5-Bullet Friday — Fixing Low-Back Pain, Power Brokers, Online Dating WTF, How to Start a War, and More

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of 5-Bullet Friday, a list of what I’m pondering and exploring. Feel free to forward along if the spirit moves you.

This edition is brought to you by Waking Up, one of my favorite life tools. Be sure to see their offer in the P.S.

What I’m reading and putting to use

​Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill, one of the great Jedis of spine mechanics. The description: “Back Mechanic guides you through a self-assessment of your pain triggers then shows you how to avoid these roadblocks to recovery. Then, effective exercises are coached in a step-by-step progressive plan. Spine expert Prof. McGill used his 30 years of research findings and clinical investigations to create this evidence-based guide that has helped thousands reclaim their lives.” Long-term readers might recognize Stuart’s name, as I featured the following exercises from him in a previous 5BF: “Enhancing low back health through stabilization exercise.” From extreme pain six months ago, these exercises helped me to aggressively ski half-day sessions 4–5x/week all of January and February.

Podcast episode I’m loving

“Power Broker #01: Robert Caro” by 99% Invisible, hosted by Roman Mars and Elliott Kalan. This is spectacular. I must confess with great shame that I have never finished The Power Broker, the legendary Pulitzer Prize winner by Robert Caro. Dozens of my most brilliant friends have recommended it, and I’ve tried valiantly, but I somehow fall short. The book chronicles the life of Robert Moses, a city planner who became the most powerful man in New York, shaping the city’s politics and infrastructure.
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This three-part podcast allowed me to salvage my self-respect and dive back into what I knew to be an incredible story worth exploring. It also reignited my desire to finish the book.
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Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. I will be listening to episodes #2 and #3 in the series over the weekend. To sample Robert Caro’s incredible writing, read the “if you do everything” paragraph here.
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For a cinematic impression of Robert Moses, you can find a creative variant of him in Edward Norton’s brilliant adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn as Moses Randolph. The trailer here—and the entire film—is well worth watching.

What is making me laugh

​Humanitarians of Tinder. Since I’m back on the dating scene, I decided to revisit this old gem. After a hard day, it’s a great way to laugh until it hurts and go to bed with a smile. Life is absurd, and sometimes you just need to bathe in the “WTF?” of it all.

Fiction writing I’m sharing

“How to Start a War.” “How to Start a War” is my first published fiction piece, and it’s the first time I’ve shared fiction on the blog. It’s a short story about mercenaries, modern life, and the games we play. How much of it is actually fiction? Well, that’s a damn good question. Read it here, and let me know what you think in the blog post’s comments.

Poem I’m pondering

“Everything is Waiting for You”
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​Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
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Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
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— David Whyte
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You can complement this edition of 5-Bullet Friday with the latest Tim Ferriss Experiment episode (“How to Quickly Learn Poker”), my most recent interview with Edward Norton, and my brand-new “walk and talk” conversation with the one and only Seth Godin.
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And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.
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Have a wonderful weekend, all.
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Much love to you and yours,
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Tim

P.S. Deal of the Week — Waking Up meditation app.

The Waking Up app, created by my good friend, renowned neuroscientist and author Sam Harris, is an absolutely world-class program for mind training. I was a beta tester back in 2018 and have recommended it to nearly all of my friends. Whether you want to sharpen your mind or experience more peace of mind, the Waking Up app can help, and it’s helped me. I have used it for more than five years, and it’s like adding a buffer of calm between me and our fast-paced, often high-stress, world.
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I love Waking Up for its guided meditation *progression* that builds multiple skills as you move from one class to the next. I suggest starting with Sam’s 30-day introductory class, which I revisit myself at least once a year. It’s a logical sequence instead of a collection of ad-hoc readings. Subscribers to 5-Bullet Friday can get 30 days free when you sign up at WakingUp.com/Tim. Sign up today and experience a new operating system for your mind.