You Might Enjoy: No Magic Pill with Blake Mycoskie

Tim Ferriss (0:00)

I was so isolated and so inherently broken. I needed a life raft even if it was covered in thorns.

Blake Mycoskie (0:07)

Tim Ferriss is an author, investor and master experimenter when it comes to treating mental illness in unconventional ways.

Tim Ferriss (0:16)

One of the more recent types of research that I've funded with respect to psychedelics is actually looking at their potent anti-inflammatory effects.

Blake Mycoskie (0:24)

If you've ever felt depressed and alone, this episode is for you.

Tim Ferriss (0:28)

I mean, the worst one for sure was in college, because that's when I had a date on the calendar when I was going to commit suicide.

Blake Mycoskie (0:34)

But he turned it around by staying curious and trying all sorts of things to make himself feel better.

Tim Ferriss (0:41)

Basically stick a lozenge in your mouth, you do one day of stimulations and took my generalized anxiety from like an eight or nine out of 10 consistency to like a zero to one.

Blake Mycoskie (0:53)

You're going to receive so much valuable advice from this episode.

Tim Ferriss (0:57)

From small everyday things that will change your mindset, go outside and jump rope face in the sun for 60 seconds, to big takeaways on potent drugs and medicines. First of all, if you don't feel pulled in a very meaningful way to do ayahuasca, do not do ayahuasca.

Blake Mycoskie (1:12)

I like that you said that, yeah, I agree.

Tim Ferriss (1:14)

Number one, a lot of people view them as a magic pill. Yes.

Blake Mycoskie (1:18)

I know you will come away from this conversation with practical tips on what to do if you're experiencing depression, mood swings, suicidal thoughts, or simply loneliness. It isn't a magic pill, but relationships might be the closest thing we've got.

Tim Ferriss (1:34)

Super close.

Blake Mycoskie (1:44)

Tim, I mean, this is pretty exciting for me because I've been on your podcast, I think three times now.

Tim Ferriss (1:50)

A bunch.

Blake Mycoskie (1:51)

But no, when I had the idea for No Magic Pill, you really were one of the top dream guests for me. And the reason why is your vulnerability and openness to talk about depression and anxiety and some of these things that I, when you first started speaking about this, had not heard any kind of high performer talking about. And that really helped me on my journey because I think there's like this somewhat dark underbelly or price that sometimes we pay for being highly creative or having a lot of ambition. And unless it's talked about, you feel really alone when it's happening. And so the whole purpose of this podcast really is to meet people where they might be struggling, they might feel stuck, they might be struggling with depression and where do they go? Because it was really hard for me to find resources when I was struggling so much. And so because you've talked about it so openly and you shared your journey with such vulnerability, I was like, okay, I definitely want to have Tim on the show. So I'm glad that we're here.

Tim Ferriss (2:50)

I want to thank you also for on, I think it was our first episode maybe, talking about the Hoffman process. I still probably get 15 handwritten letters a week.

Just because of that episode? To my PO box because of that episode.

Blake Mycoskie (3:05)

Wow.

Tim Ferriss (3:05)

Every week, every single week.

Blake Mycoskie (3:07)

That's amazing.

It's funny, I get tons of letters too. Yeah. That's so cool.

Tim Ferriss (3:12)

Yeah, it is cool.

Blake Mycoskie (3:14)

Well, I guess one that I'd like to start is a little bit what I was just alluding to and that is, you know, high performers, people who are type A, who are, you know, going through periods of extreme creativity, often we see a crash afterwards.

I very much experienced this after I built and sold Toms. I'm curious, why do you think that happens? And why has that maybe happened even for you?

Tim Ferriss (3:39)

I think there are a whole bunch of different forms I can take from what I've seen.

Certainly, I pull from my personal experience, but also looking at my friends, many of whom are not public about what they go through. I think there are different species of, let's call it, depression. One is partially identity-based. So you see this in Olympians after the Olympics.

You see it in special operators after they retire from service and try to transition where they were the top 1% or 5%, whatever it is, very, very high-achieving in a particular world. And then that is replaced by something very, perhaps, middle of the pack, right? So you take someone who is a famous Navy SEAL, and now they're just an entry-level remax salesperson. And that is a very hard identity shift.