The 4-Hour Workweek
Its likely that you will have heard of Timothy Ferriss’ book called “The 4-Hour Workweek”. Its a book that has been around for a few years now and last year just before Christmas an updated version was released. I thought I would share some of my thoughts on this book and the topics that it deals with.
1. Quitting your job. For most people this is not an option. While there are people who are working in jobs they don’t like, the vast majority of people must have some type of enjoyment in their workplace otherwise they wouldn’t stick around. I can’t see how the majority of the world is wrong for such a crucial issue. Sure we all need to make money to survive but are we all just doing it so that we are stuck in some type of system? We all dream of working from home and making millions of dollars from our couch, but is it all really achievable and likely? Sure it does happen, but usually that scenario is the result of hours, weeks and if not even years, of hard work.
2. Starting your own business. This is the bulk of the book and what I really enjoyed. I don’t believe in just quitting your job and boating it around the world because its cheap in some countries to do so, I want to work in my own business and enjoy the benefits that can bring, as well as the challenges and learning.
I strongly agree with the principals of how Tim explains trialing your niche, area of focus, to see if it could be a business idea that you can develop to produce a sustaining and recurring income. In particular, I was interested in his thoughts on setting up online businesses to make money from. It is true of what I wanted to achieve when I created this website. A site that would be active on the web, for anyone to come by and read, to provide value, and in return it would be a source of income. Like anything, money doesn’t just grow on trees and takes time and hard work. As Tim sets out in his book, you may need to trial a few ideas before they stick. You won’t make money just like that from the get go.
The other important thing to remember is not to over commit yourself. Start small and dream to grow big. Don’t start big and find that the dream doesn’t come true. Its much easier to upscale if you put in the correct plans and processes from the start, rather than the other way around.
If you do wish to quit your job, live the 4 hour workweek then making money online is a great way of achieving this. Just remember that it does take a real lot of hard work. The competition is tough and everyone wants a piece of the billion dollar pie that the internet is. If you want to make money online I would suggest that you think outside of the square and do something that hasn’t been done before.
As Tim says in his book, its best to sell your product to 200 people who really want it, than it be shown to 200,000 people who couldn’t care less and simply clicked on your ad because they thought it was something else!
Overall, I would give it a 4 out of 5 and highly recommend to any budding business person or entrepreneur, even if you don’t find all of it useful, the aspects on internet marketing, making money on the web and outsourcing are well worth your time.
