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The James Altucher Show

Ep. 293 - AJ Jacobs: Why We Experiment (And Why You Should Also)

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher

Education, Business

4.62.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2017

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

I like the idea of experimenting for two reasons. A) widen comfort zone B) become a better person. I'll tell you about A first then B. But first, let me reintroduce my good friend AJ. If you listen to this podcast then you already know who AJ is. But just in case, AJ Jacob's is a professional at experimenting. All his books are experiments. Four are bestsellers. He told me about one he did with the comedian Jim Gaffigan. They looked up the oldest jokes in the world. From hundreds of years ago. And told them to live audiences today. Sometimes Jim bombed, some jokes he skipped (because a lot of jokes were about lettuce... lettuce used to be thought as an aphrodisiac), but others worked. And he didn't know what to expect.   That's A) widening your comfort zone. So for this podcast, AJ and I came up with ideas to experiment with. And we want you to join us. You'll hear what we're testing right now. And what's next.  I found that if I do a new experiment a day or week, it becomes a micro step to creating a healthy life. For example, I told AJ that I try very heard not to say anything bad about anybody. And it's hard because things come up throughout the day. But ultimately it makes me feel happier to not gossip. And I've been doing this now for about seven years. AJ tried it too. "It was fascinating," he said, "because I realized 70% of my speech was trash talking and it made such a difference in my life when I cut that out because it made me more positive and happier." And it's true. Because we all know that eating trash makes you feel like trash. And it's true for your brain too.  These are the nuances hidden in experimenting. You have a secret with yourself. A promise to uphold. And you live up to some unknown potential sometimes. That's B. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This isn't your average business podcast and he's not your average host.

0:06.6

This is the James Altiger show on the Choose Yourself Network.

0:12.6

Today on the James Altiger show.

0:15.5

Okay so what we're going to do is we're going to challenge each other to experiments.

0:20.2

You've thought of some I didn't really.

0:24.8

I figured I'm going to use your genius.

0:27.5

Oh man this is terrible.

0:29.7

It's a little bit good.

0:39.2

You know at first I was really scared to have advertisers but it's really been actually

0:43.0

a nice thing because it tells me that people have valued this podcast enough that advertisers

0:47.7

actually want to spread their own message through this.

0:50.9

But in order to continue having great advertisers I need your help.

0:55.3

Please go to pod survey dot com slash James and take a quick anonymous survey that will

1:01.6

help us get to know you a little better.

1:04.6

That way we can show our advertisers just how great the listeners you guys are.

1:09.5

Even if you've taken our shows podcast listener survey before the current one is brand new

1:14.4

and different.

1:15.4

So I'd really love for you to take it all over again.

1:17.9

Plus once you've completed the survey you can enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card.

1:24.5

Again, that's pod survey dot com slash James POD SUR VEY dot com slash James.

1:33.1

Thanks for your help.

1:39.8

So I'm very excited back with AJ Jacobs.

...

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