Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss4 min read

Tim Ferriss’ new book, Tools of Titans, comes in at a whopping 673 pages. It is a “best of” his popular The Tim Ferriss Show podcast and show notes kept on his blog.  Throughout the book, he distills the nuggets of 112 of his favorite podcast interviews. With guests ranging from Wim “The Iceman” Hof to performer Jamie Foxx, there’s lots of variety.  Ferriss also adds personal commentary and links between different ideas put forward by his guests in addition to 35 “non-profile” chapters that detail his routines, favorite gear and life frameworks.

This project was clearly a mammoth undertaking, requiring sorting through dozens of hours of audio while attempting to identify the best moments for transcription in the book.  When I’ve read books in similar formats in the past, I’ve often felt like the author was simply trying to increase the monetization of his interviews, not adding much more value than the interviews themselves provided.  This isn’t the case in this tome as evidenced by the fact that it has risen to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.  Ferriss’ conscientious effort to link ideas together and dive deeper into the subjects covered by his guests are apparent and make this book worth reading.

This is a book I will want to come back to, reference and most likely read again in its entirety.  From Christopher Sommer’s (World Class Gymnastic Coach) practical flexibility and mobility advice to Scott Adams (Author of Dilbert comic strip) take on life, there are plenty of timeless takeaways and practical advice to revisit and integrate into your life.

Funnily enough, the main piece of advice that kept creeping up throughout the interviews was a variant of “it’s all going to be okay, stop worrying and push ahead”.  Seems like a common denominator to success in all fields is stressing out during your youth…

What I liked.

• Tools of Titans is written in a very accessible way. It treats a wide variety of subject matter but never loses you even if it’s the first time you are exposed to a subject.
• The editing is superb. I found a single typo on the bottom of page 258 (“That’s on page page 384.”) but otherwise, the book has a great flow and it is a delight to read.

What could have been better.

• Some take-aways require additional context, like having listened to the podcast interview or further reading. Ferriss mentions he’s written this book for himself, as his “bible” of sorts and this is apparent when additional context seems to be missing.  However, this might also be a strength of the book as it gives you a never-ending to do list of numerous other books, podcasts, films, websites, etc. to consult.
• Subjects are not easily referenceable if you don’t remember the person who said them. The whole book is focused on the individuals instead of the messages in how it is structured.  Again, it will be easily referenceable by Ferriss himself as he has the interviews, experiences and key takeaways associated to his guests in his memories which will guide him when referencing this book in the future. I’ve actually created an Index because I couldn’t stand it…

Rating: 4/5

The only thing missing from Tools of Titans is a bit more structure such as an index for easy referencing. I’ve actually created one because I couldn’t stand it… The content from the book is superb and should be easy to lookup.  You can download it HERE.  It is a word document so feel free to make it your own as you read the book. Consider it an Open Source document.

Personal Library Worthy? Yes, I’ve already annotated and tagged this book and will keep coming back to it in the future.

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What were your thoughts on the book?  Which profile was your favorite?  Do you feel the index serves its purpose? Let me know in the comments.

Last Updated on December 22, 2020 by Joël Collin-Demers