AJ Jacobs

Episode 261: Discomfort and Curiosity

AJ’s about to launch a TV show. A few months ago he started a podcast. He’s 49 years old. And it all started because he decided to write a book on a weird idea he had. “I wonder what it would be like to live the Bible.” It’s especially weird if you consider the fact that he’s Jewish. AJ is a living example that anyone at age 49 could’ve decided to do this idea.

Anyone at ANY age could’ve done this idea. He told me to be curious about everything. “Even things you’re not curious about.” That didn’t make sense to me. How do you do that?

“Read books you don’t think are interesting,” he said. Explore new podcasts, watch old movies. Then observe yourself. One of the original Saturday Night Live writers, Alan Zweibel, said you need to have two heads. “The head that’s having an experience and the head that’s observing.”

That’s how you find your next big idea or small step forward in your life. You peel back the layers crusted on top of yourself. You dig into fresh layers and discover something new. AJ calls is “Fun-comfortable” (it’s the intersection between discomfort and curiosity).

This episode teaches you how to find that intersection.

Listen here:

Links and Resources:

• Listen to Twice Removed, AJ’s latest podcast (produced by Gimlet Media) – subscribe here
• Visit his website ajjacobs.com
• Follow AJ on Facebook + Twitter
• Get updates from the show on Facebook + Twitter

Books by AJ Jacobs:

• Read New York Times bestseller “Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection” 

• Read “The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible“

• Read “The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World“

• Read “My Life as an Experiment: One Man’s Humble Quest to Improve Himself by Living as a Woman, Becoming George Washington, Telling No Lies, and Other Radical Tests“