Tim Ferriss Gathers Expert Life Advice in 'Tribe of Mentors'

Springs native, podcaster and author Tim Ferriss released his newest book, Tribe of Mentors, on Tuesday, November 21.

The new tome continues Ferriss’s series of bestselling business and life advice books, such as The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, and last year’s Tools of Titans, in which he teachers readers how to streamline their lives and assimilate the tools and talents of experts in a variety of fields. This time, Tribe of Mentors takes key life advice from 140 experts who help answer some of the big questions and surmount the greatest obstacles.

“We all need mentors, particularly when the odds seem stacked against us,” the book description explains, noting that Ferriss shares this sage information through “action-packed” profiles and each mentor’s secrets for success, happiness, meaning and more. “No matter the challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help.”

Among the mentors profiled, Ferriss shares insights from athletes such as tennis star Maria Sharapova, surfer Kelly Slater, swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres, skater Tony Hawk and Olympic wrestling champ Dan Gable. He also speaks to Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, producer Rick Rubin, TED curator Chris Anderson, journalist Arianna Huffington, country musician Tim McGraw and many, many others.

Ferriss, who now appears to live a fully charmed life, just turned 40 and reveals in the intro to Tribe of Mentors that he never expected to make it past age 39. At a recent TED talk, the author shared the story of how he nearly committed suicide in college. “The things that worked out weren’t supposed to work, so I realized on my birthday: I had no plan for after 40,” Ferriss writes, noting that he needed guidance about navigating his way through this stage of life.

So he asks: “Were my goals my own, or simply what I thought I should want? How much of life had I missed from underplanning or overplanning? How could I be kinder to myself ? How could I better say no to the noise to better say yes to the adventures I craved? How could I best reassess my life, my priorities, my view of the world, my place in the world, and my trajectory through the world?”

Tribe of Mentors seeks to answer these questions.

You can read the first chapter of the book on Ferriss’s blog here.

On a related note: Ferriss spoke to fans and readers on a Facebook Live chat Wednesday, and noted he would be heading to the East End to visit his family. Perhaps you’ll see him in town!