Book Excerpt | Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss | Note 504

Does “busy” equal out of control?

 
Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, compiled lessons he learned from nearly 200 interviews on his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, into his book, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers.
 
Tim talks about Derek Sivers, one of his favorite humans and a guy he often calls for advice in the book. If you aren’t familiar with Derek, he created CD Baby in 1998, which became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100 million in sales. He produced some great books and actually became a circus clown at one point.
 
I will cosign that Derek’s books and content are worth consuming.
 
In Tools of Titans, Tim quotes Derek as saying, “Every time people contact me, they say, ‘Look, I know you must be incredibly busy . . .’ and I always think, ‘No, I’m not.’ Because I’m in control of my time. I’m on top of it. ‘Busy,’ to me, seems to imply ‘out of control.’ Like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so busy. I don’t have any time for this shit!’ To me, that sounds like a person who’s got no control over their life.”
 
Tim’s thoughts on Derek’s comments are, “lack of time is lack of priorities. If I’m “busy,” it is because I’ve made choices that put me in that position, so I’ve forbidden myself to reply to “How are you?” with “Busy.” I have no right to complain. Instead, if I’m too busy, it’s a cue to reexamine my systems and rules.”
 
And that’s just an excerpt from Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss.

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