Book review: The 4-Hour Workweek
“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”
Have you ever wondered how you can work while lying on a beach in Thailand? This sounded like some sort of fairy tale if you asked me prior to reading Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek. I am sure that many of you ponder things like “Well that was a pointless meeting” or “Why did I even come into the office today?” If you’re anything like me and constantly wanderlust, then you are contemplating how to merge your passion for travel while maintaining a steady income. Luckily, this isn’t impossible and Tim Ferriss lays out a step-by-step guide on how to become a member of what he coins the “new rich.”
The book is laid out in four steps:
Step 1: D is for Definition
This entails defining your objectives. What’s important to you? What are your goals? What do you really want in life? What are you putting off out of fear?
Bottom line of definition is that one question we’ve all heard before- “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
What I learned from Tim in these first four chapters is that the most important actions are never comfortable. We often make excuses for not pursuing our dreams. We tend to think the worst case scenario will play out, but what Tim points out is that it is highly unlikely for this to happen… and to a certain extent I agree. He urges us to take steps towards living out our dreams by outlining them with everything from costs, steps to get there, timeframes and more. I think Tim does a great job in reminding us that “inaction is the greatest risk of all” and our dreams really aren’t as far away as they may seem.
Step 2: E is for Elimination
The title of this step pretty much says it all: eliminating activities that take up time and add no value. A perfect example is this conference call in real life (video).
These next three chapters provide advice and insight on how to get rid of anything that doesn’t add value and tools to be more efficient and productive (i.e. a website blocker for all you Facebook addicts). With today’s world giving fast paced a whole new meaning than ever before, I think some of these tools are helpful, yet easier said than done. There are some useful tools he suggests in this chapter, such as setting an agenda for a meeting so it doesn’t turn into a time wasting exercise. Another helpful tip is to stop multi-tasking. This is very difficult for me to do when I tried it out since I work in a fast-paced work environment, but once I focused all my attention on one thing at a time, the results were actually surprising. I built my financial models faster and with fewer errors than ever before (bonus points with the bosses!). I highly recommend trying out some of these elimination tools… you never know where you’ll end up!
Step 3: A is for Automation
I think the four chapters on automation are where people begin to set the book down because this is when the tough gets going. The beginning of this section focuses on utilizing virtual assistants to help with everything from paying credit card bills to creating market research reports (aka outsourcing). There are definite risks to outsourcing tasks, including costs and work quality. On the flip side, you can have someone generating an outstanding market research report for you while you’re sleeping for only $15 USD, saving you time and effort.
Ferriss transitions into giving several examples of ways to earn thousands of dollars a month, while doing the bare minimum. He explains that automating income is important- i.e you can’t be working from a beach in Thailand if you decide to open a restaurant in your hometown. Having a stream of automated income, whether it be an E-book or licensing a product, is a vital aspect to achieving the 4-Hour Workweek.
Step 4: L is for Liberation
The last step in Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek ties all the loose odds and ends together so that you can have the freedom you have always envisioned. Within the first section of Liberation, Tim provides steps on how to slowly remove yourself from yourself from the 9-5 (or later) work environment to a remote work space. Of course, you must prove to your manager that he/she can trust you, and that your productivity increases as a result of this remote work agreement. But, not all managers are going to agree with remotely working, so it may be time to jump ship. What’s the worst that can happen? You get one step closer to achieving your dreams?
So what’s next? You got to the 4 hour work week at this point and have 36 more hours of free time. What do you do? Maybe it’s time to get involved with charities, or learning a new language. You must continue to find ways to add value to your life. Remember: “The enemy of happiness is boredom.”
Conclusion:
The steps in Tim Ferriss’ book are much easier said than done, BUT I do think this is great read for anyone who wants to be one step closer to achieving his/her dreams. I learned a lot while reading this book, with topics ranging from marketing to manufacturing. All of the topics in his book definitely created questions for me, and reminded me that I am capable of doing anything I set my mind to.
Tim Ferriss also has a blog with helpful tools related to the 4-Hour Workweek and I suggest taking a look if you have some free time!
“The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. ”