5-Bullet Friday

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of 5-Bullet Friday, a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.

This edition is brought to you by ​The Way, the meditation app I use most often. Be sure to see their offer in the P.S.

Book I’m enjoying

​Seeing Silence: The Beauty of the World’s Most Quiet Places by Pete McBride. The sublime is easy to find in this book, whether you simply flip through the gorgeous photos or do a deep dive into the prose. Pete McBride, a National Geographic photographer and filmmaker, shot the images across all seven continents, from Everest to Antarctica. The foreword is by Bill McKibben, a renowned environmentalist and journalist. The prologue is by Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to summit Everest.

Movie I’m surviving

​Society of the Snow, a film from Juan Antonio Bayona about one of the most remarkable stories of the twentieth century. Society of the Snow was selected to represent Spain at the 2024 Oscars, where it was nominated for two Academy Awards. It won 12 Goya Awards (including Best Film and Best Director), was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and premiered as the closing film at the Venice Film Festival.​
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​Sometimes, I like to visit the brutal, so that I can better appreciate the everyday beauty I—and we—take for granted.
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This film, spectacularly cast and executed, fits that bill. Not for the squeamish. If this movie doesn’t make your hands sweat, you should go climbing with Alex Honnold.
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The official description: “Following a plane crash in the remote heart of the Andes, survivors join forces and become each other’s best hope as they navigate their way back home.” See the trailer here.

Headphones I’m loving for music while working and writing

​Focal Bathys wireless, noise-cancelling headphones (Amazon, B&H). I originally got mine from Headphones.com, where they are currently on back order, but these are my current default headphones if working at a coffee shop or busy co-working spot.
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From the description:
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​With its wireless and active noise cancelling (ANC) technologies, Bathys is the perfect travel companion. In addition to isolating ambient noise, it delivers pure high-fidelity sound, thanks to its exclusive speaker drivers and integrated USB-DAC mode. Comfortable and refined, these wireless headphones boast a battery life of more than 30 hours, fast charging (5 hours of additional listening in just 15 minutes of charging) and a host of features for a total musical escape.

Advice I’m revisiting

“The drawing advice that changed my life.” I still believe this is one of the best short videos on creativity on YouTube. It can be applied to just about anything, not just drawing. If you’d like less distraction and more momentum in life, this is full of good reminders.

Passage I’m revisiting

“‘It’s dark because you’re trying too hard,’ said Susila. ‘Dark because you want it to be light. Remember what you used to tell me when I was a little girl. “Lightly, child, lightly. You’ve got to learn to do everything lightly. Think lightly, act lightly, feel lightly. Yes, feel lightly, even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.” I was so preposterously serious in those days. … Lightly, lightly—it was the best advice ever given me. … So throw away all your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly, my darling.’”
​— Aldous Huxley in his final novel, Island​
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You can complement this edition of 5-Bullet Friday with my short 8-minute video on my personal productivity strategy to reset, get unstuck, and focus on the right things.
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And, as always, please give me feedback on X. 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 — The Way​ meditation training program. 10 minutes a day might just change your life...

I’ve explored a lot of meditation practices over the years. My current hands-down favorite, and the easiest way to get back in the habit, is ​The Way​, taught by Zen Master Henry Shukman. Using the app for just 10–20 minutes a day has reduced my anxiety more than I would have thought possible with any app. Try it for a week, and I think you’ll notice something similar. Here are 30 days for free.
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The Way​ leads you down a single, long-term path that covers all the key areas of a deep and fulfilling meditation practice. It’s an easy and calming way to find more ease and calm. There’s no overwhelming menu of stuff or meditation du jour, just Henry taking you on a logical progression of lessons, one manageable bite at a time. You’ll be learning skills you can actually take into your daily life. Henry’s sessions will become something you look forward to. He’s appeared on my podcast twice and is always a listener favorite. I recently chose to invest in The Way, given all the above, and I’ve been working with Henry and his team to make the app as good as humanly possible. I’ve probably sent a hundred notes on the product, and they’ve been improving it each and every week. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
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​Now, subscribers to 5-Bullet Friday can try 30 days for free, no credit card required. Just go to TheWayApp.com/Tim​. Try it for a week, and I think you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised.