The Four Hour WorkweekThe Four Hour Workweek Central MessageThe key message of "The Four Hour Workweek" is this: Do not defer your dreams. Pinning your life-energy on a golden retirement 20 or 30 years from now when you will live happily everafter is an illusion. The reality is:"I've chartered private planes over the Andes, enjoyed many of the best wines in the world in between world-class ski runs, and lived like a king, lounging by the infinity pool of a private villa. Here's the little secret I rarely tell: It all cost less that rent in the United States. If you can free your time and location, your money is automatically worth 3-10 times as much.My personal research confirms this. It is easy to live a rich life if you are mindful and do not get distracted by the images of what a rich life is supposed to look like. Tim's recommendation? Take frequent "mini-retirements" and follow what excites you. The Right Question to AskThe readers of "The Four Hour Workweek" - and of this website, for that matter - live comfortable lives, way past the point of mere survival. They are looking for answers to existential questions, such as: Who am I? What should I do with my life? Tim says:"The question you should be asking isn't, "What do I want?" or "What are my goals?" but "What would excite me?""Once you have good answers to this, your path starts opening up. What lends credibility to the book is that Tim actually lives his philosophy. He is driven by what excites him - learning new languages (or learning anything in the shortest possible time), dancing the tango in Argentina, taking kendo lessons in Japan etc. In order to focus on what excites you, "The Four Hour Workweek" exhorts you to eliminate stuff from your life that does not add any value. Simplify Your LifeTim is a big proponent of simplifying your day-to-day life. Start with cleaning up your house. Tim observes:"There are tons of things in your home and life that you don't use, need or even particularly want. They just came into your life as impulsive flotsam and jetsam and never found a good exit. Whether you're aware of it or not, this clutter creates indecision and distractions, consuming attention and making unfettered happiness a real chore."He is right of course. I can certainly relate to it. I have trouble throwing away old t-shirts and notebooks from twenty years ago that have a few pages of writing in them. I have too many shirts, period. How do I know that? I know it because I don't go through a complete cycle of using all of them in any season! I wear the same ten t-shirts through summer and the same five warm long-sleeved shirts through winter. I know won't miss the rest of the shirts if I gave them away today. The second - and to me the most controversial part of "The Four Hour Workweek" - step is outsourcing as much of your day-to-day life as you can. Tim has a couple of chapters with lots of details and case histories about how to do this. It is very readable - and apparently doable. The idea is to strip away the non-essentials in your life and focus on the core of your life. This message is exactly what I am promoting on Financial Freedom Guide. Online BusinessOnce you have eliminated the inessentials, how do you earn the money you need to live an exciting life? Tim's solution is create an online business that runs itself (for the most part).Tim runs an online business that generates all the money that he needs (& more). He writes about how he used to micro-manage his business. It came to a head at one point and he realized that he was the bottleneck & he was slowing down the growth of his business. He took a long and hard look at the flow of his business and redesigned it so that he is no longer necessary to run it. The chapters on business automation are worth the price of the book! Just Do It"The Four Hour Workweek" is a very well-written & insightful book and it belongs on the shelf of everybody who is even remotely interested in financial freedom. I think most people who read his book will not follow his advice because it is so far out of the mainstream (What do you mean I shouldn't own a house?!) But that is precisely the price you have to be willing to pay if you want freedom. As for me, my path runs parallel to Tim's. I have learned a lot from Tim's no-nonsense approach and I am sure you will too. Highly recommended!PS: Be sure to check out the companion website & blog as well. Return from The Four Hour Workweek to Recommendations Return to the Home Page
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(or 4HWW for short) came out in 2007 and became an instant hit. After all, how can you resist a title like that? The message of the book is very similar to my philosophy, and I thought I should review the book for the benefit of my readers.
