Every once in a while something happens that makes you say Holy Sh** Balls! This is the first of a two part post. Part I will cover “You’ve been invited to A Small World” and part II will cover “Tim Ferriss is on the phone”. As you’ll see the two are strangely linked together in some sort of weird cosmic way. Here’s part I:

Kim and I were taking a mini-retirement to Punta Del Este to shoot this video for Jet Set Life. It was New Years Eve morning and we were having our breakfast on the outside veranda of this great Posada on the ocean in La Barra. We were chatting it up with a few people (who were part of a group of 500 that were flown in from Manhattan to attend the wedding of a very wealthy Argentinian business man’s daughter) and they were asking us if we were going to the ‘A Small World‘ private party tonight (they must have thought we were part of the wedding entourage). I said “No, we’re not going but what’s ASW?” After obviously (but unknowingly) outing myself I received sort of vague and cryptic answers from that point on about what ASW was and how it worked. From what I was able to piece together from Wikipedia (after a short and very jealous rage which was followed by a brief pity party) was that ASW was an ‘exclusive-invitation only online social network that included people with large personal networks, frequent travelers, highly active personal lives, royalty, film directors, and musicians to name a few. Also, that only some members have the right to invite others and you are not allowed to discuss the inner goings-on of a small world on any website, and doing so may result in internal exile to “A Big World“.

*My C.Y.A.(cover your ass) Disclaimer- It is NOT the intention of this post to talk any further about this secret society except to say “I wanted in”!

After my privileged new friends had moved on (to presumably some other ‘in the know’ spots in Punta) I sat with my ‘large world’ , the ocean and my thoughts for a few minutes. Then, I decided- why not me? I grabbed a cup of coffee, my favorite pen, my moleskin notebook and listed out my intentions for the coming year. I’m a fan of the Zen Habits site who teaches you to focus on just a few goals you really want and focus on making them happen. So, I set just two clear goals for 2008.

Goal 1- Get invited to A Small World

Goal 2- Meet Author Tim Ferriss

Well,10 months had past since setting those goals and absolutely nothing had happened. I had literally met and asked 10 ASW members (which I’ve met on my travels for Jet Set Life) for an invitation and regularly received the same answer- “wish I could help you but I don’t have any invitations to give”. As far as meeting Tim Ferriss was concerned it seemed that the closest I was getting to him was the 17 copies of his book I had on my desks (home and office), ipod, Amazon Kindle and iPhone (to name a few) and his egg video on you tube. It seemed that no matter how hard I ‘pushed’ – Nothing!

It was “wine Wednesday” (a weekly ritual that Kim and I have to celebrate the middle of the week with a great bottle of wine) and it was also the day after my birthday. My executive assistant had called to let me know that I only had one e-mail to handle that wasn’t covered by my rules (I really do practice what I preach and have a sub assistant in India and an executive assistant in North America to process my in-box). There was one message saying that I received an invitation to a small world. From who, where, why, how???

As it turned out there was a really great guy that had been following Jet Set Life and just thought we should be invited. It was as simple as that. No pushing, no begging, just a nice guy that said ‘I’m happy to do it for you’. Talk about the universe giving you what you ask for. Goal 1- Accomplished. Boom. Just like that! Maybe those crazy hippies in the Secret were on to something. Ok, so you may ask “What’s that got to do with Tim Ferriss?” I’m getting to that- right now.

With my new ASW invitation in my hot little hand- I tucked my daughter Demi in for the night (as is my daily alternating daddy duty- Kim gets the reverse nights) and I hear the phone ringing in the background. Kim answered it and I jumped into the little boy’s room. The next thing I know a swat team opens the bathroom door (it was really just Kim but in my defense there was a lot of commotion) and announces ‘you have a phone call’ (with this sort of sh** eating grin) and hands me the phone. I gave here a weird lingering slow motion eye squint followed by a quizzical stare as if to say this couldn’t wait 8 more seconds for me to come out of the bathroom (did the person on the other end of the phone really need to hear me flush- a fact that later will turn out to be most embarrassing).

I said, “Hello?”… “Robert?” said the voice on the line. “Umm Yes.” I replied. “This is Tim Ferriss Happy Belated Birthday!”…..

Are you F&*%$ kidding me! It seemed that Kim used her magic girl powers to make this happen (which BTW she’s still not telling me- or you- how she did, so don’t bother asking her). Two random goals completely ‘unrelated’ to each other happened in the span of just five minutes. Synchronicity? Who cares! It happened and I am forever grateful to ALL the powers that played a role! What proceeded was an amazing phone call from an incredible man who is truly changing people’s lives. In my next post I’ll tell you how the phone call went.

Part 2 Teaser Alert….Kim had asked if I could interview him for this blog. In true Tim Ferriss fashion he said he doesn’t give interviews to bloggers -but- he would make a special exception, as long as the following three conditions were met:

1-  I could only ask three questions.

2- The questions could never have been asked before and must be interesting.

3- The questions must be asked right now i.e. (I wasn’t allowed to schedule it when I was better prepared- recall the above ‘I was just in the bathroom story’).

Let’s just say it was an experience I’ll never forget….to be continued…..

Now, I’m off to New England for a few days to see what autumn really looks like….

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Follow Rob in real time here.

This is the final continuation of Part I where Tim Ferriss called – to wish me a Happy Birthday – a part of my wife, Kim’s, diabolical plan and birthday gift to me.

[Note- This phone call was a total shock and surprise and came completely out of the blue for me. I was caught literally and figuratively with my pants down. I had absolutely nothing at all to write with and as a result I have to rely totally on my memory. That being said- It was kind of hard to forget. I'm going to write this as a dialog between the two of us- it is NOT word for word- and is my best memory -see above.

I'll pick it up where I left off in Part I "Rob, you have a phone call"......

Rob: Hello?

Tim: Hi, is this Robert?

Rob: Yes.

Tim: This is Tim Ferriss. How are you? Your wife has worked very hard and arranged this phone call for your birthday. Happy Birthday!

Rob: Are you kidding me? Is this really you? [I did a lot of that...]

Tim: Yeah, it’s really me.

Rob: This is unbelievable. Thank you so much for calling- I can’t believe my wife was able to pull this off!

Tim: She is very resourceful and she made it happen.

Rob: [Are you ready for the most brilliant thing you ever heard anyone ask...] What are you doing?

Tim: I’m lying on the floor in my house in San Francisco talking with you.

Rob: [At this point I rambled a lot]. It seems that you and I are traveling in the same circles. I was in Punta del Este the same week you were. In fact I was e-mailing your assistant Amy (after reading your post looking for a place to stay in Punta) trying to help you find a place to stay.

Tim: I actually remember that specifically.

Rob: Also, I just got back from Greece filming for Jet Set Life and we where on the same island just a few weeks apart. In fact, I ran into someone who worked with Donnie Deutsch in Manhattan and we were disusing your interview.

Tim: Yeah Greece was a lot of fun.

Rob: [I relayed my story about ASW and his phone call happening at the same time from part I] It’s like synchronicity- my two major goals I set in Punta on New Years eve happen within 5 minutes of each other on Sept 17. Weird.

Tim: Yeah. Carl Jung wrote a great book on synchronicity you should check it out.

Rob: Ok I will.

Tim: Your wife had asked if you could interview me for your blog.  I really don’t do this – but – I will if the following three conditions are met.

1-  You could only ask me three questions.

2-  The questions could not have been asked before and have to be interesting.

3-  The questions have to be asked right now.

Tim: Are you game?

Rob: I’m game- let’s do it!

Tim: What’s your first question?

Rob: Is there anything that you put in your book The Four Hour Work Week that you regret in retrospect?

Tim: [Thinking for a few minutes...] No, I can’t think of anything I regret there are a few typos that need to be corrected but that’s really about it.

Rob: OK next question. What’s the biggest downside to your new found celebrity?

Tim: That’s a good question- I haven’t been asked that one either. Well, I would say getting better at saying NO. I would also say having to filter out false friends.

Rob: Interesting. Ok next question. I saw your interview with Donnie Deutsch on the Today Show and I couldn’t help but notice that he was really intense with you and gave the 4HWW philosophy a real hard time. What do you wish that Donnie would have just ‘gotten’ from you that he just wasn’t ‘getting’? And, as a follow up what was it like when the cameras went off.

Tim: Well, I wish that he understood that growth is not the only measure of the value of a company. There is more than one metric to measure a business other than if it is going up or down. There are many ways (and metrics) that I use to determine a businesses success. Is it serving my life? Am I happier? Is my life better for it etc.  As far as what happened when the camera went off. It actually went very well. Donnie is very supportive of his friends and a really great guy. He was incredibly gracious to me. In fact, the producers of The Big Idea (his show) called me to be on a few weeks later. So it’s all good.

Rob: Well. I guess that’s my three questions.

Tim: Ahhh, that went fast. You can ask me a couple more.

Rob: [Forgive this next one] Have you ever looked at our site Jet Set Life?

Tim: Yes, I have.

Rob: Is there any advise you would give me?

Tim: Yes. I would focus more on offline media. Offline media appearances and PR are excellent for driving traffic online.  It’s less expensive than pay-per-click and adds credibility to anything web-based.

Rob: Which offline media [exactly] do you mean?

Tim: There’s a great book in the Author 101 series by Rick Frishman that spells it out for you very easily.

Rob: [I felt really long winded at this point] Tim, I just want to thank you for doing this, but more for the work that you’re doing to change people’s lives. I’ve seen it not only in my own life, but also in the lives of my friends. You really are making a difference.

Tim: That made this whole phone call for me, Rob. That was really nice for me to hear. Thank you!

Rob: So, there it is. That was kind of the essence of the call. He was everything and more that I hoped he would be. He was very gracious and undeniably intelligent. He continues to inspire and motivate me to eliminate work for works sake, seperate what I do for money and what I do with my life and helps me fill the void in a meaningful way.

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Follow Rob in real time here.