Dear Reader,
It will become more and more important to appreciate that there are exceptional ways of living in this increasingly uncertain world, therefore, I encourage you to read ‘The 4 Hour Work Week,’ which was written by Timothy Ferriss.
WHO IS TIMOTHY FERRISS?
Timothy Ferriss, at relatively young age of 29, was able to live a multimillionaires lifestyle of complete freedom without even having a million! Specifically,
He went from making $40,000 per year, working 80 hours per week, to $40,000 per month, working only 4 hours per week.
As a result, at any given time, we are told that he could be racing motorcycles in Europe, Scuba diving off a private island in Panama, resting under a palm tree between kickboxing sessions in Thailand, or dancing tango in Buenos Aires. Furthermore,
He is not a multimillionaire nor does he particularly care to be, rather, he directly attributes his success to being a member of the New Rich (NR).
THE NEW RICH
Timothy Ferriss informs us that members of the New Rich (NR) are a quiet subculture of people, who all refuse to create life-plans that prevent them from living luxury lifestyles now, or in the very near future. Unlike
Most people, who have convinced themselves that life has to be hard and so, for example, commit to working 9-to-5 in exchange for weekends and the keep-it-short-or-get-fired annual holiday,
The NR are ‘dealmakers.’
‘Dealmakers’ believe that outside the rules of science and law, reality is negotiable and all rules can be broken or bent without having to be unethical (p. 10).’
Therefore, the NR create luxurious lifestyles in the present, using the ingredients of time and mobility.
Suitably, we are shown that the DEAL of ‘deal-making’ is an acronym for the full process of becoming a member of the NR, and the author has used it to provide the structure to the various chapters throughout this book. These chapters offer practical guidance and life-changing exercises, to assist us through a step-by-step transformation process towards becoming members of the NR:
- D = Definition: Misguided mainstream common sense is turned upside down and the rules and objectives of a new game are introduced. This section explains the fundamentals of the overall luxury Lifestyle Design (LD).
- E = Elimination: Counterintuitive NR techniques for cultivating selective ignorance, developing a low information diet, and ignoring unimportant things are introduced so that we can acquire the luxury LD ingredient of time.
- A = Automation: Using outsourcing, geographic arbitrage, and rule of non-decision, we are shown how to make money flow automatically so that we can acquire the luxury LD ingredient of income.
- L = Liberation: Mobility is the final ingredient for luxury LD: The concept of mini-retirements and the means for flawless remote control are introduced in order to enable us to, forever, break the connections that confine us to a single location.
CHRONOLOGY OF TIMOTHY FERRISS’S LIFE
- Timothy Ferriss was born in 1977 to Donald and Frances Ferriss, who never earned more than $50,000 per year combined.
- In 1996, Ferriss entered Princeton University despite having SAT scores that were 40% lower than average, and his high school admissions counsellor telling him to be more realistic. His main area of study was initially neuroscience, but he later switched to East Asian studies.
- In 1998, Ferriss dropped out of Princeton University after a dispute over his thesis and an acute fear of becoming an investment banker.
- In 2000, Ferriss returned to Princeton University, completed his thesis, and graduated.
- In 2001, Ferriss worked as a sales person for TrueSAN Network (a data-storage company), and was required to make cold calls starting from the beginning of a phone book. After he worked 12-hour days (for 1 year), and discovered that he was one of the lowest paid employees, Ferriss deliberately behaved in a way that resulted in him being permanently dismissed. However, before leaving his employers, Ferriss searched the internet full-time and started an online dietary supplement company.
- In 2002, Ferriss’s dietary supplement company had become extremely profitable, generating more than $40,000 per month. However, he had to work over 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, to keep his business functioning profitably. In addition, due to his company’s success, Ferriss started teaching students at Princeton University how to build a profitable business.
- In 2004, Ferriss decided that even if his company collapsed he needed to escape, therefore, he turned-everything-upside-down and bought a one-way airline ticket to Europe. Subsequently, he stayed overseas indefinitely, as he practiced making his business run automatically (automation) and living experimentally. After a while, the automation of his business was successful, drastically reducing his role within the company, and increasing his profits by 40%.
- In 2006, Ferriss returned to the United States and, as a blueprint for people interested in an ideal lifestyle design (LD), began explaining his experience of business automation and experimental living.
CONCLUSION
I wrote this review in order to encourage others and to remind myself that
“We must continuously re-evaluate and make use of systematic and proven approaches to success, if we intend to be truly successful in this rapidly changing world.”
In light of the all the books that I have read (100+) and the fact that I have spent the majority of my life challenging the status-quo, I conclude that this text is unique, exceptional, and extremely important. In total agreement with the author, I have observed that most people are convince, (either by themselves or others) that in order to be successful they must be willing to work (at a minimum) 9-5 or to follow the ridiculous working hours accustomed to their professions. However, as demonstrated by Ferriss and the NR,
Using our ability to-think-and-act-outside-the-box may enable many of us to create the lives we have only dreamed of living.
Therefore, to prevent us spending most-of-our-days going through the motions (following the system) the author has provided an invaluable blueprint which may allow many people who are committed, serious, and intelligent to challenge the status-quo and live his or her ideal lifestyle.
Personally, I have learnt many things from following the author’s blueprint, some of which I have managed to implement (as evidence by the creation of my website: tommyoffe.com) whilst others require me to further develop myself, before they can be applied. Nevertheless, contrary to the general ‘anyone-can-do’ spirit of the book, do not be fooled! What the author has achieved may prove extremely difficult to emulate, because it requires a strategic mindset which many people do not possess: ‘… it is a distinct way of thinking, a perspective on the world at large … [that] allows you to see patterns where other simply see complexities … (Book: ‘Now Discover Your Strengths’).
In spite of this, I still strongly encourage others to read this text, as
The practical guidance and exercises offered within the chapters will, for most people, instantly improve their lives in the short, medium, and long-term.
As always, if you have any queries, or would like to discuss any aspect of this review, please feel free to contact me.
In the meantime, as I often say to those who have travelled far on the road to self-mastery:
Just Maintain!
Truly yours,
Tom