The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich – by Timothy Ferriss

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The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich – by Timothy Ferriss

How I relate to The 4-Hour Workweek; and how it relates to me…

My first business back in 1996 was a Website that sold Gifts, Novelties and Home Decor merchandise – (“Perfect Gifts”). I had created the Website myself, and although it was horrible by today’s standards, it was impressive as things went online back then. In fact, the Website was so good for the times that it lead to others asking me to create sites for their businesses as well, so I started another business creating Websites – (“Perfect Web Design”).

After I completed each new Website project, I needed someplace to Host the Website, and I eventually realized that I should start my own Web Hosting business instead of referring these clients out to other Hosting Providers as an Affiliate or Reseller – so I started “Perfect Web Hosting”.

This all lead to a job at a Telecom company in Raleigh (BTI) as a Systems Engineer – working on their Websites, Web Programming & Web Hosting. My pay was in the mid $50K/year range, but by 2002 – I felt confident enough in my own business income that I quit this job only a few months after buying my first house (I’ll go more into that story some other time). Over the next few months, I shut down the Gift Website, outsourced Web Design and rebranded the Web Hosting business as ViUX.com – which remains my primary business and main source of income today, over 17 years later.

What does this all have to do with The 4-Hour Workweek?

Much of what I learned over those 17 years about automation, outsourcing and leveraging people and systems to get more done is clearly defined in this book. It pains me to know that this book was written in 2007, yet I did not discover it until somewhere around 2017. If I had come across this book 10 years earlier and applied these principles without having to learn them on my own through trial-and-error… OMG, where would my business be today!?

So I share my recommendation for this book with you because it chronicles remarkably well the journey I’ve taken from 1996 to 2002 and on through now in 2019. I almost feel that I could have written this book myself with what I’ve learned along the way, but that has already been handled in excellent form by Tim Ferriss – and having read it has further allowed me to refine and focus my processes and procedures to remove myself as the bottle-neck in my own business success.

You need to start an online business!

Regardless of what you do for money now, you should have an online business… If for no other reason, the tax benefits of having a business will allow you to save thousands, especially if you are highly paid on your day job. But more importantly, it will create a channel through which you can eventually replace your day job as I did 6 years after I started my first online business. And if I’d had this book back then, I’d likely have done it in less than half the time. But since then I’ve never looked back, having been self-employed for over 17 years and living an amazing life in the process.

Last year we went to Hawaii and several countries. This year we are going to Dubai and Egypt. My 11 year old son has been on 5 cruises; whereas I did not go on my first cruise until I was an adult and was in my 30’s when I first got a passport; whereas my son needed his at age 8. And due to being self-employed, I’ve been to every school event and on every class field trip with my son since Kindergarten. The first one I missed was this year in 5th grade (age 11), but only because I wanted to give him an over-night school trip experience without me for once.

The work time paradox..

The 4-Hour Work Week can direct you in creating the lifestyle of your dreams, where you do not have to get up at 6:30 every day to be at work by 8:00. If your work day goes anything like mine did when I had a job… I would arrive at work at 8:00 and work for 3 hours then look up at the clock to see that it was now 8:45. I would work another 3 hours and then it would be 9:30. I’d then take a 15 minute coffee break and return to work what seemed like yet another 3 hours to see that it was now only 10:30. At this rate I’d have to work another 6 hours before I could go to lunch at Noon – or so it seemed.

Being self-employed is just the opposite… Once I return home from dropping my son off at school (I work mostly from home), its about 9:00 AM. I work for 45 minutes and look up to see that it is already 12:00 Noon and time to go to lunch. I get something to eat and sit back down to work around 1:00 PM, work for 45 minutes and look up to see that its already 4:00. My day is almost over and it seems like I’ve barely had a chance to get anything done. The difference in how time feels when you are at a job (that you do NOT love) versus when you love working for yourself – is both amazing and real. Each day working for myself, I’m amazed at how quickly my day goes, and I remember well how it was just the opposite when I had a J.O.B.

I highly suggest reading The 4-Hour Workweek and starting an online business of some-kind as quickly as you can. Even if your business fails (as many first time businesses do), you’ll be better for the effort. Maybe you’ll be like me and your third or forth business will last for decades. Keep trying, you’ll get it right, and this book will make your success far more likely. I didn’t have it when I went through this process, but I really wish I had.

Hopefully one day I’ll meet Tim Ferriss in person and have the chance to interview him for the show! I’ve already met a few people who know him personally, so its possible.

How I relate to The 4-Hour Workweek; and how it relates to me…

My first business back in 1996 was a Website that sold Gifts, Novelties and Home Decor merchandise – (“Perfect Gifts”). I had created the Website myself, and although it was horrible by today’s standards, it was impressive as things went online back then. In fact, the Website was so good for the times that it lead to others asking me to create sites for their businesses as well, so I started another business creating Websites – (“Perfect Web Design”).

After I completed each new Website project, I needed someplace to Host the Website, and I eventually realized that I should start my own Web Hosting business instead of referring these clients out to other Hosting Providers as an Affiliate or Reseller – so I started “Perfect Web Hosting”.

This all lead to a job at a Telecom company in Raleigh (BTI) as a Systems Engineer – working on their Websites, Web Programming & Web Hosting. My pay was in the mid $50K/year range, but by 2002 – I felt confident enough in my own business income that I quit this job only a few months after buying my first house (I’ll go more into that story some other time). Over the next few months, I shut down the Gift Website, outsourced Web Design and rebranded the Web Hosting business as ViUX.com – which remains my primary business and main source of income today, over 17 years later.

What does this all have to do with The 4-Hour Workweek?

Much of what I learned over those 17 years about automation, outsourcing and leveraging people and systems to get more done is clearly defined in this book. It pains me to know that this book was written in 2007, yet I did not discover it until somewhere around 2017. If I had come across this book 10 years earlier and applied these principles without having to learn them on my own through trial-and-error… OMG, where would my business be today!?

So I share my recommendation for this book with you because it chronicles remarkably well the journey I’ve taken from 1996 to 2002 and on through now in 2019. I almost feel that I could have written this book myself with what I’ve learned along the way, but that has already been handled in excellent form by Tim Ferriss – and having read it has further allowed me to refine and focus my processes and procedures to remove myself as the bottle-neck in my own business success.

You need to start an online business!

Regardless of what you do for money now, you should have an online business… If for no other reason, the tax benefits of having a business will allow you to save thousands, especially if you are highly paid on your day job. But more importantly, it will create a channel through which you can eventually replace your day job as I did 6 years after I started my first online business. And if I’d had this book back then, I’d likely have done it in less than half the time. But since then I’ve never looked back, having been self-employed for over 17 years and living an amazing life in the process.

Last year we went to Hawaii and several countries. This year we are going to Dubai and Egypt. My 11 year old son has been on 5 cruises; whereas I did not go on my first cruise until I was an adult and was in my 30’s when I first got a passport; whereas my son needed his at age 8. And due to being self-employed, I’ve been to every school event and on every class field trip with my son since Kindergarten. The first one I missed was this year in 5th grade (age 11), but only because I wanted to give him an over-night school trip experience without me for once.

The work time paradox..

The 4-Hour Work Week can direct you in creating the lifestyle of your dreams, where you do not have to get up at 6:30 every day to be at work by 8:00. If your work day goes anything like mine did when I had a job… I would arrive at work at 8:00 and work for 3 hours then look up at the clock to see that it was now 8:45. I would work another 3 hours and then it would be 9:30. I’d then take a 15 minute coffee break and return to work what seemed like yet another 3 hours to see that it was now only 10:30. At this rate I’d have to work another 6 hours before I could go to lunch at Noon – or so it seemed.

Being self-employed is just the opposite… Once I return home from dropping my son off at school (I work mostly from home), its about 9:00 AM. I work for 45 minutes and look up to see that it is already 12:00 Noon and time to go to lunch. I get something to eat and sit back down to work around 1:00 PM, work for 45 minutes and look up to see that its already 4:00. My day is almost over and it seems like I’ve barely had a chance to get anything done. The difference in how time feels when you are at a job (that you do NOT love) versus when you love working for yourself – is both amazing and real. Each day working for myself, I’m amazed at how quickly my day goes, and I remember well how it was just the opposite when I had a J.O.B.

I highly suggest reading The 4-Hour Workweek and starting an online business of some-kind as quickly as you can. Even if your business fails (as many first time businesses do), you’ll be better for the effort. Maybe you’ll be like me and your third or forth business will last for decades. Keep trying, you’ll get it right, and this book will make your success far more likely. I didn’t have it when I went through this process, but I really wish I had.

Hopefully one day I’ll meet Tim Ferriss in person and have the chance to interview him for the show! I’ve already met a few people who know him personally, so its possible.