March 29th, 2010 | 
Author: I’ve been reading “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferris. What an amazing resource for those of us who are ready to escape the Monday-Friday, 8-5 grind! As a Life Coach, I support my clients in redesigning their lives to bring more joy to their relationships, increase material prosperity and align with their values. While his methods may not work for everyone (some require initial investments that are beyond the means of people living paycheck to paycheck), they are thought-provoking.
It IS possible to support yourself on less than 40 hours a week. This is exactly what I did from 2001-2005. In 2001, I left my job at Supportkids.com because it wasn’t allowing me enough time with my children (no, the irony of the name does not escape me!). Between 40+ hours at the job locating noncustodial parents who hadn’t paid child support in years, the 45-minute commute both ways, and picking my children up at daycare, I found myself frazzled and missing my children. I took what seemed a radical step and quit the job to start a cleaning company. What relief! I found out that I could command a better per hour rate and only work 30 hours a week. Daycare went away (as did the over $600/month bill) and I was able to spend the afternoons cooking, gardening, and helping the girls with homework.
What Timothy Ferris proposes is a more radical shift. This shift includes outsourcing tasks to others, developing a system of passive income, and living “on the go” by spending time in other countries where the cost-of-living is cheaper and the dollar stretches more. While I am intrigued and excited by his ideas, I am still tied to the hour = payment model; however, I’m moving more towards the 4-Hour Workweek and appreciate the help provided by his book.
Even if you aren’t ready to quit your day job, Ferris has tips that will help you move towards more freedom in your work and personal life. Many of the “free” workshops and webinars, as well as the many subscription services available are based on this book and Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”. If you like to read, save yourself some money and purchase these books. The tips for success are proven and well-thought out. Ferris’s book, in particular, offers many resources for freeing yourself to do the things that excite you. The time you spend with your family and pursuing your dreams is well worth the $22.00 cover price. For the frugal, try finding a copy on half.com or at your local used bookstore. For those of you who can’t wait to read it, click on the link below.
Posted in 
This also reminds me a lot of a friend who swore by rich dad poor dad…All he had to do was aquire high value assetts and….never mind he had the attention span of a gnat. And had no money for assets, and blew his credit rating by 26.
But he swore by it…I just tuned him out, yada yada, as I had work to do.
The ideas is Ferris’ books are useful, even if we only implement a couple of them. I like the idea of an information diet, especially when we are barraged by so much every day. He even mentions asking other people about the news, which serves a secondary purpose of making the other person feel good because s/he can catch you up on things. He also doesn’t suggest immediately quitting a job. The value of the book is in questioning assumptions about work. How much of work is desk-warming, answering emails and attending meetings that stretch on with very little being accomplished? If you could do your job in 30 hours or 20 hours and still get paid the same amount (and get more done), wouldn’t you?
Googling Tim Ferris produces about 387,000 links. Googling– Tim Ferris Hate produces 749,000 hits. Of course people are just jealous that a sports drink executive got to be on Regis and Kathy Lee as a Tango Master because as he says he can master anything he sets his awesome, born wealthy, mind to. What a putz. And a best-seller…
To stop being all negatory I’d reccomend, for men, Seneca the Younger, a Stoic and agnostic by philosophical choice. Still he had to deal with tragedy again and again in his life–and he covers how he survived and it wasn’t exploiting 3rd world poverty.
I found his suggestions and the resources offered quite useful. Much of it is about cutting things out of your life that aren’t helping you reach your goals. Success does create envy. Top sales associates are usually not very well-liked among the less motivated. People who do more, do it better, or get more attention, are sometimes shunned by others who aren’t as motivated.
Did you actually read this? “take advantage of 3rd world pay scales and first world guilt to get rich” Quite the concept.
I sure did read it. I don’t see it as taking advantage of people. When we pay another person to do a job, they have money to purchase a house, food, pay for a child’s education, etc. In the Chapters about outsourcing, he suggests using Canadian or U.S. workers for some jobs. How will developing nations develop without capital? The $4-$6 an hour paid to a worker in India who is going to research an article or prepare a report goes a very long way in that country. I highly recommend reading the book before casting judgment. We are a global economy. Raising the bottom can and will happen.