“Four Hour Work Week” Commentary & Summary

Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.

This was one of the first books that I read during the initialization of my entrepreneurial journey. Tim inspired me to early on, demonstrating that it is possible to be in the elite group of individuals respective to a particular industry. He taught me that finding purpose and fulfillment in interests and hobbies outside of the workplace is of equal importance than focusing solely on accumulating recognition and wealth. We do not want to become myopic, one dimensional, and fall into a pit of greed causing an insatiable hunger which results in an unsatisfied life. I truly hope that you enjoy this book as much as I have.

Reading through it again with a new set of eyes and thoroughly examining the writings have given me a new perspective and inspired me once again to venture into the unknown to take advantage of this geo-arbitrage he talked about.

Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People.” He is an angel investor/advisor (Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Nextdoor, Alibaba, etc.) and author of five #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek [1].

The title is a misnomer of sorts. His objective is not to create a four hour work week (Ferriss works 80+ hours a day). Rather the objective is to help you become an efficient machine and design a life that is worth living to YOUR standards.

Summary

The 4-Hour Workweek is the step-by-step blueprint to free yourself from the shackles of a corporate job, create a business to fund the lifestyle of your dreams, and live life like a millionaire, without actually having to be one.

Analysis

I will break down the chapters into brief summaries adding my opinions and supplementary information for you to read.

Step I: D is for Definition

CHAPTER 1 — CAUTIONS AND COMPARISONS

NR vs. D

This chapter is tasked with persuading the reader to think against the status quo and combat habitual habits that yield normalized results.

Some Key Words & Acronyms

• NR = New Rich
• D = Deferrers

Examples

• D Example: Retire young and early, relax.
• NR Example: Distribute extended relaxation periods between working on projects that you are passionate about.

The goal here is to change your paradigm of thought. The traditional methodology called for school, career, promotion, retire, and die. The Deferrers (lifestyle design) is more fixated on experiences rather than materialistic accumulation. The goal is to live like a millionaire, not to necessarily be one (or associate happiness with an insatiable lust for greed). Ferriss wants to ensure that you enjoy life now rather than waiting for the end of your life once you retire.

To accomplish his goal and actualize it for yourself you must first replace your assumptions and other preconceptions towards life and work.

The objective here is to be in control of your life, more specifically the four ‘w’s in your life: what, when, where, and who is in your life.

He suggests that we audit our circle (more generally speaking our surrounding and influences i.e. IG idiots and other social media toxins). Their presence may negatively affect you inadvertently and place you on a path towards degeneration and stagnation.

“If someone isn’t making you stronger, they’re making you weaker.”

CHAPTER 2 — RULES THAT CHANGE THE RULES

Heavily influenced by Arnold, Tim also proposes that rules are meant to be guidelines rather than law. However, he adds a caveat to this suggestion. He states that rules that work efficiently (and effectively) should by all intensive purposes remain the same. The proposition to break rules is applicable when a particular task breaks down over time, or the status quo — conservative mindset to preserve what we know — prevents a particular task to improve and evolve. This degenerates from stagnation. So, break rules only if it will improve the operation you are performing, and don’t conflate rules with laws. Don’t be a criminal!

“Break the rules, not the law.” — Arnold S.

He offers 12 rules that change rules, as implied by the title:

Retirement Planning Is Plan-Z: This requires two axioms:

1. Majority of a humans’ life is spent (usually) doing a job they dislike while planning for retirement with an extremely restrictive lifestyle (usually), or
2. The same axiom as number-one except that this group can afford a grander lifestyle but crave an active retirement (usually), therefore making the planning for retirement obsolete.

This isn’t to declare that planning for retirement is a futile endeavor, rather that it should NOT be the primary goal.

2. Emotional Cycle:

Enthusiasm for work is cyclical. That is why the Dalai Lama from “The Art of Happiness” suggests that we cycle enthusiasm routinely from interests, career, and family during your mental and spiritual journey towards ultimate bliss [2]. This is not to say that you can stoically run through the mental adversity and fatigue with brute force, but the idea is lifestyle design. So, similar to blocking time form Drucker’s “The Effective Executive” Tim suggests that you distribute breaks throughout the working life [3]. Me personally, I like to do 3–6 months max big trip with small domestic trips monthly.

3. Don’t be Busy:

For some reason corporate America priorities idle bodies rather than saving money by prioritizing effectiveness. Many confuse the act of being busy with being productive. One is goal oriented and produces effective results that positively contribute towards the larger objective. Busy work is a waste of time. Usually unproductive work titled as work and confused with IPAs (Income Producing Activities).

4. Starting Early:

In New Mexico, there’s a common saying, “Manana”. This is literally translated to tomorrow. That syndrome of “Someday I’ll do x,y,z.” plagues people with the idea of a perfect moment needs to occur. The stars and planets need to align before executing a goal. THE TIMES NEVER RIGHT! Take the leap of faith. The best time to start was 5 years ago, the second best time is now!

5. Asking for Forgiveness is Easier:

Remember, we are emotional creatures. We will likely deny permission requests out of fear, greed, jealousy, or some other emotion. However, post-hoc they may be more understanding and accepting. This is geared towards family or friends who be hatin on your hustle game.

6. Strengths For the Win:

Once again, I like Dalio’s opinion on weaknesses [4]. His suggestion is to foster the strengths as they lead to win, but NOT to overlook the weaknesses. Focusing on building weaknesses is unproductive but acknowledging them is a strength of its own.

7. Free Time is Bad:

Contractive much? Actually, he is suggesting that the goal isn’t to create a four-hour work just to have 164 hours of free idle time. Rather, in lifestyle design, your goal is to be efficient with tasks so that you can have the time to perform the things that you enjoy as opposed to what you are obligated to do.

8. Money’s not the Goal:

This is my problem with capitalism, just like any other government, it is subject to human error. Although ethical capitalism is a superior (and natural) governing philosophy in my opinion the culture inspires gluttony and greed.

The goal of lifestyle design isn’t to get money for money’s sake. This insatiable hunger leads to eternal suffering as you can never be satisfied as you will always have something grander to covet over. There is likely a deep problem that you are suppressing that needs to be addressed. Through self-reflection alone will you be able to battle these inner demons and find true fulfillment.

9. I Make Less Than You But Still Have More:

This section inspired me to travel cities and currently take on the endeavor to move countries as an expat. I can write more on that experience (Geo-Arbitrage) specifically if requested enough. Here, Ferriss distinguishes absolute income from relative income. The first is valued based on total income alone while the second is valued based on an income-to-expenses ratio.

1. Bob: Income = $100,000/yr, Lives in San Fran, Work = 80hrs/wk, Dislikes Job
2. Alice: Income = $50,000/yr, Lives in Mexico, Work = 15hrs/wk, Loves job.

The above example illustrates the fact that Alice makes half as much as Bob per year, BUT makes 2.6x more than Bob per hour. Another important difference is the location of residency. This is geo-arbitrage which will be discussed in greater detail later.

10. Ultimate Bliss:

In lifestyle design, we are attempting to achieve ultimate bliss and fulfillment. Ferriss cleverly places distress in juxtaposition with eustress, a less recognized word. To achieve ultimate bliss we must pursue eustress.

dis·tress

/dəˈstres/

noun

noun: distress

1. extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain

eu·stress

/yo͞oˈstres/

noun

noun: eustress plural noun: eustresses

1. moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial for the experiencer.

Eustress is a constructive reaction to negative emotions and experience. Here Ferriss dives into stoic philosophy suggesting that we observe situations as only good, even in the bad. The bad offers the ability to grow. Plus, most things you get upset about are probably not worth getting upset about.

CHAPTER 3 — DODGING BULLETS

This chapter almost perfectly correlates with an obstacle before entering the descent into the unknown — from “The Hero With 1,000 Faces” [5]. This is the guardian blocking the hero from diving into the abyss.

Fear is the primary topic of discussion for this chapter. Fear is the main emotion that inhibits us from taking action and growing. Fear comes in many forms. “Analysis paralysis” is more common of a perpetrator for preventing individuals from “taking a leap of faith” — so to speak. The

Fear usually is derived from not knowing and potential pain. So, the fact that failure in worse-case-scenario (work setting an average person) hit a 3–4 on a scale from 1–10, where 10 is lasting and 0 is transient. Positive outcomes from best-case-scenario (work related) had an impressive 9-out-of-10 for the same group. That ratio is 2 times greater than the risk of failure. If emotions are limiting you then look at the numbers, they are more comforting and applicable.

Ferriss primarily wants to prioritize the mental shift from evading fear to embracing it. Once you confront fear you soon realize that there was nothing mortally terrifying to avoid, initially. After you take the leap of faith and risk it all — so to speak — you quickly discover your real values, and most importantly you commit to creating a meaningful purpose driven life.

CHAPTER 4 SYSTEM RESET

I enjoyed this chapter because unlike many other business influencers Tim explains why those who follow status quo suffers more. “Realistic” goals lead to mediocrity as those goals are safe and attainable. This actually stimulates more competition because the common individual follows the status quo.

He uses embellished writing to propose that unrealistic dreams have less competition and adds excitement to the pursuit.

He also prescribes questions to be asked for self-discovery. Rather than asking oneself “What are my goals,” instead ask, “ What excites me?”. Like “Mans Searching for Meaning” states, the existential vacuum, terminal boredom, is the cause for most of life’s dissatisfaction.

Once again the goal is NOT inactive retirement, rather the pursuit of something — if the financial need was eliminated — you’d be doing regardless.

Dreamlining is the antidote to the desire to accumulate more resources, rather than following dreams with deadlines. Here’s a place to start with dreamlining:

1. List the things you want,
2. List the things you want to be (more important IMO),
3. List what you need to do to obtain those things (“Plan of action”) [6], and
4. List the timeline to accomplish that dream.

New Mexico poppin off again, “Manana” syndrome places things in the distant future of tomorrow land. Just take action now!

[LAND OF MAKE BELIEVE MEME]

Remember, to live an uncommon life you usually need to establish uncommon habits. I propose using behavioral change rather than habit formation as suggested by “Atomic Habits” [7].

The accumulation of resources towards the top of the dominance hierarchy is common in biology. The best survive and the inferior die. The majority are convinced that reaching the top is unattainable, therefore their perceptions become their reality.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” — Henry Ford

Step II: E is for Elimination

CHAPTER 5 — THE END OF TIME MANAGEMENT

Imma gets straight to it, you being busy is NOT the same as you being productive. Usually busy is a disguise for evading undoubtedly uncomfortable tasks. This is so true! I am guilty of this to this day, but slowly getting better.

This chapter is what truly resonated with me as I was bogged down with busy work rather than productive work. Reading this portion of the book exposed me to Parkinson’s Law and the Pareto Principle which radically revolutionized my perspective on optimization. This has been my bible since.

I detailed “The 80/20 Principle” in the past, but basically: 20% of the sources are usually responsible for causing 80% of the desired outcome.

To get the four hour work week you must audit, eliminate/delegate, and choose priorities that NON-Proportionally produces positive effective results.

To better illustrate his point of choosing the most effective priorities he asks the reader, “If you were terminally ill and could only work 4–6 hours a day, what would you do?” He takes it one step further by asking, “If you had a heart attack and could only work 2 hours a day, what would you do?”

CHAPTER 6 — THE LOW INFORMATION DIET

Ferriss uses an amazing analogy to explain our information intake. The average American male overindulges in gluttonous calories. We too consume too much useless noise and the information we absorb is usually wrong.

He uses the suggestion that we obtain the information we desire from reliable sources and get synopsis reviews of the information rather than sifting through information yourself. Basically, consider the Pareto principle when sourcing information and data.

CHAPTER 7 — INTERRUPTING INTERRUPTION AND THE ART OF REFUSAL

The title is self-evident, that is, Ferriss is attempting to assist you in eliminating wasteful tasks to consume your time without adding value or otherwise is classified as “busy work”.

SImilar to “The Effective Executive” Tim suggests that we audit our time and focus on priority tasks, eliminating most things that don’t constitute as productive activities that positively affect the organization or yourself [3].

The tasks in question fall under 3 main principles:

1. Time Waster: Can be ignored and don’t directly benefit you for the objective,
2. Time Consumers: Tasks that need to be completed but is more clerical, and
3. Empowerment Failures: Where your approval is the bottleneck for execution.

Time Wasters

Instead of busily checking email consider delegating the inbox OR at minimum checking only one time per day. He even offers an email autoresponder template which I used BUT my team hated receiving it every 2 emails haha.

Also, consider answering calls and people with intentional responses. Instead of “Hi this is Angel” ask “Hi this is Angel, how can I help you?”. He also suggests using the “I’m in the middle of something” approach to reduce idle chit-chat.

Lastly, consider using “if-then” statements.

Meetings

Drucker has a whole section of his book dedicated to this. Basically, have an agenda and ask what you can do to contribute to the meeting. If the meeting isn’t relevant to you, don’t go.

Batching

Remember blocking out your calendar from Drucker’s book? Well, this is what Ferriss meant.

Empowerment Failures:

Here you are the bottleneck, so set up principles that delegate your decision-making abilities.

Step III: A is for Automation

CHAPTER 8 — OUTSOURCING LIFE

This chapter was a revolutionary concept to me when I first read it back in 15. Since then I have been using VAs sporadically throughout life, as needed. The chapter is tasked with teaching you how to hire a VA, how to manage a VA, how to stay safe and more importantly, determine if a VA is even needed.

Do You Need a VA?

“Eliminate before you delegate,” and “Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined.”

Golden Rule#1 for VAs: Never waste your time or time of others. If the task can be eliminated then eliminate it. If the task will take the equal time needed to train the VA on accomplishing the task save your money and do it yourself.

VA’s are amazing tools that can be used inefficiently as well. So, maliciously decide what tasks need delegation and if the VA is right for such tasks.

Examples of tasks: Schedule meetings, web-research, proofreading, document creation, website moderation, voicemail transcription, industry analysis.

Choosing a VA

To minimize the risk of jeopardizing your personal security (or clients) consider hiring freelancers that you know personally or VAs form firms.

He advocates for hiring a firm over an independent contractor because people get sick and firms are staffed with more than one contractor. Also, hiring a firm means many people can specifically handle unique tasks under the same management. This lessens the time needed to manage multiple individual contractors.

Interviewing the firm and contractor is quintessential for a successful relationship. Make certain they speak your language well and have the capacity to properly and efficiently execute tasks that are assigned to them.

Lastly, don’t go for the cheapest VA for the sake of saving pennies, rather understand that a slightly more expensive VA may have 4x the output than otherwise. Do value-to-cost evaluation.

Managing a VA

The best management advice Ferris offers is to clearly disseminate the desired objective and outcome, leaving no room for misinterpretation. He adds that you should assign proper timelines for the task. Remember my suggestion from the last article? Give MAX time frames to complete objectives rather than suggested timelines to get work done.

Ensure Your Security

The best antidote to identify theft would be to take precautions with your VA and taking a proactive stand by using proper screening before hiring. Here, a firm would be more ideal as they have a background check and other safety protocols already in place.

Suggestions from Tim:

• “Never use the new hire.” You have the right as a client to request specific VAs, so take advantage of that.
• Do not allow independent VAs to subcontract to freelancers without your express written permission.
• Never use a debit card online. Reversing false credit card charges is much easier, faster, and more guaranteed than attempting to do the same for a debit card. According to Ferriss, this is especially true of American Express.
• Give VAs unique logins and passwords for accessing websites in your name.

The objective of outsourcing is to build a system to replace yourself.

CHAPTER 9 — INCOME AUTOPILOT I

The following three chapters delineate what Ferriss calls the “muse”. Basically, he is teaching you how to set up a passive stream of income based on an automated business model. The objective is to set up a passive stream of income so that you can focus on your grander objectives without stressing over money. This chapter specifically teaches the reader how to properly choose the right “product” to sell.

Most of the ultra-successful companies in the world do not manufacture their own product, answer their own phones, or service their own customers. The goal should be to create a vehicle for generating cash without consuming time.

1. Picking a Niche Market

If you recall Peter Thiel’s suggestion on monopolies, you want to dominate a large market share in a small market when starting. If you question the size of the niche being too big then chances are it is.

Be a member of the niche as you know there is a demand (you being one) and you know what the target demo desires, demands, and expects. It is easier to fulfill an existing demand rather fictitiously create one.

2. Picking a Product

After you have determined the niche you must determine the product (or service) you plan on selling. Ferris recommends a higher end product as the lower frequency means less customer service headaches (complains chargebacks) and higher profit margins (usually). The downside is if the product is too high, like $500+, the client is more inclined to talk to a live person, rather than an automated response. In which you can use VA’s to do customer service.

Manufacturing and delivery should be no more than 1–4 weeks (1–2 ideally). Additionally, he strongly recommends creating basic FAQs to help easily answer common questions without bogging down you or your team’s time with repetitive Q&As.

Remember, the goal here is automation.

Sourcing the products is another sub-topic of its own. He was the original drop-shipper before it was even a fad. Ferriss lists three options for people to use when conducting product research:

1. Re-Selling: Dropshipping. Find an existing product and mark up,
2. Licensing: Same concept as above but with IP based merch, and
3. Creation: To Ferriss, this is the “least complicated and most profitable option open to most people.” However, Ferriss advises against using supplements as the area is kinda grey and raises too many concerns (brain quicken was his product).

Now that you have determined your niche and product how do you actually sell this stuff? He recommends that you become an authority or expert in the niche. This is why I ended up as a guest lecturer for the University for their MBA program and became a TEDx speaker. He outlines suggestions for you to use to obtain “Expert Status”.

1. Join 2 or 3 related trade organizations
2. Read 3 top-selling books on your topic
3. Give a free seminar at a nearby university
4. Give a free seminar at a nearby well-known business or branch
5. Offer to write articles for trade magazines
6. Join ProfNet or expert click

What I am trying now is the content creation (curation) method he proposed as well. So far the method is actually working. I gained 4k followers so far on IG and these blogs over time are getting more traction.

CHAPTER 10 — INCOME AUTOPILOT II

After we have we have selected a niche, product(s), and gained notoriety we are ready to move onto step 3 which is to test. This step is quintessential for us if our objective is not to waste money and time. It is better to get negative results early on to cut the losses short rather than build out a full business only to realize that no one cares for your product haha (happened to me 3x with my Shopify store).

You are commissioned with conducting market research to find out what competitors are doing well and what they are doing wrong. After you have performed sufficient research you can execute the 3 step process.

The Three Step Process:

1. Create a better offer than the competition (lower prices, better quality, or a combo of the two),
2. Create a site and run ads to it (FB and Google AdWords), and
3. Cut losses early or roll it out at scale.

Step two should take 5–7 days with you running targeted ads and observing traffic. The site should be minimal with stock photos, client testimonials, and feature-benefit list demonstrating the inherent value of the product.

After you have determined that the product (and by extension the niche) is a winner you can move onto the next chapter.

CHAPTER 11 — INCOME AUTOPILOT III

Remember, the objective is to create passive automated income. You want to remove yourself from the equation as much as possible. Your involvement should be based on requirements and desire.

The objective is to automate as much as possible and outsource the rest. Everything else should be eliminated or performed if you so desire. We are attempting to transition from dependency to automation by removing you as the bottleneck.

Ferriss breaks the “Muse” automation into three steps.

1. Starting: Here, Ferriss recommends that you do everything yourself from answerings clients to fulfilling orders,
2. Growing: You can start researching fulfillment services and contract out other various services like customer support. Create and modify the FAQ, and
3. Scaling: You hire a fulfillment service that does everything from end-to-end. You use this service to refer credit card merchant clearing providers, and call centers for customer support.

The K.I.S.S. Method

Reduce options for clients. Remember the “analysis paralysis” fear we talked about? Well, the same rule applies here. Too many options may confuse the clients and make them less likely to pursue a purchase. He proposes to eliminate international shipping and alternative shipping methods as well.

Firing Customers

If you have ever been in the service industry you know all too well that they are filled with angry customers that are soul-draining. Do not implement free trials as this attracts low-value clients. Eliminate angry stressful clients (if you can) immediately for your own mental sanity and well being.

Step IV: L is for Liberation

CHAPTER 12 DISAPPEARING ACT

This chapter acts as a primer for the remaining portion of the book, liberation. Ferriss is charged with explaining the benefit of working remotely as the lifestyle designer and the employer. Unrestricted mobility is what allows the life-designer to truly take control of their life and enjoy it without the need to obtain permission to leave if so desired. He even gives recommendations for employees so that they too can achieve mobility without restrictions.

Mobility as an Employee

1. Increase your value at work. It’s unlikely you’ll get access to travel freely if your boss doesn’t feel like you are disciplined enough to complete tasks while at work, much less with liberation,
2. He suggests that you call in using sick days as a way to demonstrate your ability to be productive while working remotely,
3. Ask for a trial period. The trial can show the employer that you are capable and if not then you are subject to return back to the workplace, and

CHAPTER 13 BEYOND REPAIR

Fear is an emotion that usually acts as an inhibitor, preventing us from diving into a world of uncertainty. We naturally fear what we don’t know, so it makes sense. Don’t be ashamed of being afraid. Admitting you’re afraid is okay and actually courageous. To lie or deny your fear is idiotic and dangerous. This chapter talks about quitting your job. I don’t necessarily agree with some points given by Ferriss in this chapter but at a high level, this is true.

“Pride is stupid. Being able to quit things that don’t work is an integral part of being a winner. The average man is conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.” — Colin Wilson

Ferris gives antidotes to common misconceptions with quitting your job:

1. Quitting is Permanent: You can always find a new job or start a new venture,
2. I Cant Survive: Use savings, and other tools from the government to supplement income loss,
3. No Insurance: Supposedly you have a legal right to keep your insurance? Idk about the truth of that, though, and
4. Ruined Resume: Only if you fail to use this freed up time properly.

I suggest that you have 6–12 months saved up and/or make 3 times your monthly income before quitting though. I believe that quitting places you in a state of survival that makes you a dangerous killa, but don't’ be idiotic either. Business takes longer than you expect (most times) to learn and execute before generating profit. So, just be safe and smart.

CHAPTER 14 MINI-RETIREMENTS

THIS CHAPTER IS THE REASON I TRAVEL SOOOO DAMN MUCH! With lifestyle design, your objective is to live like a millionaire not necessarily become a millionaire, remember value over money. This chapter talks in great detail about geo-arbitrage and how you can benefit from this economical magic. He even outlines exactly what you should do before leaving and arriving.

The mini-retirement can be temporary or permanent, and as a lifestyle designer, you decide. He recommends 1–6 months though. The mini-vacation is not once every 4–5 years like most major vacations, instead the frequency is significantly higher (if not perpetually).

I love this chapter as it reminded me of Seneca who was a wealthy investor in the during the Roman Empire and he would practice homelessness once a month. This was to remind him that fulfillment does not originate from materialistic wealth rather interpersonal health — mindset and attitude. Executing these mini vacays can help you quickly love the minimal lifestyle and realize that you're equally happy with the absence (arguably more) than you would be otherwise.

Plus, renting long term is far less expensive than renting by the night.

How to mini-retire:

1. 80/20 on your belongings. Do the Marie Kondo method and keep what important and place the rest in storage or THROW IT AWAY!!!
2. Give fam power of attorney while you’re away and automate your bills online. This is 2019 not 1765 eliminate power mail,
3. Forward mail to someone who can collect and communicate it for you. Mom?,
4. Upload all important docs onto the drive (backup),
5. Use Dent or buy cell plan overseas (usually cheaper than America anyway),
6. Find a decent hostile to live in while your apartment search,
7. Put automobile in storage or with the homies,
8. Upon arrival at mini-retirement location job or bike ride through prospective neighborhoods.

I will be doing this and can create an article in greater detail when I move to Mexico this year.

CHAPTER 15 FILLING THE VOID

I love that he believed this chapter was necessary. After you have built a business on autopilot and you no longer need to fight for survival — your basic physiological needs — and you can (essentially) buy anything you want, what’s next?

This chapter dives into greater detail regarding the need to find fulfillment and thus happiness internally and that material accumulation is an insatiable hunger that could never be satisfied. This leaves people greedy craving more, living well without happiness, or experiencing an existential vacuum.

“Man is made so he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another” Anatole France

Peterson suggests that our pursuit of interest — our instinct for survival — is necessary to create a meaningful life. So, taking on hobbies and interests outside of the domain of work to become satisfied and fill that existential vacuum is a prerequisite for creating a fulfilling life.

The goal after you have obtained happiness and built a successful business is to consider the path of altruism as the last step in the “Hero’s Journey” — so to speak [6]. Give back and consider contributing be leaving an everlasting positive impact on the world and humanity. There, I smuggled in some Jesus. Haha basically be a good person at the end, secular or religious.

Jesus Smuggling

When a person of secular reason has finished explaining something, to the extent of their knowledge, and the person they are explaining to says, Jesus is the reason beyond that explanation.

[ADD SAM HARRIS]

CHAPTER 16 NEW RICH MISTAKES

The final chapters in my opinion concisely summarize what you read above. So what I write down is nearly verbatim. Ferris writes the inverse of the chapters suggestions, things that you should avoid.

Anti-Lifestyle Design Commandments:

1. Always Dream & Don’t work for work (money as the end goal),
2. Don’t be busy to fill time (i.e. emails & micromanaging),
3. Don’t do problems that should be delegated,
4. Don’t be a bottleneck, delegate, give leadership authority, and create autonomy with VA’s and other outsourcing,
5. Don’t chase clients (if business and non-biz goals are funded),
6. Don’t respond to emails that do not directly produce positive results (i.e. sales),
7. Don’t mix habit with the same environment (“Atomic Habits”),
8. Don’t forget to continually perform 80/20 analysis,
9. “Don’t be a perfectionist.” C’s get degrees baby!! Especially in a real-world MBA. Anything beyond that is a waste of time (or a craft and passion),
10. Don’t justify work (back to anti-commandment number one),
11. Don’t fall into an existential vacuum. Find fulfillment in goals, interests, work or a combination of the three. At the minimum learn, adapt, and practice stoicism and compassion.
12. Don’t become purblind. Widen your gaze and open your mind to other possibilities or risk stagnation.
13. Don’t forget to share your life with others. I think he meant to be altruistic rather than broadcasting your life on social for example.

Conclusion

This book is filled with many lessons that can be easily applied directly into someone's life to see almost immediate results. The book even offered Q&A with actionable steps to be implemented at the bottom of most chapters. I want to highlight some of the major points that I discovered while reading the book several years back and again with a fresh set of eyes.

1. Be Productive, NOT Busy

The objective is to be productive. Productive constitutes positive effective results that directly contribute to yourself or organization. Everything else should be eliminated or delegated. Don’t feel your day with busy work as a guise for productivity (i.e. email loitering).

Helpful resources:

• “Are you being productive or just busy?”

2. The 80/20 Rule

80% of outcomes can be attributed to 20% inputs. So focus on the 20% of activities that non-proportionally produce more results (usually greater ratio than that such as 90/10). This article, for example, helps my brand AND my company get recognition. This helps you prioritize your activities accordingly.

Helpful resources:

• The Pareto Principle
• Misapplications of this principle
• Parkinson’s Law

3. Build on Strengths. Replace Weaknesses

Focus on maximizing your strengths. I suggest, unlike Tim, that you become aware of your weaknesses so, at the minimum, you can avoid them OR hire/partner with someone to supplement them.

Helpful resources:

• How to find your strengths
• Career skills test

4. Create Monopolies

Remember Theil suggested that we create a monopoly by dominating the market share of a small industry as opposed to the counter [8].

Helpful resources:

• Google Keyword Planner

5. Make More Money By Doing Less

Cut time-wasting activities with the attempt to make your income per hour increase.

Remember his quote from above:

“If you were terminally ill and could only work 4–6 hours a day, what would you do?” He takes it one step further by asking, “If you had a heart attack and could only work 2 hours a day, what would you do?”

6. Watch Your Intake

Get information from reliable sources and ask for synopsis reviews of the information. You will get 80% of the valuable info while saving hours by not having to read, listen, or sift through the data on your own.

7. Passive Income

The objective of the Muse is to automate income, passively. You should work as little as possible so that you can focus on the things that truly inspire you.

Helpful resources:

• Tim’s email auto-responses:

8. Delegate

Delegation is a great resource that, if used properly, could truly free up a lot of your time from busy clerical work. The objective is to delegate or eliminate so that you can focus on first things first.

Helpful resources:

• UpWork
• Brickwork India

9. Take Mini-Retirements

Consider spreading mini-retirements of 1–6 months throughout your working career rather than waiting till you grow old to retire. Traveling the world on extended vacations while you are young and able sounds a lot more appealing than waiting till you are old and decrepit (and usually with low retirement funds anyway).

Hostels for single people and apartments for families can save you TONS of money down the road (in comparison to hotels) while allowing you to live like a millionaire, without necessarily needing to be one, in exotic locations.

Helpful resources:

• Rolf Potts speaking engagement on travel
• Vagabonding book`

10. Do Important Work First

It’s no mystery that motivation for work starts to slowly dissipate over time as you go on throughout the day. So prioritize and focus on IPAs or other important tasks first in the morning. This will help out tremendously.

References

[1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/timferriss

[2] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/the-art-of-happiness-at-work-fe07f97950f3

[3] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/the-effective-executive-commentary-summary-db66f87a760c

[4] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/principles-commentary-1fe11554016d

[5] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/the-hero-with-1-000-faces-commentary-summary-327b044c5e4e

[6] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/maps-of-meaning-commentary-87d3424e1db1

[7] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/atomic-habits-commentary-3adb68a3d753

[8] https://medium.com/@mondragon.ai/zero-to-one-commentary-summary-dc9478079a07

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Written by: Angel Mondragon.