âI never even thought about whether or not they understand what Iâm doing. ⦠The emotional reaction is all that matters." â John Coltraneâ  â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â 5-Bullet Friday The latest from author and investor [Tim Ferriss]( â â Hi All! â Here is your weekly dose of 5-Bullet Friday, a list of what Iâm pondering and exploring. I included a sixth bullet for fun. â
What Iâm reading â[The Bronc-busting, Cow-punching, Death-defying Legend of Boots OâNeal](â by [Christian Wallace]( for Texas Monthly. This is a thought-provoking portrait of someone who lives to do his work and who canât imagine doing otherwise. Hereâs the opening paragraph: âThe sun is not yet up when Boots OâNeal starts his workday. As the 89-year-old cowboy readies his mount in the predawn quiet, he stuffs his hands into well-worn leather gloves. His dark chaps are decorated with fringe, a slight sheen on the right hip where his nylon rope has polished the leather over the years. He pulls down his silverbelly hat and grunts his way onto the saddle, planting his tall-topped boots in the stirrups. The horse heâs riding today is a dark sorrel named Cool. Together they wait, as the cowboy saying goes, just âcryinâ for daylight.ââ â
What Iâm listening to â[Still Not Dead](=)â ([YouTube](=), [Spotify]()) by [Willie Nelson](=) ([@WillieNelson]()). I saw Willie Nelson play live at [Austin City Limits (ACL)](=) in 2019. At 89 years young, the same age as Boots OâNeal, Willie can still bring down the house. â
What Iâm studying â[South Koreaâs archery invincibility explained](=).â I have recently become deeply interested in South Korean archers. Why? Hereâs how The New York Times [put it](: âFor South Korean archers, winning Olympic gold medals feels almost like a givenâthey have claimed 23 of the 34 golds awarded in the sport since 1984. ⦠The South Korean archery team has won gold medals at every Summer Olympics since 1984. The womenâs team has been particularly dominant, winning gold eight straight times since the team event made its debut in 1988 in Seoul. In 2016, the menâs and womenâs teams swept the gold medals in the team and individual events at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.â Watch the above video for more on their training systems.
â
South Korean coaches also combine the latest high-tech gadgetry with low-tech mental toughness training (psyche breaking and filtering?), some of which is described in this article: â[South Korean archers banned for pulling out of training](.â Hereâs the opening lede, which gives you the gist: âSouth Koreaâs world-class archers were ordered to clean up city sewage, stay up all night, stare at dead bodies in a crematory and climb a mountain with a rubber dinghy on their backs.â
â
Some fascinating bits from The New York Times article:
â
âThe team is famous in the archery world for the depth and detail of its preparations. National coaches employ wind machines and pump artificial noise (crowd sounds, camera shutters) through speakers to simulate adverse environmental conditions athletes might encounter in competition.
â
Before the Rio Games in 2016, the archers trained at a live baseball game, an unorthodox way to expose them to a pressure cooker atmosphere. This spring, practice sessions at the national training center in Jincheon have taken place in an arena modeled after the one theyâll see in Tokyo. Staff members installed video screens, audience stands and banners where they are likely to be positioned at the Olympics. Simulated loudspeaker announcements in English and Japanese further set the mood.
â
âOur goal is zero-defect training,â said Jang Young-sool, the vice president of the Korea Archery Association.â â
Test Iâve been doing every week or so â[Dominant eye test: How to find your dominant eye]().â Iâm right-handed but left-eye dominant, which is sometimes referred to as âcross dominance.â This can make a mess of things, which is part of why I explored eye dominance for sports with experts in [The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life]( (a book title I regret, as the book is mostly focused on meta-learning/accelerated learning). From 2009â2010, I was consistently missing basketball shots by a few inches until I made adjustments for cross dominance with [Rick Torbett](=). And this can apply to a multitude of things, including photography, marksmanship, and⦠archery. But, you might rightly ask, if I already know Iâm left-eye dominant, why on earth would I perform this test over and over again?
â
Well, a few months ago, I created two identical recurve bow setups, one for left-handed use and one for right-handed use. Iâve been alternating both in every workout, keeping both eyes open throughout, to try to determine if I should switch to a left-handed stance to match my left-eye dominance (which some excellent archers have suggested) or keep my default right-handed stance (which other excellent archers have recommended). Which is more accurate? Once getting over the basic awkwardness of shooting left-handed, it really seems to depend on the day or week. After one day of far better right-handed shooting, I repeated the eye-dominance test during a rest break, and it repeatedly indicated⦠right-eye dominance! I was flabbergasted and did a bunch of Googling to see if I was making a mistake or fooling myself, but it does seem that eye dominance can switch, at least anecdotally on archery forums. Presently, I seem to be left-eye dominant at least 80% of the time, but itâs not 100%. I assumed switching was impossible, but it just goes to show you how many âimpossiblesâ are nothing of the sort. I find it all very exciting. â
Anniversary Iâm thinking about Exactly seven years ago, I had [my first ride with my best friend, Molly](. To celebrate, I updated my header photo [on the blog](. My girlfriend said it looks like an engagement photo shoot. If youâve never done a deep dive on the blog (more than 1,000 posts since 2006!), you can [click here]( for some of the most popular of all time, categorized by theme. Or if you want to skip the multiple steps, here they are: - â[Practical Philosophy]()â
- â[Fitness & Health](â
- â[Productivity](â
- â[Business & Entrepreneurship](=)â
- â[Language Learning]()â
- â[Book Recommendations]()â
- â[General Learning](=)â
- â[Travel](â
- â[Popular Videos from My YouTube Channel]()â
- â[Popular Presentations & Interviews on YouTube](â â
Quote Iâm pondering âI never even thought about whether or not they understand what Iâm doing. ⦠The emotional reaction is all that matters. As long as thereâs some feeling of communication, it isnât necessary that it be understood.ââ
â [John Coltrane](=)â
â â â
You can complement this edition of 5-Bullet Friday with more [photos from the engagement photo shoot with Molly pup](=), [this video](=) on teaching Molly fun tricks, and my podcast interview with [master dog trainer Susan Garrett](=).
â
And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. 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.
â
Have a wonderful weekend, all.
â
Much love to you and yours,
â
Tim â
P.S. Deal of the Week â [Levels](! I wrote about the health benefits of using continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) more than ten years ago in The 4-Hour Body. At the time, CGMs were primitive and hard to use. Levels has now made this technology, and the unique insights that come from it, easy and available to everyone. [Levels]( is making glucose monitoring simple, helping you see how food affects your health through real-time feedback. I started tracking my glucose years ago to learn more about what I should and shouldnât be eating (including quantities, time of day, etc.), based on objective data from my own unique physiology. To give just one example, I was surprised to see how dramatically mildly large meals spiked my blood sugar, even when low-glycemic overall. Since keeping my blood sugar stable is critical to my daily performance and long-term health goals, these are insights I pay attention to. Poor glucose control is associated with a number of chronic conditions like diabetes, Alzheimerâs disease, heart disease, and obesity. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
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â[Levels]( has a world-class team and group of advisors backing them, including names like multi-time podcast guest Dr. Dominic DâAgostino and former SpaceX engineer Josh Clemente, who you may have heard on Kevin Roseâs podcast. To learn more about Levels and using a CGM to help personalize and optimize your diet, [click here](. At the link, you will see [next steps to join Levels at the top](, and you can scroll down to learn about features and much more. â Forwarded this message? [Sign up here](). Join millions of monthly readers. Get exclusive content, private Q&As, giveaways, and more. No spam, ever. Just great stuff. [Sign Up]() [Tim Ferriss] Listen to The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 700 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcastsÂ
on many occasions. [[Apple Podcasts]  Podcasts](=)
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