One of my favourite podcasts is the Tim Ferriss Show. Among the many things Tim is successful at in addition to a podcast host, is being an author. Of his books, there is one called Tribe of Mentors: Short life advice from the best in the world, presumably about life advice that is short rather than advice about living a short life. It is based on answers to 11 really good questions that Tim needed to answer for himself at one point in his life, and of which he asked some people who he most admired to see what they would say so he could learn from the best. A sample can be heard in this podcast episode link, along with more about the questions and their sequence.

Personally, I love good, thoughtful and/or philosophical questions that are useful and not just theoretical. So in addition to reading and listening to answers from the book to learn, I thought I’d give them a try first. From answers I will give, I will analyze to see what I didn’t like, or which I thought I could improve on, to see if I can obtain a better answer some time over the next few years, decade, or even some point in the rest of my life. That’s because these questions aren’t just useless and/or silly thought experiments. No. A good answer for any one of these questions can really make a difference in one’s life, even if it wouldn’t always be some grand, life altering kind, though a few might be. At the least, I will end up with a great story for each answer. After having answered question #1, here then, is my answer to question #2.

2. What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?

Aside from food and drink, I’ve hardly bought anything since the start of 2020, with the pandemic helping that greatly. I live a simple life and have pretty much everything I want or need that money can buy.

Going back 1.5 years now for “recent memory”, one thing stands out clearly above the rest, and that’s my 3 quart Duo Plus InstantPot. Of the meals I eat where I really have to cook something, unlike cereal and milk where I don’t or toasts where I just use a toaster, 75-85% of them have something cooked with my InstantPot. About two thirds of those, I would guess, has all the cooking done in the InstantPot. It could be all of those if I were only more patient to steam rice in my InstantPot instead of simultaneously using my rice steamer!

In addition to my InstantPot’s regular use for life impact, it has also helped improved the quality and enjoyment of my food. Its ability to do steamed vegetables easily, consistently, and perfectly, means I’ve never eaten so many vegetables in my life! With little loss of nutrients like boiling it might cause. I also enjoy it in the various ways I use it, which helps motivate me to cook more as I enjoy eating what I make. It also helps keep my food and drink budget down to about $6.50 per day, on average, over the past year and a half!

How’s that for positive impact for something under $100? You can bet that should anything go wrong with my InstantPot, it will be fixed immediately! I’m not sure if, or how, I’d ever go back to cooking the way I used to so any problems with the InstantPot is going to get fixed pretty quickly!

Please click here to read posts with other questions from Tim Ferriss’ Tribe of Mentors.

Please click here to read posts with other podcasts’ signature questions.

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