Finally!
The debut of my TV show — “Trial by Fire” — will air this Thursday, 12/4, at 11pm ET/PT on The History Channel. It’s been two years in the making.
I’ve been told that the times are 11pm ET, 10pm CST, 9pm MT, and 11pm PST. Double check to be safe on the History Channel schedule.
This could very well be the only time you are able to see this show. It’s a pilot and not guaranteed to become a series, so please tune in and also Tivo!
In this post:
1) The concept
2) Live Q&A following show – join me after the broadcast to ask your questions and learn about how to pitch a TV show, the “reality” behind reality TV, behind-the-scenes details, omitted scenes, and more. The Q&A won’t make sense unless you’ve seen the broadcast.
3) Immediate competition and prize for rallying the troops (sooner is better)
The Concept
The concept is simple: I have one week to attempt to learn what is usually learned over 5-20 years. I either crash and burn — or survive by the skin of my teeth — in a final test (trial by fire) each time.
If it’s made into a series, which depends entirely on viewership numbers on Thursday night, I’ll deconstruct a new complex skill each week. It will show you exactly how I approach learning, and no fake TV drama will be required to make the stakes real.
This episode was shot in HD in Tokyo and the mountains of Nikko, where I rolled the dice on Japanese horseback archery, or yabusame: full gallop, no hands, no safety gear, with wooden poles lining the track on either side of the horse. Please don’t do this at home. I had access to the best in the world, and you’ll get to see some never-before-seen footage of a rare and brutal samurai sport few non-Japanese have ever attempted. The show preview is here.
Live Q&A After Broadcast Thursday
I’ll be holding a live Q&A on this blog after both broadcasts (11pm ET for ET, CST, MT; 11pm PT for PT). Note down questions during the show on things you’d like to know. No-holds-barred. Just keep an eye on this blog and my twitter page for more details.
Immediate Competition to Rally Troops
This is a one shot, one kill affair. To become a series, this show needs massive viewership on Thursday to prove to History Channel that people want more.
The competition, limited to the next 48 hours, is simple: promote the below links and leave a comment here with 1) what you did to spread the word, and 2) what challenge you think I should tackle next.
Some options: Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, blogs, FriendFeed, etc. Bonus points go to people who act sooner vs. later.
The links:
The preview (first choice): http://tr.im/1rak
This post (second choice, if video is removed): http://tr.im/1re6
Prize to best promoter: my favorite travel bag in the world, the $500 retail Victorinox Swiss Army 25″ Trek Pack Plus. I used an older version during my 15-country world trip in 2004, and the latest model is even better.
Thanks in advance for your help with spreading the word! More to come soon! Woohoo!
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with over 500 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
This show looks interesting… Now I just wonder if it’s part of my 20% to watch it.
+Baker
already hit up twitter, facebook, gmail, tumblr, myspace, aim away msg and direct messages to all friends that i know are interested (LOTS!). great feedback so far! I look fwd to enjoying the show Thursday night. go Tim!!
Next Challenge: male stripper??! i don’t know. i’m just hoping!
sounds like a pretty cool show, will definitely look to check it out. Good luck.
Hey Tim,
We are all pulling for you here at Jet Set Life and will be rallying the troops and shouting it from the roof tops! Really excited and proud for you.
Best,
Rob and Kim
Great show idea. I’m excited to see it. I published the link to my 379 twitter followers. That tweet also displays on my blog. When the show gets picked up, I’d like to see you break in to the music business.
If it’s not online, it soon will be. promise. listen to what the people want. 🙂
Good luck regardless.
Looks like a great concept. It’s set on the DVR! I posted your link on my blog and via Twitter. Hope it makes it!
Wheee! I’m stoked to see this Tim! I’ve posted to my facebook profile, and favorited the vid to my youtube acct. I’ll also message all the friends who I think would be interested and ask them to comment or host the link. And I’ll start a thread on a filesharing website about it.
for your next adventure, what about that german fraternity fencing? you know the one they do with live blades and you aren’t allowed to move?
Tim,
You may want to also think about “hacks” which will help show interest to The History Channel. i.e. actions viewers could take which would show interest in this show being made into a series.
A few that come to mind:
– TIVO (since data from Tivo could be reported back)
– finding friends who are current Nielson families (a bit tricky but not entirely impossible)
– comments on The History Channel’s official forums about the show, especially after it airs that show people actually viewed the show
– a bit more complex but perhaps try to show trending interest in topics from the show (i.e. google queries, twitter comments about the term “yabusame” which I’m guessing doesn’t get a lot of current traffic
(oh and btw – I’d go buy yabusame as a Google Ad-words buy ahead of time and link people to your show’s official page and/or this post)
Good luck – the trailer is good and the show sounds like it could be quite interesting – if likely also a tad compressed. If I were advising The History Channel I’d suggest a few things:
1. Make a lot of the outtakes and additional footage available online (and for that matter make the whole episode available online – at the very least for purchase via iTunes but even better for immediate viewing via Netflix on-demand, Hulu.com etc)
2. For each episode link to more detailed information about the challenge as well as discussions of the technique(s) you used to attempt it. Stuff like how someone might learn the subject in a non-compressed manner as well as how they might apply similar techniques to challenges closer to home.
Anyway looks great!
Shannon
One idea would be for everyone who thinks Tim deserves a show should DIGG this post!
I love shows like this. Survivorman is my ultimate favorite since I’m outdoors person. I’ll be sure to watch and tell people I know to watch as well! Good luck!
Congrats, Tim!! This is awesome. I don’t want the prize, but I’ll promote for you for sure. 🙂
Perfect! This is show is exactly what I’ve been wondering the most about you, Tim. How do you exactly approach learning? I’m extremely interested in how you dissect and map out the massively complicated. I have a feeling that there is a lot to your method that isn’t covered in the book.
I’m eager to see you at work against these challenges, because I’m sure the show will give a more detailed glimpse at how you attack them.
Best,
Chris
Great accomplishment, keep up the good work. That sounds like it would be a good episode for our animated show.
Congrats on the pilot! It looks like a good show. I do have a suggestion that might make the show a little more interesting. Instead of you lifehacking each challenge it would be more fun to watch you train a beginner or a group of beginners how to lifehack. That would keep the show from getting stale.
I bet the pilot gets picked up, so maybe this idea for season 2.
good luck.
Tim, as I’m in Australia, I’m unable to watch it directly. (I will however tell my US friends about it).
Other than direct promotion to US watchers, how can I (and more international viewers) increase ratings? And how can we watch the actual show, syndication or not?
Tim,
This is AWESOME!!! I knew you were at this level “playing a bigger game”.
I’ll shoot out the link to the masses as I have the selfish desire to see this become a series.
You Rock!
Roger
Your next challenge should be Pecha Kucha. No idea how that popped in my mind, but the show would be fun to watch. I tweeted your show, shared it on gReader, and might write a blog post today. (would have done all of that regardless of the competition, althought the bag does look cool)
Congrats on getting your own TV show Tim!
I did a quick post about it in my blog, which will be Tweeted and put on Facebook.
I can’t wait for Thursday!!
Sweet !!!!!! I will post you on my facebook, my blog, and myspace. How do you continue to work off the momentum?
Cheers
Jose
Tim,
Awesome idea for a show! I’ve rallied all of my friends via Facebook (200+), Ping.fm, MySpace (200+), Friendfeed, Twitter, and Google Reader (share). I also just sent out a Foonz voicemail blast (125+) telling them to find the show in their TV listings and Tivo it.
I think your next challenge should involve learning how to drive a racecar and competing in an actual race in a matter of days. With your love of all things that go fast, I would think you’d enjoy it.
Best of luck!
Dave Gambrill
Pimped you on Twitter, reflected on my Facebook (http://twitter.com/vadavia/status/1035295857) and on my webpage (http://www.limedaring.com/2008/11/25/dreams-and-risk-taking/)
What should you do next… Hike Everest? Fence a grand master? Raft a particularly dangerous river?
Good luck homie.
First Link (YouTube) has COMMENTS TURNED OFF, so can’t tell you how promoted.
1) I have promoted on Twitter to “Willow Glen Extra” for the fame of it’s recent resident. Will go put announcement on TRIBE.NET
2) Next Challenge? Howabout an easy one? Self promotion. Get yourself on the Colbert Report (didn’t get it yet, right?)
Very cool! Not only looks like an interesting show (congrats on that) but it’s on one of my favorite channels.
I will twitter, facebook, blog and send an email to the 6200 identities I have from my various events.
Your next challenge?
Learn Ballet and Perform the Nutcracker at the Bolshoi in Russia.
Good luck with the viewership. What a fantastic concept. I will be watching.
Sheila
http://livewell360.com/
Tim,
I blogged it: http://groovygrrl.blogspot.com/2008/12/trial-by-fire.html
I Tweeted it: soapcrone
I posted it on Facebook: Amy Kalinchuk
What more do you want from me, man????? 🙂
OH, and I suggest the next thing you do for the show is to make $1 million in sales in one week.
~Amy
Dear Übermensch:
Loved the idea! Man, isn’t it everything that a curious life-lover who admires the greatness in man would want to do for life? Are you kidding, mastering a new exciting subject after another? Spetacular.
Tim, I have a question for you.
As a structured, rational and anxious-to-cut-the-BS-see-the-big-picture-and-get-quickly-to-the-point auto-didact myself, I am not so startled about the feasibility of squeezing 10 years in one month or such. What puzzles me is finding the right teacher.
So my question is: in your experience, how do you manage to find experienced, patient teachers and convince them that you could learn in days or few weeks what took themselves many many years to master? How do you approach and negotiate it with them? And after you start, do they cheerfully accept your unmerciful deconstruction of the subject and your learning on your own terms instead of their slow, step-by-step approach?
As for suggestions for next programs, I have THE challenge for you. You’ll just love it, seriously. I will send you an e-mail until tomorrow. Tell Amy not to filter it. 😉
Thumbs up, proud for you. Will spread the word, and wish you success.
Cheers from hot, sunny Rio.
André Branco
Update
1)
Posted to Tribe.net at: http://tinyurl.com/6hufu5
Tweet to (who re-tweeted): http://twitter.com/WillowGlenExtra
2)
Additional challenge: Become a male Belly Dancer (muscle control!)
Congratulations- the show sounds awesome!
And… the debut sounds like a *great* excuse for a gathering (a la the Obama debate watching parties!).
Friends + Japanese Food (given the show’s theme) + Tim’s show= an awesome dinner party!
Who else is going to have a get together?? Would be great to coordinate a whole bunch of them!!
RALLIED THE TROOPS!!! Im so excited for you Tim. I have promoted the show (youtube clip) by embedding it on my myspace.com/madameunique, Tweeting the link (msuniqueslounge), and posting on one of my blogs: http://www.worldlifestyletravel.blogspot.com.
Congratulations and I know it will be a big hit! Well, it already is.
Thanx for the book, its helped me a lot.
Ms. Unique
Posted the video to Facebook. As for the next challenge? How about something non-physical. How would you get a school, that has been around for 125+ years, to raise $1M at an annual gala event that has yet to bring in 100K. Sort of a double learn, or perhaps better said learn and teach — not only would you need to become the expert in fund raising during a horrible economic time but you would also need to break all previous fund raising efforts by a factor of ten.
Great score, Tim! I want to hear all about how you pitched the series. I posted the preview on my Facebook page. As a suggestion for things to do in a week, I’d like to see you take the test used to score the worlds greatest athletes (the Decathlon). That’s probably unfair because it’s 1 event with 10 disciplines, so I’d settle for watching you learn the pole vault if you were game.
Tim,
if we want this to go viral like the book we have to be simple, I just emailed my brother, told him I was busy on Thurs. and to Tivo the show, I’ll swing by later and watch it with him. Rinse and repeat with a couple other friends and I have a weekend of sitting around drinking beers and talking FHWW with people I like.
The era of Super Bowl commercials is over, one real person talking to one real person, marketing and movement have become one. Thanks for leading this tribe and keep up the good work.
Help out Tim by digging the story here:
http://digg.com/educational/Decontruct_streamline_and_remap_any_challenge_Tim_Ferriss
Let’s make this show a great success. I can’t wait to watch it.
I don’t have a TV. Any chance of getting it up on Hulu? Thanks.
Hey Tim – that’s awesome news about the show! I’ll be watching for sho. You’ve done some good posts about investing this year so I recommend trading with real money as the basis for a show. If you’ve ever seen the show Wall Street Warriors on Mojo then you can do something similar for a week.
…I can imagine it now.. Tim yelling and hollering in the commodity pits at the CBOT.. “Buy pork bellies! Pork bellies I say !.. …. now sell !!!”.
Cheers & Good Luck,
Kon
Tim,
Cool show, I’ll check it out on Thursday.
1) I posted the link on facebook
2) Skills I’d like to see:
–air to air combat (maybe at one of those places where you can pay to dogfight with MiGs)
–high end pastry chef work, like sugar or chocolate sculpting
–chess
–tightrope walking (or some other type of acrobatic skill)
–Acapulco cliff diving
–big wave surfing
–indy car racing
–floor trading on NYSE
I tweeted it, I facebooked it and I emailed it to a fellow life hacker that’s currently living in Northern Labrador.
My challenge? a sub 8 minute 30 second lap time on the “ring”. No, not watching that horrible American remake of a Japanese movie. I mean posting a time under 9 minutes on the infamous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrburgring bonus points if you train using a Playstation 3 like many race drivers do.
As a reward my team, will work with you to create a Tim Ferriss photoshoot of your choice and we’ll offer you life time rights to the images. But you gotta post sub 8.30, which shouldn’t be hard, the top time is 7:22, that’s over a minute slower…
tweeted this post. Show looks awesome.
Will the show be available in India? If yes, can you please tell me the time. If no, then is there any way I can watch it?
Best of luck with the show Tim…………
looks like a great show…kind of the flip side of Dirty Work. Thanks.
I’ve Tweet’d it (http://twitter.com/rckenned/status/1035409661), favorite’d the video on YouTube and I’ve shared and starred this blog post in Google Reader…all of which will also appear in FriendFeed (http://friendfeed.com/rckenned) and on MyBlogLog (http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/rckenned/).
Also Buzz’d it up, which broadcasted it, via Yahoo! Updates, to my Yahoo! connections through my Yahoo! Profile (http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/J7ASZTCVBBR6DHBYLT6R5QMP6E). I also posted the link on Facebook, just in case I missed any friends, family or coworkers.
@ André Branco: Great questions. I’d love to hear answers to those from Tim as well.
Tim, I am stoked for the show!! Just like you, I am a night owl and 11PM EST is perfect for me 🙂 I love the idea and hope it turns out great.
I will do the usual twitter, FB, etc etc to get the word out.
GOOD LUCK MATE!!
Best of luck!
I:
– Dugg it,
-Twittered it.
– Shared it to Facebook.
– Shared it on Google Reader.
… and I’m on my way to set the PVR!
That’s gonna be a great show Tim!
I am posting this on my FB status and letting as many people as possible know about it.
My challenge:
participate in a Russian ballet! ;-P
Tim,
You’ve inspired me to think differently. I’m proud to be the first commentator for the article on the DIGG website. I’m brainstorming right now and on how to find way to generate larger viewership.
Gordon
Ok Ok after watching the trailer I know this is going to be the sh*t.
I really really really want to get a series so here I go:
-Facebook
-Twitter
-Emails to all my contacts (there’s a few :))
-Texts to everyone in my phone
-I have access the school’s email list and will send out the link (hope this is legal. As you said better to do and then ask for forgiveness) 7000+ students is the perfect target audience
-Post a super excited post and link to the video in all my prominent forums and ask my friends in those forums to do the same
-Get a retweet from my twitter friends. @megmroberts is one and she works in a PR firm in D.C. and has 500+ subscribers. I’ll def get her to write up a press release for it and post it on my blog and website (http://www.thegmatcoach.com)
-Make a YouTube video and link it to my most popular videos (BenWannaBee)
Whew! Ok my social media/internet sluttyness will be at an all time high in a day. Exciting. Hope it works and we can get a SERIES!
Lee
I’ve tweeted it, facebooked it and I even created a poster for you that I will print at least 100 copies of and distribute throughout my campus on brightly colored paper tomorrow morning. Here is a link to the picture http://tinyurl.com/5kk68c
You could try your hand at Freediving. Here is a wiki-link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-diving
I’m really excited to see the show.I’ll publish an afternoon post on the show tomorrow on my site. can you put up some more information on the show for the post, such as:
What lead you to come up with the concept for the show?
What skills are harder to acquire quickly? (ie language,martial arts, programming, etc)
If someone could only take 2-3 courses in college, which would you suggest would be the most beneficial?
How can you find great instructors in a short amount of time? (Many of my readers are college students and are looking to ind mentors/professors)?
I also tweeted the link for the show already and will put it on Facebook.Do you have a event for it already on FB? If not, do you mind if someone else puts one up?
My challenge: Started a successful (5,000+ subscribers) blog with an anonymous name in 30 days or less.
Added you to my Twitter and Facebook. Also told my friends to tune in and set it to record on Tivo. Good luck Tim!
BTW I have a few Ideas.
-Bull Riding
-Poker w/professionals
-Tight rope walking
-Snake charming
-Cooking for judges
Posted this on twitter, facebook, two martial arts forums (sherdog and mmajunkie), and one nutrition forum (rosstraining)and dugg it.
I’ll be working on a few other aspects, but I really hope I get the bag. I’m going to do missionary work soon, and a nice sturdy backpack is near the top of my list of “to-gets.”
Hey Tim,
Congrats on the new show. I hope it’s a tremendous success. I wish I could watch it but I checked our TV guide for the History Channel in Canada and it’s not listed. Do you know if it’s on any other channel or will it be available online?
Also, any idea when you will be coming up to Canada (Toronto area)? I know you have tons of Canadian fans that would love to meet you.
I posted it on my facebook and tweeted about it. I would love to see you plan a large nonprofit fundraiser (maybe for Donor’s Choose), play the trumpet with Wynton Marsalis, or join the cast of Bring in the Noise Bring in the Funk. (high stakes challenges don’t have to always involve you risking your life, you could also risk your pride, much funner for the audience to watch)
Hi Tim. Here’s what I just did to promote your new show:
1) Changed my Facebook status to “Aaron is 4 Hour WorkWeek Pilot…COOL http://tr.im/1rak.”
2) Shared it as a link in my Facebook account with a personal comment
I have over 1300 friends on Facebook so your link will get much exposure. I hope the show makes it. It looks like this is fulfilling a deep passion of yours.
As for the challenge: I’d like you to win a competition versus professional Japanese car drifters. First off, it’d be incredibly entertaining to watch, both in the US and those overseas. And second, you already have a strong connection with Japan. I’d LOVE to see that and watch you kick some butt with little training.
Much success,
Aaron
So far, twitter, blog, and myspace. And I’ll have the show TiVo-ed as soon as I go home. 😉
How about a road race against a professional (like at Infineon Raceway here in California)?
Part II: Write an album songs, including music and lyrics. Open up for a famous musician that most amateur, yet trained musicians, would find impossible to accomplish. Most songwriters train all of their life to write music, you only have 20 days–with no professional music background–to make this happen.
Also commented a dugg your article. Cheers!
Awesome! Been waiting for a Tim Ferriss/life hack show. Should be great. I’ve posted to my Facebook, myspace, and am tivoing. I’d like to see you hack long distance running. (see Dean Karnases) Good Luck!
Hey Tim!
1.) Tweeted about the video and TV show.
2.) Posted a link on the top of my Facebook feed (exposure to 1,700+ friends)
3.) Posted a story and link in my blog (http://trentgillaspie.wordpress.com)
4.) Sent an email to EVERY person who originally recommended your book to me.
I’d love to see you try out The NYC Urbanathlon (http://www.menshealthurbanathlon.com/) or something involving the up and coming sport of Parkour (free running). It’s a huge body challenge, and a lot of fun in addition to an already great exercise. Even if you don’t do it for the TV show, you should check it out!
I’ll continue to email more people tonight, and even get the word out at the office tomorrow, as our job essentially allows for the 4-Hour Workweek to be achieved :). Love consulting.
Best Wishes,
Trent
Dang, my comment got moderated, because of my link. Sorry!
I blogged it. The link is at my name.
I Tweeted it.
I posted it as a link on Facebook.
I am now thinking I will give it a “thumbs up” on Stumbleupon as well.
Oh, and I’m going to put a reminder on the show so I can watch it.
OMG- this is so crazy, the preview to your show seems awesome!
1. I just sent an email blast to ALL of my University classmates, friends, professors, & cool business colleagues. I used the same format to your competition but made it my own and changed the prize to see how many of them can pass the word along by using facebook, twitter, blogs, etc.
2. Not sure of the challenge just yet. I’ll wait on the feedback from those people I emailed. I made it a requirement to answer questions 1 & 2 for my prize.
Good luck, Tim. I hope it is a success and I will be watching.
Here is the way that I spread the word:
1. Twitter
2. Facebook
3. My blog (scottvt98.wordpress.com)
4. Posted on digg in the Television section and dugg this post.
5. PokerRoad Forum (pokerroad.com) Posted in the entertainment. Off topic section of the forum. This is a highly traffic forum so it should get some good exposure.
6. Emailed the video link out to my friends
Also here is a couple of ideas that I had for future episodes:
1. Winning a chess competition after a week of training with a grandmaster.
2. Participating in a professional pool tournament after a week of training.
Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck with the show!
Scott
I ‘shared’ it on my Google Reader — which is usually only reserved for my favorite articles, not for promotion. So people read it.
I also promoted it on my Facebook and MySpace.
Hope it goes well.
Can I just tell you what a crush I have on you?
Consider it Tivo-ed and I have posted on a few of my favorite message boards. Fingers crossed this takes off so you can visit me (through the TV) in my living room every week!
Tim,
I understand you probably don’t want to be lumped in with Reality TV shows (most of them anyway), but you do mention them in the blog post.
So:
I have emailed tips (gossip) to the following sites about your upcoming show:
http://www.realitytvworld.com (I have the tip in my Sent folder for verification)
http://www.realitytvblurred.com (I sent this through a form on their site, I don’t have an email trail, but I have a print screen showing that I submitted a tip to them).
http://www.mediaweek.com (Sent an email to Marc Berman, The Programming Insider/Mr. Television and have the item in my Sent folder)
I think your next challenge should be that of a Master Sommelier. People should not assume this show is only about physical feats.
Awesome. I posted it on my blog, twitter, and facebook.
The challenges I’m thinking of go to the physical, so really aren’t possible in a week, but I’ll throw ’em out there anyway: olympic decathlon, olympic pentathlon, or lead an iconic climb in yosemite…
Also stunt flying, breath hold diving. And no, I am not trying to get you killed!
An addendum, so I’ll recap all three:
–Facebook
–Myspace
–All my good friends’ facebook walls
–Shared on Google Reader, which is usually reserved only for sharing very insightful articles
–E-mailed all people I can count on to watch it
I’m a silent lurker… love the blog. I’m doing your style of workout right now.
It looks pretty interesting Tim, unfortunately being in Oz and without cable I can’t +1 your ratings but I’ll definitely watch first chance that arises.
Tim,
I have added the link to my facebook page and sent out a mass email to all of my coworkers who I have had read your book. I knew your book was a big hit in a Fortune 500 company when I was asked by our VP why he has had so many people asking for a work from home arrangement. Luckily I got to him first as a guinea pig on the idea. I’m sure your show will be as big of a hit as the book.
Next Challenge:
I think that a big challenge for you would be competitive eating. I know your big ideas on health and wellness, but it would definately be a challenge. It would also be a great segway into one of your great weight loss/muscle building lessons.
Good Luck,
Ryan
Unfortunately your show is not on the History Channel in Canada. I hope it is a success!
Hey Tim,
I passed the info to my SXSW friends, posted on Twitter and Facebook. I’ll talk up to my friends as well in person – already set the TiVo.
For a challenge, I’d love to see you write, plan, direct, shoot, and star in a short film – not a documentary. Tons of new stuff to learn and master plus you have a cool product at the end.
Outsourcing the publicity machine. This guy is the king. I love it.
You know Ill be watching.
Tim, I just spent an hour and a half creating a facebook event to promote your tv show. I invited all 426 of my friends…one…by….one (facebook has no “invite all” feature). My delicate little dell mini laptop started to shake as gallons of facebook invites were dumped all over the world.
On top of all that, I’m going to have to deal with a tsunami of facebook messages, wall posts, and friend request from every yodel I knew in high school whom I reluctantly included on the guestlist.
Tim, what I’m trying to tell you is that I REALLY want that travel bag, as well as a personal correspondence from you (my role model). I’m going back to China next month for study abroad and begin my second vagabond stint, and I was just browsing online yesterday for the ultimate travel bag.
That travel bag was destined to be mine, Tim – there’s no use in fighting destiny. It’s my personal legend (just read The Alchemist on your recommendation).
As for my suggestion for the next challenge. I’ve always been curious to see how good of a “Pick up Artist” you would be. I’ve also learned many skills and languages, but this is completely different from purely physical and mental skills- it’s a social skill.
You can 80/20 the vast wealth of information out there and learn the theory and techniques in a few intense hours of studying, but to actually become a “master” takes many many hours in the field, approaching and getting to know (and getting rejected by) hundreds of women.
I have many ideas for how you should go about investigating if your curious, but I’ll leave you with a few leads to follow in case you have no idea what i’m talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game:_Penetrating_the_Secret_Society_of_Pickup_Artists
http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_pick_up_artist/series.jhtml
http://fastseduction.com/discussion/
Anyways, good luck with your show. No hard feelings if I don’t win.
To follow up on my last comment- here’s the link for the facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/create.php?customize&gid=38127707284#/event.php?eid=38487703302
Its and open event, so I encourage everyone to join it and invite their friends to it.
Tim – Great idea on proving your life dissertation. Really looking forward to the show. Since you have done some swimming, perhaps a channel swim or some extreme temperature type swim.
My Digg
I’m limiting myself to two hours of TV this week and this show will be half of it. Tim takes a big risk by recording his attempts to hack his way to world class levels in five days. Thanks for showing us where there is a will there is a way. My new motto (inspired by Tim) – Hacking not Slacking.
My Tweet
@tferriss puts his life where his mouth is and on TV nonetheless w/ “Trial by Fire” this Thursday on History. HD DVR set. http://tr.im/1rak
Good luck.
Gary
Hey Tim
I tweeted and posted your pilot on the History Channel forum.
For a challenge I think you should get in the octagon and do an Ultimate Fighting!
SWEET! Got it all queued up in my DVR! It’s on at 8p and then again at 12a here in Orange County, CA… I’ll be spreadin the word. 😉
Same here, Andre Branco has some good points…. Any answers?
Jose
Spectacular! I can’t wait to see it – got the DVR programmed to record. I’m going to pass this around the office, because hopefully the folks who would otherwise never crack open the 4HWW (despite my repeated attempts to persuade them otherwise, including buying it myself for some) might start to realize that you’re real…and you’re serious. In a fun way, of course.
Presumably since you posted you managed to avoid a life-ending clash with the wooden poles – always a good thing. In terms of ideas for the next skill, I’d vote for parenting six boys for a week at Disneyland. Good luck on that – I think you’ll find yabusame is substantially easier. 🙂
Seriously, though, I liked Gordon’s ideas of Bull Riding or snake charming.
Hey Tim,
On Cox Digital Cable the channel guide shows a re-run at 3am Pacific on Friday morning. Not sure if that’s true elsewhere but FYI.
Matt
Tim,
I’ve posted about your show on our website and emailed my friends.
I think you should train for a Red Bull Air Race. Not a pilot yet, maybe get your license in a week instead.
More Ideas:
Spoon bending.
Moving Qigong Energy.
Stripped of everything-dropped in the middle of a city-must get new ID and convince a bank to loan you 100k.
Dress as a bum and earn $500 a day as a panhandler.
Get a total of 100 women to call you for a date in a week.
Tim,
Congrats, you are now an official f*cking celebrity. Beyond that, the concept of this show is f*cking awesome. I need to figure out how to get cable to watch this thing.
Hell, we should rent out the theater and have a release night.
Feelin’ Tarzan? When I read, “no flesh-and-blood human has the musculature to fling himself from tree to tree as monkeys do” it had Ferriss written all over it:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2620/could-a-human-swing-through-the-jungle-on-vines
Or how about kickin’ it from the hip like the Aztecs, where “placing the ball through the ring was a rare event” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_ballgame
Ahhh – giving a woman a good ‘ol fashion orgasm – for an hour – with just the tip of your index finger & the upper left quadrant of her clit (aka “OM”ing): http://www.onetaste.us/welcome/
I posted to transformational community/ network lists, my community & friends, joyously spreading the word to hundreds (thousands?) hungry for lifestyle design.
The bag will be a welcome addition to my mini-retirement gear.
Congrats on the pilot Tim!
I just budgeted $200 of targeted ads on Facebook to advertise this page and the show to about ~250,000 people who either have the History Channel listed in their profile (so you know they can actually watch it) or have an interest in Japanese culture – to start running immediately.
You can see the ad preview here: http://livinyo.com/images/fb-ad-screenshot.jpg
It lists the time & channel so even if people don’t click the ad, it hopefully attracts their attention.
I also tweeted, dugg, and am telling my fellow 4hww friends. Congrats and good luck with the show!
Props on the show Tim!
I went all out for you and the bag. I REALLY hope it is a success!
1. Changed status on Facebook to “Nate is stoked for the premier of “Trial by Fire” on the history channel on thurs (check it out – http://tr.im/1rak.)”
2. Posted about it on my blog – fifteenfriends.com
3. Changed gmail status to “check out – http://tr.im/1rak”
4. Posted a news feed on my companys Outlook (one of largest law firms in Pac NW – schwabe.com). This will go out to all employees in Portland, Seattle, Wash DC, Bend, Salem, and Vancouver.
5. Sent out a chain e-mail (that my dad – with nothing better to do – will send to millions…haha)
As for future shows:
1. Hook up with mystery or Neil Strauss to try and master the “pick-up arts” (this would be fantastic television!)
2. Try to master Donkey Kong – watch the documentary “the king of kong” for more info.
3. Try to learn to play YEM by phish on the guitar. (or another rediculous song of your choosing).
Congrats on the show!!!
Did 3 things to spread the virus:
1) Twittered it with clear instructions to “retweet” often as possible. Around 100 followers.
2) Put it as the lead story on my blog http://www.generousnews.org. Nothing to do with my typical blog content but what the heck.
3) My favorite – posted it on my company’s Intranet under “prayer request” section.
“One of my favorite new authors is Tim Ferris, author of 4 Hour Work Week. Tim has done some amazing things in his lifetime with no formal training and in a very short period of time. He’s got a pilot on Thursday night on the History Channel. The concept is simple: Tim has one week to attempt to learn what is usually learned over 5-20 years. He either crashes and burns — or survives by the skin of his teeth — in a final test (trial by fire) each time. Pray that he survives. http://tr.im/1rak – for a preview – tell them Patrick sent you.”
Hey, you’ll have around 80 people praying that you don’t die sometime in the future attempting other stunts. That’s got to be worth a $500 bag, right?
Next challenge:
Turn around the car industry with no government money in 7 days. If you can do that, the rest of your life is a piece of cake.
Oh I almost forgot to put what I think you should do next: luging or fencing (being trained by and going head-to-head against an olympian) 🙂
Update:
-Video is being uploaded now to youtube and other video sharing sites
-Emails sent to my 440 regular email contacts with request to pass along
-Retweets from 2 subscribers with large followers (500+)
-Post on website (http://thegmatcoach.com/time/3-days-to-prepare-for-the-gmat/)
– Facebook status put up to see by my 1,218 FB friends. Will reword and repost tonight and tomorrow.
Status is: “Lee is super excited for this show!! http://tinyurl.com/5qtco7 Be sure to watch 11PM Thurs night on the History Channel and help turn it into a series!!!”
That’s it so far. More to come tomorrow 🙂
Let’s go people I want a Tim Ferriss TV Show!
I posted the link on Facebook. No wonder you’re freezing your little swimmies and swimming in the SF Bay!
I would suggest: tight rope walking across the Grand Canyon (ha!), walking across fire, kite surfing (water, snow, sand), real hard core ballet (no joke), gymnastics or circus-type events, astronaut training, spend a week with the Deadliest Catch guys (ooops wrong channel), drop you off with Jon and Kate + 8 for a week – Jon and Kate (I’d be there in a second!)…
Snake charming/gathering venom, feeding sharks, crocodile wrestling, boxing kangaroos, feeding giraffes (oh wait that’s just my dream line – sorry)… Cliff jumping, deep sea/under water cave diving, white water rafting – Class 6, tornado chasing, living in an ashram (anti-climactic?)…
Now I really feel like I’m trying to do you in! However, I will selflessly volunteer to follow you around the world and take care of every bump, bruise, burn and bite. 😉
and the bag 🙂
Oh and my FB status says “This guy is my hero!! Read his book and watch the show this Thurs!! [link]”
Here the link to the video on google:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6482277135539796386&hl=en
Hey Tim,
I am excited and interested to see how the show turns out. I have always been interested in the idea of learning new skills in an efficient and quick way and totally agree that they can. Your posts on deconstructing languages really appealed to me, especially being someone who has gone through high school and college language courses to find that there are much better ways to increase fluency.
Now to the contest:
1) I am an RA at a university with 40,000 undergrads where I am responsible for 1300 directly. So beyond the internet suggestions about getting out the word through e-mail, facebook, etc., I put up 100 flyers around campus advertising the show and put a spot on the listserve e-mail that goes out to a large amount of students, staff, and faculty. I also put together a program for any residents to come to my apartment to have free food and watch the show (11 PM, perfect time for us college students). However, I am telling them that before they come over, they must turn on their TVs to the show so the History Channel gets the true viewership numbers. All of this was done tonight!
2) As far as ideas for the show, the possibilities are endless. Some ideas I like are gymnastics, diving, cattle herding, or basketball as well as the previous posts about poker with the pros and olympic events like a decathalon.
I’ll continue thinking about these two questions but until then, good luck on Thursday!
Cheers,
Karl
Hi Tim,
1. So far, I’ve posted the link on my facebook profile (where I have 450+ friends) and written posts about the show on two forums. The first is Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development forum, so the people there are the types who would be interested in your ideas. (My hope is that some of them will join in on the promotion challenge.) The second is a private forum where I’m a decently well-known figure. I’ll be spreading the word verbally to as many people as I can tomorrow.
2. I’m surprised to see that no one has suggested any musical challenges. What about learning to play an instrument in ten days – and, if that doesn’t sound hard enough, perhaps composing something specifically for that instrument to perform at the end of the ten days?
What about building or designing something? Perhaps designing, building, or learning about fuel-efficient vehicles? Or setting out to make political change – for example (to continue the car example), setting out to convince politicians to install plugs for electric cars all over a city/state and then helping with the execution? (Maybe that’s not skill-oriented enough for this show, but it could still be tweaked into something interesting.)
—–
Tim, to be honest, I’m entering your challenge with the hope that instead of considering me for the travel bag prize, you’ll consider meeting up with me for some yerba mate (or even plain old coffee) the next time you’re in NYC. While the travel bag looks great, I’d rather have the pleasure of your company – plus I haven’t had many chances to share mate with someone since I was an exchange student in Argentina.
Since I know your time is precious, I’d be happy to email you an agenda in advance, or we could keep it casual.
Perhaps that’s too much to ask? Still, I’d kick myself if I didn’t at least ask the question.
I understand if you don’t have time to respond (or any interest in doing so), but I’ve been curious for a while about how your alternative lifestyle has affected your relationships.
While you talk about dealing with social isolation in mini-retirements in your book, you never really address how you approach your long-distance friendships (or your views on friendship in general). Have your relationships diminished, grown stronger, changed? How would you describe your social world, and how does your low-information lifestyle affect your relationships?
Thank you for your time, Tim. I can’t wait to see your show on Thursday.
Put the video on Digg as well as my FB profile. Will include it on the school wide email. Youtube vid is up too.
Great job everyone. Keep it up!
and the youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwMOOpma3A
1) I have sent my combined email lists of 15,000 (real estate agents and entrepreneurs) about the show… they are already very familiar with the 4HWW as I recommend it repeatedly through my autoresponder series. I have also posted on my facebook page, linkedin and tweated about it as well.
2) I think you should tackle starting a new muse (online preferably) totally from scratch AND/OR learn to play the guitar and ‘open’ for a rock band (think Seven Dust or Metallica).
Doug Bertram