Imagine if you were able to set your life up to work only 4 hours per week. Just do some maintenance work to make sure everything is working, and then get on with your life. Is this even possible? Apparently, it is, in the fast-paced information age where exponential leverage can exist if one knows how to utilize the tools available to do so. In Tim Ferris’ book the 4-hour workweek, he describes how to do so. The book is a massive 448 pages, and rather than seeing if you want to read the whole book, I’ve wrote down my summary notes of the key pieces of what the book is about so you can decide before buying and reading the whole thing.
-Whenever you find yourself aligned with the majority, it’s a moment to pause and contemplate – Mark Twain
–Individuals who strictly adhere to their financial limits often lack imagination– Oscar Wilde
-Intro: new rich (NR), Lifestyle Design (LD)
-DEAL: D for definition, turning upside down “common sense”. E for elimination of time wasters, A for automation streamlines cash flow, putting it on autopilot Utilize geographical arbitrage, outsourcing, and rules of nondecision. L for liberation, mobile movement, mini retirements for the globally inclined
-As an employee, first do DELA. Entrepreneurs should do DEAL
-“Individuals often opt for unhappiness over embracing uncertainty” Tim Ferriss
Step one: Definition. The new rich (NR) live now and do what they want, not deferring (D) life until you are too old to do anything with your money.
-different is better if it is more effective or more fun
1- retirement is worst-case scenario insurance. Doing something you dislike now is not worth it for a mediocre retirement. Obviously, investing is important but not the only thing, you have to do well now and be able to do well in the future
2- interest and energy are cyclical
3-less is not laziness. Focus on being productive instead of busy.
4-the timing is never right
5- ask for forgiveness, not permission. Most people don’t do anything their whole lives
6- emphasize and use your strengths, don’t fix weaknesses. Strengths multiply, while weaknesses only add
7-things in excess often become their opposite (the opposite effect I always notice). It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Too much authority actually leads to extreme rebellion.
8- money alone is not the solution. The problem is participating in a dull routine because everyone else does
9- Relative income holds greater significance than absolute income (per hour basis)
10- distress is bad, Eustress is good (stress that you want)
-being realistic and responsible has not gotten me anywhere, doing what I should hasn’t either. If I keep going, I will have regret. It would be interesting if I did the opposite of those around me.
-what we fear doing most is what we usually need to do. Success can be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have in life
-many people choose unhappiness over uncertainty
-inaction is the worst thing you can do
-most people are insecure and thus heavy competition for mediocre things. The road less travelled is better. Doing the unrealistic is better than doing the realistic
-excitement has become synonymous with happiness
-ADD: adult deficit disorder. Adults give up after reaching 25
-existential crisis comes from boredom
-The significance of relative income outweighs that of absolute income.
Step Two: E is for elimination
-Pareto’s principle. 80/20 rule; focus on the 80% and ignore the 20%. Being occupied can be viewed as a type of idleness – idle contemplation and thoughtless activity. Lack of time is from a lack of priorities.
-Parkinson’s Law: we will make tasks fit for the time given. If we give ourselves too much time on our hands, we waste it doing menial useless things
-Am I being productive or active? Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?
-it’s not productive to read two fact-based books at one time
-One MUST get over the fear of rejection. One way is to keep asking for women’s phone numbers (the result doesn’t matter)
-start eliminating time wasters for emails, notifications and let others know. It is my job to train those around me to be effective and efficient.
-don’t suffer fools or you’ll become one
-Let’s just try it once sales tactic
-group tasks to save time
-outsource tasks that are low cost or not important
-force people to define what they want for you, time set, and desired goal/outcome. No beat-the-bush nonsense. No stories, no random meetings
-the rights you have are the rights you fight for
-try and outsource wherever possible, virtual assistance, and internationally if cheaper or possible
-start getting other people to do your work at a lower cost
-eliminate, then delegate to automate
Golden Rule 1: each delegate’s task must be time-consuming and well-defined
Golden rule 2: have some fun with it
-use established VA’s (virtual assistants) with multiple backups
-criticism sandwich: compliment, criticism, complement
-Muse: business to automate within one months and require one day per week management
-to prevent copycats online selling, offer exclusivity to manufacturers; and minimum advertised pricing, to prevent price-to-the-bottom
Step 3: Automation
-step one: pick an affordable reachable niche market
Creating demand is hard, filling it is easier. It takes one to know one; be a member of the intended demographic
-if everyone is your customer, no one is your customer; pick a niche
-find a group like work, identity, hobbies, habits I belong to, and then find magazines for a niche, such as in chapters, where members of that group spend money. Ask for advertising rates for magazines or on Facebook (now most profitable, try with my investing course), repeat advertising is good news
Step two: brainstorm but do not invest in products/ideas
-main benefit should be able to be understood in one sentence
-good price range -$50-$200
-price on high range, with therefore less customers, lower maintenance customers, higher profit margins. 8-10x margins, at least 5 times to account for middle men taking away margins
-3-4 weeks to manufacture, 1-2 weeks to get to customer
-determine pricing from contractor manufacturers, determine per unit cost of 100, 500, 1000, 5000 units by asking manufacturers directly
-should be fully explainable in a online FAQ
-generally wholesale price is 40% off retail
-three options (worst to best) reselling, licensing a product, creating a product. Create an INFORMATION based product, as we are in the Information Age. This can allow 20-50x profit margin, and more difficult to replicate due to time involved. All one needs is to know more than the purchaser to be able to sell potentially
-intuition and experience are poor predictors for which products and businesses will be profitable. Initial yes changes when real money is at stake
-google AdWords, for keywords and limit budget for google advertising
-mock setup of course for investing, see how many pre-orders I could get, or if I tried to drop ship or sell my own stuff on amazon first.
-specific words for ads, videos, have a higher click through rate
-income autopilot I and II
-try a few weeks market out product and see if users would want to commit to a buy; tell them product would be coming soon and they can pre-order
Step 4: Liberation
-in order to succeed in business, start with the end in mind, and work from there. Autopilot the business so its process driven, not founder dependent
-start your journey with the end in mind
-the guy who started McDonald’s literally copied blockbuster’s organizational chart
-one needs to learn how to scale to others after getting self-sufficiency
-lose-win guarantee that ensures delivery excellence
-Don’t give off impression of final decision maker, act always as “property manager” or mid level manager, not CEO or founder as that scream’s startup
-Ask for forgiveness, not for permission
-getting what you want often depends more on when you ask for it than how you ask for it
-leave situations that are beyond repair, adding curtains to a jail cell doesn’t change the fact you are living in a jail cell
-people are bored now, do something different to stand out. If out of a job, start doing something interesting instead.
-if I worked all my life, what’s the rush to not take some time off?
-fortune favours the bold
-test assumptions before condemning yourself to more misery
-the consequences of bad decisions do not get better with age
-In the realm of action and negotiation, a single principle reigns supreme: the individual with a greater number of options possesses heightened power. Don’t wait for options, constantly search for them, just like for investments
-take slow vacations, not fast
-learn to slow down and turn into an eagle, moving quick and highly only when necessary
-true last-minute airline ticket sales will be very cheap
-When you discover a focal point, an ambitious objective that appears insurmountable and compels you to evolve, loud internal doubts disappear
-what is the meaning of life? To love, and beloved, and to keep learning with an open mind
-recapturing excitement of childhood is a requirement of life
-mistakes are an integral aspect of the lifestyle design process
-perform an 80/20 analysis every two to four weeks for business and personal life
-do not strive for perfection
-focus on life outside your bank account
-Don’t ignore the social rewards of life. Surround yourself with the right people, who are positive, smiling, and have absolutely nothing to do with work. Do not live life alone
-universal cause of self-doubt and depression; trying to impress people you don’t like
-have at least one 2–3 hour dinner or drinks per week, with 1-5 people
-adversity and money don’t change you, they just reveal who you are, when you can’t/don’t need to be nice
-People value scarcity. And by doing so, scarcity breeds jealousy and unethical behavior. This is due to a disdain for those things easily obtained
-value attention over time
-the more options you consider, the more inaction, and buyer’s regret. The more options encountered, the less fulfilling your ultimate outcome
-attention is needed for productivity and appreciation
-fast decisions preserve usable attention for what matters
-routine for results, variation for enjoyment, benefits
-remove regret, past tenses, complaining
-Deadlines over details – test reliability before capability
-Focus in the big things and ignore small problems
Disclaimer
This is not Financial Advice. This article is meant only for educational and perhaps entertainment purposes.