Summary
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.
This step-by-step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches:
– How Tim went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week
– How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want
– How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
– How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
– How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
Review
What attracted me initially to this book was the title itself: The 4-Hour Workweek. After reading the first couple of chapters I found myself enjoying this book a lot. I cant say I was 100% hooked to it, as I didn’t agree with some of the most “radical” ideas of the author- however, he does a great job at talking about his life and grabbing the reader’s attention with his adventurous stories.
The author begins by talking about his unhappy and unfulfilling life while working a regular 9-5 job as an average salesman. Finally, one day he became fed up with this miserable life and made some drastic changes. The stories of his journey of transformation from the 9-5 week to the 4-hour workweek are admirable and inspiring. The author reveals his techniques of working at your highest capacity for a very short period of time and then taking short retirements. He sets out to prove to us that the world has changed and we no longer need to settle for the traditional 35-40 years work and retirement at old age.
If you have an adventurous soul, are looking for a radical change, and are tired of long hours and only 10-15 vacation days a year, then you will enjoying reading and putting into practice the principles in this book.
My favorite aspect of the book:
The author reveals many important secrets of his personal success and does an amazing job at describing what globalization can do for us. He pushes the reader to think outside of the status quo. He presses the question: what if instead of working harder we could just work more efficiently? Most importantly, he asks the reader: What do you want to get out of this life?
My least favorite aspect of the book:
Some of the advice or ideas that the author gives can be too radical and are based on the principle that we need to work and read less and instead concentrate on having fun and doing things that make us happy. For some readers, working and reading are not wrong or unfulfilling but something to be enjoyed. Adventures are fun and fulfilling, but a lifestyle full of adventures and fun can become your worst enemy.
Simon’s Rating: 3