First The Heart, Then The Head

I am obsessed with The Tim Ferriss Show. I love it.

The show has nothing to do with the DJ industry directly, but what it has added to my DJ business is truly immeasurable. Today’s post is about one of those small things this podcast has done for me. This is about the greatest audio gift the internet has ever given me — one specific interview between Tim Ferriss and a great storyteller.

Tim Ferris is the best selling author of four books (The Four Hour Workweek, The Four Hour Body, The Four Hour Chef, and Tools of Titans), a self described human guinea pig, and of course, host of the top rated podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The show’s format is really simple: one interview, with one person, for anywhere between one and four hours. And because of Tim’s interviewing style, the guests of his show…are amazing.

The guests of the Tim Ferriss show span a wide range of professions and have almost nothing in common except for one thing:  they are at the absolute top of their game. Their expertise might be acting, comedy, computer hacking, trading on Wall Street, writing books, psychology, coaching pro sport athletes, running billion dollar companies, etc. While Tim’s guests themselves are absolutely fascinating, my favourite part of what comes out of these interviews is that Tim seldom lets the conversation move past what he doesn’t fully understand. He is always digging, yearning to discover more, always asking why. This is a primary ingredient to The Tim Ferriss Show.

As is normally the case when I begin listening to an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, I seldom know much about who his guest will be. But I listen anyway because guest after guest after guest has surprised me with unexpected nuggets and takeaways that I would never have been exposed to otherwise. My discovery of Cal Fussman proves that point.

Cal Fussman is a New York Times bestselling author, writer-at-large for Esquire Magazine, and keynote speaker. He is frequently found presenting on the topic of asking better questions to get better answers. What is maybe most fascinating about Cal is that he honed his skills of asking the right questions while travelling the world for 10 whole years! He was literally passed around the world while being invited into the houses of complete strangers for food and lodging because of the conversations he had with people — the questions he would ask them. (You’ll understand what this means when you listen to the story of Cal asking about goulash on a train in Hungary.)

Tim’s interview with Cal is nearly 3 1/2 hours long and I’ve listened to it in parts many times and completely from start to finish 3 times. It is nothing short of remarkable. Once he get’s started, Cal’s storytelling is hard to escape from. (which, in itself, is a remarkable lesson to learn from) The experiences he has lived through and what he has learned from those experiences create a world view frame of reference that is truly like no other’s. This is what makes listening to Cal, truly worth it.

Have you ever found yourself pondering any of these questions?

  • How it is that some DJs appear to sell so effortlessly?
  • Why do some DJs experience such remarkable word-of-mouth?
  • Why do some wedding couples book more “expensive” DJs when they wouldn’t book you?
  • How do some DJs connect with their audience in ways that leave you scratching your head?

This interview will help explain all of that.

Here is the tip of the iceberg: “Aim for the heart, not the head.”

You must listen to the entire interview for full context. Do not do yourself the disservice of reading that line here and thanking me for it, thinking you “know.”

Much like Tim during a podcast interview, Cal is a master when it comes to asking the right questions and spending the appropriate time getting to people’s heart first. As Cal is often known for saying “First go for the heart, then the head. Get those and you have a pathway to the person’s soul.”

In addition to spending 10 years being passed around the world, Cal has also conducted probing interviews with many of history’s great icons such as Muhammad Ali, Dr. Dre, Quincy Jones, Richard Branson, and many others. He shares many insights from those interviews in this podcast episode that have left me with next level skills for my DJ business. You might have to dig a little for them, but they are there.

Cal’s approach to every human interaction he takes part in is very inspiring and has taught me a lot about how I approach situations in my work as a mobile DJ whether in sales, planning or performance.

Listen to this episode by finding it through whatever app you use to consume podcasts or stream it from Tim’s website here. Either way, enjoy what I have come to consider, the greatest audio gift the internet has ever given me.

You now know my favourite quote from this conversation but there are MANY others. I would love for you to share your favourite quote(s) as a comment below or on Facebook.

~ Dave




12 thoughts on “First The Heart, Then The Head”

  1. My favorite quote over the last year resurfaces almost daily in my head. Not just because of what was said, but because of who said it.

    “It always the simple that produces the marvelous”
    ~ Steve Jobs

    In an effort to learn as much as I can as fast as I can, I can make things a little more complicated than they need to be. It’s often hard to sift through the clutter when you’re seeking ideas, feedback and opinions from so many industry veterans. This quote calms me. Just sayin’. 🙂

  2. I’m definitely going to check this out. We must never stop learning and bettering ourselves. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Could not agree more about the Tim Ferriss show. I’ve been an avid listener for a couple of years now and it’s not hyperbole to say it has changed my life! I am now into gymnastics because of one episode and also regularly take cold showers from another intriguing episode. The episode you refer to here with Cal Fussman was indeed fantastic and so rich in many different ways.
    Loving your blog posts Dave 🙂

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