Post: #26

I got the 80/20 principle and Vagabonding from the recommendation list in his book.

Post: #27

So is this book any good? Looks like a bunch of mixed reviews here.

Post: #28

(08-22-2011 05:16 PM)velkrum Wrote:  I have the audio book of 4 hour work week...and......nothing special, just a few time saving tips and some suggestions for outsourcing, the rest is typical motivation blah blah speak.

7 posts?

necro troll

Post: #29

I bought the book when it was first released and it definitely pushed me to the next level of my business. Years later my bank account and lifestyle are the proof.

Its not a silver bullet, you need to put in to practice what you learn and be smart enough to read between the lines.

Post: #30

Thanks for the recommendation; I'm definetely going to check it out.

There are so many books written on the topic of how to make money that the variety seems overwhelming. Everybody these days seems to be an expert on everything and giving out useless advice. Just like men can receive bad dating advice (i.e., be a nice guy), so can people receive bad financial advice.

I remember reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad a few years back, and, although I forgot much of what it said, I remember this insightful statement to this very day: Poor people work for money; rich people let their money work for them.

Ask any person off the street, "How does a person make money", and you'll most likely receive a response of "Get a job and work for money." When it comes to making money, most people believe that you have to work for money by actively working at a job. However, one general idea that I see among all of these books is that rich people let their money work for them. They earn money passively. They have property that they rent to others, businesses that generate profit, large sums of cash that accrue interest, royalties off of inventions, and websites that cater to ever-present needs.

If you wanted $3,000, would you rather work at a job for a month, or barely lift a finger and collect the money through the rents that people pay you for renting your property?

Post: #31

(08-25-2011 08:15 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

(08-22-2011 05:16 PM)velkrum Wrote:  I have the audio book of 4 hour work week...and......nothing special, just a few time saving tips and some suggestions for outsourcing, the rest is typical motivation blah blah speak.

7 posts?

necro troll

huh ?? wtf is a necro troll ? I'm posting an opinion, I'm not saying the book is bad..theres a few good tips, just nothing special

Post: #32

(05-16-2010 11:06 PM)hydrogonian Wrote:  

(05-16-2010 03:32 PM)kingkong Wrote:  The book is mostly full of shit. He slaved like a dog for years building a super shady snake oil businesses and made some cash. With said (dirty) cash in his pocket he then tries to pretend you can email some people in India to build a company for you and work minimally. He also makes some bullshit claims about how easy it is to learn languages and how he speaks a bunch of them.

The useful take away points would have made a nice three page essay, rather than a book: keep global cost arbitrage opportunities in mind, keep an eye out for useful software, don't cloud your head with information overload, take long vacations, don't confuse work with productivity. I think that's about it, and it's all been said better elsewhere.

No offense, but the book contains a lot more useful information than above described. Thats an inaccurate summary, to say the least. Nowhere does he claim that a company in India will build a business for you.

Also, you would need to define 'snake oil' business specifically. If your talking about his supplement business, then I guess it depends on your perspective. Personally, I believe that all vitamins and supplements are absolute bullshit, beyond short term stimulating action. But I defend the right of people to buy them and sell them, as long as the claims of what they do arent too far over the top. Hell, cereal makers claim every health benefit that they can get away with, such as "lowers your cholesterol, prevents heart disease" etc...which is all 110% bullshit. But no one calls them snake oil salesman. People have the right to buy and eat cereal, and to be dumb enough to buy whatever they want. To me, the cereal makers are worse offenders than ferris's Brain Quicken, because the cereal makers falsely claim that their product will change your health for the better. Ferris's product only claims to give you a mental edge.

In any case, vitriol against the book isn't uncommon. But most of the time, a full understanding of the book isn't demonstrated when its levied. But everyone is entitled to their opinion. Again, no offense intended.

Supplements are not shit. Take ~1000mg Lecithin per day and watch your jizz production double in a few days. The shit is cheap too. That's just one example of something that will show you visible direct results.

Post: #33

While I was looking around for location independent stuff - saw a few mentions of 4 hour work week.

Some made it seem like it worked, others thought not so much.

Any one got some thoughts on it?

Post: #34

Yes, the "how-to" for business-building was incomplete, but it was never meant to be a how-to on the nuts and bolts of online business, and regardless, it was a ground-breaking book that shifted a lot of people's perspectives about what was possible and introduced an interesting way to look at life in the modern world.

Much like "Think and Grow Rich," people who blast it ignore all the successful people who blame a great deal of their success (and often increased happiness and/or freedom) on having read the book.

People like to call Ferriss a charlatan. There are things about his character I don't like, but he consistently creates high-quality content and many of the greatest minds in business today watch him and pay attention to his thoughts, even hire him to consult. His marketing genius and approach to breaking things down to their essence cannot be ignored.

People also like to say he was saying things he wasn't. Biggest argument is based on the title, which was just the result of a split test anyhow and is explained in the book. Tim himself has stated that he wishes he would have titled it differently, but the fact remains that it's the title (and largely responsible for the book being noticed to begin with), so you can let it detract from you receiving the message or take his word for it and try to pay attention to what he was really meaning to say.

Anyhow, I assume since the conversation has been opened again, people will come in to blast it for the usual reasons, so don't expect the convo to get far.

Naysayers come a dime a dozen.

It's a must-read.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #35

The business building stuff made it seem very easy when in reality it's far more difficult to find a winning idea.

But that's the value in this book. It makes everything seem a lot simpler which ensures you actually take action.

Most people who read books never take action on it so by virtue of him writing the book this way he's made millions of people become more successful than they would have otherwise.

His non-business ideas on becoming location independent were revolutionary as well.

No-one else put together such a concise guide to quitting your job, leaving your country and finding new places and things to do.

Then you add in fantastic chapters on goal-setting, productivity, comfort challenges, lifestyle design etc and you realise that this book has far more value than the haters would like you to think.

+1 on it being a must read.

Post: #36

Gotta be balanced. Nobody is saying this is the ONLY book you should ever read.

On the one hand, the book gets way too much hype. On the other, it is one of the best business books I've ever read, with sick insights not really found elsewhere (prior to its being written, lots of copycats after).

The only question you should ask yourself is: Is this book worth the few hours of my time compared to something else I would have done in lieu of reading?

Always thinking in terms of opportunity cost. Not many people can answer 'no' to the above question.

Post: #37

I happened to hear Tim Ferris speak today. He was pretty good.

I found it intriguing that he is still single. He brought his dog with him, which seems quite weird. Until this, I had never known of any man who has a joined-at-the-hip relationship with a pet.

It was a Q&A which went on for about two and a half hours. The audience asked, and he answered. Some of the questions were quite stupid, while others were pretty intelligent.

I asked him if he didn't live in America, where would he live. I mentioned that America is a Titanic looking for an iceberg. He seemed to think my opinion about America was because I didn't like Trump. I was woefully disappointed when he answered Canada. He also mentioned Tony Robbins a few times, which was also quite disappointing.

Is he just a slick marketer or is there actually substance there?

Post: #38

(08-25-2011 10:09 PM)blurb Wrote:  I remember reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad a few years back, and, although I forgot much of what it said, I remember this insightful statement to this very day: Poor people work for money; rich people let their money work for them.

Ask any person off the street, "How does a person make money", and you'll most likely receive a response of "Get a job and work for money." When it comes to making money, most people believe that you have to work for money by actively working at a job. However, one general idea that I see among all of these books is that rich people let their money work for them. They earn money passively. They have property that they rent to others, businesses that generate profit, large sums of cash that accrue interest, royalties off of inventions, and websites that cater to ever-present needs.

I think a lot of the praise and disdain might be personality based. My answer would be "Create something of lasting value." A created product doesn't require maintenance, it just pays dividends; a rental property does.

Post: #39

(03-19-2017 12:32 AM)puckerman Wrote:  I happened to hear Tim Ferris speak today. He was pretty good.

I found it intriguing that he is still single. He brought his dog with him, which seems quite weird. Until this, I had never known of any man who has a joined-at-the-hip relationship with a pet.

It was a Q&A which went on for about two and a half hours. The audience asked, and he answered. Some of the questions were quite stupid, while others were pretty intelligent.

I asked him if he didn't live in America, where would he live. I mentioned that America is a Titanic looking for an iceberg. He seemed to think my opinion about America was because I didn't like Trump. I was woefully disappointed when he answered Canada. He also mentioned Tony Robbins a few times, which was also quite disappointing.

Is he just a slick marketer or is there actually substance there?

I suspect that Tim is pretty red pilled. He is outgoing and is a natural salesman and marketer, which is what really helped him grow his brand and network and wealth to what they are today. He's hinted in past blog posts and articles and podcasts that he has been quite active in having been with women, and (this is just my speculation) he is probably a Trump supporter or is at least not a Trump hater, which is huge considering the Silicon Valley circles he travels around in (he was mum about anything politics during the whole election, though that could have been because he didn't want to hurt his brand with any crowd considering the timing of his latest book launch).

Ferris sprouts so much random information that it's hard to keep track of, but there's definitely good stuff there. He has lots of specific recommendations for things like books, apps, tools, food and drink, etc. that are all worth looking into, though not everything will click with you. Regarding some of his stories of his travels and adventures, they're probably exaggerated a bit, but still entertaining and worth thinking about. As for his "experiments" regarding his health and body, I'd be more wary of those, but they still make for good reading and exploring.

Post: #40

(05-14-2016 05:28 AM)Valentine Wrote:  The business building stuff made it seem very easy when in reality it's far more difficult to find a winning idea.

This is basically the crux of the whole "4 hour work week". Essentially, you just need to invent the next iPhone, pay others to do the heavy lifting, and you can do whatever you want as you count money.

Post: #41

(05-16-2010 11:52 PM)kingkong Wrote:  

Quote: if you dont respect that book, tim and the info he provides there is something wrong with you

If you can't peg him as a huckster with a knack for self promotion to the credulous, you're not very bright or experienced.

Both can be true at the same time.

There are legitimately good points in the book - which can also be found elsewhere, but are still worth considering. He is also a self-promoting huckster peddling what people want to hear.

Post: #42

I read Ferris's 4HWW and used some of his time management principles during my location independence strategy.

As the others said, a lot of value can be gleaned from his book -- not about starting a business, but his non-business ideas like time management and how to unshackle yourself from your day job over time.

I would not read his book if you need inspiration for coming up with business ideas, however. I don't think he even has a legitimate business other than "selling the dream". I could be wrong -- and please prove me wrong if I am. I want to see what business idea he had that helped him get big. Of course, he might not reveal that.

One of my major gripes with his book is the title is very misleading. There's no such thing as a 4 hour workweek. Even those who proclaim to work only a "few hours a week" actually do a lot more work than that, except they don't count it as "work", so to speak.

Running a business takes A LOT of work. A shitload of work. But people don't want to hear that. They want to hear things like "work only 4 hours a week and fuck off to the beach whenever you like." It's all marketing.

Although I got some worthy morsels out of his book, Tim Ferris is definitely not someone I would identify with at all. The difference between he and I is this.

If I ever make it big, I will tell you how I did it.

If I fail to make it big, I will tell you how I failed. I'll give you my lessons learned, despite some folks saying "hey CleanSlate I told you so, you should have done X and Y instead of Z".

I'm not here to sell the dream. A business model built around selling the dream has no value whatsoever.

Post: #43

(03-19-2017 06:46 PM)Seadog Wrote:  

(05-14-2016 05:28 AM)Valentine Wrote:  The business building stuff made it seem very easy when in reality it's far more difficult to find a winning idea.

This is basically the crux of the whole "4 hour work week". Essentially, you just need to invent the next iPhone, pay others to do the heavy lifting, and you can do whatever you want as you count money.

It's funny how two people can read the same book and take away completely different ideas.

From the very same book I got steps to validate small business ideas that have low overhead, and work them yourself until you learn the main customer needs and objections, then tweak the product accordingly and hire/train a few people to keep it stable.

One of the examples in the book was drop shipping t-shirts.

The main takeaway was to build some recurring income that didn't completely depend on trading time for money after the initial setup. Then it consisted of modern day examples and a few ways to leverage tech to make this easier.

You don't have to be a genius or invent Paypal or use "slave labor" to live location independent, be very comfortable, and work less than 40 hours a week. I know because I do it.