The fact that I am writing this post to you on Thrive Global is an unbelievable instance. After listening to The Tim Ferriss Show with Arianna I immediately felt in love with her story and life experience. I wanted to write an e-mail to her right away but I wondered what can I say to her that she haven’t heard yet from billions of fans and readers. So I didn’t. But after year and a half of intense thinking I realized that the only truly original message would be my story. Successes and struggles. Mostly struggles. My path of becoming the legendary performer.
Well, the bar is set a bit high, so no wonder I have mostly struggles and failures. But the fact that Arianna read my e-mail, spent time to think about it and answered it, I consider a huge success. She gave me great opportunity of sharing my personal story, my ups and downs, experiences and lessons that I’ve learnt on the way. In a thousand years I wouldn’t have predicted the outcome of my innocent e-mail to Arianna. So here I am.
In this post I have genuine question to you. But first, let me give you some details of the story. I want to be the best performer I can. The best magician I can. The best human being I can. That’s why most of my time I fill my mind with knowledge about that. Tim Ferriss Podcast is basically the soundtrack of my life. I wait for every new episode like heroine addict for a dose. In between Friday’s (that’s when podcast are released) I consume Joe Rogan Experience. But this is only the beginning.
I started rather slowly. First I was looking for guest names that I know and admire in this or that manner and I was delighted to hear them talk or even discover that they are real human beings. Steven Pinker was just an author of the book that Penn Jillette was talking about all the time. So when I found that he did an actual couple of hours long podcast with Joe Rogan I was flabbergasted. Shows what I know.
Soon I started listening to every Joe Rogan Experience there is. And there are 1252 episodes! What’s more, when I discovered that the guest is having his own podcast and I found that guest interesting, immediately I had to check it out. And that’s how I discovered:
- Making Sense with Sam Harris (used to be called Waking Up with Sam Harris),
- The Drive by Peter Attia,
- Under the Skin with Russell Brand,
- Jocko Podcast with Jocko Willink,
- Aubrey Marcus Podcast, and of course
- Jordan B Peterson Podcast, although I consume his content mostly by his YouTube Lectures.
Oh boy, that’s a lot of content. All of them bring tremendous value to the listener. I would love to obtain knowledge from all of those podcasts. All of the knowledge. ALL OF IT.
Thankfully, while I am practicing my magic I can consume hours of podcasts at that time. And I do. I listen to at least one every day.
But here is my big question. Or questions. Does it make me smarter? Wiser? Maybe happier? Or better human being?
I don’t know. What I know for sure is that I am addicted to consuming that knowledge. It feels productive. But when I compare myself to all those people that achieved so much in their life (and I know I shouldn’t cause I am inexperienced 28-year-old so what do I know) it can be pretty wrecking.
Gary Vee had his chain of lemonade stands at the age of 6. When I was six I was running around moms living room holding my genitals and hitting my head against radiators. Jocko is so unbelievably self disciplined that he could embarrass God himself. I can barely wake up after 10 hours sleep. Jordan B Peterson is so articulate and eloquent that Shakespeare could take notes. I feel like I cannot say one sentence without having it scripted before. Elon Musk sold his first computer game that he coded himself when he was 12. I am 28 and I am writing this post from my grandmas basement, trying to sort my life and become the greatest entertainer on earth.
What do you think about it? Can it help me to be better, more considerate person? Or am I just falling deeper and deeper into this comparison hole? I love getting knowledge and insights of life. But maybe after some asymptotic amount it becomes a blend of everythingness and nothingness?
While thinking about this subject I stumbled upon Derek Sivers’ website. (How did I discover him? Of course by Tim Ferriss podcast.) And he had this great sentence that breathing consists of two parts. Inhale and exhale. You cannot only inhale. Impossible. From time to time it’s wise to exhale in order to live. Maybe it’s not wise to only consume knowledge and however great content. Maybe it’s also important to share what you personally think and share your life experience. Maybe, just maybe this is what I would be honored to do on the Thrive Global platform.
I would really love to know. But right now I’ll go back to practicing my magic and listening to the newest Tim Ferriss podcast. I am thrilled.