The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss PDF

The 4-Hour Workweek | Timothy Ferriss 04.17.2023 Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority , it's time to reflect. Anyone who lives within their means suffers from the lack of imagination. What does a igloo-dwelling millionaire do that a cubic-dwe...

The 4-Hour Workweek | Timothy Ferriss 04.17.2023 Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority , it's time to reflect. Anyone who lives within their means suffers from the lack of imagination. What does a igloo-dwelling millionaire do that a cubic-dweller doesn't? Follow the uncommon set of rules. Gold is getting old. The new rich are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the new rich, time and mobility . This is an art and science that we are going to call Lifestyle Design. People don't want to be millionaires, they just want to experience what they believe only millions can buy . Asking yourself: How do your decisions change if retirement isn't an option? What if you could use a mini-retirement to sample your deferred-life plan reward before working 40 years for it? Is it really necessary to work like a slave to live like a millionaire? All these questions will lead you to an uncommon conclusion. The commonsense rules of the "real world" are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions. Start with a single importance of being a "dealmaker ." The manifesto of a dealmaker is simple. Reality is negotiable. Outside of science and law , all rules can be bent or broken, and it doesn't require being unethical. The word DEAL also being an acronym: D for Definition turns the misguided common sense upside down and introduces new rules and objectives into the game. This explains the overall lifestyle design recipe-the fundamentals. E for Elimination kills the obsolete notion of time management. It shows how you turn 12 hours a day into 2 hours in 48 hours. Cultivation selective ignorance, developing a low-information diet, and ignoring the unimportant. This creates the first of three luxury lifestyle ingredients: Time. A for Automation puts cash flow on autopilot using geographic arbitrage, outsourcing, and rules of non- decision. This provides the second ingredient of a luxury lifestyle: Income. L for Liberation is the mobile manifesto for the globally inclined. Liberation is not about cheap travels, it's about breaking the bonds to confine you in a single area. This delivers the final ingredient for luxury lifestyle: Mobility. An expert is a person who has made all the mistake that can be made in a very narrow field. 04.18.2023 Step 1: D is for Definition Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. So, what makes the difference? What makes the new rich dif ferent from the deferrers. It begins at the beginning. The new rich is separated from the crowd based on their goals, which reflect very distinct priorities and life philosophies. Deferrers: T o work for yourself. New Rich: To have others work for you. D: T o work when you want to. N: To prevent work for work's sake, and to do the minimum necessary for maximum ef fect ("Minimum effective load"). D: T o retire early or young N: T o distribute mini-adventure in your life, realizing that being still is not the goal, but doing things which excite you. D: T o buy all the things you want to have. N: T o do all the things you want and be the things you want to be. If this includes tools and gadgets, so be it, recognize that they are either means to and end or bonuses, not the focus. D: T o be the boss or the employee; to be in charge. N: T o be neither the boss nor the employee; To be the owner . D: T o make a ton of money . N: T o make a ton of money with a specific reason and defined dreams to chase. What are you working for? D: T o have more. N: T o have more quality and less clutter . To have a huge financial reserve but realizing that the things you want spend on are just wants and justification for spending your time on things that don't really matter . Does your life have a purpose? Are you contributing anything to this world, or are you just shuffling around? D: T o reach the big pay-of f. Whether a pot of gold, IPO, retirement, or acquisitions. N: T o think big and ensure payday comes everyday; cash flow first, big payday later . D: T o have freedom from doing that which you dislike. N: T o have freedom from doing that which you dislike, but also the freedom and resolve to pursue your dream without reverting to work for work's sake. The goal is to not only eliminate the bad, this will only lead you in a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world. 04.19.2023 Getting off the wrong train The first principle is you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. If you can free your time and location, your money is worth 3-10 times as much. Money is multiplied by the number of W's you control in your life. What you do, when you do it, where you do it, and with whom you do it. This is called the "freedom multiplier ." Options-the ability to chose-is real power . The options for being one of the New Rich is limitless, but each path begins with the same step: replacing assumptions. New players for a new game civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them. Rules that change the rules I can't give you the formula to success, but I can give you the formula to failure: try to please everybody all the time. Everything popular is wrong. Beating the game, not playing the game In 1999, the author of the book won the gold medal at the Chinese kickboxing national competition. How did he win? By playing in an uncommon manner that was within the bounds of the rules. But, isn't pushing people out of the ring outside the bounds of ethics? Not at all. The important distinction is that between official rules and self imposed rules. Sports evolve when sacred cows are killed, when basic assumptions are tested. The same is true in life and in lifestyles. Challenging the status quo vs being stupid Most people walk with their legs, does that mean I walk with my hands? No. Different is better when it is more effective and more fun. If everyone is defining a problem or solving it in one way and the solutions are sub-par , why not do the opposite? Don't follow a model that doesn't work. If the recipe is bad, it doesn't matter how good of a cook you are. The basic rules of the New rich are predictably divergent from what the rest of the world is doing. The following are the differentiators to keep in mind throughout the book: Retirement planning is like planning for insurance. It should be viewed as nothing but a hedge against absolute worst-case scenarios. Retirement as a goal or financial redemption is flawed for the following reasons: Weigh-ins were the day prior to the competition- he would use the dehydration technique and weigh in 167 pounds on the day itself, and hydrated back to 193. 1. There was a technicality in the fine print- If one combatant fell of f the elevated platform three times in a single round, his opponent wins by default. 2. Retirement is worst-case-scenario insurance 1. It is predicated on the fact that you don't like what you are doing during the most physically capable moments of your life. This is a nonstarter-nothing can justify that sacrifice. a. This doesn't mean you won't plan for the worst case scenario. Just don't make retirement the goal. 04.20.2023 2. Interest and energy are cynical If you were offered 10,000,000$ to work 24hrs a day for 15 years, would you accept it? of course not! It will be physically impossible to pull that stunt. Yet working 8+ hours a day for your entire life until you break down or have enough cash is what other people consider as a career . Alternating period of activity and rest is necessary to survive. That is why the New Rich aim to distribute "mini-retirements" throughout their lives instead of hoarding the recover and enjoyment for the fool's pot of gold. By working only when you are most effective, life is more productive and enjoyable. 3. Less is not laziness Doing less meaningless work so you can focus on things of greater personal importance is NOT laziness. Culture tends to reward sacrifice over personal productivity . Few people choose to measure the results of their actions and this measure the contribution in time. More time equals more self-worth and more reinforcement from those above and around them. The New Rich. despite fewer hours in the office, produce more significant results than the dozen non-New Rich combined. Let's define "laziness" anew-to endure non-ideal existence, to let circumstances or others define life for you. Focus on being productive instead of being lazy . 4. The timing is never right For all important things, the timing always sucks. W aiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights will never be green all the time. Conditions are never perfect. "Someday" is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. If it is important to you and you want to do it "eventually", just do it now and correct the course as you go. 5. Ask for forgiveness, and not permission If it does not devastating to those around you, just try it and then justify . People will always deny things on an emotional basis that they get to accept after the fact. If the potential damage is minimum and reversible, don't give people the chance to say no. Get good at being a troublemaker and saying sorry when you really screw up. 6. Emphasize the strengths, don't fix the weaknesses Most people are good at a handful of things and utterly miserable at the other . It is far more fun to leverage your strengths instead of attempting to fix all the chinks in your armour . Y ou have a choice between multiplying your results or incremental improvement in fixing weaknesses that will eventually become mediocre. Focus on better use of your weapons rather than constant repair . Most people won't be able to retire and maintain even a hotdog-for-dinner standard of living. In a span of 30 years, inflation lowers your purchasing power 2-3% a year. The math just doesn't workout. b. If the math does work, your one ambitions, hardworking machine. But guess what? One week into retirement you'll be so damn bored you'll start thinking of getting another job or starting a business. Kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? c. 7. Things that are done in excess become the opposite Pacifists become militants, freedom fighters become tyrants, Blessings become curses. and help becomes hindrance. More becomes less. This is true for possessions and time. Lifestyle Design is not interested in creating an excess idle time, but the positive use of free time, defined simply as doing what you want opposed to doing what you are obligated to do. 8. Money Alone isn't the solution Adding more money isn't the answer that we seek. In part, it's laziness. "if only I had more money" is the easiest way to postpone the intense self-assessment and decision-making necessary to create a life of enjoyment. Busy yourself with the money wheel, pretend it's the fix-all, and you create an artful distraction that prevents you from seeing how pointless it all is. Deep down, you know it's an illusion, but with everyone participating in the make believe game, it's easy to forget. 04.21.2023 9. Relative income is more important that absolute income Relative income uses two variables: income and time, usually hours. Jane doe makes $100,000 a year while John Doe makes $50,000 a year . Jane works 80 hours a week. Jane makes 25$ an hour . John works 10 hours a week. John makes 100$ an hour. In relative income, John is 4 times richer. Of course relative income must add up to the minimum necessary amount in order to actualize your goals. If you make 100$ per hour but work only 1 hour a week, it's gonna be hard to run amuck like a super star! 10. Distress is bad, Eustress is good Distress is what makes you fail. It makes you weak, less confident, and less able. This can be destructive criticism, abusive bosses, or slamming your face on the curb. Eustress on the other hand is the opposite. "Eu" from the Greek word "healthy". It is used in the same sense as "euphoria". These are role models who push us to exceed our limits and take risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action- stress that is healthy and the stimulus of growth. People who avoid criticism fail. These is no progress without eustress, and the more eustress we experience, the sooner we can actualize our dreams. Questions and Actions Dodging bullets Fear-setting and Escaping Paralysis How has being "realistic" and "responsible" kept you from doing what you want in life? 1. How has doing what you "should" resulted in subpar experiences and regrets for not having done something else? 2. Look at what you are currently doing and ask "what happened? What would happen if I did the opposite of what people do around me? What will I sacrifice if I continue down this path for 5, 10, or even 20 years" 3. Many a false step was made while standing still. After 5 years of dread, Hans finally submitted his 3-week notice on a Monday morning. That same morning, he made a promise: two more times and I'm out of here. Strike number three came the day before he left for his vacation. We've all made promises these promises to ourselves, and Hans was one of them, but now he was dif ferent, something was dif ferent. He realized that risks weren't that scary once you took them. His colleagues told him what he expected to hear: He was throwing it all away- what the hell did he want? He didn't know what he wanted, but he tasted it. On the other hand, he knew what bored him to tears, and was done with it. After a year later he was still getting unsolicited job of fers from law firms, but by then he started his own business, met the love of his life and spent the most relaxing time of his life under palm trees or treating clients to the best time of their lives. He would often have conversation with his clients where they say "God, I wish I could do what you do", to which he'd respond "You can." But as they paddle to shore after their session, his clients would get a hold of themselves and regain composure and say "I would, but I can't really throw it all away ." He has to laugh. 04.22.2023 The power of pessimism: Defining the nightmare To do or not to do? To try or not to try? Many of us answer no whether they view themselves as brave or not. Uncertainty is very scary in the shadows, and most people will chose unhappiness over uncertainty . For years, the author set goals, made resolutions, and nothing came of it either. The simple solution came to him 4 years ago when he was completely miserable and working 15 hours a day making $70k a month. He felt trapped and stupid at the same time. Why am I such an idiot? Why can't I make this work? What's wrong with me? The truth was, nothing was wrong with him. It was not the driver, it was the vehicle. Then he hit upon a gem of an idea. He had thought up of every possible worst case scenario possible. He had envisioned all his future suf fering. Conquering fear = Defining fear As he was thinking of his deepest fears, he began to back pedal. Instead of worrying about his planned trip around the world, He started to come up with how he could salvage the remaining resources in his business and get back on truck once the worst struck. He came to a realization that he always had options. He could go back to bartending for a few months, steal some lunch money from kindergartens, or even cut back on eating out. He realized that on a scale of 1-10, 1 being nothing and 10 being utterly life changing. His so called worst case scenarios were only a 3-4 at worst, and if he realize a best case or probable case scenario it would be a 9-10. In other words, he was worrying about a temporary 3-4 for a probable and permanent 9-10. This came to practical realization that there was basically no risk, only huge life-changing effects, and that he could resume course without any more effort than he was already putting. Uncovering fear disguised as optimism There is no difference between a pessimist who says "Oh, it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything" and an optimist that says "Don't bother worrying, everything will turn out fine." They all have the same results: nothing happens. Fear comes in many forms. It's not the four letter word we most know it as, but it dresses up as something else: optimistic denial. Most who avoid quitting their jobs entertain the idea that everything will improve or increase in income. This seems valid and is a tempting hallucination for when your job is boring instead of pure hell. Pure hell forces action, but anything else can be endured. In reality you only believe that it will improve, and it is a sweet excuse for inaction. If you were really confident in improving, would you really be questioning things so? Generally not. That is the fear of the unknown disguised as optimism. To enjoy life, you don't need fancy nonsense, but you do need to control your time and realize that most things aren't just as serious as you make them to be. Don't save it all for the end. There is every reason not to. Questions and actions I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened. If you are nervous about making the jump or simply putting it of out of fear , Write down your answers, and keep in mind that thinking will not improve anything. It is simply brain vomit on the page. W rite and do not edit. Define your nightmare, the absolute worst that could happen if you did what you are concerning. Would it be the end of your life? On a scale of 1-10, are those concerns really permanent? How likely do you think that they would actually happen? 1. What steps could you take to repair the damage or get things back up on the upswing, even if temporary? Chances are, it's easier than you imagine. How could d you get things back under control. 2. What are the outcomes or benefits of both temporary and permanent probable scenarios? Now that you have all the nightmares listed, what are the more probable and positive outcomes and what would the impact of these be on a scale of 1-10. 3. If you are fired from your job today , what would you do to get things under financial control? 4. What are you putting off out of fear? Usually what we fear doing the most is what we most need to do. A persons success is measured by the most uncomfortable situations he or she is willing to have. 5. What is costing you - financially , emotionally, and physically - to postpone action? Don't just measure the potential downsides of action, you also need to measure the atrocious cost of inaction. If you don't pursue things that excite you, where would you be in 5 or 10 years? how would you feel if you allow circumstances to impose itself upon you and allow more years of your finite life to pass doing what you know will not fulfill you. 6. 04.23.2023 System Reset Being unreasonable and unambiguous A reasonable man adapts himself to the world. An unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress comes from the unreasonable man. A group of students were of fered a round trip ticket around the world. The only catch is they have to complete an undefined "challenge". The challenge was to get at least one seemingly unreachable person- Obama, Bill Clinton, Arianna Grande- to reply to three questions. Out of 60 students, 30 only showed up to take the challenge, but 0 passed. On the second try, 6 out of 17 would pass. W as this because they were better than the first group? Absolutely not! The first group was even more capable, but they did nothing. They were all firepower and no trigger finger. The second group merely embraced what they were told, and that was: Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic It is lonely at the top! 99% of people are convinced that they are not capable of achieving great things, and so, the settle for mediocre things with mediocre results. The competition is thus fiercest for "realistic" goals. If you are insecure, guess what? Others are too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself! Having unrealistic goals are easier to achieve with yet another reason: it is an adrenaline infusion that provide endurance to overcome the inevitable trials. Realistic goals are boring, have an average ambition level and will only fuel you through the first or second part of your problem. If the potential payout is average or mediocre, so is your effort. The fishing is best where the few go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easier to score home runs in a field full of people aiming for base hits. What do you want? A better question, first of all Most people don't know what they want. If you ask me the same question, I'd also answer with I don't know . But what I do know is it's a matter of specificity . "What do you want?" is too imprecise to produce meaning and action. "What are your goals" is fated for confusion and guesswork. W e need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Let's say you achieved 10 of your goals. After which you ask- what was the desired outcome that makes the effort worthwhile? Most people would say happiness. But I no longer agree that happiness is the right answer . Happiness can now be bought by a single bottle of wine. What is the opposite of happiness? Sadness? How about Love? Hate? No. Just as love and hate are two sides of the same coin, so is happiness and sadness. A good example of this is crying out of What are you waiting for? If you cannot answer this without resorting to the previous rejected concept of good timing, then you are afraid like everybody else. Measure the cost of inaction, realize the unlikelihood and reparability of most missteps, and develop the most important habit of those who excel and enjoy doing so: action. 7. happiness. The opposite of love is indif ference, and the opposite of happiness is boredom. Excitement is the closest synonym of happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. Now to go back to the question. The question you should be asking isn't "What do you want?" or "What are your goals", but rather, "What is most exciting to me?" 04.24.2023 Adult-Onset ADD: Adventure Deficit Disorder Somewhere between college graduation and your second job, a new chorus is sung in your life: Be realistic and stop pretending. Life isn't like the movies. If you manage to ignore the doubters and start your own business, ADD doesn't disappear, it only takes on another form. When the author started his company , he aimed to make $1000 whether he was banging his head on his laptop or clipping his nails on the beach. It was obvious that this didn't happen until a meltdown forced this. It was because he didn't define alternative activities that would replace the workload. He merely continued the workload to feel productive even though there was no financial need. This is how most people work until death: "I'll just work until I have X dollars and do what I want." If you don't define the "what I want", the X figures will increase indefinitely to avoid the fear of uncertainty in this void. Boredom is the enemy, not some abstract "failure" Correcting course: Get unrealistic There is a process that our author applies to correct the course of his life when the fat man in the red BMW rears his head. This process is called dreamlining. This process applies timelines to what most would consider dreaming: 04.25.2023 Questions and Answers The existential vacuum manifests itself mainly in a state of boredom Dreamlining is fun and hard. But, the harder it is, the more you need it. Create two timelines-6 months and 12 months- then list 5 things you dream of having (sports car , gaming pc, or even a house) and doing (visiting Japan, Cooking, or Dancing) in that order. If you have difficulty writing something in a specific category , think of the opposite (what you would hate to have or do) and write down the opposite. Do not limit yourself and do not concern yourself on how these will be accomplished. The goals shift from ambiguous wants to defined steps 1. The goals have to be unrealistic to be effective 2. It focuses on activities that will fill the vacuum created when the work is removed. Living like a millionaire requires doing interesting things and not just having enviable things. 3. What would you do if you had no way to fail? If you were 10 times smarter that the rest of the world? 1. Be sure not to judge or fool yourself. Don't put down solving world hunger because you are guilty of buying a new sports car. If something will improve your feeling of self-worth, put it down. Most people have trouble coming up with the defined dreams they're being held from. This is particularly true in the 'doing category". Consider answering these questions: Don't rush, if you can't fill in the "doing" spots, use the following: 3. What does "Being" entail doing? Convert each "being" to a "doing" to entail action. Identify a task that you need to characterize this state of being. 4. What are the four dreams that would change it all? Using your two timelines, highlight the most exciting dream and/or important dreams from all columns. 5. Determine the cost of these dreams and calculate your target monthly income If financeable what is the cost per month for each of the four dreams. Start thinking of income and expenses in terms of monthly cash flow. Dollars in and dollars out instead of grand total. Drawing a blank? 2. What would you do today if you had $100 Million? a. What would make you most excited to wake up in the morning to another day? b. One place to visit c. One thing to do before you die d. One thing to do daily e. One thing to do weekly f. and one thing you've always wanted to learn g. Being a good cook - Cook christmas dinner without help h. Be fluent in chinese - talk to a native 5 minutes a day i. 6. Determine three steps for each of the four dreams in the 6 month timeline and take action on the first step now. The variables change too much in the future, distance becomes an excuse for postponing action. The goal therefore is to not outline every step from start to finish, but to define the end goal, the required vehicle to achieve them, and building momentum with critical first steps. The best first step is to find someone who's done it and ask for advice on how to do the same. It's not hard. Tomorrow becomes never . No matter how small, take the first step now! Comfort challenge The most important actions are never comfortable. Fortunately, it is possible to condition yourself for discomfort and to overcome it. You must learn to train yourself to propose solutions instead of asking for them, to elicit desired responses instead of reacting, and to be assertive without burning bridges. Y ou have to develop the uncommon habit of making decisions, both for yourself and for others. Learn to eye gaze 04.26.2023 Focus on one eye and remember to blink occasionally to not get your ass kicked. 1. In conversation, maintain eye contact when you are speaking 2. Practice with people who are bigger and more confident than yourself. 3. E is for Elimination One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity. The end of Time-management Perfection is not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing to take away One tip about time management: forget about it! In a stricter sense, you shouldn't be trying to fill your calendar and to do more each day . Being busy is often used as a guise to avoid critically important but uncomfortable actions. You could reorganize your outlook emails, walk across the of fice, or fuss around your blackberry when you actually need prioritizing. Believe it or not, it is only possible to accomplish more by doing less. It is mandatory . 04.28.2023 Being effective vs being efficient Effectiveness is doing the things that brings you closer to your goals. Being ef ficient is doing things well (regardless of how unimportant or important it is). Being efficient without the regard of effectiveness is the default mode on the universe. A sales man who goes door to door to sell his products is incredibly ef ficient in what he does, but utterly ineffective. He or she could sell more if they use a dif ferent and efficient vehicle, like mails or e-mails. Here are two truisms to keep in mind: From this point onward, what you do is more important than how you do it. Ef ficiency is still important but it is useless unless applied to the right things. Pareto and his garden: 80/20 and freedom from futility what gets measured gets managed. "Pareto's law" or "Pareto Distribution" states that 80% of the wealth and income was produced and came from 20% of the population. This can also me applied outside of economics. 80% of garden peas were produced by 20% of peapods. Pareto's Law can be summarized in the following: 80% of output result from 20% of the inputs. Our author was stuck in a 15 hour per day working situation, and realized that applying the 80/20 rule was the answer to his problem. He asked the following questions: For an entire day, he spent all his energy on determining the answers for these question, applying these question to his customers, friends, advertising to pleasant activities. Don't expect to find you're doing everything right. The truth often hurts. Doing something unimportant well doesn't make it important. 1. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important. 2. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my unhappiness and problems? 1. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness? 2. The goal is to find your inefficiencies and eliminate them to find your strengths so you can multiply them. He applied the answers to his questions the following day , eliminating 95% of unresponsive customers, firing 2% and kept the top 3% producers. 100% of his problems came from the unproductive majority . More customers doesn't immediately mean more income. Remember more customers isn't the goal and mostly translates to more housekeeping. So, slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness- lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being overwhelmed is also a form of unproductiveness, plus it is far more unpleasing. Being selective- doing less-is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest. Lack of time is actually lack of priorities.