Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek

After reading I’m Just a Kicker, I had said that I would drop my future as a successful sports agent to be an NFL kicker (if I had the leg to provide a decent salary). After reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, I no longer want to be a kicker. It takes a lot of hard, unappreciated work and is not exciting enough for me. In addition, the time constraint would not let me do everything that I want to at an early age. I am back to being a content sports agent, but have definitely adjusted my views about the profession, the entire sports industry, and life in general after reading The 4-Hour Workweek. Before reading on to the review, let me caution that this book is now one of my favorites (along with Wikinomics), but that you must be prepared for some revolutionary thought before jumping into reading it.

It should not disappoint you that The 4-Hour Workweek has nothing to do with sports. The only way that sports plays into the plot is that it is a way for Ferriss to spend time, burn calories and learn new things when overseas and assimilating into a foreign culture. But no matter what profession you are in (even a sports related profession such as an agent), you have a lot to gain from reading this book. Even if you come away thinking the majority of it is crap, you will at least benefit from some simple tips like Eye Gazing, which challenges you to gaze into the eyes of another for a long period of time without speaking (remembering to blink so that you do not get your ass kicked).

Most likely, you will fall in love with The 4-Hour Workweek, and will not want to put it down until completed in one sitting. This feat may even become possible if adopting Ferriss’ technique to read faster. Basically, the story is a good read for anybody that is not content with their life or is in a falsely assumed contentedness and needs to be awoken. Whether you are unemployed, an employee at a desk job, or a CEO that loves to control all processes, you have something to gain from The 4-Hour Workweek.

I sure have a lot of good things to say about the book and have implored you to read it, but have spoken little about the actual content to this point. Here are brief descriptions of some things that Ferriss discusses:

• Forget about retirement. If you plan for retirement, you will be bored once you get there because it is not what you think it is. Instead, plan mini-retirements throughout life.
• Get rid of all the unnecessary things you do and outsource or automate all of the important aspects of your job.
• Live a mobile lifestyle. Take long trips that do not cost an overwhelming amount of money. Learn new languages.
• Check your email less, talk on the phone less, set auto responders if you can.
• Life is not all about money.

Before I picked up The 4-Hour Workweek, success for me was found through happiness. After reading, I now include excitement in my definition of success. I am no longer content with being happy, I want to be thrilled. Pick up The 4-Hour Workweek to learn about the personal adventures of Ferriss, anecdote stories of others who have applied his principles, thought provoking quotes at the beginning of every chapter, awesome comfort challenges at the end of each chapter, and much more. After reading, you may increase productivity, take educated risks, and live your dreams. If nothing else, Ferriss provides a great deal of websites that can help with traveling, advertising, communicating, etc.

My partner at Dynasty Athlete Representation, Matthew Vuckovich, bought The 4-Hour Workweek after I was 50 pages into it and implored him to pick up a copy. He started reading it a week ago and it has already affected his productivity and ideology in regards to how he helps manage our company. His efficiency has increased twenty fold and he is able to effectively contact potential partners and follow up on leads by applying some of the tips included in The 4-Hour Workweek. Matthew, myself, and Dynasty all have concrete plans to become members of The New Rich (NR). I bet you will have a similar plan after reading Ferriss’ book.

Forget 9-5 days, forget thinking that money will solve all your problems, and forget tradition. If I subscribed to tradition, I would currently be a law student focusing solely on my studies and spending extracurricular time in the library in order to get a 16 hour per day job in a private law firm right after school. I would work hard, make $120,000 per year, stress and drain myself out, and wonder why I am living such a life. A few years later I might join a big sports agency (if I were lucky or had connections) and work my way up making pennies in the process. Instead, I am doing my own thing, starting up Dynasty with Matthew and living like a millionaire without being one (yet). I am not sure that I want to have a 4-hour workweek and I do not necessarily think that it is smart to only check and answer my emails once a week for 20 minutes. However, I agree with most of what Ferriss has to say in The 4-Hour Workweek, and urge you to post your comments here once you have read the book.