I read Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek a while back and was immediately hooked on this “lifestyle design” concept in which you create a lifestyle around the things you love.

Seems pretty straightforward, right?

But as a corporate stooge in her mid-20’s, this was eye-opening for me at that time. Upon discovering the many, liberating options most people don't usually take advantage of, I’ve since then tried to think differently in whatever approach I took when it comes to working, learning, and living.

Now, with Tools of Titans, it's intriguing to discover the “tactics, routines, and habits of billionaires, icons, and world-class performers,” mostly from those whom Tim interviewed in his podcast “The Tim Ferriss Show.” This includes industry giants like Seth Godin, Tony Robbins, Peter Thiel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Josh Waitzkin, James Altucher, and many more by learning how they think differently and act uniquely. Best of all, Ferriss deconstructs these findings into replicable and repeatable results for the rest of us.

A fair warning: some parts of this book aren’t for everyone.

Tim says so himself that you should skip liberally but do so intelligently. He adds, “I want you to skip anything that doesn’t grab you…My goal is for each reader to like 50%, love 25%, and never forget 10%.”

Personally, a portion of that unforgettable 10% lies in a chapter called Testing The “Impossible”: 17 Questions That Changed My Life.

Here are my 3 Takeaways, in the form of three of the 17 questions:

1. If I could only work two hours per week on my business, what would I do?

This is related to the concepts found in The 4-Hour Workweek but presenting it in this manner is straightforward and easy to digest. Your answer to this will highlight only what's necessary and pinpoint what’s effective as opposed to efficient.

It helps to remember the 80-20 Principle or the Pareto Rule where 80% of your results usually come from only 20% of your efforts.

The goal here is to focus only on the actions that you need to do and delegate the rest. Cut out anything that simply wastes time and doesn’t move the needle as much.

2. What would I do/have/be if I had $10 million? What’s my real TMI?

With all this new year's resolutions talk recently, this question is both humbling and liberating at the same time.

The goal is to evaluate your ideal lifestyle. For every dream purchase, experience, installation, upgrade, renovation…

How much does it cost? How much or how little can you live with? How much can you get away with?

For many people, their TMI or Target Monthly Income isn’t all that high.

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3. Could it be that everything is fine and complete as is?

“I’ve personally decided that achievement is no more than a passing grade in life. It’s a C+ that gets you limping along to the next grade. For anything more, and certainly for anything approaching happiness, you have to want what you already have.” - Tim Ferriss

The goal here is to reflect and realize that sometimes happiness isn’t about “more” — usually it’s about less, better, and simpler.

3 Takeaways

Since one of the best ways to improve ourselves is to commit to continuous learning, this post is part of the blog mini-series called 3 Takeaways where I discuss three insights from thought-provoking leaders, books, and podcasts.

My purpose initially was to simply read more books, but the learnings were too valuable to keep to myself. My goal has since been to share the vital lessons that will help you be productive and free.