The 4-hour workweek – Timothy Ferriss.

The 4-hour workweek – Timothy Ferriss.

It is weird book that proclaim people can be a millionaire by working 4-hour workweek. I did not read this book, not because of the title, but because of its listed in BW’s bestseller list for 22 weeks. It also warns “ DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU WANT TO QUIT YOUR JOB”. IMO, that is his short cut to sell more books, nothing else.

Even though he got into Princeton, despite SAT scores 40% lower than the average and other wonderful short cuts throughout his life, I do not want to follow that method. I just do not want to change my game plan in the middle of the game. However, there are some interesting pointers that could help though.

I like some of the phrases he listed from others (will paste some of them here) and I shall try to read some of his recommended books as well.

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination – Oscar Wilde”. Guess what, author asks you to break out from your comfort zone and explore.


“Everything popular is wrong – Oscar Wilde”

“I can’t give you a surefire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time – Herbert Bayard Swope”

“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action – Benjamin Disraell”

The DEAL of deal making is also an acronym for the process of becoming a member of the New Rich (NR).

D for definition turns misguided common sense upside down and introduces the rules and objectives of the new game. This defines the overall lifestyle design recipe. Request to define your dream, goal and esp. set for unrealistic goals which is easy to meet.

E for Elimination kills the obsolete notion of time management once and for all (Pareto Principle kicks-in here – 80/20 rule).

A for Automation puts cash flow on autopilot using geographic arbitrage, outsourcing and rules of nondecision.

L for Liberation is the mobile manifesto for the globally inclined.

“ An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field – Niels Bohr”.

“These individuals have riches just as we say that we “have a fever”, when really the fever has us – Seneca”

Author even created an audio book – “How I beat Ivy league”

“ Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
- that depends a good deal on where you want to go, said the Cat.
“ I don’t much care where ….’ Said Alice
- Then it does not matter which way you go , said the cat” – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.

“ The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man – Bernard Shaw, Maxims for revolutionists.?

99% of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for realistic goals. It is easier to raise$10 million than $1 million. If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself.

Doing unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic. To have an uncommon lifestyle, you need to develop the uncommon habit of making decision, both for yourself and for others.

Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure for all.

E for Elimination is for increasing productivity to 500% times.

Being effective vs. being efficient.

Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals and efficiency is performing a given task in the most important /economical manner possible. Being efficient without effectiveness is the default mode of the universe.

1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important
2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.

Vilfredo Pareto principle – 80% of the output comes from 20% of the input.

e.g. 80% of all stock market gains are realized by 20% of the investors
80% of company profit comes from 20% of the products and customers.
(Interestingly 80% of the beer drinks by 20% of the people J

Hence follow these guidelines

1. Limit tasks to the important to shorten work (80/20 rule_
2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson’s law)

Parkinson’s law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion (in other means, the end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus.

Suggestions – stop asking for opinion and start proposing solutions. (Here are few lines of proposing

1. Can I make a suggestion
2. I propose
3. I’d like to propose…
4. I suggest that… What do you think?
5. let‘s try .. and then try something else , fi that does nto work…

“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it – Herbert Simon”

“Reading after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habit of thinking. – Albert Einstein”

How to read fast – please visit www.Pxmethod.com

“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace – Robert Sawyer, Calculating God”

Time wasters: become an ignoramus

1. Turn off the audible alert in Outlook (to turn off automatic send/receive which delivers e0mail to your inbox as soon as someone send them)
2. Check email twice per day
3. Send calls to voicemail and leave cell number in the voice mail greetings for emergency contact
4. Respond to voice mail via email – this trains people to be concise
5. Meeting should only be held to make decision about a predefined situation, not to define the problem.
6. Define end time in any meetings. Do not leave discussions open-ended and keep them short.
7. Cubicle is your temple – don’t permit causal visitors. Pretend that you are on a phone while these people pop-up.
8. Use the Puppy Dog Close to help your superiors and others develop no-meeting habits. (The Puppy dog close is invaluable whenever you face resistance to permanent changes. Get your foot in the door with a “let’s just try it once” reversible trial.
9. Batch activities to limit setup cost and provide more time for dream-line milestones (check specific group/persons email in batches)
10. Set or request autonomous rule with occasional review of the result.

Some important links –
Writersmarket.com (writer’s market
Srds.com (standard rate and data services)
Thomasnet.com
Dropshipsource.com
Ingrambook.com
Techdata.com
Housewares.org
Nationalhardwareshow.com
Expoeast.com
Expowest.com
hotrecorder.com
inventright.com
guthyrenker.com
uspto.gov
autm.net
uiausa.corg
prleads.com/discountpage
expertclick.com
pxmethod.com

Market sizing and keyword suggestions


inventory.overture.com
wordtracker.com
hosting services
domaininseconds.com
joker.com
godaddy.com
1and1.com
bluehost.com
rackspace.com
hosting.com
freestickphotos.com (stock photos)
getty.com (good pictures)
aweber.com (email tracking and scheduled autoresponders)
iworkwithfools.com
i-resign.com



Visiting places – sites

Virtualtourist.com
Escapeartist.com
Outside.away.com
Gridskipper.com
Thorntree.lonleyplanet.com
Familytravelforum.com
Worldtravelwatch.com
Perpetualtravel.com/rtw
Xe.com
Kropla.com
Orbitz.com (airline tickets cheap pnes)
Priceline.com
1800flyeurope.com
ryanair.com
easyjet.com
globalfreeloaders.com
couchsurfing.com
hospitalityclub.com
homeexchange.com
hostels.com
hotelchatter.com
craiglist.org
interhome.com
rentvillas.com

career experiments

transitionsabroad.com
writtenroad.com
eslcafe.com
jiwire.com
workinggoverseas.com
wwoof.com
freetranslation.com
fourhourworkweek.com



Top 13 New Rich Mistakes.

1. Losing sight of dreams and falling into work for work’s sake
2. Micromanaging and e-mailing to fill time
3. Handling problems your outsource or co-workers can handle
4. Helping outsources or co-workers with the same problem more than once or with non-crisis problems
5. Chasing customers (esp. unqualified) when you have sufficient cash flow to finance your nonfinancial pursuits
6. Answering email that not result in a sale
7. Working where you live, sleep or should relax
8. Not performing a thorough 80/20 analysis every 2 to 4 weeks for your business and personal life
9. Striving for endless perfection rather than great or simply good enough whether in your personal or professional life
10. Blowing minutiae and small problems out of proposition as an excuse to work
11. Making non-time-sensitive issues urgent in order to justify the work
12. Viewing one product, job or project as the end-all and be-all of your existence
13. Ignoring the social rewards of life.


Recommended Books

Favorite reads of 2008:

Zorba the Greek - Nikos Kazantzakis

Letters from a Stoic – Seneca. These are two of the most readable books of practical philosophies I’ve ever had the fortune to encounter. If you have to choose one, get Zorba, but Lucius Seneca will take you further. Both are fast reads of 2-3 evenings.


The magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz

How to make Millions with your ideas – An Entrepreneurs’ guide – Dan S. Kennedy
The E-myth revisited: Why most small business doesn’t work and what to do about it – Michael E. Gerber

Vagabonding: An uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel – Rolf Potts

Reducing emotional and material baggage

Walden – Henry David Thoreau

Less is more: the art of voluntary poverty – An anthology of ancient and modern voices in praise of simplicity – Golden Vandenbroeck

The monk and the riddle: the education of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur – Randy Komisar

The 80/20 principle: The secret to success by achieving more with less – Richard Koch

Secrets of power negotiating: Inside secrets from a master negotiator – Roger Dawson

Response Magazine – responsemagazine.com

Jwgreensheet.com

Small Gigantic: Companies that choose to be great instead of big – Bo Burlingham


Tx n Rd
VNTHOMAS