Tribe of Mentors: My Answers To Tim Ferriss’ 11 Questions

You guys know that I love Tim Ferriss, right? In my head we are best friends.

I love all his books and his podcast. He always provides so much value and has superstar guests. His most recent book, Tribe of Mentors, is incredible.

He asks 11 questions to athletes, entrepreneurs and other accomplished people, and they answer. It’s such a great book to highlight and dog-ear so you can refer back to it. I highlighted the shit out of mine.

I thought it would be fun if I answered the 11 questions for you guys, so here we go:

1.) What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

The War of Art. Not to be confused with The Art of War which I also love. The War of Art is by Steven Pressfield ( he also wrote Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit – I love it ). It very much appeals to my creative side. A lot of entrepreneurs, athletes and creatives love this book.

The lesson you can expect to learn in The War of Art is that everyone struggles. I get asked all the time how I stay inspired and motivated all the time and the truth is, I don’t. I’m not always inspired and motivated, and I’m not alone. This is so important if you are feeling alone or like you’re the only one. YOU AREN’T.

It also talks about how to commit to a territory or category and I think that’s so important when you’re trying to niche down.

Basically, an expert or professional gains recognition through his or her work and you have to put in that work. That means showing up every single day, regardless of whether you feel like it or not.

This book reads in a really interesting way because it’s not in chapter format. Sometimes you don’t want to read a long chapter, you just want a quick hit of wisdom – that’s what this book provides.

2.) What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months ( or in recent memory )? My readers love specifics like brand and model, where you found it, etc.

My iPhone camera holder with the selfie remote has been life-changing. Now I don’t need someone to take my pictures and I can do it myself. It’s so great if you’re out with a friend or on vacation so you can both be in the picture. I highly recommend this to influencers and bloggers. A few other standout mentions that have impacted my life: white noise machine, Hydroflask and Kopari deodorant ( it’s really impacted Michael’s life – lol ).

3.) How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?

I try not to think like that. I think failure is part of the game of entrepreneurship. It’s just part of being in the ring – if you’re on the field, you’re probably going to get hurt. If I have to pinpoint one I’d say that the first 5 podcast episodes we did were horrendous and atrocious. But we learned from our mistakes and improved.

4.) If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions — what would it say and why? It could be a few words or a paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else’s quote: Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?)

Do You. I just think we all need to live and let live. Everyone is different with a different circumstance and I don’t understand why everyone is so worried about everyone else all the time. I think if you’re sitting around thinking about everyone else all the time, then you need to find the meaning and purpose of your own life. Stay in your own lane, as Bethenny Frankel says.

5.) What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? ( Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc. )

Definitely my favorite investments have to do with time. There is nothing I value more than my time. I spend money on things that give me more time. I’ll take an Uber to an exercise class so I can get stuff done on the ride there, I go through DMs while I’m getting a facial, or write a post while I get a blowout. To be able to have the space to create while I spend that money on time is really powerful for me.

6.) What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

If my to-do list has 8000 things on it, the first thing I’ll do is clean my house because it gives me clarity. There’s something about cleaning my house that declutters my brain and gives me peace. It makes me feel in control. I also play with my hair when I’m thinking.

7.) In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

Definitely sharing my life on the internet. Instagram stories has been a game changer because I can connect with my audience on another level. I’ve been able to connect to people all over the world and grow this amazing TSC community even more than just with the blog.

8.) What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore?

Niche down on your passion. Write down everything you love doing and create your own career. Create goals and then create systems to get you to your goals. Be self-aware and create the future you want. Ignore the advice that you need to work for someone else or “get in” with some big company. If that’s not what you want to do, then don’t do it.

9.) What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

That you have to go to college. I think it comes back to self-awareness. For me, college was a waste of time. I could’ve been creating and blogging. If you want to be an entrepreneur, get some loans towards starting a business, instead of taking out student loans. Michael has talked about this in depth on the blog.

10.) In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to ( distractions, invitations, etc. )? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?

I used to say yes to everything. EVERYTHING. I was exhausted and the things I loved started to feel heavy. One day I just had a total breakdown. Now, I’m so protective of my time. I use my Google calendar like a psycho and I say no. In the words of Ryan Holiday: no, I don’t want to go get coffee or drinks. I want to create. He calls it the slight edge. You need to look at what made you successful in the beginning and go back to it. For me, that’s creating. Saying no is kinda easy now!

11.) When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? ( If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself? )

I clean my house or take a yoga class. I do yoga for mental clarity, not a workout. I also make sure my environment is right. I’m really all about this. I turn on bossanova, light candles, diffuse tangerine oil – whatever. I need my space to match what I’m trying to evoke from my brain.

I also like to take my time when making decisions. I’m someone who needs to think for a while before sharing my opinion and wait until the right answer/decision comes to me.

Tim Ferriss is amazing and if you haven’t listened to his podcast, I’m jealous. You have so many good episodes with tons of VALUE to catch up on. His books are must-reads, too.

I would love to know your answers to some of these questions! You guys know tips and tricks are always welcome here. Can’t wait to read them!

See you tomorrow,

x, lauryn

+ Read what I learned from Tim’s other book, The 4 Hour Work Week.

+ Check out my “not to-do list”, inspired by Tim.

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