Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss

Brad Revell -

My Rating of “Tribs of Mentors” by Timothy Ferriss: 7 / 10

Tribes of Mentors has been on my reading list for some time. It is the second Tim Ferriss book I’ve read (The 4-Hour Work Week was the first). It is a weighty book and I’d advise those who read it to make sure they determine a strategy of chipping away at it on a regular basis versus going from start to finish. Why? First because of the structure of the book. It is broken down by each mentor within their specific field / expertise. Ferriss asks the same set of questions and it becomes quite repetitive over time. Second, it is just such a large book to consume given the number of mentors.

Normally I would read this via my Kindle app on my iPad. Instead I went with the Audible recording. That was my first mistake as it took me approximately 50 days to finish. Normally I finish audiobooks within 1 – 2 weeks. In retrospect I wish I had bought the Kindle version. I believe it would have been a better way to consume the many recommendations, hacks and guides provided by Ferriss and his mentors.

The final important thing about this book is that some recommendations are timely. For example, Ferriss asks what is the best purchase of $100 or less that the mentor has made in recent times. Most answers had to do with technology and I can see these answers becoming less relevant as time moves on.

Tribes of Mentors is a fantastic encyclopaedia of successful people across a spectrum of industries and arts. Just know what you’re getting into and read it accordingly. It is definitely a reference book versus something you would commit to reading start to finish.

Three key takeaways from the book:

  1. When you ask someone for a rating on a scale of 1 – 10, don’t let them use 7. 7 is the easy way out and it is most common. It forces people to think a little bit more on their rating. I cannot remember which interviewee mentioned this.
  2. Your focus should be on courage versus confidence. I found this to be quite interesting given I’m a “jump in the deep end” type of person.
  3. Man’s Search of Meaning by Viktor Frankl was the most recommended book by the mentors. Interesting result and having read it twice I would agree.