3.5 out of 4.
Call me naive but I liked this book and Timothy’s philosophies!
I was bombarded by complaints and nasty feedback on “The 4-Hour Workweek” when I plugged into Goodreads that I had finished it. All I could see were 1 stars and the word “loser” over everyone’s comments. I wouldn’t say I was shocked but I was definitely a little surprised. I am hardly ever that off kilter with what everyone else thought on a book, but for this one I was way off.
Yes, Ferriss is someone who leans toward the overly confident side and yes, his lifestyle is not very relatable because he is single and has no dependents but overall I think he has the right attitude; one has to be a business owner and not a business runner to survive. Essentially look out for yourself and your time because if it not it will get stolen away by nonsense. That message can not be wrong but maybe the way that Ferriss phrases it could be changed.
Here are some big lessons I learned from this book:
mini retirement – don’t save all your money for when you are 80 and senile. Take small six month breaks from your routines to travel and educate. Remember “youth is wasted on the young”.
checking email twice a day – don’t be a slave to the continuous notification. Keep your mind focused on the present task at hand and worry about what other’s need twice a day.
batch like-activities together – remain calm and try to stay on one assignment at a time. Nothing good happens multitasking or jumping around like a jelly bean picking and dropping things.
80 percent of revenue comes from 20 percent of your customers – this can be taken literally or in the philosophical sense. Basically take a hard look at where your attention lies. Most of the time the troublesome efforts are not even beneficial. Once you decide what is important than do more of that. Working smarter and not harder!
always come with agenda prepared – one of my favorite lessons. Cut all the back and forth lolly-gagging and get right to the point. Also, a good way to get what you want out while everyone else is still figuring out what they are doing.
dive into a market that you are a customer of yourself – in other words, find your passion! Don’t go just trying to make a buck. It is always better to know what you are talking about rather than faking it to you make it.
Above is just a few of my takeaways. I am sure for each person that reads it they can find a slew of others. I think any learning and new ideas is worth a read. So yes, he is a cocky dude but at least he has some good ideas to back it up.
