Why Billionaire Advice Is Actually Terrible for You
Following Success Habits of the Elite Might Sabotage Your Progress
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Outsmart the Learning Curve starts with the premise that success techniques that work for world-class people may not be helpful for the rest of us—that it’s more valuable and inspiring to understand how ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things versus studying the unreachable elite.
I’ve been working on this premise for the last two years, and last week, a gift fell into my lap confirming my point. A newsletter from AI answer tool Perplexity used the example query:
What are the key takeaways from Tim Ferriss’s book, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers?
The book documents Ferriss’s interviews with dozens of billionaires, icons and world-class performers. Tim Ferriss is clearly a smart guy and has helped countless people with his books, blogs, and podcasts. However, many of the AI summarized takeaways1 reinforce that what works for billionaires, icons, or world-class people may not for us mere mortals.
Here’s a cherry-picked and categorized version of the Perplexity takeaway list followed by Outsmart the Learning Curve interpretations.
Takeaways 1 - Sensible Ideas for Billionaires
Say "no" frequently - Being selective and saying no to most things allows you to focus on what's truly important.
Focus on strengths - Rather than trying to fix weaknesses, most focused on leveraging and maximizing their natural strengths and talents.
Surround yourself with great people - The people you spend time with have an enormous impact, so choose wisely.
Nonsense for the Rest of Us
If you look closely, the above takeaways are based on hidden advantages that most of us don't have and therefore shouldn’t be mirroring.
Say Yes to Growth (versus the privileged “no”): Of course, successful billionaires should say “no” all the time—they are likely approached with so many opportunities, it would be impossible to say yes to everything. If you’re still working on yourself, undergoing a transformation, or trying to overcome an obstacle, saying “yes” more frequently might get you out of your rut or lead you down a new fruitful path. The rest of us should say “yes” more.
Work on Strategic Weaknesses (versus a strength only focus): Many billionaires can focus on their strengths because they can outsource the things they’re not good at. The rest of us should selectively work on weaknesses that may be preventing success. Whether that’s increasing levels of openness, behaving more extraverted, or simply being more likable, improving on weaknesses can help ordinary people reach greater heights. The rest of us should work on select weaknesses.
Build Your Network (versus using ready-made connections): I do try to seek out people I can learn from, but it’s much easier to surround yourself with great people if you run in elite circles as these billionaires do, or have access to the Harvard or Stanford alumni network. What about the rest of us who went to state schools or didn’t even go to college? Surrounding yourself with “great people” is definitely desirable. To do that well first concentrate on cultivating your network.
Takeaways 2 - Billionaire Habits
Develop a consistent morning routine - Many high performers have a structured morning routine that includes things like meditation, journaling, exercise, and planning their day.
Prioritize sleep - Getting adequate, high-quality sleep was emphasized by many top performers as critical to their success.
Have clear goals - Setting specific, measurable goals and regularly reviewing them was a common practice.
Smart Habits May Correlate to World-Class Performance, But Aren’t Causal
It’s hard to argue with any of these practices, but it’s pretty clear that not everybody who has a consistent morning routine or sets clear goals becomes a billionaire, icon or world-class performer. Further accomplishing these habits for a billionaire, icon or world-class performance is often easier than it is for us regular people. We have to do it a bit differently.
Morning Routines: Yes, Richard Branson wakes at 5 AM to exercise, and Jack Dorsey takes an HOUR to meditate each morning. But what they don't mention is they have personal chefs, housekeepers, and often zero commutes. For working parents juggling school drop offs or people working multiple jobs, an elaborate morning routine is more aspirational than practical. The good news? Real success often comes from small, consistent actions that work for your life—whether that's ten minutes of stretching while the coffee brews, listening to an audiobook during your commute, or doing a few minutes of planning over breakfast. Sometimes the humblest routines create the strongest foundations.
Sleep Prioritization: When billionaires talk about prioritizing sleep, they're sleeping in custom-built bedrooms with $5,000 mattresses and perfect temperature control. For the average person dealing with noisy neighbors, night shifts, or crying babies, "just prioritize sleep" isn't actionable advice. The real win comes from finding creative ways to improve sleep quality within our constraints—whether that's using white noise apps, sleep masks, or smarter schedule adjustments that work with our real lives rather than against them.
Clear Goals: When billionaires talk about "clear goals," they're operating with massive teams, unlimited resources, and safety nets that let them fail with little consequence. For the rest of us, goal-setting requires balancing immediate survival needs with long-term aspirations—a juggling act that looks nothing like a billionaire's singular focus on "disrupting industries" or "building global brands." Yet this constraint can actually lead to smarter, more sustainable progress as we learn to break down big dreams into achievable steps that build real momentum over time.
Takeaways 3 - Billionaires Use the Latest Thinking
Cold exposure - Things like cold showers or ice baths were commonly used for health, recovery and mental toughness.
Use intermittent fasting - Many practice some form of intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating for health and cognitive benefits.
Be Careful with Fads for Rich People
While there’s data supporting the value of cold exposure and intermittent fasting, let's not forget that previous billionaire health fads like the seemingly insane advice to drink “raw water” turned out to be dangerous nonsense. Further, if you do want to partake in the latest thinking, there is often a “regular” people option.
Cold Exposure: While there's solid science behind cold therapy's benefits, billionaires are doing this in carefully controlled environments with $20,000 ice baths. But you don't need billionaire equipment to benefit from temperature stress. A minute of cold water at the end of your regular shower offers many of the same advantages. Sure, it's uncomfortable—that's actually the point—but it's also free, quick, and backed by research. The key difference? Billionaires turn this simple practice into an elaborate production while the rest of us can get similar benefits without the fancy gear.
Intermittent Fasting: Maybe this is a good practice, but some smart people are starting to question the real world value versus downsides like muscle loss. Either way fasting is another causation vs correlation issue. I’ve skipped breakfast most of my life against my mother’s pleading, and look at me now—I’ve been intermittent fasting the whole time. Still waiting for my first billion to roll in though.
The Real Path Forward
While the practices of billionaires and world-class performers can certainly be inspiring, they often reflect privileges and circumstances that aren't readily available to most people.
The real challenge—and perhaps the more valuable insight—lies in understanding how ordinary people can create extraordinary success through accessible strategies and intelligent adaptation of their existing resources. That’s what Outsmart the Learning Curve is all about.
Success isn't about mimicking the elite; it's about finding your own path while working within your current reality to expand your possibilities.
Full disclosure: I only skimmed the book, but given what I did read, I largely trust the Perplexity list of takeaways. And to be fair, Ferriss doesn't present these tactics as a guaranteed formula for success, but he does present them as tools for readers to adapt to their own lives.
This is fantastic- my fav so far. Funny and true! As a fellow breakfast skipper I’m glad to know I’m on trend. Not doing that cold water shower thing tho - not for a billion dollars ;-)
This is what I’ve been thinking too recently, having spent too many decades reading self-improvement, business books, Fortune magazine and Tim Ferriss. It’s the success bias and luck (right person with the right background at the right place with the right resources at the right time) has an awful lot to do with “success”.
It would be more interested in learning from failures and from “small” successes. Local business that have done well. What did they give up to get there? For the average person, I think that experience is more applicable.
What Tim provides isn’t Not Useful, but like you said, it really needs to be tailored to you personally situation. Would prefer “concepts” that tools, but perhaps that’s just my way of thinking.