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Health, Mind & Body |
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The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
written by Timothy Ferris
Studio : Blackstone Audio Inc.
by Blackstone Audio Inc.
Release Date : 2007-04-24
Publisher : Blackstone Audio Inc.
Released : 2007-04-09
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 6
EAN : 9780786149254
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 791 reviews)
List Price : $24.95
Our Price : $15.58
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Product Description |
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Tim Ferriss is an extraordinary young man on a mission. The twenty-eight-year-old serial vagabond and successful entrepreneur has been teaching a wildly popular course at Princeton University for the past four years--a how-to and why-to guide to throwing out the old tools and methods for success (balancing life and work, retiring well, having a great nest egg) and replacing them with a whole new way of living. Readers can lead a rich life by working only four hours a week, freeing up the rest of their time to spend it living the lives they want. |
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Overall tricky and a let down |
I lost my faith in the author only a few pages into the book. He grabbed my attention early on by saying he became the National Chinese kickboxing champion with only 4 weeks of preparation. I assumed this meant that he must have amazing ability and be able to learn new skills very fast. Being an athlete myself, I was impressed and wanted to learn more.
But then he explained how he did it: By exploiting the loopholes he found in the rules. He did not even try to legitimately fight his opponents, instead he just pushed them out of the ring or something.
I'm a cross country skier, and was a high school champion. If some huckster like Tim managed to win that race by somehow not putting forth any real effort, while the rest of us put in hundreds of hours of training each year, I don't think many of us would respect him. I don't think Tim could get away with this kind of trick in many sports. If he can repeat it in another sport that doesn't have loopholes, I will reconsider listening to what he says. Otherwise, I have to conclude that he took me for a ride early on in the book.
This book seems to largely be built around the 'compelling' personality of the author, and if you take that part away the rest of the book becomes unimpressive, even unnecessary. The advice he gave in the book is not unique. There are dozens of other authors who say the same or similar things as Tim, but don't have to trick you into reading their book.
I agree with what Tim is promoting - a life doing what you want, when you want. But for me, even that life will lose meaning if I don't base it on integrity. |
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A Good Experience |
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The book was shipped promptly and arrived in very good condition. Thank you for the opportunity to offer my feedback. It was a very positive experience. |
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Tips and tricks to make a better life |
I just completed the 4 hour work week by Timothy Ferris not because as a senior manager I believe I could actually achieve a 4 hour work week, rather it was after reading Tim's blog that I became intrigued with many of his ideas and having a 14 hour flight to the US ahead of me I figured this would pass the time quickly. I am pleased say that I was impressed and the flight did go quickly. Being a bit of a self help junkie I have read many books in the genre because I recognize that there is always a chance to have a sliver of a take away that can be applied into my daily life with an immediate impact. For me it was his advice on email and interruptions, which I tweaked slightly to fit my work environment, gibing me an additional two hours of productivity per day!
Timothy Ferris is a 29 year old who through exploitation of flaws in the system became a Tango champion and a Chinese Kickboxing champion. If you take a serious look at how he accomplished both it can only be defined as "going ugly"; which isn't necessarily bad because it worked. I really enjoyed this book and if you effectively applied any one of the following approaches he espouses in your daily life you will recoup the cost of the book a thousand times over:
- Time manage that focuses only on high value tasks
- Avoiding busy work for the sake of working
- Mini sabbaticals rather than the standard two week vacation
- Setting up a self operating business
- Outsourcing your life
There are plenty of examples of Tim's advice being applied for real success and if you can apply them in whole to your life there is an amazing new world that will open up to you. Most of his techniques have little downside risk to your current job and one of the more salient pieces of advice is that you can always get another one.
Get the book, read it, apply it, and then buy copies for your friends. |
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Thought provoking even if not practical for some. |
This book is certainly worth a read although it is more of a manifesto from a bit of a self-obsessed, vaguely doubtful character. Because most people lack the freedom (kids, family, etc.) needed to put many of these ideas into action most can only read it and reflect. However if combined with some other ideas the book can be helpful.
First of all the net:
1. Don't think in terms of limits and think big. Less fear, more positive visualization. (Not much new there.)
2. Apply the 80/20 rule to clients and activities. Don't manage time but eliminate all but the high-impact efforts. Don't check email all day. Batch activities to be done at certain times. (Practical advice. Email, the Internet and social networking can easily eat up 1/2 day of what could have been productive time.)
3. Outsource everything you can.
4. Design a product you can sell online for $200 and a big enough margin to generate major profits. (There are lots of details and resources on how to do this.)
What the book really is useful for is developing interests and hobbies more effectively into sideline businesses. By applying the 4HWW methods to one or two of these it could make a positive difference.
On the other hand if you actually enjoy your work and it's knowledge intensive the book is less valuable. It is possible to divide up some areas into projects that might lend themselves to the 4HWW approach but it takes some extra effort to figure it out. We're working on a system that combines the GTD and 4HWW ideas into something that works well and is extensible (at least for us and our line of work where we have many projects.)
The book can be read in an hour or two; great plane reading. Take your notes on the last page and tear it out so you can leave the book in the seat back for the next guy! |
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Simplistic at best |
Let me start by saying I'm an entrepreneur, running a profitable internet startup.
The author neglects to mention that the vast majority of people who've achieved a 4 hour work week got there after years of working 70 hour work weeks.
The author's sexism was insufferable. He assumes all his readers are men, and there are many "in jokes" at women's expense. I put the book down when I got to the line: "practice picking up girls in order to build your confidence - even if you're married". Now there's some really bad advice. |
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