Tribe of Mentors
Uh, Tim Ferriss… to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to think of him. I really don’t know. He’s one of those authors where I get the feeling that his blog and podcast are more interesting—and have more credibility—than his books. I’ve owned his bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek for ages, as well as The 4-Hour Body… but for some reason I read those books painfully slowly, as if I just can’t “connect” to what’s written inside.
He’s an interesting guy because he experiments endlessly on himself, is obsessed with productivity tricks and life hacks, and you can definitely read and learn useful things from him. But when I start reading his books, I get this odd impression that most of what he writes isn’t all that applicable in this part of the world, and that some things don’t even make much sense. Then again, maybe it’s just me—don’t want to wrong the man. Maybe I just haven’t given his books a fair chance.
That’s why there’s a bit of irony in the fact that his third book, Tribe of Mentors, in which Ferriss has the least direct presence, is the one that held my attention the most. 😀
Books like Tribe of Mentors aren’t a new or groundbreaking concept, yet they’re extremely popular. People today are obsessed with successful folks—their life rituals, business habits, mantras, recommendations, the books they read, and everything in between. Tim Ferriss decided to make use of that trend in a very simple way.
He formulated 11 life (and business) questions that he believed would be valuable for successful people to answer and share with the world. The questions were:
1. Which book (or books) have you gifted the most to other people, and why? Or what are the three books that have most influenced your life?
2. What purchase of $100 or less has positively impacted your life in the last six months?
3. How has failure—or apparent failure—set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite” failure?
4. If you had a giant billboard, what would it say and why?
5. What investment has paid off the most for you?
6. What unusual habit or absurd thing do you love?
7. What new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life in the past five years?
8. What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore?
9. What bad recommendations do you hear in your profession or area of expertise?
10. In the last five years, what have you become better at saying “no” to?
11. When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
And then he packed those questions into an email and sent it to hundreds (“A BILLION MILLION” — as subconscious narration in Vuk Drašković’s voice would say) of successful people, hoping to get replies. And that’s it! ^^
If 10% of them reply, he’s golden—they’d be enough for a book. And indeed, he got replies from many. When you finish the book, you’ll inevitably wonder if he wrote to people you personally consider successful who simply didn’t bother replying. Most likely, that’s exactly what happened. X)
Within the book you’ll find answers from successful people across all kinds of fields: investors, businessmen, CEOs, writers, musicians, ex-athletes-turned-businessmen, coaches, actors, directors, screenwriters, TV hosts, IT wizards, conceptual artists, philosophers, scientists, and many more. In principle, most answered all 11 questions… some answered the majority… and a few only answered three or four. Quite a few clearly know Ferriss from before (having been on his blog or podcast), while others are “guests” for the first time.
So who are these mighty names sharing their wisdom with us? Among others: Steven Pressfield, Susan Cain, Dita Von Teese, Neil Strauss, Ben Stiller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jimmy Fallon, Maria Sharapova, Arianna Huffington, Gary Vaynerchuk, Bear Grylls, Ashton Kutcher, Tony Hawk, Ray Dalio, Larry King, David Lynch, Neil Gaiman, Adam Fisher, Steve Aoki, Jocko Willink, Robert Rodriguez, Yuval Noah Harari, and many more.
Every 20–30 “guest entries,” Ferriss inserts a page where he reflects on a few famous quotes. To be clear, he doesn’t explain them—he just muses about them. 😀
Talking about the writing style is pointless here, since this is essentially a compilation of answers from hundreds of different people. Some respond concisely (a paragraph or two), some go on for two or three pages, and a few really dig in and write six or seven pages.
The main strength of the book lies in the huge diversity of people answering the questions. For each person, you get a short bio, followed by the questions and replies. There’s a high chance that among them are people you personally find inspiring (or even consider role models), so you get a little peek into their thinking. For me, the most interesting answers were about the books they recommend/gift, their biggest “favorite” failures, and the “bad advice” in their respective industries. (You’ll even start to notice a pattern of two or three books that many highly successful people keep recommending.)
However, the book’s greatest strength can also be interpreted as a weakness. There’s a solid chance that many of these answers (or similar ones) could be found online. But again—would you really want to spend time hunting for them when they’re already neatly compiled? Plus, you’ll stumble upon answers from people you wouldn’t have thought of searching for in the first place, even though you benefit from reading them.
As I mentioned earlier, Tribe of Mentors is the book with the least Tim Ferriss in it—and potentially his best book… potentially.
It’s a book you can read slowly, while reading other things at the same time. The format allows you to read a few mentors’ answers per day, and that’s enough.
Although the book is filled with interesting information, perspectives, and useful nuggets, it isn’t revolutionary nor a must-read category—yet it would be a shame not to read it at least once. Grab it when it’s on discount, whether physical or digital—that’s my friendly advice. 🙂
And you, dear reader—what would your answers be to those 11 questions? 🙂
Tim Ferriss’ blog | Official website for the book
Book price: Vulkan | Dereta
Ratings (and purchase) on international sites: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository | Audible | Waterstones | Penguin Random House
