Push to the Point Where Things Break

Course content (5 lessons)

Your worst nightmare may be to push your business to the point that it breaks. In fact, that may be exactly what you're trying to avoid as you scale your business right now. So why does Tim Ferriss recommend you aim to 'break' the business? Find out in the video for experiment #4.

I push the limit because I feel like the extremes inform the mean, but not vise versa. So what I mean by that is if you look at the extreme cases, whether it's someone who can memorize a shuffled deck of cards in 60 seconds, or someone who can deadlift 1,000 pounds, they might seem like they have absolutely zero application to the people in the middle.
But when you are pushing things to the extreme, to the point where things break, that's where you see most clearly, I think, what works and what doesn't. And you find best practices because the stakes are so high. When the stakes aren't high, and let's just say you're talking to any number of-- just, in the case, of business, right-- like millions of business consultants out there-- what's the cost of them giving you advice, to them, if they give you bad advice?
Usually zero. Usually nothing. But if you're dealing in an environment-- and this is true in business also. You could look at SpaceX or any high stake environment with different missile and rocket launches, rather-- you very quickly are able to identify which sets of rules and best practices work under pressure. So that's why I like to do it.
The second is, honestly, just a curiosity, because I want to know what I'm capable of. And sometimes, to figure that out, you push 10% too hard and then you get reminded by the universe that you're not capable of doing that other 10%. So yeah, whether it's-- and I get a kick out of it, too.
I mean, I like the shock value. Because the fact that I can say to someone, if you asked me to hold my breath right now, I could probably do it for 45 seconds. But the longest I've held my breath is more than 7 and 1/2 minutes by using ketosis, hyperbaric oxygen, and different breathing techniques. So that is so outside of the realm of even possibility, in the minds of most people.
But the fact is, I could teach someone to hold their breath for three or four minutes, in a span of 20 minutes of training. It doesn't make it safe. You can have shallow water blackouts and kill yourself doing that kind of thing. But what I like to do is show-- if I am able to show someone that what they thought was impossible in one area is not only possible, but actually really easy to change, it makes them question the other impossibles that they have in their life.
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Push to the Point Where Things Break

Course content (5 lessons)

Experiment #1: Make a Bold Investment

01 |Experiment #2: Put a Vacation on the Books

02 |Experiment #3: Desensitize Yourself to Rejection

03 |Experiment #4: Push to the Point Where Things Break

04 |Experiment #5: Try a 6-Month Sprint (+Two Week of Experiments)