Choosing A Different Kind Of Life

What do you think people like Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss or Tom Peters do each and every day?

Do they go to work like you and I do? Do they have an office? A formal schedule? It’s something that fascinates me. You can get a glimpse into their lifestyles by watching and listening to podcasts and the like. Did you know that Malcolm Gladwell doesn’t have a doorbell? Did you know that the bestselling author of books like The Tipping Point and Blink prefers to write in a cafe in New York City or at the public library? Gladwell’s story was told in a fascinating piece on 60 Minutes, and it was a side of him that I had not yet seen. I love seeing and understanding the work/life of people whom I admire and follow. On my podcast, Six Pixels of Separation, I try to angle a lot of the conversation in that direction. I like the mechanics of how people do the work that they do. You can’t not wonder what the person who wrote The 4-Hour Workweek does during the day, can you? I had not seen the following video before (it originally aired in April 2012). It’s a show called, A Day In The Life, and it is produced by Morgan Spurlock as a Hulu original show. In the second season, they featured Tim Ferris. He’s young (36 years old) and has three bestselling books (The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Chef). If that weren’t enough, he is also an angel investor and advisor for companies like Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Uber and many others. If you’re not impressed by that, Tim also holds a Guinness Book of World Records record in tango dancing and won a Chinese kickboxing championship. As imagined, his day (as produced as this was television) is really unique… maybe even shocking for some. It’s hard to know what is work, what is play and what is planning. It’s also fascinating that we live in a day and age when individuals can (and are) truly designing the most fascinating (and, dare I say it, squiggly) careers.

I was mesmerized by this show… and I think you will be too.