The 4-Hour Workweek, Join The New Rich By Tim Ferriss

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss.

At first, Tim Ferriss’s book, The 4-Hour Workweek, was turned down by 26 publishers. But when it got approved for publication, the book sold in a short time more than 2.1 million copies worldwide and was translated into 40 languages. It has stayed on some bestseller lists for more than two years. It has spent seven years on The New York Times bestseller list.

The 4-Hour Workweek is an easy read that teaches you mainly what habits and fears you should let go of and why. It contains details on New Rich (NR) and what actually makes them rich (it’s not just the money). This book makes you aware of the most common time thieves, and it will tell you how to appear and act like a professional in the business.

However, I rate it 3 out of 5 stars as it’s too cliché and contains some annoying beliefs about our work life and about rich people.

It apparently tells us what the rich do to make more money. But it’s all lies and the whole book is toxic. Ferriss combines some truths with deceitful claims. His advice sounds ideal, but in reality, when put into practice won't lead you to the desired outcomes. I liked better his other book, The Tools of Titans.

At first, The 4-Hour Workweek intends to make you wonder what exactly is it that you want out of work and life, and why. A lot of people fear changing their lives, and this is true. But Ferriss says that these people prefer to remain in their comfort zone and only aim for a comfortable life on their terms, that these people believe they are incapable of achieving great things in life.

According to Ferris, these are the ones who work hard 8 hours a day, five days per week, and relax just on the weekends. These people don’t know how to free themselves from the shackles of a corporate job and build their own business; so it's their fault they don't have other options.

In The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss says that you don’t have to search for the ‘dream job’ or work hard all your life in order to find peace. You should not wait for retirement, hoping that only then you can relax. He teaches his readers how to get more for less and there’s a catch. (Bear with me.)

How do you value your time?

Tim Ferriss asks that if you spend your time doing something worth $25–30 per hour, but some people will do the same thing for $15 per hour, what does this say about you? (It says that you’re a normal person.) But Ferriss says that what you do is a poor use of resources. Not many people will get to live their ideal lifestyles because many don’t have the patience (the nerve) to take baby steps toward paying others (pennies) to do the work for them.

If you measure your productivity by the time spent working, you waste too much time at work. Thus, it doesn’t matter if you do something unimportant well; it doesn’t make it valuable, and that’s why it would be best to only focus on doing fewer things that will lead to the most significant progress. (This is true, but many people feel more confident in themselves when they accomplish even small tasks.)

Tim Ferris also says that you should not wait for the perfect time to change your life. It’s stupid to wait because there will be no ideal time. Thus, he gives away his “secrets” for fulfilling your dreams. He deals with lifestyle design, repudiating the traditional “deferred” life plan, which explains why people tend to work grueling hours and take fewer vacations for decades and save money to relax only after retirement.

The 4-Hour Workweek introduces a quiet category of people, the New Rich (NR).

You can change your life for the better once you learn how money works. Ferriss claims that the New Rich (NR) use time and mobility as their most important weapons. The NR schedule their time, eliminate unimportant tasks and focus on urgent ones.

It’s more important to be productive rather than busy. Ferriss says that being busy is just a form of laziness–lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. This book contains the best tools and tricks to help you organize your time better, be more efficient, and eliminate what’s terrible for you.

Pareto’s Law, the “80/20 Principle”

“…distribution of wealth in society — 80% of the wealth and income was produced and possessed by 20% of the population.”

This means you should be selective and do what’s just mega important. You don’t have to work hard every time. Set some priorities and focus only on them. Pareto’s Law can be applied to dozens of areas. 20% of the effort and time attract 80% of the results. Accomplish more in less time.

The Low-Information Diet — Cultivating Selective Ignorance

The Low-Information Diet is about ignoring all information and interruptions that are irrelevant and consume time in vain. Cut off the Tv, get rid of the people that distract you from your goals, and eliminate those small talks.

Ferriss claims that you can become an NR member when you learn to free your time to focus on the bigger and better things. You can also become a member of the NR when you work smarter than usual. Improve your life by building a system that replaces yourself. Find someone who will do some work for you.

If you prepare someone to replace you, your schedule will be lighter. You’ll have the chance to do just the urgent tasks, once the other person will do the not-so-important ones. So even if you can do it better than an assistant, you should pay one because the goal is to free your time to focus on bigger and better things. If you intend to become an entrepreneur, you can still hire someone to do some tasks for you. This is about the elimination process.

The 4-Hour Workweek’s intense to teach you cr*p like:

• be more effective, not efficient;
• free yourself from the chains of a corporate job;
• create a business to fund the lifestyle of your ideal dreams and live your life like a millionaire, without actually having to be one;
• overcome your fears of going for what you truly want;
• automate your cash flow to increase income, and more.

I would recommend it to those who want to learn about a new mindset.

Tim Ferriss, #1 New York Times bestselling author, also published The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Chef. He has been featured by more than 100 media outlets, including The New York Times, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, Fortune, CNN, and CBS. Ferriss speaks six languages and runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide. He has a popular blog that became one of the top 1,000 blogs globally in a short period.

If you enjoyed reading this story and want to read more from me, consider signing up to become a Medium member and get unlimited access to my and other incredible writers’ stories on Medium. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission. Thanks!