00:59:37] The morning Tim tore up his Marines paperwork and bought a Greyhound ticket to Nashville.
[01:07:20] Nashville as creative accelerant: Tracy Lawrence, Kenny Chesney, and $50 singing competitions.
[01:12:45] Po’boy Don’s crawfish shack: The demo that launched Tim’s career.
[01:15:39] How Faith Hill saved Tim’s life.
[01:18:33] The 7 a.m. bottle of whiskey cry for help.
[01:20:27] Parenthood as selfishness-removal surgery.
[01:24:28] Tim’s “Glory Days” disaster with Bruce Springsteen.
[01:28:30] When Tim’s first album “went wood” — the failure that taught him everything.
[01:33:29] A rodeo monkey no longer: When Tim kicked his record company to the curb.
[01:37:35] Tim’s most important advice for artists.
[01:43:41] Announcing the summer 2026 Pawn Shop Guitar tour with The Chicks.
[01:46:28] If it’s so grueling, why does Tim still tour?
[01:49:50] Tim’s “Humble and Kind” billboard.
[01:50:50] Parting thoughts and a parting gift: “Different” — the new song only on social media.
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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.
Follow Tim:
Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss
Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss
YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss
Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.