Success Advice

5 Powerful Life Lessons From the Book Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

Published

8 years ago

Jul 29, 2017

Liam Seed

We love reading success stories. People like Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan inspire us to shoot for the stars. We may even insert ourselves into their story and ask ‘what if I could do that?’ But when the last chapter is read, we’re often left with a warm fuzzy feeling, but no actionable steps to take towards our own success.

There’s a disconnect because we can’t necessarily replicate Jobs’ environment or skill sets. But, if we know the practical life lessons that successful people live by, we can test these out. We can take what works and build our own blueprint for success and happiness.

In Tim Ferris’ new book Tools of Titans, he skillfully deconstructs world-class performers to extract the tactics, tools, and routines we can use.

Here are my five favorite life lessons from the book that are deceivingly simple, but powerfully effective:

1. Go First

Gabrielle Reece is a world-renowned athlete, model, New York Times bestselling author, and fitness leader. She has a practice that is simple but powerful. She always goes first. If she’s at the supermarket checkout, she’s the first to say hello. When she comes across someone and makes eye contact, she smiles first.

This practice teaches us to take initiative and connect with people. We don’t need to wait for a cue from others before we act. Put yourself out there. Start conversations with strangers. Take a genuine interest in other people’s lives. You never know where the next conversation will lead you.

2. The Obstacle Is the Way

Ryan Holiday is a writer and media strategist. The Obstacle is the Way is the title of his third book. It’s also a powerful life lesson that we should repeat when facing challenges. The idea is that every obstacle presents an opportunity to get better, stronger, and tougher. It reminds us that we should be seeking out the things that scare and challenge us. This is the space in which growth occurs.

Think about your biggest achievements in life. Whether it was starting a business, completing a university degree, or running a marathon. You probably had your fair share of stress and obstacles to overcome. But you came out the other side a better person. Build a habit of getting outside of your comfort zone regularly. Realise that you’ll face tough situations, but they are the experiences that pave the way to success.

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
– Marcus Aurelius

3. Show Up Consistently

Christopher Sommer is the former US national team gymnastics coach. He talks about making a single important decision to stay on course when working towards a goal.

We often overlook the simple things that create success, like deciding to show up consistently. When we start out building a business or learning a skill, it’s easy to get deterred in the initial stages. But if we focus on a single important decision—showing up consistently—the goal doesn’t seem so big.

So, when you start working toward a goal, don’t worry about performance. Initially, you have a single focus: show up and do the work every time.

“The secret is to show up, do the work, and go home. A blue collar work ethic married to indomitable will. It is literally that simple. Nothing interferes. Nothing can sway you from your purpose. Once the decision is made, simply refuse to budge. Refuse to compromise.” – Christopher Sommer

4. Don’t Follow the Herd

Robert Rodriguez is a writer, producer, director, and composer. He talks about the importance of going against the grain. If everybody’s going left, you go right. Don’t follow the herd. You’re bound to stumble and fall, but you’ll find new ideas and success when you blaze your own trail. There’s also less competition when you don’t pursue the crowded channels.

Rethink the ‘safe routes’ that the herd follow. Do you really want to work a 9-5 corporate job for the rest of your life? Or are you willing to follow your passion and build your own business? Are you going to eat fast food regularly and end up as a statistic? Or will you go the other way and look after your body?

“The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.” – Alan Ashley-Pitt

5. The Secrets of Life Are Hidden Behind the Word Cliché

Shay Carl went from manual labourer to having a YouTube channel with around 2.3 billion views. He explains how the secrets of life are hidden behind the clichés we often overlook.

Shay lost over 100 lb and cites the example of ‘eat more vegetables’. Something he’d been told millions of times but ignored. We hear things all the time like ‘actions speak louder than words’, ‘exercise regularly’, ‘get more sleep’, ‘be consistent’, and so on. These clichés hold powerful truths, but we don’t always put them into practice. At the end of the day, it’s the simple things in life that work.

Shay’s advice is to perk up and pay attention anytime you hear something that you think is a cliché. Go a step further and take one cliché and test it out for two weeks to see if your life improves.

So, there are the five powerful life lessons you can start using right away. Don’t let this be another post you read in passing. Make a choice to test one of these out for a few weeks. Decision creates action. Action creates results.

What is the most important step you need to take to reach success? Let us know what you think by commenting below!

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Liam Seed is a body transformation coach and blogger. He helps people build their dream body without overhauling their lives. Results made simple. Grab his free Body Transformation Guide or learn more at Optimised Fitness.

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Change Your Mindset

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Scale Your Business

Tired of Wasting Money on the Wrong Marketers? Here’s How Smart Entrepreneurs Are Finally Hiring Right

Published

2 days ago

May 24, 2025

Addicted2Success Editor

If you’ve ever Googled how to hire a Facebook marketer or best TikTok marketing agency only to spend thousands on someone who couldn’t deliver…congrats, you’ve joined a very expensive club! For many entrepreneurs, hiring a digital marketer feels like more like visiting a casino and gambling with your runway, than it feels like securing a partner who’ll help build your business. Often, it feels like you’re betting on a stranger to grow the dream you’ve poured your savings into.

And way too often, you lose that bet.

You don’t need another list of the “Top 10 Agencies” with five-star testimonials and polished logos. You need to know which marketer can actually drive results for your business. Not in theory. In practice.

This is where entrepreneurs are learning to pivot. And it’s why a new platform called TruthMetric.com is turning heads across the startup world.

Why Most Startups Burn Through 3–6 Marketers Before Finding the Right One

Here’s the hard truth: most startups don’t fail because of their product, they fail because they can’t get sales or sell it fast enough. And in trying to fix that, founders usually go through five or six marketers, burning tens of thousands before finding someone who truly knows how to convert.

You build your product, get your website live, maybe even launch an ad campaign. But when you search for help and look up how to “hire a YouTube ads agency” or “top Facebook ad expert for Shopify”, you get hit with a sea of shiny portfolios, “ninja” titles, and endless promises.

Three months later, you’re still waiting on your first profitable campaign, and you’re most likely out tens of thousands, feeling utterly defeated…and maybe grinning with an affinity for that upcoming boxing class with a picture of that marketer’s fac……nevermind.

If this sounds like you, it’s time for what one entrepreneur called a strategic shift to scale smarter, not harder.

Introducing TruthMetric.com: The Transparent Marketplace for Hiring Marketers Who Deliver

TruthMetric.com isn’t just another freelancer platform or agency directory. It’s the first hiring solution where you can see three years of real, verified marketing performance before spending a dime.

That includes:

Verified ad campaign performance
Actual return on ad spend (ROAS)
Industry-specific experience
Platform specialties (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Google Ads, and more)

Whether you’re looking for a Facebook ads expert, a TikTok marketer, or a YouTube growth strategist, TruthMetric.com lets you filter and compare based on what actually matters, results.

This level of clarity is something you won’t find on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. And it solves what many founders know too well as the New York Pizza Problem: where every marketer claims they’re “the best,” just like every pizzeria in Manhattan says they’re #1. Often without showing you results, you get sucked into this dream of collaboration, until the nightmare commences the moment you fork that first invoice payment. Hence the deception that leads to many business owners losing their hard earned savings and budget to launch their grand idea.

With TruthMetric, you finally get the data to decide for yourself, BEFORE you hire. Now if only New York Pizza shops had the same transparency then maybe you’d finally find the best pizza in New York, perhaps the perfect post work out after a boxing sesh? I think so!

Why Founders Are Shifting to Results-First Hiring

Most entrepreneurs think they need to do it all themselves, until they burn out or burn through their budget. That’s exactly why this founder had to drop the Superman complex and hire a marketing genius.

What makes TruthMetric so powerful is that it turns hiring into a confident move, not a hopeful one. You’re no longer guessing. You’re choosing from proven performers. You know what vertical they dominate. You know their past client performance. You see the monthly results from the campaigns they ran, and the outcomes they achieved.

It’s not just efficient. It’s empowering.

Scaling Quickly Requires Automation and Eliminating the Noise

Founders who scale quickly understand one thing: growth isn’t just about hustle, it’s about systems. TruthMetric is the system for finding great marketers at speed. No more DM’ing ten freelancers or interviewing agencies feeling like you are asking the world of them to just see some prior results. Instead you get to see the information you need to make an informed decision and plug into verified talent, all ready to perform.

This difference allows for you to match perfectly with the right talent quickly. If you’re building your business to run lean and fast, this convenience plugged in with automation can help you scale your small business right alongside your new marketing hires.

Why TruthMetric Is Also a Boon for Marketers, Not Just Founders

This isn’t just a win for founders, it is a gift for great marketers, too.

If you’re a freelance marketer who’s been quietly pulling 10x ROAS for clients while being passed over for flashy agencies, you now have a stage where your results speak louder than your brand.

TruthMetric is a true meritocracy. No fluff. No sales tricks. Just data.

If you’re tired of being overlooked and ready to stand out based on what you actually deliver, this is your home.

The Secret Weapon for Investors and M&A Operators

There’s another angle here that some of our readers might miss.

Investors, private equity firms, and M&A advisors should be drooling at the thought of having a proven talent pool they can plug and play and the ability to use TruthMetric to revive underperforming companies. Imagine acquiring a business or becoming an active investor, then dropping in a verified operator with a history of explosive growth in that niche.

It’s plug-and-play. Scale on demand.

That kind of insight has never been available before. You couldn’t do this on Upwork. You certainly can’t do it through a friend-of-a-friend referral.

And when it comes to attracting high-performing talent, here’s how to hire top talent and keep them around.

Let’s Really Drive This Home…

If you’ve wasted money on agencies or freelancers who couldn’t deliver, it’s not because you’re bad at hiring, it’s because the game was stacked against you. Trusting dreamy charismatic sales pitches over data was a doomed approach from the start.

TruthMetric levels the playing field by showing you what no other talent marketplace does and that’s proof.

Real marketers. Real results. Real growth.

It’s time to stop guessing and start hiring based on data.
Visit TruthMetric.com and make your next marketing hire the one that actually works.

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