An Ex-Amish Farmhand Millionaire Renaissance Man Spills His Insider Secrets To Getting Tough.

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Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

My friend Tai Lopez is a very interesting guy.

Tai is a true renaissance man.

Tai (pictured right) went from being a college dropout living with the Amish and working on Joel Salatin's farm (which we talk about in this podcast episode) to becoming a self made millionaire before the age of 30, while launching 12 multi-million dollar businesses in the process.

Tai LopezHe is a member of MENSA: the high IQ society, a Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter, and most importantly a student of life with a ton of books (5000 plus at the last count). In addition to his massive book collection, he is himself the author of several books on unrelated subjects such as dating, life insurance and modeling, and the voice of the brand new podcast “The Grand Theory of Everything“.

Tai was on Bravo's “The Millionaire Matchmaker” (his episode is the highest rated yet), is addicted to traveling (51 countries on 6 continents so far), and is also a student of salsa dancing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and playing classical piano. He lives in the Hollywood Hills, where he has a cold thermogenesis pool off his front porch.

Tai also has a good way of summing up books that would normally take you a long time to read. That’s wonderful for anyone who doesn’t have the time luxury to read lots of books (and you can consider his Book of the Day list a fantastic time-hacking technique).

A few weeks ago, I featured an article by Tai entitled “50 Secrets Of The World Longest Living People“, and in this podcast we go way above and beyond just living long. You'll learn:

-How Tai went from being a college dropout to living with the Amish…

-Why the Apache Indian tribe were some of the toughest people on earth…

-What farmers and ranchers know about toughness that we don't…

-How aligning your body with your natural circadian rhythms can make you tough…

-Tai's top techniques for getting tough…

-Tai's technique for getting through as many books as possible in as short a period of time…

Resources we discuss in this episode:

-Book: Geronimo: Leadership Strategies of an American Warrior

-Book: Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story

-Book: Michael Jordan: The Life

-Book: Peter Drucker: Managing Life

-Book: Poor Charlie's Almanack

-Book: Kon Tiki

Tai's Book of the Day list

Joel Salatin, and the amazing books he has written

Leave your questions, comments or feedback for Tai below, and be sure to check out his new podcast “The Grand Theory of Everything“.

Ask Ben a Podcast Question

22 thoughts on “An Ex-Amish Farmhand Millionaire Renaissance Man Spills His Insider Secrets To Getting Tough.

  1. Natalie Mouw says:

    I have recently discovered your site and have really been enjoying the podcasts on ITunes. It doesn’t look like these older ones are available anymore. How can I download these older podcasts so I can listen to these as well?

  2. Michael says:

    Ben,

    Great podcast. Thanks for introducing me to Tai. Very relevant information for me at this point in my life.

    Also, thanks for inspiring me to read more. I’ve always avoided reading as a mode of learning. I’ve absorbed 1000s of hours of audio over the years, including your media, but I have trouble taking time to read. Including my 4 years of university, I’ve probably only ever read 3 books from cover-to-cover, in my whole life.

    I heard this episode on July 4th, so I’m shooting for reading those books listed by August 4th. Not really doing it to get anything for free. Just want to set a new habit and a new mode of learning…realizing that it is a habit shared by most successful people.

    Thanks for expanding into new areas, as I’m not an endurance sports person, rather I listen for nuggets of wisdom to be more healthy and be higher-performing.

    Thanks, again, for doing what you do.

    Cheers,

    Mike

  3. waynelyon says:

    This is my favorite Ben Greenfield podcast by far!

  4. bonniecubfan10 says:

    Ben I enjoyed this podcast so much! Thanks for the great work you do! And thanks for reminding us that we need to have patience in our journey to be fit and healthy. I like when you or Tai said that sometimes it takes up to 2 years to get to your goal. I sometimes struggle with that wanting instant results. Have a great day! Bonnie

  5. kyle smith says:

    Great podcast! I dig the in depth conversation with the Tai.

  6. fossilfueltable says:

    LOVED this podcast Ben! He was a bit ADD admitedly, but I seem to think in the same way, so it was comforting and amusing all at the same time!

  7. evantcook says:

    What a cool friend to have! How did the two of you first cross paths?

    Any chance this episode will be added to the transcripts?

    1. Yes, this episode will be transcribed! Stay tuned. Also, Tai and I first crossed paths in a mastermind group we're both part of.

  8. erwinhalf says:

    Just a quick question, I loved the reading challenge, however I also love my e-reader, since I travel a lot. Also cross reading is much easier on such a device. How can I participate in the challenge with my e-reader?

    Thanks so much for your great podcasts, I love them

    1. Send me your receipts for every book and I'll add you to the contest. email them to [email protected]

  9. spokeswoman says:

    Loved this podcast. Cool information and made a lot of sense. Very interesting guy.

  10. mauihollyday says:

    Tai has a lot to say :) Great podcast Ben. I like the zany nature of it. I felt I was burning calories just keeping up with Tai's train of thought & the tangents he ran off with! I was on it following him, and each time he got right back on track to the original thought. Amazing & definitely hard to do for the typical Homo Sapiens. Don't think I'll be getting on the farm soon here though (nothing but camel farms here :)

  11. shockthemonkey1 says:

    A couple reasons. First, I like the in-depth interview style augmented by your personal insights. It's why I also like Ferris' new podcast (The Tim Ferriss Show) much better than his The Random Show podcast. In his new podcast, in addition to the in-depth interview episodes, Ferriss will post an occasional episode in which he recites an essay of sorts on a particular subject. I really like it. I recommend you employ a similar model.

    Second, I like the tone much better. With all due respect to your sidekick who is on vacation, the mindless banter and goofy comments when he is on the show tends to get old for me. I know you guys are trying to keep it light and whatnot, but I find it distracting and frankly unnecessary.

    And lastly, I like the break from the pure "how do I maximize my triathlon performance" approach of the other podcasts. I think you are a pretty good interviewer and that you have a lot more to offer than just the triath stuff.

    1. Very good feedback. You'll probably like the next couple weeks of podcsating methinks.

    2. N=1 Lifestyle says:

      As much as I like these sorts of interviews I really enjoy the "mindless banter and goofy comments" exchanges prat of the regular podcast too. It makes for a more dynamic and real world interaction. I think a sterile podcast would be far less enjoyable.

  12. shockthemonkey1 says:

    Much prefer this style of podcast to your others.

  13. Crazyman9 says:

    Link to "50 secrets of the World's Longest Living People" doesn't appear to be working…for me anyway

    1. It is working for me, please try again.

      1. Melissa Komadina says:

        Not working from me either… Also tried clicking on the article from the Articles section but to no avail.

        1. what kind of error do you get?

          1. Melissa Komadina says:

            "Sorry, but the page you were trying to view does not exist.
            It looks like this was the result of either:

            a mistyped address
            an out-of-date link"

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