I don't know how else to put it. Timothy Ferris is a douche. There is, in fact, an entire genre of blog literature that explains why Timothy Ferriss is a douche. Even New York Times columnist Frank Bruni got in on the action. Since I already heard Ferriss' insecure egocentricity on full display during his Long Now talk, I came to this book expecting a self-obsessed hustler to peddle his "you-too-can-be-like-me" vision. But I still wanted to read the book. I wanted to understand why it became a bestseller and why Ferris, the arch-egocentic, has become so influential among ambitious American men of my generation. (If you haven't heard of Ferriss before, you probably don't spend much time reading tech and entrepreneurship blogs.)What I didn't expect was to come to feel a deep sympathy for Ferriss. Despite the fact that he's a jerk, he isn't a terrible writer and the biographic sections of the book are rich fodder for psychoanalysis. Like Ferris, I also grew up with an instinctive, acute resentment of authority and hierarchical structures. It is still the most defining characteristic of my personality, but I have learned to control the resentment and anger as I have matured. Like Ferriss, I too was also extremely motivated and reasonably precocious. This combination of wanting to accomplish so much while spending most of my energy rebelling against the institutions around me led to constant anxiety and insecurity. "Does not fulfill potential" was scribbled across all of my report cards, which led me to rebel against my teachers and parents even more, all the while internalizing the basic notion that I was letting people down.Like Ferriss, I knew that I didn't want to define my life by others' expectations. I wanted to find my own path and define my own expectations. Part of that — like Ferriss — was to travel the world. That is where our paths began to diverge. Ferriss embraced a deep individualism that prioritizes self-improvement as the definition of success. Among his conclusions: Don't search for meaningful work; find a way to make as much money in as little time as possible, and spend the rest of your time having fun. There is no meaning in life; what we really want is excitement, not 'meaning.' Don't let others interrupt your path toward personal perfection; if they start blabbering, cut them off and return to focusing on yourself.Ferriss is obsessed with his own image. He constantly reminds the reader that he is a world champion of kickboxing, the winner of a tango championship in Argentina, a polyglot, a motorcycle racer, a chef, and a weight-lifter. But he is driven only by extrinsic motivation. He does not appreciate the "craftsmanship" of his pastimes; that is, in the words of Richard Sennett, "the desire to do a job well for its own sake." For Ferriss, it's all about winning a trophy, bragging to his friends, or checking something off his to-do list. The collective, the individual, and the twilight of the elites Why has Ferriss' vision of "the good life" proved so appealing among my generation? Why has the perfection of the self become such a popular pursuit? I am easily persuaded by Christopher Hayes' argument that the rise of American meritocracy over the past fifty years has led to extreme, individualistic competition among ambitious elites at the expense of our concern for collective well being. In order to be successful in America today you have to focus on yourself. The idea of placing one's community (or one's work team) ahead of one's self is passé. David Brooks has written a lot about the individual versus collective world views. From China, he penned a column noting that Asian economies are challenging the assumption that a culture of individualism creates incentives for greater economic growth. Then, following President Obama's second inaugural address (which he calls "among the best of the past half-century"), Brooks examines the pros and cons of the individualist versus collectivist society. It is the cultural debate that underlies almost all other contemporary political debates. Like Ferriss, I too am deeply individualistic. The day after I graduated from high school I packed up all my belongings and drove to Alaska to spend six months by myself. I wanted needed to disconnect from all institutions, responsibilities, and expectations. But unlike Ferriss, during my 20s I came to a deep appreciation of the satisfaction that can come from participating in a community that isn't defined by hierarchical structures or individual achievements. I am, of course, speaking of my time with Global Voices, which finally gave me a productive channel to focus my energy toward the goals of a greater community. There is satisfaction that comes from individual accomplishments. But, in my experience, nothing is as satisfying as building something together as a team. I fear we are losing the "craft of cooperation." If there has one thing my generation has learned, it is self-promotion — and no one can out-self-promote Timothy Ferriss. I hope that one day he can take a break from perfecting his self in order to experience the pleasure of cultivating community.
This book is garbage. I donated it to my local library shortly after completing it. First off - the number of plugs Ferriss puts in his book is unbelievable. He's clearly getting a small cut from each of these people who want to "advertise" in his book. Secondly - he talks mostly about himself throughout this book. As opposed to Guy Kawasaki who might actually give instructions, and most likely will inspire, Tim Ferriss is so insecure about himself that he has to talk about his own dance skills before he gets into the meat of the book. This is the plan that Timmy here recommends - get your company to let you work remotely. Once they say yes (because that's just SO easy for everyone apparently), then you stop actually delivering results because now you're working from home, you outsource all your tasks to do (yes he really tells you to outsource ALL your job work), you travel to countries where the dollar is quite strong, and then in your spare time on a beach lagoon you create a product that can sell. You sell this product in exclusive magazines and TV - you don't try and mass market it because then it becomes a commodity. By only advertising in select places, you control the price forever, as he says. Bear in mind - you're doing all this because your company is willing to turn a deaf ear to your lack of results. Wait - there's more. Instead of creating a product - which can be easily replicated - create something else - INFORMATION, he says. Create an instructional DVD or CD (and of course he shows you the best places to produce them for you), or perhaps write an instructional book, and then sell this book to the masses. I'm sitting there reading this book and it occurred to me - this guy just DID EXACTLY THAT to me! He created so-called information, marketed the hell out of it via a blog and a catchy title, and then I lost my $19.99 to him. So I've been made out like a fool, and it was so easy that he explains how everyone can do it. This book is so filled with garbage that Tim Ferriss actually spends several pages in his book writing a line by line SCRIPT that you can use with your boss when you persuade them to let you work from home. Save your time and your money. Guy Kawasaki is better - start a good business, claim tax benefits, and work hard, and you'll be happy. Did anyone really think you can make enough money to live and support a family when you only work four hours a week? Pure garbage.
What do You think about The 4-Hour Workweek (2007)?
I figure, having been unemployed most of this year, I'd see if there were any suggestions in this book that I could actually apply into the kind of career I actually want to do. Well, that and it was free on a holiday promotion. There are words to describe my opinion of this book, however most of them would break the terms and conditions of this site. Suffice it to say, it's one big sales pitch for being an egomaniac, passive agressive jerk. It boils entirely down to outsource or eliminate anything you can, any way you can, handwaves at "creating" businesses with no actual, practical advice on how to determine a market need (which is the hardest part of any business: Figuring out what's needed in the first place!), and then spend lots of your time places where the exchange rate makes you comparatively rich.Not even worth free.
—Jami Leigh
Ok, if I ever met this guy (and I could have because he participated in a celebrity date auction in SF some friends and I were jokingly considering attending), I KNOW I would not like him based on his voice in this book. However, he has about 3 points I took away, and I can appreciate him for that: 1. Don't waste time trying to accomplish things that don't help your bottom line 2. More time given to do things makes more time to procrastinate 3. "Batch" activities at one time to get them done faster (i.e. check email once a day maybe). If these lessons stick, then I can see myself raising the stars. Otherwise, the messages in this book really weren't applicable to anyone in a caring, teaching, or hourly profession. This talked about marketing and selling things to make a buck, when many, many people don't do that and don't aspire to do that. There are many professions the author ignores. Maybe I wasn't the right audience? I certainly am not going to outsource all my emailing to India and hire a personal assistant just so I can effectively practice the art of delegating (that was a long chapter), because that just doesn't sit well with me. I also am not going to spend every moment of my free time traveling the world just to accomplish brag-worthy feats instead of spending time with my family and friends (that was a pretty long chapter too), because that just seems sort of empty. But again, I guess I am not the right audience.
—Kim
Overall, I appreciate the idea he brings up in the fact that people waste their days with nonsense (this may come from the fact that I worked in the government for years). As a computer guy, I also appreciate the fact that many people don't fully harness the power of auto-replies, faqs, macros, scripts, batching, etc. to eliminate a good 80% of their work in an office environment. That being the case, the idea of doing all of this doesn't work everywhere (only certain office/sales jobs I suspect), and no boss I've had has ever really appreciated the work I went through to be more efficient either. Even when my work propagated to others and our unit had plenty of free time, all that happened was more filler was added to our workload to make us look busy, or our staff was assigned elsewhere to places not as efficient. So, I'd recommend following the advise he offers for being more efficient and less plugged in, but not necessarily making it known you're doing so unless you're forced into a corner.The other part of the book espousing the benefits of Direct Marketing are much like the ideas of Rich Dad/Poor Dad for real estate - cute ideas, and I truly believe they will work for some, but not everyone has what it takes to get in on these 'get-rich-quick' ideas at the right time. I feel like success in these field requires a type of personality not everyone has, or wants to have (he references the 'Girls Gone Wild' videos as a good example of direct marketing)?? That may be a true example - but all the money in the world can't make taking advantage of a bunch of drunk girls appealing to me - so, for me it's not a good example.I'll end by saying the book is short enough to warrant reading. It has some interesting enough ideas peppered throughout that if you can plow through the stuff that you don't like, get it out from the library and read it or flip through it at the book store to see if you get anything from it, but don't necessarily buy thinking it will change your life.
—Chip and Katie Moore
