Somaditya Roy reading a book in a New York Library
I recently read a famous book written by Tim Ferriss, known as The 4-hour Work Week. Now, for those who haven’t heard of this book, gather round cuz I’m about to drop some knowledge!
The book begins by classifying people into two main categories:
On one side, we have the Deferrers who work 30–40 years of their lives for the promise of a happy and well-earned retirement at the age of 60. They sacrifice the prime of their lives for a huge payday when they get old. They defer enjoyments (such as long vacations) till they retire, hence the name deferrers. This is the more traditional approach to life.
On the flip side, we have the New Rich, who say screw that jazz. Instead of one long retirement that begins when they turn 60, they advocate a pattern of intermittent retirement throughout their lives. They make gaps in their career to enjoy, what they like to call, mini-retirements, and are not interested in sacrificing their best years for more relaxed twilight years.
This book essentially outlines a novel approach that makes you believe that the New Rich have better odds at living a fuller life than the traditional Deferrers.
Tim outlines a 4-step approach which applies to employees and entrepreneurs alike. He forms that into an acronym: D.E.A.L.
D → Definition
E → Elimination
A → Automation
L → Liberation
Here, I will not bore you with a long winded explanation of everything that’s in this book. What I will do is give you truth bombs worthy of becoming a bookmark in your browser. Here goes!
Definition — Get your definitions straightened out. What you expect may be very different from reality.
Nothing is more valuable than Time! When you turn 80, no matter how rich you become, you would not hesitate to spend all your wealth to be 17 again, even if you become broke!
Retirement is something to prepare for, but it is not the goal. The usual definition of retirement is outdated. You will have to be a human powerhouse to amass enough wealth to retire at 60 AND maintain the same level of livelihood for 30 more years. You don’t believe me? Run the numbers yourself (don’t forget to account for inflation). And if you are a powerhouse, then retirement and the unlimited relaxation that comes with it, will eventually make you crazy with boredom.
Relative income is the true measure of success. Money is just one component of success, and it’s not even the most important one — time is. Someone who earns $100,000 working 60 hours/week, is very likely poorer than someone who earns $80,000 working 30 hours/week.
Give your fears a name! Most of us are masters at disguising fear as practicality, and, tragically, we don’t even notice when we do it. Next time you catch yourself thinking of some bullshit excuse, ask yourself this — How bad can it be if I go through with it? What’s the worst that can happen? Can I recover from it? Would it really be that bad?
Don’t be scared of lack of money. Be more scared of boredom! Wrong question — What do I want in life? — Too vague. Correct question — What would excite me? — Um, still vague, but better.
Elimination — Cut the chaos.
Efficiency means jackshit without effectiveness If an activity brings you closer to your goals, that activity is deemed effective. Get better and efficient in that. It’s no use in becoming efficient at something that does not bring you to your goals.
80/20 Principle — Pareto’s gift to mankind It is a sad realization when you notice that 80% of work that you do, translates to a mere 20% of your output! But fear not, it also means that the remaining 20% of your effort translates to 80% of your output! To put it simply, without any interventions, you have been spending 20% of effort into effective tasks and 80% into ineffective tasks. Cut this 80% and you will be left with only effective tasks and a lo-o-o-t of free time.
Interrupt all interruptions Anything that halts your effective work, like phone calls, text messages, notifications from Instagram, are all ‘interruptions’ and you must ‘interrupt’ them, either by ignoring, postponing, or speeding it up. A person is effective only for 4 hours on average and every minute counts.
Automation — As long as the plane must fly straight, the pilot can sleep!
Any important task that may not be the best use of your time, should be automated.
Eliminate before you delegate; Never automate something that can be eliminated; Never delegate something that can be automated.
Decision Flow Diagram
Liberation — because why the hell not?
Remove yourself from the equation to achieve financial freedom with more time in your hands than any deferrer.
All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger, but calculating risk and acting decisively, Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer. — Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain. — Colin Wilson, British author of The Outsider, New Existentialist
You can buy your own copy with this link below. 👇🏼
