You might just do a double take when you first hear about Timothy Ferriss’ “revolutionary” book, The 4-Hour Workweek. If that conjures up an image of a magician talking through his hat, rest assured… you’re not alone.

But guess what, cut to the core and Ferriss actually delivers!  Contrary to conjectures, the book is a complete package of path-breaking ideas and examples. It is far from a stale prescription of ‘how to add spice to your life’. Nor does it promote any kind of unfounded ideal. It simply attempts to inspire you, give you ideas on how to automate or outsource boring life tasks, and drive you to come up with products that can drive passive income.

Ferriss has actually tried educating people so that they can become more productive and effective by limiting their workweek. After all, who wouldn’t love to cut back on working and roam all over the world… visit the most wonderful places, and pursue pet hobbies and a host of other recreational activities? The 4-Hour Workweek discusses new and innovative ideas that can help one in doing what he/ she wants to… and at the same time ensure a steady flow of income.

The book also discusses a number of other interesting concepts, such as ‘How to convince your boss to allow you to do your work from home’! Ferriss advocates using the power of globalization, technology and available brainpower to come up with various solutions that can help in simplifying work. He provides the roadmap for your dreams and goals to materialize. Ferriss’ concept of simplifying work is based on the principle of 80/20 (e.g., 80% of revenue is generated by 20% of customers).

The ultimate message conveyed by The 4-Hour Workweek is that, instead of planning a giant retirement at the end of your working life, putting together a bunch of mini-retirements can be much more beneficial and productive. Here’s Ferriss’ recipe for those who’ll have it all, “…the New Rich aims to distribute ‘mini-retirements’ throughout life instead of hoarding the recovery and enjoyment for the fool’s gold of retirement.”

If you’re convinced and want to maximize your life’s potential,  check out Lifehacker and Zen Habits for some excellent time-saving tips and tricks, and simple productivity ideas.  Also, take a look at my post “Timothy Ferriss Says – DEAL With It” for more outsourcing suggestions.

Until next time,  J.

“Take control of your destiny or someone else will”

“Escape the 9 to 5, live anywhere, and join the new rich!”

Big words… And that’s Timothy Ferriss’ promise to you in his ground breaking book The 4-Hour Workweek. As intriguing as its title, the book takes you on a journey of redefining and rediscovering yourself. The 4-Hour Workweek is more than just another self-help guide… it offers you a DEAL that’s almost too good to be true!

Here’s Ferriss’ DEAL for you in a nutshell, based on the four pillars of Definition, Elimination, Automation and Liberation:

• Define your objectives. Decide what’s most important to you. Set specific goals. Answer the question, “What do I really want?”

• Eliminate daily distractions to free up your time. Be effective, not efficient. Focus on the most important 20% of what you need to do… simply ignore the rest. Reduce interruptions and chuck out the information overload. And yes, learn to say “No”!

• Automate your cash flow in order to increase your income. Outsource the mundane tasks in your life — appoint a virtual assistant to take care of daily tasks. Create a business model that runs on auto-pilot.

• Liberate yourself from all conventional expectations. Think “out of the box”. Design your work to boost mobility, so that you can do your job wherever you are, whenever you want!

All the four aspects of DEAL may seem to be difficult to master, but follow Ferriss’ roadmap and you can accomplish many of the positive results that he promises. A perfect blend of all the four components of DEAL can help you live your life in a way that is both self-sustaining and fulfilling.

Pearls of wisdom:
Timothy Ferriss has developed a knack for shattering conventional wisdom every step of the way in The 4-Hour Workweek. Here are a few nuggets for you to chew on:

• Ask yourself, “If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?”

• Learn the art of non-finishing. This is all about the sunk cost fallacy: just because you paid $10 to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to watch the entire thing.

• If you can’t define it or act upon it, forget it.

• Life exists to be enjoyed — the most important thing is to feel good about yourself.

If you’re interested in outsourcing your life just like Ferriss suggests, here’s a handy list of online marketplaces where you can find the perfect virtual assistant for you:

1.    www.elance.com
2.    www.odesk.com
3.    www.scriptlance.com
4.    www.ework.com
5.    www.guru.com
6.    www.freelancers.net
7.    www.getafreelancer.com
8.    www.allfreelancework.com
9.    www.project4hire.com
10.  www.contractedwork.com
11.   www.getacoder.com
12.   www.rentacoder.com
13.   www.staffinseconds.com

Until next time,  J.

“Take control of your destiny or someone else will”