Brown Book Loft Blog

Thoreau, the classic American minimalist, covered all the same material far more eloquently 150 years ago. So why not read Thoreau instead” There are obstacles for the likelihood of the 4 hour workweek: the size of the American family has decreased but the size of housing (square feet) has increased dramatically. There is a cost in keeping up with the Joneses. So all you have to do is follow his blueprint and you can make millions working four hours a week! Many of my Internet marketing clients scooped up this book and started singing its praises without implementing anything except Ferriss’ advice on limiting e-mail usage. The first two sections of T4HWW make some very valid points. Ferriss argues that, for most, the ideal life is much cheaper than it might seem.

The real world just doesn’t offer that type of flexibility unless you dump your spouse, your children, and your pets. The book is worth getting but don’t consider it to be a miracle cure for what’s wrong with your present situation.

If it does, it will distort the message of the book, for it would require that Ferriss trade in his “New Rich” lifestyle to be back in the rat race on a quest for the millions that he claims are not necessary to achieve one’s dreams. Perhaps that’s the real lesson to be learned from the book: no matter where you are, the grass always seems greener on the other side. Oh, it’s possible but unlikely. Tim is no Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, or Clint Eastwood he is nowhere close to them.

Because those four know that true success comes from years of hard work, and building lasting relationships with people. Those four know that decreasing your work hours, outsourcing your life, and making tons of money is not the road to true happiness.

Now the toy was a “tickle me Elmo” and it was apparently a much in demand product. The assistant could only find a “Chicken Dance Elmo” and ordered it. He did have a company BrainQuicken which sells “Neural Accelerator” supplements. The site is 99% advertising and 1% scientific: It sells because it’s precisely that. It’s obvious that the author is living his life without any true responsibility which means most people can’t follow his suggestions. You’d be better off spending your money on Lottery tickets and daydreaming. One of the most universal causes of self-doubt and depression: Trying to impress people you don’t like (this one really hit home with me, hard). I should not invest in public stocks where I cannot influence outcome (Another hearty agreement from me).

Wait – there’s more. Instead of creating products – which can be easily replicated – create something else – INFORMATION, he says. This book is so filled with garbage that Tim Ferriss actually spends several pages in his book writing a line by line SCRIPT that you can use with your boss when you persuade them to let you work from home. Save your time and your money. Well ok, if you’re only working 4 hours a week, maybe you don’t really care too much about it either! Honestly, this dude has shown us how to make bucks while working only 4 hours a day – write some book with a catchy title, market it, put on an air of success and Bob’s your uncle, he’s rich.

This section of the book is an interesting read, but little more. dog food prices.

It’s a real grabber. It’s too bad that there’s not more substance to go with it.

Nothing new here either. The reason this is a best seller is that America is a slave to work nation that doesn’t recognize the value of time off and living life and thus everyone’s dream is to work only 4 hours a week. In a hypothetical example, Ferriss describes a man who works remotely (on his computer) while in Munich during Oktoberfest. The thing is, Ferriss suggests being substantially more productive outside the office to show your boss that working remotely makes good business sense. Until robots can run the world, the ethical implication is that it is OK for some people to work, just not Mr Ferriss or his readers. Finally, throughout the book Mr Ferris keeps referring to the New Rich. 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.

Finally, I know there is a lot of criticism about his ideas on outsourcing tasks, but we live in an outsourced world. The shirt you’re wearing was made in Indonesia, your fruits and vegetables were picked by migrant workers from Mexico, and your computer that you’re reading this from right now was manufactured in China.

There’s no moral center to the book. Mr Ferriss comes across as a con man in several ways. Tim’s suggestions strike me as basically unethical, and not the way I want to interact with the world. Unlike him, I don’t see the rest of the people in the world as pawns in my game to do as little as possible.

He says when you work stay focused and get your tasks done (“if this is the only thing you accomplish today, will you be satisfied with your day”). And he hammers home about 80/20. You don’t have to recoup losses the same way you lose them – An interesting discussion of mortgages. Is this achievement any less empty then earning a pile of money that you don’t know what to do with” There is also a nice chapter about how to outsource work to virtual assistants in India and other places.

They are often in debt, middle-class generally, but living paycheck to paycheck or not far above it. They live from scarcity rather than abundance and so any little bit they have over they have to save rather than use to help someone else. After some time she returns all excited and wants to show me something. When we get there it’s a very cute (her words not mine) ensemble of bright colors and some design work. He rails against the “deferred life plan”–working a decade (or three) doing something you don’t like to save money for retirement, where you’ll (supposedly) do what you’ve always wanted. Ferriss gives some good time-management advice as well. Ferriss recommends that in order to get rich, we pick a topic – any topic – spend a little bit of time researching it so we know a little more than our audience, conduct a free seminar on it, tape the seminar, and distribute it. He’s done it himself with speed reading and a few other topics.

The website makes claims like “All full-time staff of this company uses BrainQuicken at least 4 times weekly”. low carb recipes free.

I’m not going to lie, I felt motivated to give this book a try after reading the first part of the book without even knowing what this book is all about. But as I began to get out of the fluff, and actually found myself reading the core subject of the book, I was utterly disappointed.

The list goes on as does the new information in the book. This one is a must read for anyone who wants to break the slave-save-retire cycle and live on purpose now. I wouldn’t be surprised if his next book is about how to write a “work lifestyle philosophy” book and make a ton of money on it. There are some interesting ideas in this book – about outsourcing to a “virtual assistant” and living life for now rather than retirement. I’d wager that the vast majority of newcomers to this business invest large amounts of time, lose money, and quit. In the end it’s just like any other business – if you want to succeed doing this kind of stuff, the “secret” is hard work and perseverance. Go for one that has stood the test of time…Your Money or Your Life. Great stuff and no…I have no affiliation with those authors.

It’s not a get-rich quick scheme. It’s not about being dishonest or unethical. He hired an assistant to look for a toy online that was in much demand the assistant got paid $20.00 USD per hour to do this and the toy cost about $20.00 USD and he didn’t get the one he wanted. If the assistant spent three hours looking for this toy the total cost $80.00 USD.

That said, the other ideas Ferriss proposes – and, more importantly, the impact on your life he argues those ideas will have – are certainly thought-provoking and more than a little inspirational. I defy the thoughtful reader to give this book serious attention and not end up giving your own professional and lifestyle decisions some second thoughts. But the people buying this book are going to be sorely disappointed because they are ready to go, they already are sold on the idea, and they want a book that tells them how to do it. I got my copy at the library and the librarian wants to know – does this give you instructions for actually doing this” Many came from far dreaming of gold. They buy one jeans after another. He created so-called information, marketed the hell out of it via a blog and a catchy title, and then I lost my $19.99 to him. So I’ve been made out like a fool, and it was so easy that he explains how everyone can do it.

It became very clear that some people really truly believe that working few hours on work you hate to free up time for more productive and meaningful life activities is somehow “immoral.” I guess the Puritanical mentality this country started out with (earliest settlers here) has seeped deeper into our overall culture than we once imagined.

The only well written chapter was done by another author. The ideas are either rehashed theories of famous economists or, frankly, ideas that will get most people fired from their jobs.

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. The core of the book remains nearly the same as the first book – the additional 100 pages primarily consist of examples from others and testimonials taken from the blog. While these are certainly great additions – they don’t change or update the core content.

I’ve traveled extensively on five continents. leather coffee table.