I have been Tim Farriss’ fan since I’ve read his book “Four Hour Workweek.” I came about his podcast few weeks ago and added it to my list. Today i decided to listed to the Second episode of the podcast with Josh Waitzkin.
Main reason I chose this episode is that I know Josh as I train at Marcelo Garcia’s BJJ Academy in New York, which Josh is the co-owner of, and I have been curious about his life and what his conversation with Tim will lead to. I was fortunate to meet Tim at the academy few months back when he was visiting for his show as well.
Thus, listening to this specific podcast felt appropriate on my train ride from the Academy after some excellent training.
To say the least, I was mesmerized and shocked by the depth and insightfulness of these two men. For me, it was fascinating to listen to their discussion as they spoke the language I could relate to. Josh being a Black Belt in BJJ and Tim practicing the art himself, they discussed Marcelo Garcia and how his phenomenal skill and methodology exemplifies what they speak of.
Two questions intrigued me the most:
First, the concept of cognitive biases . An idea that our decisions are often there to justify our previous decisions or actions despite of the changing circumstances and the inefficacy of those decisions. Josh brought an incredibly effective example of that in chess and I could easily see it in BJJ. How many times I have been in a position where I am fighting for it despite of the situational change and I realize that I should have changed my approach. It dawned on me while listening to Josh speak that I am sure quiet a few things in my life are great examples of this.
Second, was a question Tim asked Josh; What would you take with you if you had to urgently vacate your house, assuming that your family and loved ones are safe? For example in a case of a fire.
Before I heard Josh’d answer, I asked my self that question and was surprised to realize that aside from my loved ones and my pets, there is nothing of my material possessions I am attached to enough to take with me. While there are few memorabilia things from my travels that I value, I would not make it a point to take them. My digital media, which holds some valuable records and pictures, is backed up to cloud (I highly recommend everyone to do that.) Yet there is nothing material that I would truly miss. I have to be honest to say that I surprise myself with that realization. Interestingly enough, Josh gave the same answer. I think I still need to sit on this realization for a while before I can fully come to grips with it.
It was an insightful experience to listen to this podcast and I took away few valuable thoughts from it.
If interested you can find the podcast and more info on it at Tim Farriss’ blog
I would love to see other’s opinion on this podcast.
FlowHound 
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