Book Review: The 4-Hour Work Week

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by Danny C.

Title: The 4 - Hour Work Week
Author: Timothy Ferriss
Category: Business and Investing

I was strolling through the bookstore as I do every week, when I stumbled into the "business" section (not a part of the bookstore I am very familiar with). I was 270 degrees into my turning around when I stopped myself. "I'm almost done with college. I might want to start a business one day," I thought to myself, so I started to scan the shelves. MANAGEMENT. No thanks. INVESTING. Eh, too much work, and I have no money to invest. BUSINESS LIFE. What the heck is "business life"? Does that even make any sense? I was curious.

I crooked my neck in the most painful 40 degree angle to read the titles of the books, when suddenly I saw Mr. Ferriss' book. "THE 4-HOUR WORK WEEK." Hmmm. Being a specimen of the "millennial generation" (the most doted upon generation in American history and children of the richest generation in American history, the Baby Boomers), the idea of working a maximum of four hours a week not only sounds intriguing but plausible, even deserved! I pulled the book out, which imediately caused all the other books to fall over (I had no idea it was the keystone support of shelf D of the Business Life section!).

As is my custom, I immediately opened to the inside flap of the backcover. This is where you get to read a little bit about who's paycheck you are about to help pay. "TIMOTHY FERRIS, a serial entrepreneur and ultravagabond, has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Maxim, and other media." Sounds legit. "He speaks six languages..." Cool. "Runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide..." Impressive. "...and has been a worldrecord holder in tango..." Awesome. "a national champion in Chinese kickboxing..." Super cool. "and an actor on a hit television series in Hong Kong." Uber-cool. "He is thirty years old." That's it, I'm buying this book.

I'm not going to lie, I was so excited to get home and get started on my second million (I gave up on the first). The first part of the book establishes his credibility. Mr. Ferriss is a maverick, genius, rebel, self-starter, and straight shooter. His writing exudes both cockiness and charm which struck me as both reassuring and unnerving. It's obvious that his "no-nonsense", "get-to-the-point-or-get-out" attitude is a key to his success, but one cannot help but wonder if he's applying these Jedi mindtricks on the reader. Does Mr. Ferriss really want to share his secrets with the world and help me live a life of suckin' down Mojitos on a beach in Puerto Rico, or was shmoozing me into forking over the bucks to buy this book an exercise of the very tactics he's teaching and his greatest moneymaking scheme yet? After finishing the book and applying some of it's advice, I'd have to say the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I think Mr. Ferriss will make truckloads of cash on dopes like me, but in the process, inspire a few us to get up and actually start building our dreams.

The meat of the book is explaining the acronym "D.E.A.L.", which stands for Definition, Elimination, Automation, and Liberation; all keys to becoming one of the NR (the "new rich"). Every chapter ends with a review and a real-world exercise. Some of the exercises strike me as silly, but others are really neat confidence builders. The book feels more like a self-help book than a business & investing guide, which many stores classsify it as. Ferriss has a frank and simple writing style which makes the reading quite satisfying; you never feel like you're reading filler.

Mr. Ferriss and I share a similar world view that he drills in almost every chapter: It's not about having a ton of money. It's about having the freedom to do what you want and the time/resources to be who you want to be. This point alone really hooked me. It seems like everywhere you look, the media, the education system, the entertainment industry, friends, and even family try to make you think that money is the ultimate answer for any problem. I simply don't agree. Money is nice. I like it. I wish I had more of it, but it's only because what money allows you to do. I don't want "things." I want to be places, with amazing people, and do fun activities. Mr. Ferriss really opens your eyes to that fact, and gives clear suggestions on how you can get what makes you happy in life, not necessarily a mound of cash. By applying all the principles in this book, you more than likely WILL get a mound of cash, but thats not the goal.

Reviews of this book are overwhelmingly positive, or at least they are on Amazon.com, but the few bad reviews are really without merit in my opinion. The most common complaints were that the ideas Mr. Ferriss suggests have already been done, or that he's already out of those markets, or that making money off of silly products and outsourced services is not honorable, etc. Well, those are all stupid points to me. The book is not meant to be a collection of business ideas to try. Sure, it will make you aware of options you might not have been familiar with before, but it's up to you to come up with your own ideas. Mr. Ferriss is giving you the tools, it's now up to you to use them.

I feel that the benefits of the book are two-fold. First of all, it will educate you on the advantages of our new global marketplace and how to use these to achieve your goals. Secondly, and most importantly, it will give you reassurance that if you have a good idea, a good plan, and a good schedule, you can achieve your dreams. Everyone has great ideas, but because of fear of failure or laziness, 99% of people will never try to execute them. Merely trying already puts you ahead of everyone else. The greatest benefit of books like these are that they peel off some of the jaded layers that adulthood and the "real world" put on us, and restore some of the optimism and hope that is intrinsic to youth. As Mr. Ferriss brings out in one chapter, "we tell children to dream big, but tell adults to be realistic." What happens between childhood and adulthood that causes us to lose hope? Whatever it is, it's ugly, and I don't like it one bit. True, we live in an uncertain world, but dreams can come true. If you're going to buy this book for any reason, buy it for the comfort it gives. With global warming, terrorism, unstable economic markets, and natural disasters to worry about, who couldn't use a little comfort?

Grade: B+

*In one part of the book, Mr. Ferriss explains how he used to spend hours in the office of any teacher who wouldn't give him an A. Well, Mr. Ferriss, if you're reading this, you know where to find me. I'd love to talk :)

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