General Stanley McChrystal and Liv Boeree (#761)

This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited.

The episode features segments from episode #86 “General Stan McChrystal on Eating One Meal Per Day, Special Ops, and Mental Toughness” and #611 “Liv Boeree, Poker and Life — Core Strategies, Turning $500 into $1.7M, Cage Dancing, Game Theory, and Metaphysical Curiosities.”

Bios of guests may be found at tim.blog/combo.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

This episode is brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, Helix Sleep premium mattresses, and LMNT electrolyte supplement.

Transcript for the full General Stanley McChrystal episode | Transcript for the full Liv Boeree episode | Transcripts for all episodes

Listen onApple Podcasts

Listen onSpotify

Listen onOvercast

This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, you’ll get a 1-year supply of Vitamin D free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D (and 5 free AG1 travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive daily, foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole-body health.

This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2024 by Forbes, Fortune, and Wired magazines and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.

This episode is brought to you by LMNT! What is LMNT? It’s a delicious, sugar-free electrolyte drink mix. I’ve stocked up on boxes and boxes of this and usually use it 1–2 times per day. LMNT is formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs and perfectly suited to folks following a keto, low-carb, or Paleo diet. If you are on a low-carb diet or fasting, electrolytes play a key role in relieving hunger, cramps, headaches, tiredness, and dizziness.

LMNT came up with a very special offer for you, my dear listeners. For a limited time, you can get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase. This special offer is available here: DrinkLMNT.com/Tim.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SHOW NOTES

• [05:57] Notes about this supercombo format.
• [07:01] Enter General Stanley McChrystal.
• [07:24] One meal a day.
• [08:52] Daily exercise routines and their importance.
• [14:04] The book most gifted.
• [15:15] A major course correction at West Point.
• [19:33] Vetting, selecting, and educating candidates for combat.
• [21:41] “No-win” leadership roleplaying.
• [25:21] Underrated military leaders.
• [27:17] Audiobooks.
• [29:13] What books make Stan’s reading list?
• [30:29] Hopeless dilemmas and managing self-talk in high-pressure environments.
• [37:09] Enter Liv Boeree.
• [37:35] Youthful obsessions.
• [42:04] How poker entered the picture.
• [49:45] The qualities that made Liv excel at poker from the start.
• [55:55] Liv’s advice to a newcomer wanting to learn poker.
• [1:04:54] What Liv’s eight-week poker education curriculum might look like.
• [1:11:31] Failure points that might discourage someone during this curriculum.
• [1:13:35] Red mist, white noise, and fast math.
• [1:19:37] Volcano-induced tournament participation and self-regulation.
• [1:28:27] A skeptic’s experiences with the unexplainable.
• [1:44:19] How does Liv rationally coexist with these experiences?
• [1:48:09] How to become a better skeptic.
• [1:54:18] Inadequate Equilibria and Moloch.
• [1:59:14] Parting thoughts.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with General Stanley McChrystal:

McChrystal Group | Twitter

• Risk: A User’s Guide by Stanley McChrystal and Anna Butrico | Amazon
• Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by General Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, and Chris Fussell
• Breakfast, Lunch, and Winners | The Morning News
• How to Do Push-Ups: Eight Strength-Boosting Variations | Verywell Fit
• Sit-Ups vs. Crunches | Healthline
• How to Do a Plank: Proper Form, Variations, and Common Mistakes | Verywell Fit
• How to Do Flutter Kicks for a Strong Core | Real Simple
• From 0 to Five Pullups in 22 Days (Guaranteed!) | Athlean-X
• Incline Bench Press: Video Exercise Guide and Tips | Muscle and Strength
• Standing Dumbbell Curl — The Right Way | Renshaw’s Personal Training
• The Runaway General: The Profile That Brought Down McChrystal | Rolling Stone
• Once an Eagle: A Novel by Anton Myrer | Amazon
• General Stan McChrystal: How to Succeed in Military and Civilian Life | West Point Association of Graduates Podcast
• US Army Ranger School | Fort Benning, GA
• The Kobayashi Maru “No-Win” Scenario CG Breakdown in Star Trek Lore | Resurrected Starships
• Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa by Martin Meredith | Amazon
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu | Amazon

Connect with Liv Boeree:

Website | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

• Win-Win with Liv Boeree Podcast
• Raising for Effective Giving
• Master of Puppets by Metallica | Amazon Music
• Liv Boeree: The “Iron Maiden” of the Poker World | Metal Insider
• Iron Maiden
• Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera | Amazon Music
• Nu Metal | Wikipedia
• Dimmu Borgir
• Burzum
• Ultimate Poker Showdown Bumper | YouTube
• Explaining “Rebuy” in Poker | Liveabout.com
• How to Spot a Liar, According to a Pro Poker Player | Inc.com
• The All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks, & Friedberg
• How to Calculate Pot Odds in Poker | Upswing Poker
• PioSOLVER
• Poker Terms: Rainbow | PokerNews
• A Beginner’s Guide to Game Theory Optimal (GTO) Poker | 888 Poker
• The Six Types of Tilt | Poker Stars Learn
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman | Amazon
• Of Two Minds: How Fast and Slow Thinking Shape Perception and Choice | Scientific American
• Liv Boeree Wins the 2010 EPT Sanremo | PokerStars
• Eyjafjallajökull 2010: How Icelandic Volcano Eruption Closed European Skies | NCAS
• Surrender by The Chemical Brothers | Amazon Music
• The Sixth Sense | Prime Video
• Meniere’s Disease Symptoms and Causes | Mayo Clinic
• Burning Man | Liv Boeree
• Professor Donald Hoffman — The Case Against Reality, Beyond Spacetime, Rethinking Death, Panpsychism, QBism, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #585
• Quantum Spookiness Spans the Canary Islands | Scientific American
• Is Human Consciousness Creating Reality? | Big Think
• Lynne Kelly on Memory Palaces, Ancient and Modern | Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Podcast #60
• Understanding Confidence Intervals | Scribbr
• Studying Studies | Peter Attia
• The Magic and Power of Placebo | The Tim Ferriss Show #194
• Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain’s Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal by Erik Vance | Amazon
• Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why. | WIRED
• List of Cognitive Biases and Heuristics | The Decision Lab
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger | Amazon
• The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t by Julia Galef | Amazon
• LessWrong
• Inadequate Equilibria: Where and How Civilizations Get Stuck by Eliezer Yudkowsky
• Nash Equilibrium | Investopedia
• Moloch: The Beauty Wars | Liv Boeree

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Related

The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion 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+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.