#809: The 4-Hour Workweek Tools That Still Work — The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet

Tim Ferriss (0:00)

Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Tim Ferris. Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferris Show. Ohayou gozaimasu. I am recording this from my hotel room in Tokyo, Japan, where I am in Jingu Mai, and headed on the road yet again for some more adventures, and then back to the US. And when I'm doing this, aside from keeping in mind things like the mini-retirement and setting up systems that persist beyond your return to your home, there are many tools that I still use to this day from the book that started it all, The 4-Hour Workweek. It came out in 2007, was revised in 2009, and yet it was one of Amazon's top 10 most highlighted books of all time, last time I checked, in 2017 What that means is many of the principles, many of the philosophies, many of the templates still work. There are certain tech tools and so on, of course, that have changed over time. Those things change nonstop. The rate of improvement, Moore's Law, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All of those things have changed, but there are certain through lines and tactics and strategies that still work. So readers and listeners alike often ask me, what would you change? What would you update? But an equally interesting question is, what wouldn't I change? What would I keep? What stands the test of time? What has already stood the test of time for nearly 20 years and hasn't lost any potency whatsoever? So I'm going to share two chapters from the audiobook this week that highlight a lot that you can still use. These chapters push you to defend your scarcest resource, attention, as opposed to just time. One by saying no to people, the other by saying no to excess information, which has never had more relevance than today. So there's a lot in here that you can copy and paste. They feature some of my favorite tools and frameworks, including polite but firm word-for-word scripts that I still use to this day. As I already mentioned with the tech, some examples may feel dated. A handful might seem prehistoric, but just ignore those, or treat them as historic artifacts, archaeological dig into 2007, 2009 There's plenty that you can still borrow that's effective, and feel free to remix the rest with modern tools of your choosing, of course. The chapters are narrated by the great voice actor Ray Porter. If you are interested in checking out the rest of the audiobook, which is produced and copyrighted by Blackstone Publishing, you can find it on Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, downpour.com, or wherever you find your favorite audiobooks. We're going to get right to it, but first, just a few words from the people who make this podcast possible. In the last handful of years, I've become very interested in environmental toxins, avoiding microplastics and many other commonly found compounds all over the place. One place I looked is in the kitchen. Many people don't realize just how toxic their cookware is or can be. A lot of non-stick pans, practically all of them, can release harmful forever chemicals, PFAS, in other words, spelled P-F-A-S, into your food, your home and then ultimately that ends up in your body. Teflon is a prime example of this. It is still the forever chemical that most companies are using. So, Our Place reached out to me as a potential sponsor. The first thing I did was look at the reviews of their products and said, send me one and that is the Titanium Always Pan Pro. The claim is that it's the first non-stick pan with zero coating. So, that means zero forever chemicals and durability that will last forever. I was very skeptical. I was very busy. So, I said, you know what? I want to test this thing quickly. It's supposed to be non-stick. It's supposed to be durable. I'm going to test it with two things. I'm going to test it with scrambled eggs in the morning because eggs are always a disaster in anything that isn't non-stick with the toxic coating. And then I'm going to test it with a steak sear because I want to see how much it retains heat. And it worked perfectly in both cases. And I was frankly astonished how well it worked. The Titanium Always Pan Pro has become my go-to pan in the kitchen. It replaces a lot of other things for searing, for eggs, for anything you can imagine. And the design is really clever. It does combine the best qualities of stainless steel, cast iron and non-stick into one product. And now our place is expanding this first of its kind technology to their Titanium Pro cookware sets, which are made in limited quantities. So if you're looking for non-toxic, long-lasting pots and pans that outperform everything else in your kitchen, just head to fromourplace.com/tim and use code TIM for 10% off of your order. You can enjoy a 100-day risk-free trial, free shipping and free returns. Check it out, fromourplace.com/tim.