The Tim Ferriss Show - #165: The Canvas Strategy -- What Ben Franklin and Bill Belichick Have in Common

Starting point is 00:00:00 At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Can I ask you a personal question? Now would seem the perfect time. What if I did the opposite? I'm a cybernetic organism, living tissue over metal endoskeleton. Me, Tim, Ferris, Joe. This episode is brought to you by AG1, the daily foundational nutritional supplement that supports whole body health. I do get asked a lot what I would take if I could only take one supplement,

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Starting point is 00:01:22 It's become one of the most popular email newsletters in the world with millions of subscribers. And it's super, super simple. It does not clog up your inbox. Every Friday, I send out five bullet points, super short of the coolest things I've found that week, which sometimes includes apps, books, documentaries, supplements, gadgets, new self experiments, hacks, tricks, and all sorts of weird stuff that I dig up from around the world. You guys, podcast listeners and book readers, have asked me for something short and action-packed for a very long time. Because after all, the podcast, the books, they can be quite long. And that's why I created Five Bullet Friday. It's become one of my favorite

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Starting point is 00:02:39 first with Five Bullet Friday subscribers. So check it out, tim.blog forward slash Friday. If you listen to this podcast, it's very likely that you'd dig it a lot and you can, of course, easily subscribe any time. So easy peasy. Again, that's tim.blog forward slash Friday. And thanks for checking it out. If the spirit moves you. Hello, boys and girls. this is Tim Ferriss. And welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferriss show. I'm sitting outside on a beautiful summer day, listening to the birds. And my job is usually to deconstruct world class performers to tease out the routines, habits, and so on that you can use from people at the top of whatever field they happen to be a part of, military, entertainment, politics, chess, athletics, you name it. In this particular episode, I'm going to share an overarching

Starting point is 00:03:30 strategy that has been used by many of the greats. That includes Ben Franklin, it includes legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick, and many, many more. It is also how I built my network, how my first book hit the tipping point, how I became successful at angel investing, and the list goes on. Of course, if you're interested in the networking part of it, you can also read a blog post and listen to an episode titled How to Build a World-Class Network in Record Time. But that is additional credit. This time, we're going to talk about the Canvas strategy.

Starting point is 00:04:04 There is some Latin pronunciation, just a few words in this episode, and I'm sure people will get their knickers in a twist about how to say things properly, but it could be anteambulo, it could be something else, and Ryan has done his homework. And I say Ryan because this is from the brand new book by Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy. And you might recall that Ryan wrote The Obstacle is the Way, a collection of stoic wisdom and principles and stories that was embraced by people at the highest levels of athletics, the Seahawks, the Patriots, managers, players. It just turned into a phenomenon that was covered by Sports Illustrated. I think Ego is the Enemy

Starting point is 00:04:41 is just as good, if not better. I saw early, early editions of the manuscript and provided feedback. It is therefore the newest book in my book club. There are only eight or nine books over the last few years that I've selected for this, and you can see all of them at audible.com forward slash Tim's books. That's audible.com forward slash Tim's books. But this episode is very much self-sufficient. And I think it's a lesson that more and more people need to learn or at least embrace, revisit in their lives. And that is the Canvas Strategy. So please enjoy this description and this meandering exploration with Ryan Holiday from Ego is the Enemy.

Starting point is 00:05:25 Follow the Canvas Strategy Great men have almost always shown themselves as ready to obey, as they afterwards proved able to command. Lord Mayon In the Roman system of art and science, there existed a concept for which we have only a partial analog. Successful businessmen, politicians, or rich playboys would subsidize a number of writers, thinkers, artists, and performers. More than just being paid to produce works of art, these artists performed a number of tasks in exchange for protection, food, and gifts.

Starting point is 00:06:01 One of the roles was that of an anthbulo, literally meaning one who clears the path. An anthembulo proceeded in front of his patron anywhere they traveled in Rome, making way, communicating messages, and generally making the patron's life easier. The famous epigrammist Marshall fulfilled this role for many years, serving for a time under the patron Mela, a wealthy businessman and brother of the Stoic philosopher and political advisor Seneca. Born without a rich family, Marshall also served under another businessman named Petulius. As a young writer, he spent most of his day traveling from the home of one rich patron to another, providing services, paying his respects, and receiving small token payments

Starting point is 00:06:45 and favors in return. Here's the problem. Like most of us with our internships and entry-level positions, or later on publishers or bosses or clients, Marshall absolutely hated every minute of it. He seemed to believe that this system somehow made him a slave. Aspiring to live like some country squire, like the patrons he serviced, Marshall wanted money and an estate that was all his own. There, he dreamed, he could finally produce his works in peace and independence. As a result, his writing often drags with a hatred and bitterness about Rome's upper crust, from which he believed he was cruelly shunted aside.

Starting point is 00:07:30 For all his impotent rage, what Marshall couldn't see was that it was his unique position as an outsider to society that gave him such a fascinating insight into Roman culture that it survives to this day. Instead of being pained by such a system, what if he'd been able to come to terms with it? What if, gasp, he could have appreciated the opportunities it offered? Nope. It seemed to eat him up inside instead. It's a common attitude that transcends generations and societies. The angry, underappreciated genius is forced to do stuff she doesn't like for people she doesn't respect as she makes her way in the world. How dare they force me to grovel like this? The injustice, the waste. We see it in recent lawsuits in which interns sue their employers for pay. We see it in kids more willing to live at home with their parents than submit to

Starting point is 00:08:17 something they're overqualified for. We see it in an inability to meet anyone else on their terms, an unwillingness to take a step back in order to potentially take several steps forward. I will not let them get one over on me. I'd rather we both have nothing instead. It's worth taking a look at the supposed indignities of serving someone else. Because in reality, not only is the apprentice model responsible for some of the greatest art in the history of the world, everyone from Michelangelo to Leonardo da Vinci to Benjamin Franklin has been forced to navigate such a system. But if you're going to be the big deal

Starting point is 00:08:55 you think you're going to be, isn't this a rather trivial imposition? When someone first gets a job or joins a new organization, he's often given this advice. Make other people look good and you will do well. Keep your head down, they say, and serve your boss. Naturally, this is not what the kid who was chosen over all the other kids for the position wants to hear. It's not what a Harvard grad expects. After all, they got that degree precisely to avoid this supposed indignity. Let's flip it around so it doesn't seem so demeaning. It's not about kissing ass. It's not about making someone look good. It's about providing the support so that others can be good. The better wording for this advice is then find canvases for other people to paint on. Be an Anthem Bulow. Clear the path for people above you,

Starting point is 00:09:46 and you will eventually create a path for yourself. When you're just starting out, we can be sure of a few fundamental realities. One, you're not nearly as good or as important as you think you are. Two, you have an attitude that needs to be readjusted. Three, most of what you think you know, or most of what you think you know or most of what you learn in books or in school is out of date or wrong. There's one fabulous way to work all of that out of your system. Attach yourself to people and organizations who are already successful and subsume your identity into theirs and move both forward simultaneously. It's certainly more glamorous to pursue your own glory,

Starting point is 00:10:26 though hardly as effective. Obeisance is the way forward. That's the other side of this attitude. It reduces your ego at a critical time in your career, letting you absorb everything you can without the obstructions that block others' vision and progress. No one is endorsing sycophancy. Instead, it's about seeing what goes on from the inside and looking for opportunities for someone other than yourself. Remember that Anthem Bulow means clearing the path, finding the direction someone already intended to head, and helping them pack, freeing them up to focus on their strengths. In fact, making things better rather than simply looking as if you are. Many people know of Benjamin Franklin's famous letters written under names

Starting point is 00:11:11 like Silence Dogwood. What a clever young prodigy, they think, and missed the most impressive part entirely. Franklin wrote those letters, submitted them by sliding them under the print shop door, and received absolutely no credit for them till much later in his life. In fact, it was his brother, the owner, who profited from their immense popularity, regularly running them on the front page of his newspaper. Franklin was playing the long game though, learning how public opinion worked, generating awareness of what he believed in, crafting his style and tone and wit. It's a strategy he used time and again over in his career, once even publishing in his competitor's paper in order

Starting point is 00:11:51 to undermine a third competitor. For Franklin saw the constant benefit in making other people look good and letting them take credit for your ideas. Bill Belichick, the four-time Super Bowl winning head coach of the New England Patriots, made his way up the ranks of the NFL by loving and mastering the one part of the job that coaches disliked at the time, analyzing film. His first job in professional football for the Baltimore Colts was one he volunteered to take without pay, and his insights, which provided ammunition and critical strategies for the game, were attributed exclusively to the more senior coaches. He thrived on what was considered grunt work, asked for it,

Starting point is 00:12:31 and strove to become the best at precisely what others thought they were too good for. He was like a sponge, taking it all in, listening to everything, one coach said. You gave him an assignment, and he disappeared into a room, and you didn't see him again until it was done. And then he wanted to do more, said another. As you can guess, Belichick started getting paid very soon. Before that, as a young high school player, he was so knowledgeable at the game that he functioned as sort of an assistant coach, even while playing the game. Belichick's father, himself an assistant football coach for

Starting point is 00:13:05 Navy, taught him a critical lesson in football politics, that if he wanted to give his coach feedback or question a decision, he needed to do it in private and self-effacingly so as not to offend his superior. He learned how to be a rising star without threatening or alienating anyone. In other words, he'd mastered the canvas strategy. You can see how easily entitlement and a sense of superiority, the trappings of ego, would have made the accomplishments of either of these men impossible. Franklin never would have been published if he'd prioritized credit over creative expression. Indeed, when his brother found out, he literally beat him out of jealousy and anger.

Starting point is 00:13:46 Belichick would have pissed off his coach and then probably been benched if he'd one-upped him in public. He certainly wouldn't have taken his first job for free, and he wouldn't have sat through thousands of hours of film if he cared about status. Greatness comes from humble beginnings. It comes from grunt work. It means that you're the least important person in the room and to change that with results. There is an old saying, say little, do much. What we really ought to do is update and apply a version of that to our early approach. Be lesser, do more. Imagine if for every person you met, you thought of some way to help them, something you could do for them, and you looked at it in a way that entirely benefited them and not you. The cumulative effect this would have over time would be profound. You would learn a great deal by solving diverse

Starting point is 00:14:34 problems. You'd develop a reputation for being indispensable. You'd have countless new relationships. You'd have an enormous bank of favors to call upon down the road. That's what the Canvas strategy is about, helping yourself by helping others, making a concerted effort to trade your short-term gratification for a longer-term payoff. Whereas everyone else wants to get credit and be respected, you could forget credit. You can forget it so hard that you're glad when others get it instead of you. That was your aim after all. Let others take their credit on credit while you defer and earn interest on the principal. The strategy part of it is the hardest.

Starting point is 00:15:15 It's easy to be bitter, like Marshall, to hate even the thought of subservience, to despise those who have more means, more experience, more status than you, to tell yourself that every second not spent doing your work or working on yourself is a waste of your gift, to insist, I will not be demeaned like this. Once we fight this emotional and egotistical impulse, the canvas strategy is easy. The iterations are endless. Maybe it's coming up with ideas to hand over to your boss. Find people, thinkers, up-and-comers to introduce them to each other. Cross wires to create new sparks. Find what nobody else wants to do and do it. Find inefficiency and waste and redundancies. Identify leaks and patches to free up resources for new areas produce more than

Starting point is 00:16:05 everyone else and give your ideas away in other words discover opportunities to promote their creativity find outlets and people for collaboration and eliminate distractions that hinder their progress and focus it's a rewarding and infinitely scalable power strategy consider each one an investment in relationships and in your own development. The Canvas strategy is there for you at any time. There is no expiration date on it either. It's one of the few that age does not limit. On either side, young or old, you can start at any time,

Starting point is 00:16:39 before you have a job, before you're hired, and while you're doing something else, or if you're starting something new or find yourself inside an organization without strong allies or support. You may even find that there's no reason to ever stop doing it, even once you've graduated to heading your own projects. Let it become natural and permanent. Let others apply it to you while you're too busy applying it to those above you. Because if you pick up this mantle once, you'll see what most people's egos prevent them from appreciating. The person who clears the path ultimately controls its direction, just as the canvas shapes the painting.

Starting point is 00:17:18 Hey guys, this is Tim again. Just a few more things before you take off. Number one, this is Five Bullet Friday. Do you want to get a short email from me? Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little morsel of fun before the weekend? And Five Bullet Friday is a very short email where I share the coolest things I've found or that I've been pondering over the week. That could include favorite new albums that I've discovered. It could include gizmos and gadgets and all sorts of weird shit that I've somehow dug up in the world of the esoteric as I do. It could include favorite articles that I've read and that I've shared with my close friends, for instance. And it's very short. It's just a little tiny bite of goodness

Starting point is 00:18:04 before you head off for the weekend. So if you want to receive that, check it out. Just go to 4hourworkweek.com. That's 4hourworkweek.com all spelled out and just drop in your email and you will get the very next one. And if you sign up, I hope you enjoy it. You give feedback and then pick your favorite. You end up happy or you get your money back. It's very simple. You can check out a few of my own designs and those of yours, meaning Tim Ferriss show listeners at 99designs.com forward slash Tim. And right now my listeners, you guys will get a free $99 upgrade on your first design. That's 99designs.com forward slash Tim. Check it out. This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront, and this is a very unique sponsor. Wealthfront.com forward slash Tim. Check it out. This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront, and this is a very unique sponsor.

Starting point is 00:18:48 Wealthfront is a massively disruptive, in a good way, set it and forget it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple and world famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years, and they now have more than two and a half billion dollars under management. In fact, some of my very good friends, investors in Silicon Valley, have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. So the question is, why? Why is it so popular? Why is it unique? Because you can get services previously reserved for the ultra-wealthy, but only pay pennies on the dollar for them. And this is because they use smarter software instead of retail locations, bloated sales teams,

Starting point is 00:19:23 et cetera. And I'll come back to that in a second. I suggest you check out wealthfront.com forward slash Tim, take the risk assessment quiz, which only takes two to five minutes, and they'll show you for free exactly the portfolio they'd put you in. And if you just want to take their advice, run with it, do it yourself, you can do that. Or as I would, you can set it and forget it. And here's why. The value of Wealthfront is in the automation of habits and strategies that investors should be using on a regular basis, but normally aren't. Great investing is a marathon, not a sprint and little things that you may or may not be familiar with like automatic tax loss, harvesting, rebalancing your portfolio across more than 10 asset classes and dividend reinvestment add up to very large amounts of

Starting point is 00:20:03 money over longer periods of time. Wealthfront, as I mentioned, since it's using software instead of retail locations, etc., can offer all of this at low costs that were previously completely impossible. Right off the bat, you never pay commissions or account fees. For everything, they charge 0.25% per year on assets above the first $15,000, which managed for free. If you use my link, wealthfront.com forward slash Tim, that is less than $5 a month to invest a $30,000 account. For instance. Now, normally when I have a sponsor on this show, it's because I use them and recommend them in this case. It's a little different. I don't use wealth front yet because

Starting point is 00:20:40 I'm not allowed to. Here's the deal. They wanted to sponsor this podcast, but because of SEC regulations, companies that invest your money are not allowed to use client testimonials. So I couldn't be a user and have them on the podcast. But I've been so impressed by Wealthfront that I've invested a significant amount of my own money, at least for me, in the team and the company itself. So I am an investor and hope to soon use it as a client. Now back to the recommendation. As a Tim Ferriss show listener, you'll get $15,000 managed for free if you decide to open an account. But just start with seeing the portfolio that they would suggest for you. Take two minutes, fill out their questionnaire at wealthfront.com forward slash Tim. It's fast, it's free. There's

Starting point is 00:21:20 no downside that I can think of.

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The Tim Ferriss Show - #165: The Canvas Strategy -- What Ben Franklin and Bill Belichick Have in Common

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The Tim Ferriss Show - #165: The Canvas Strategy -- What Ben Franklin and Bill Belichick Have in Common

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