Arthur Worsley takes us on his travel journey through 100+ countries, his entrepreneurial journey, and the development of his TRACKTION system for accelerated learning and revolutionary productivity. He starts off by sharing stories from his college days at Oxford and how he made over USD $100,000 in a single week as a student and then shares his takeaways from working at McKinsey & Company for 3 years. Arthur then opens up about how the collapsing of his 4-year relationship, breakdown in his family life and work burn-out, led him to embark on a travel journey that would fundamentally alter his life course. Arthur shares highlights from his travel adventures, including being chased by fur-seals on Christmas day in Antarctica while dressed up as Santa Clause. He also tells stories about traveling through Central Asia with his mother, learning Russian and visiting the “Gates of Hell” in Turkmenistan, traveling through North Korea and spending time in Iran. He also explains how he has used accelerated learning techniques to cultivate a wide range of skills, including going from zero to fluent in German in just 5 months and becoming a level 2 Canadian ski instructor just 6 months after picking up his first set of skis. He then tells the story of how he trained for and completed “The Marathon of the Sands”, a 6-day, 156-mile ultra-marathon through the Sahara Desert that is widely regarded as the toughest foot race in the world. Arthur also talks about his company, “Faster to Master”, and shares specific tactics that he teaches for accelerated learning and ultra-productivity. He explains the importance of establishing the right systems, processes, and rituals, and breaks down the role of values, habits, and metrics in sustaining a life management system. He also gives specific tips on day structure, stress reduction, creating a “not to do” list, and reducing procrastination. He concludes by sharing his personal story of meeting his relationship-partner Erin and offers advice on finding love and partnership as a nomad. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE AT www.TheMaverickShow.com
Episode #57: Meta-Learning, Revolutionary Productivity and Running a 156-Mile Ultra-Marathon through the Sahara Desert with Arthur Worsley.
Episode Summary
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About the Guest
Arthur Worsley
Arthur Worsley is a location independent entrepreneur, writer, coach and founder of “Faster to Master” which helps executives, entrepreneurs, and self-starters to read more, learn faster and wake up productive. Originally from the UK, Arthur has a degree from Oxford University where he specialized in studying the neurophysiology of memory and has subsequently focused his career on developing techniques for highly-accelerated learning and ultra-productivity. Arthur has applied his techniques to language learning, passing his B2 German Fluency exam after just 5 months of learning German. He has gotten to a conversational level in a total of 8 languages, 4 of which he maintains today including Mandarin, German, French, and English. Arthur has also applied his meta-learning techniques to athletics and fitness, becoming a level 2 Canadian ski instructor just 6 months after picking up his first set of skis. He has also applied them to physical endurance training and, with less than 10 months of preparation, he completed the legendary “Marathon of the Sands”, a 6 day, 156-mile ultra-marathon through the Sahara Desert in Southern Morocco that is widely regarded as the toughest foot race on earth. Today Arthur teaches others how to transform their lives by applying his accelerated-learning and productivity techniques to the most important aspects of their own lives. Arthur has built his business with a location-independent infrastructure, so he can run it from anywhere in the world, and he has traveled to over 100 countries on all 7 continents.
What You'll Learn
- The core tactics for highly accelerated learning and rapid skill development
- The key components to a revolutionary productivity system
- How to reduce stress, procrastination, and decide what not to do
Links From the Episode
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LEARN MORE ABOUT ARTHUR’S REVOLUTIONARY PRODUCTIVITY MASTERCLASS
GET A $10 DISCOUNT ON ARTHUR’S TRACKTION PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER
CHECK OUT ARTHUR’S FREE RESOURCES ON BECOMING MORE PRODUCTIVE (INCLUDING 5 FREE PRODUCTIVITY TEMPLATES)
CHECK OUT ARTHUR’S FREE RESOURCES ON META-LEARNING, MEMORY IMPROVEMENT AND LANGUAGE LEARNING
CHECK OUT ARTHUR’S FREE LIST OF “THE GREATEST BOOKS EVER”
CHECK OUT ARTHUR’S FREE BOOK SUMMARIES OF “THE GREATEST BOOKS EVER”
ARTHUR’S TOP 3 MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF ALL TIME
- Get Things Done by David Allen
- The 4- Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
- The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey
THE #1 PRODUCTIVITY APP ARTHUR RECOMMENDS
WINE SHARED IN THIS EPISODE
LOCATION WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE
OTHER PLACES MENTIONED
ARTHUR’S TOP 3 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
ARTHUR’S TOP 3 BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS
CHECK FLIGHT PRICES TO ANY OF THESE LOCATIONS
CONTACT ARTHUR
Time Stamped Show Notes
[3:46] Matt and Arthur Discuss Nomad Life in Bali
[5:58] Arthur’s Entrepreneurial Journey during University
- Growing up in UK
- Loving to solve problems
- Starting multiple businesses during University
- Studying the Neuro-pharmacology of memory at Oxford
- Applying accelerated-learning and productivity techniques to his final exams
[12:22] Arthur’s Career Trajectory
- Working for a Polish shipping baron
- Working at McKinsey & Company for 3 years
- Arthur’s biggest takeaways and learnings from McKinsey
- Arthur’s compounding life challenges that led him to leave McKinsey
[18:29] Arthur’s Travel Adventures
- Discovering his love of travel
- His transitionary reflections from Guatemala and Argentina
- Reinventing himself and learning about the world
- Being chased by fur seals in Antarctica while wearing a Santa suit on Christmas
- Traveling through Central Asia for 2 months with his mother
- Learning Russian and seeing the “gates of hell” in Turkmenistan
- Traveling through North Korea
- Arthur’s experience in Iran
[29:04] Running a 156-Mile Ultra-Marathon in the Sahara Desert
- Deciding to run “The Marathon of the Sands”, widely regarded as the toughest foot race on earth.
- Arthur’s 10-month training regimen to prepare for the event
- Injuring his foot before the race began
- Running through sand with all of his food and gear on his back
[36:41] Becoming a Level 2 Canadian Ski Instructors in 6 Months
- Arthur’s technique for breaking down skiing skills and doing impactful drills
- Arthur’s goal-setting approach to mastering skiing and other skills
- The importance of goal setting as ‘iterative’ and gather data before setting goals
[39:59] Arthur’s Experience and Tips for Accelerated Language Learning
- Why Arthur is so passionate about language learning
- The unique opportunities unlocked by language learning
- The fundamental difference when you can speak to someone in their first language
- Arthur’s tactical advice for accelerated language learning
- Discussing the differences in learning various languages
[47:40] Salsa Dancing and Meeting His Relationship Partner Erin
- Choosing to learn salsa to connect with the local people in Colombia
- Meeting his relationship partner Erin in a salsa class in Medellin
[51:13] Founding “Faster to Master” and Teaching Revolutionary Productivity
- Teaching people how to read more, learn faster and be more productive
- Creating the “Tracktion Planner”
- Explaining the layout and rationale of the Tracktion Planner
- The value of completing “The Wheel of Life” exercise first
- Understanding values, habits and metrics
- Explaining the content of his Revolutionary Productivity Masterclass
- Why and How Arthur guarantees his students will get results in 42 days
- Explaining the concept of “end to end productivity”
- The importance of creating a “not to do” list and weeding your garden
- Tactics for reducing procrastination
- The importance of processes and rituals
- Sustaining a life management system
[1:13:31] Managing Stress and Conserving Energy
- The importance of maintaining a big-picture perspective
- Arthur’s top 2 personal stress mitigation techniques
- Understanding the difference between saturation, tiredness, and fatigue
[1:19:32] Arthur’s Day Structure, Week Structure, and Routines
- Explaining A days, B days and C days
- How Arthur structures his days
- Getting into flow states and completing all his work by 12:30 each day
- The importance of mindfulness for everyone
[1:22:37] Finding Love the Identifying the Right Relationship Partner
- Having patience to find the right person
- Arthur’s choice to self-impose a 9-month ban on all intimacy
- Meeting his life partner, Erin
[1:28:25] The Lightning Round
- Arthur’s Top 3 Book Recommendations
- The #1 app that Arthur Recommends
- The person with whom Arthur would most like to have dinner
- The one piece of advice Arthur would give to his 18-year old self
- Arthur’s Top 3 favorite travel destinations
- Arthur’s Top 3 bucket list destinations
[1:36:48] Contact Arthur
- How to email Arthur personally
- How to take Arthur’s free productivity quiz
- Check out Arthur’s website and his free content
