Bestselling author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss has interviewed hundreds of ultra-successful people, from billionaires and professional athletes to chess prodigies, on his podcast.
His latest book, "Tools of Titans," explores the daily routines and habits of world-class performers. And the most successful people share one, peculiar habit, Ferriss tells CNBC: They ask "seemingly absurd questions."
He gives the example of PayPal co-founder and self-made billionaire Peter Thiel, who has "quite a collection" of questions that seem out of left field.
Ferriss says of Thiel: "He would ask himself and other people, 'Why can't you accomplish your 10-year plan in the next six months?' And then would actually contemplate that and use it to question assumptions."
The most successful individuals are motivated by three things, Ferriss says: "Some people hate to lose, some people love to win, and others are just scratching their own itch."
He adds, "I think a lot of people who have done the best financially are just scratching an itch — a need that they had or some problem that they wanted to solve."
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