Just finished a book by Timothy Ferriss called The 4-Hour Workweek. It was recommended by some fellow marketers, so I decided to read it. I’ve got to admit, there were a lot of attitudes that bothered me. Here are a few:
1) Live “rich” on your cash flow (instead of building long-term value or wealth)
2) World travel and personal indulgence outweigh other pursuits
3) Obtain goals quickly and easily by cheating the system or exploiting loopholes
As much as the book & various themes didn’t sit ‘right’ with me, I still extracted a bunch of value. Tim has some excellent thoughts on:
- challenging the status quo
- reaching for effectiveness AND efficiency
- practical ways to automate your business, life, etc.
- using automation to drive ‘liberation’ (it’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do with your new-found liberation… travel, live rich, serve, build value, etc.)
- delegate and use virtual assistants to replicate yourself
Regardless of what I think, the guy can market. He’s been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Maxim, and other media. His book is a New York Times Bestseller.
In my opinion, it would be more valuable to study Tim and his marketing methods than the book itself.
If you read The 4-Hour Workweek, what are your thoughts?
Great thoughts Dave.
I was dead against the ‘4 hour work week thing’, thinking it was another hyped up get rich quick thing…. that was until I heard the guy speak.
Tim was awesome and I think his message is massively misinterpreted, in a nutshell what Tim is teaching is lifestyle choice. Not being tied into the staus quo of working 24/7, but instead designing the life you want to live, and if that means working just a few hours a week whilst you explore the world, so be it!
Dan
Comment by Dan Bradbury — December 22, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
Thanks Dan — I look forward to hearing Tim speak at some point in the future. Maybe we can get him out to our March ‘08 user conference!
Comment by Dave Lee — December 26, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
[...] In a previous blog post, I mentioned how valuable it is to break the status quo to extract new or inreased value. Well, my wife happened to clip a quote the other day that fits right in line:   “For every nine people who denounce innovation, only one will encourage it… For every nine people who do things the way they have always been done, only one will ever wonder if there is a better way. For every nine people who stand in line in front of a locked building, only one will ever come around and check the back door.” [...]
Pingback by Infusion Blog » Blog Archive » Be The “Odd Man Out” — December 27, 2007 @ 9:55 am