One of my most memorable interviews

Hi Candidate,

This was awesome …

Years ago, I was on a special live episode of The Tim Ferriss Show with Josh Waitzkin, Adam Robinson, and (of course) Tim Ferriss.

Live podcast recorded in NYC with Adam Robinson, me, Josh Waitzkin, and Tim Ferriss.

It was one of my favorite media appearances ever. To share the stage with masters of their craft was a real honor.

In case you aren't familiar with these Top Performers …

Josh is a master of performance psychology and the author of The Art of Learning — one of my favorite books — which documents his experiences becoming a chess prodigy and a martial arts champion.

Adam is an advisor to some of the world's largest hedge funds. He's also an author, and he co-founded The Princeton Review. They're both super funny, smart guys.

We talked about how we prepare for New Year's resolutions, how to identify smart business opportunities, and our favorite books to give other people.

Lots of gems in the podcast. Here are a few of my favorites:

How to take advice: Be open to receiving advice, but if a piece of conventional wisdom doesn't feel right for you, it's okay to set it aside and come back to it in a year — or even in five years. Above all, you should be very selective about which advice you apply to your life (and when you apply it).
Dealing with haters: I get emails from angry weirdos all the time saying that I don't know what I'm talking about. I simply respond by asking, "What's up? Are you having a hard time with something?" and 25% of the time, they completely transform their tone of voice. The lesson here is that you can easily shift the direction of an exchange with someone who is angry or frustrated — all you have to do is stay calm. And if you push a little, you might learn a lot about where they're coming from.
How to improve in any field: If you want to have an insight into the way things work in your industry or profession, it helps to look outside your field. Study people who are amazing at what they do across all fields (I read lots of books on army training programs, which give me ideas for how to be a better leader and manager).

Check out the full episode here.