 Excellent life check up |
| Review Date: August 7, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Michael Bird, Yorba Linda, CA United States |
First off this book is not a get rich scheme, although I can see how that impression is easily given, it's a book about how to rearrange your life in such as way as to give more time and energy to what is important and less time to what isn't. The author goes into details about an internet business strategy that can lead to wealth, and while it's true any business can lead to wealth, an internet based business can be set up in such a way as to lead to more free time to pursue other things besides making money.
I don't think that the author intended to say that it's easy or guaranteed or that nobody fails, he just gives his advice on how to get it done in that chosen field. I've been to plenty of presentations of wealth generating schemes from product sales to insurance sales. I've read many books on business including those on direct marketing, real estate, stock trading, etc. Some are well intended; some are scams through and through. This book is no scam and it's not trying to sell any snake oil. Perhaps the author does downplay the time and risk and money it takes to start and run a successful internet based business, perhaps people just hear what they want to hear and it doesn't matter anyway.
I personally know someone that runs an internet based business, he has put plenty of time and money and energy into the business, and it's successful, at least I know he doesn't have a day job and he gets to travel and do things he likes to do when he wants to do them. The ideas that the author puts into this book show how to get into the business or improve one you have running, but this is only a part of the book.
Much of what I got out of the book was a reminder to myself about how important it is to spend time wisely. The 80/20 rule is gone over. Advice is given: quit watching so much television, ignore the nightly news, don't spend too much time reading fiction and keep non-fiction down to a list of good books and work them one at a time. Stay off the internet going to check email constantly or checking the news web sites. This all may seem like basic advice, but it's just part of the practical plan that the author goes over in adjusting your life to free up time.
As for the parts about outsourcing, it never ceases to amaze me that some people are so ignorant about economics that they would take the authors advice as being a means to exploit others. The more things that are outsourced to the third world, the more it grows economically and the more we prosper here at home. For those that think job loss is a bad thing, throw out your refrigerator so the ice man can have his job back. And if you really think people are being exploited when they take low paying jobs, next time you order a burger, tip the short order guy ten bucks.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book, it's not just about making money, it's not just about quitting your nine to five job, it's about making life more livable and more meaningful.
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This book changed my life!
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| Review Date: July 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: D. Young, Tokyo, Japan |
This book made me realize that I was already a member of the "New Rich."
Before this book, I was already earning 100+K annually as an IT professional working for a large, international firm. But, I was working 50+ hours per week--and my co-workers, 60+ hours per week.
I live in Japan, where visible effort is valued more than practical results. So naturally, I felt guilty when I was working less hours than my peers. I volunteered to be the good guy and helped my busy and overworked co-workers in the name of teamwork. But I was miserable and was secretly contemplating a career-change.
Then I read this book. And my eyes were opened to new possibilities.
Here's what I did:
1) I began checking email just once a day
2) I immediately stopped scheduling face-to-face meetings
3) I started working from home twice a week (Fridays and Mondays)
4) I created my dreamline and set 6-month and 1-year goals
5) I began hiring staff for my part-time business
Here's what I did NOT do:
1) Hire a VA (my productivity would probably improve even more, but for now this is sufficient)
2) Start my own business (my current job is providing plenty of opportunity to live a better, richer lifestyle)
3) Fire my employer
Here's what happened:
1) My clients/customers did not notice anything (I made sure that client work remained a priority)
2) My teammates and co-workers started talking behind my back (I show up less and less and work)
3) My boss hasn't said anything
4) I now work only 2-4 hours per day. I work 3 days a week. My annual income has not changed
5) I feel more alive
If you're wondering whether you should read this book, the answer is obvious: You should read this book, not necessarily because you'll agree with everything it tells you to do. No book can do that. You're in charge of your own life. You should make your own decision about what you can/should do.
You should read this book because it introduces a new paradigm of what work and life is all about. And more importantly, the book shows you HOW you can actually reduce work and enjoy life more.
(Actually, the book only shows one example of how the author enjoyed his life more. How can you find more enjoyment in YOUR own life? That's something you'll have to answer for yourself.)
With all this new free time, I'm now dancing more, spending more time with my girlfriend more, studying another foreign language, pursing photography, and making more travels. |
Seek excitement - not pleasure
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| Review Date: August 14, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Stormy, Colorado |
Tim Ferriss' new book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich isn't for everyone but I thought he made some really good points.
* We work from 9-5 because we are supposed to work 40 hours a week from 9-5.
* We are very unproductive at work. How many hours did you spend this week in meetings, answering emails or surfing the web?
* We are busy working hard and saving for retirement when we should be figuring out how to do what we want to do now.
* We have way too much information to digest from blogs to news to email.
What he suggests, among many other things, is:
* Be more productive. Figure out what you do when you are not working (like blogging emailing or reading blogs and news) and cut it out.
* Get lots done in a little time so you have lots more time for things you enjoy. He suggest working just an hour a day.
* Outsource anything and everything possible including all your errands.
* Figure out what excites you so you know what you want to be doing. (He stresses excitement over enjoyment. Like I've said, too much hanging out on the beach can get boring.)
* Work towards a positive monthly cash flow instead of a large sum of money you'll use during retirement.
* Take lots of mini-retirements or mini-vacations - so save up for those and then do them.
* He advocates lots of travel and lots of learning - especially other languages.
In order to accomplish all this, he suggests starting a business selling a product. Then outsource everything from creating the product to marketing to order fulfillment to others.
I bet if you read the book, you'd get at least one really good idea out of it. I bet most people that read the book don't end up quitting their job and starting an outsourced product company, but you never know! |
Highly recommended!
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| Review Date: May 2, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. Harr, |
I don't often write reviews on Amazon.com but I felt compelled to write one for this book because the author has convinced me to change my assumptions about worklife and personal goals. This is an easy read. Althought I am a slooooow and easily distracted reader, I finished the book from cover-to-cover in a few sittings. I even spent some time researching the weblinks but didn't do all the challenges because I was eager to absorb all the ideas first.
It is probably best to read the book one time through quickly to grasp his point of view (the author even gives a brief blurb on how to speed read). Then after you "get it" take some time doing the challenges if you feel so compelled.
I have already implemented one of the author's recommendations in my daily life....check email only twice per day: right before lunch then again an hour before the end of the day. Process every email at the time you read it. Seems a simple challenge but I did suffer "withdrawal symptoms" from not constantly checking email. And you know what? Because I stayed focus on the task at hand and not constantly checking email I left work last Thursday (April 27) feeling less stressed and more accomplished. This is only a brief part of the book but to me was impactful.
Ferriss gives some great ideas about starting your own business even if you don't have or desire an MBA (like me). He provides lists of free and paid resources to help you along the way.
There is a simple roadmap for freeing yourself from the 9-5 grind. Is it attainable? I hope so. Maybe I'm just being an optimist but yesterday I took the day off from my "cube job" and spent part of my day setting up an online business following his "case studies".
The downside is that the book is provides a cursory glance at some topics that need to be expanded. However, I think he did a good job at presenting his view of how life can be. He's also opened himself up to "The 4 Hour Workweek 2.0" when he can go in more depth.
In all I found it an enjoyable read. I plan to follow his "roadmap" and see where it takes me. I already recommended it to two other friends.
Now, to the naysayers writing "reviews" about this book. First, Read the book. Second, write a review of the book not a review about other reviews. You are undermining your "cause" as Review Police by giving a 1-star without first reading the book and "just to balance the scales". In short you're being hypocritical. I think if you take your own advice and read the book you will "get it". Is there marketing going on here? DUH! Of course there is marketing! Ferriss is selling a product. Simply put, he practices what he preaches!
Read the book and find out! |
Revolutionized the way I think about work
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| Review Date: September 11, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Gen of North Coast Gardening, California |
The author has a ton of amazing advice in here. I am a landscaper, so most of my work is stuff that I need to be present for. Still, I found a lot of to love about this book.
First, Ferriss inspires me to think about the possibilities in automation. In my own business, maybe I can't take off entirely at this stage, but maybe I can give my assistants more power to make decisions on their own so that I have to do less overseeing and fewer small chores.
Then, he gives practical tips for getting things done fast, eliminating the busy work that isn't really necessary, cutting out the 80% of clients who are unprofitable and finding ways of getting more clients like the 20% who make me the most money.
He suggests that by eliminating the inner fear of what we would do if we weren't busy, we will begin to be able to cultivate habits that give us more time. By showing us how to visualize a healthy and fulfilling life and to take care of the fears that hold us back, he provides a truly useful blueprint for getting to a life that is enjoyable and satisfying, and is truly being lived to the fullest.
I don't personally agree with the moral values of some of his suggestions. I worry about the implications of outsourcing our lives to someone in another country, in particular. But even discarding all that I did not agree with, I found TONS in here that I found directly applicable to my blue-collar work life, things that I can do now.
Sometimes all we need is a new way of looking at a problem in order to see innovative ways of reducing it or solving it, and that is what this book is best used as. A tool to help you think outside your normal patterns and asks, persistently, why not live your dreams?
After reading this book the first time, I have about fifty bookmarks in it of things that I really want to get back to and examine more. If you read this, I encourage you to do the exercises as you go. They really helped me change my thinking rather than just think about changing my thinking. |
He's a punk, but I felt myself left without exuse to move on this info.
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| Review Date: July 12, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Puzzled, Greenwich Ct. |
A married person with a few kids would be hard pressed to relate to this vagabond single male's lifestyle recommendations. Travel the world at the drop of a hat? Spend two or three months per year in some exotic local learning a new language and taking lessons to master dance/kung fu/skiing? His photo on the back of the dust cover convinced me his thyroid was overactive, those bulging eyes. Should be a poster child for HyperActiveAttentionDeficitDisorders too. You can hear his voice in the pages. He loses interest fast, he's onto the next thing, he's always working the system to avoid doing things the proper, intergrity filled way.
Come on Tim! What about school, feeding the kids, the dog, and the in-laws. What about community? What about being there for those who are friends and commrades? What about the value of working to build the houses, dig the ditches, and do the math?
Once you get past all the above questions, there is a thrill ride in these pages. Couldn't put it down. Have implemented dozens of his ideas. I may not be a hyperactive single "dude" ripped and ready to eschew working my way to the top, but I am a different person after reading this book.
Tim is the kind of a guy you'd hate to compete against, but are glad when he is on your team. If you are on a soul-crushing road to workaholism, he is definately telling you to jump ship and join his team. One may have to re-map the methods to fit different lifestyles, but the blunt force message of the book has given me pause. I'm on an info diet, am outsourcing piles on my desk to india, and I'm not checking my emails nearly as much.
Thanks Tim...Rock on. |
The Title Should Tell You What to Expect
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| Review Date: March 5, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. Holtzinger, Lost in California |
I saw the last couple of one-star reviews and thought I should comment.
The title of the book is The 4-Hour Workweek.
Certainly, the world does cease to function if everyone attempted to outsource all actual manufacturing of goods and delivery of valuable services to others. Yes, taken to an extreme, there would be nobody left to actually do anything, and societies would collapse.
That is a macro view of things. And its rather faulty. We all focus on specific means of producing our own income, and outsource other vital functions of living to other members of society. Think about it. Did you go out in the fields and pick your own grains (that you tilled and planted) to make cereal this morning? Did you milk your own cows on your own farm to have milk to pour over that cereal? Are you sitting in a house you built yourself, from lumber you harvested with tools you smelted yourself? Wecome to Outsourcing 101. Society depends upon "outsourcing." To think anything less is to miss the reality of living in a complex economy and society.
This book is written to individuals who seek to use new paradigms to craft a life of their own choosing. It is not a be-all, end-all, and there are some snake-oil patches around the edges of the book, but his premise is strong and well-supported by his personal stories and advice.
Far too many people buy into the whole "work hard and you will be rewarded" mantra in America, or even more potentially damaging to the human soul, "work is its own reward." Ferriss doesn't. I don't. Knowledge, effectiveness and efficiency help to determine the final financial value of a person's time, not how many hours they work. Only a true communist would insist an unskilled day laborer's time and value to a house-building project is the same as that of the general contractor with 20+ years experience, who may not physically build the house, but is charged with the duty of making sure the house gets built.
True, in a manufacturing segment, or in a doctor's office, a person must physically be present and actually doing something in the physical world at a specific point in time in order to produce value. That point is not lost. But again, that is not the premise of the book.
The premise of the book is "Escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich." There are means of making a living that does not require an individual to be physically present in a specific location, interacting with the physical world or interacting with people in-person.
Ferriss' definition of the new rich in his book is someone who has a high level of personal freedom over where he lives, and what he does with his time. A young man with $10k a month of semi-passive income, surfing in Fiji in the middle of a beautiful afternoon, seems to fit Ferriss' definition of "rich." That is not a traditional definition of rich. To the established rich, $120,000 a year for a young man shows future potential, but does not qualify one under the standard definitions of rich. A partner in a major San Francisco law firm would certainly scoff at this assertion of what is "rich." Top-of-the-class new attornies may make this amount (and more) in first year employment at a major firm. But if the career is not all-rewarding, why should an individual follow a path where the time they commit to earning a living becomes all-encompassing?
The point of the book, is that our societies have changed, and specifically, there are opportunities for individuals who can reframe their paradigms and leverage their skills in brand new ways for massive competitive advantage. For Ferriss, his view was that changing his organization of his financial life he could work less actual hours while still maintaining a good income, and live more while young.
Regarding criticisms of virtual outsourcing overseas--again, criticisms tend to come from a macro perspective that is beyond the scope of the author. Is it exploitative to employ the services of a virtual assistant and pay them what is a handsome wage in their home country, just because your biased paradigm insists you should value their time based upon income expectations in the United States? That's a weak argument in my book. Granted, protection of domestic jobs in the U.S. is critical to maintaining a high quality of life across the social spectrum of the domestic economy. But again, this is far beyond the perspective of the individual entrepreneur.
More to the point, outsourcing is beyond the control of large corporations as well. Apple Computer used to build Apple Computers in Silicon Valley. When market forces made it infeasible to continue making computers domestically, should the company have simply shut its doors and stopped creating and innovating? Would that have been better off for the stockholders or the employees of the company? What Ferriss advocates is done across many business sectors. He is only advocating it on a much smaller scale that hasn't really been explored that well, until now.
Overall, this book is well worth its admission price. Anyone with interest in pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors should give this book a thought. You may not choose to only work 40 hours a week, or pare your existence back to become a persistent world traveller, but you just might pick up a few ideas that could add up to significant time savings and higher efficiency at the same time.
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Brilliant & fun book about being financially independent
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| Review Date: May 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, San Francisco, CA |
This is a brilliant and fun book that I highly recommend.
He advocates many of the same theories as Alexandria Brown and Dan Kennedy -- being an entrepreneur, not trading time for dollars, outsourcing, protecting your time/access, leverage -- but adds that with a new idea of true independence to location and mini-retirements. The premise is to set up your business to such that you can answer your email 1x week, never check your voicemail, outsource almost everything, and live abroad 6 months at a time. And, instead of working like a dog for 30 years so you can retire "someday" - take mini-retirements now.
I do have to disclose that Timothy is a bit of a 29-year old bachelor punk, but I find him very entertaining (similar to Dan Kennedy old crotchety man-ness). :)
Some of his more entertaining tips include forcing yourself to be okay with being uncomfortable by placing calls to celebrities, making eye contact with everyone you meet for 2 days, and laying down on the floor in the middle of Starbucks for 10 seconds.
Some great advice I have already put to use:
-Only check email 2x a day, at noon and 4 pm. Wow, how efficient I become when I keep my mail program closed. And, my business has not yet exploded.
-Stop work at 4 pm. I am spending 4-5 pm in an activity that I would do if I was financially independent. Not sure what those activities are yet -- so far I have spent the time shopping, at happy hour, and reading a book in the park.
-Act as if you could only work 2 hrs a day. Now I am spending the first 2 hours doing the most important work for the day, instead of spending it on email. As such, I am able to get my work for the day done by mid afternoon, if not earlier -- since I do the most important work first.
And re the outsourcing ... if you are a socialist, you may not like this book. If you think that outsourcing takes advantage of people, or if you think unions are great, you may not like this book. This book is for smart, independent, capitalist-minded people, especially those who want to change their life and outsource their business to people who want to work for them (whether they are located in the U.S or overseas). |
Worthwhile Just For The Different Perspective It Gives
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| Review Date: March 15, 2008 |
| Reviewer: monkuboy, Temple City, CA United States |
Many reviewers have questioned the ethics of this book, or have said much of it is not practical. They make good points, but I feel that this book was a worthwhile read because of the different perspective it gave me on how I should put my time to use.
Mr. Ferriss gets the reader thinking about just exactly what he or she wants to achieve in life. Is it the continual accumulation of riches, to which we devote our time and have no time left for a "real" life doing the things we truly enjoy? And after you finally get those riches (although then you run into the problem of how much is enough), maybe by then you are too old to enjoy them. Or, should we be thinking about how best to arrange our time now, to get the most benefit from that time. Not in the future, but now.
The author is not saying to dodge work or take unethical or immoral shortcuts, but is saying if you can achieve what is expected of you in a more efficient way that gives you time to pursue more enjoyable things, then what is wrong with that?
Now some of the things he advocates are not always practical. For example, he suggests you try and get your boss to allow you to work from home. That's fine if you have some sort of office job that makes this a logical choice but not everyone has a job like that. He also advocates outsourcing various tasks to companies overseas who specialize in providing personal assistants, and taking advantage of geoarbitrage (the difference in what it costs to have someone in a place such as India do your work for you versus what it costs to either hire someone in the U.S. or to do the work yourself). That again isn't all that practical unless you really have a lot of things that you can outsource that way.
So if you are reading this book to use as some sort of plan for your own life, expecting a checklist of how to get to a literal 4-hour workweek, you will be disappointed. I feel the best use of this book is to read it and let the material help expand your own thinking as to ways you can more effectively manage your life and put your time to better use. Things like figuring out what you can put on autopilot, hopefully something that is income generating, so that you only have to devote minimal time to it but meanwhile it keeps on working for you.
Read the book, and then let the material bring out your own creativity. If you are the type who needs concrete, structured steps that tell you what exactly to do, then don't bother reading this book. |
This book will change your life!
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| Review Date: May 7, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. FERRY, MI, USA |
This book is NOTHING LESS than incredible! If you want to change your life forever, then it is a must read. Buy it! I have purchased both the audio and print book (I first bought the audio book and was so impressed, I wanted the print version as a `workbook' to help work through the material.)
Why should I buy this book you ask? There are many reasons:
1.He provides a solution for taking back control of your life if you have the determination and drive to do so. It's that simple.
2.He illustrates a step by step plan for doing the above and provides a plethora of resources to use.
3.He doesn't just tell you (like many other books) that money will give you back control of your life. Instead he truthfully and accurately explains that it is your freedom, time and passions that fill you with life. As Tim says, "People don't want to be millionaires - they want to experience what they believe only millions can buy" (p.8). At the same time, for those interested, he provides ways and ideas to increase your financial resources by using more efficient methods - but the point is made clear that you don't need gross amounts of money to really enjoy the good things in life, including travel, nor do you have to wait until the golden years.
4.He gives you practical, useful tools for achieving what YOU want out of life; and these tools are immediately applicable. For example, how to go on the "Low-Information Diet" and eliminate unfocused, wasted time.
5.Much of what he teaches is applicable to your life in general, not just your career or financial future. From overcoming fear to focusing your efforts on truly important tasks, he provides REAL LIFE solutions. I love the way this guy thinks!
6.He reminds you to think with your OWN brain and not follow the crowd. To question everything and come up with your own answers and then test them to see what happens. That's what he did, so he practices what he preaches. Now granted, he's not the first person to do this, but he does it in a new way, one that caught my full attention and I think will catch yours too.
7.The proof is in the pudding (or in this case, in the kickboxing ring or on the dance floor). Tim IS and has proof that his methods work, if YOU work his methods. He provides case studies and examples.
Tim asks the question, "Why do it all in the first place? (i.e. work 9-5 or longer hours in the corporate world, save, wait, and then retire later in life when you are too old to really enjoy it). After examination and experimentation he concludes, "The commonsense rules of the `real world' are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions" (p.9). I happen to agree with him and have always dreamed of the lifestyle he shows how to live - not one where I'm just pursuing money to become a millionaire, but one where I have the freedom and resources to live a life of adventure and challenge WHILE I'm growing older - to travel, to do, to be what I want. I didn't know how to achieve this type of lifestyle. Tim shows you how. Thank you Tim, I've been searching for these answers for some time and now I'm going to seize the day!!!
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