I agree that there are enough “get rich quick” scam books, but Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich is not one of them.  This book is both inspirational and practical.  It provides the traditional self-help pep talk, but, most important, it also explains how to achieve wealth.  Ferriss essentially gives us a framework we can use to succeed.

The first part of the book proceeds like an autobiography and provides most of the self-help language that typically permeates these types of books.  Ferriss warns that life is short, and he instructs us not to spend our lives working in a job we hate and buying things we do not need.  Obviously, this sounds like the trademark self-help chatter that we see in other books and resources, but it does bear repeating. 

Many people take for granted that they can’t break out of their jobs and achieve something greater.  Thus, sometimes an author has to inculcate these values in order to motivate people to apply them towards a higher goal. 

Ferriss also recommends reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, a famous non-fiction book that details Thoreau’s stay in a cabin near Walden Pond, which was near Concord, Massachusetts.  I think this is a brilliant recommendation, and you normally do not see such deeper and well-read suggestions in similar books.  I have a bachelor’s degree in English, and I think the lessons of traditional American and European literature resonate powerfully today.  Thoreau isolated himself from society in order to gain a more objective understanding of it.  His other goals, which he writes about in his other works (Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (Dover Thrift Editions)), were simplicity and self-reliance. 

It is not surprising that Ferriss invokes Thoreau because, in my view, these two goals (simplicity and self-reliance) are essential to starting a business and making it succeed.  Complex thinking usually does not lead to the creation or innovation of new products and services.  Rather, a simplified and centralized pattern of thought generates inventive ideas.  If you don’t agree with that, talk to a five-year old for ten minutes, and you will understand what I mean. 

Self-reliance is also a critical trait in business because, as business owners, investors, and entrepreneurs, we cannot rely on anyone or anything else to succeed.  We have to rely on our own efforts and drive to achieve our goals.  We have to rely on our self-esteem to endure the naysayers and risk-averse crowd.  We have to rely on our independence because no person or entity (such as the government) is going to help us succeed (or save us from trouble). 

Ferriss’s reference to Thoreau implicates the need for these character traits.  Without them, we simply cannot proceed with and apply the lessons in his book, much less understand them at all. 

The rest of the book provides the coveted money-making plan for professional employees who hate their daily jobs.  Ferriss argues that regular jobs are inadequate and proposes, instead, that people should start online businesses.  He states that, in these businesses, we should sell practically anything that makes money.  Once it becomes profitable, he continues, we should outsource various aspects of the business (customer service, selling, shipping, etc.) so that, as the owners, we won’t have to do anything except for the most minimal of tasks (like overseeing it and being available for any issues or problems).  The result?  An automated, passive-income-producing machine.  Or, to bring this full circle, a 4-hour work week.

Ferriss may not tell you exactly which products to sell or what services to provide, and people usually cite that as the reason for labeling such books as fraudulent “get rich quick” books.  But succeeding in a business is usually, in part, the result of creativity.  Ferriss can’t provide us all with turn-key businesses.  He can’t do all the thinking for us.  To some degree, we have to insert our own unique thoughts and talents into the mix.  Even if we were given a turn-key business with products and frameworks in place, it may succeed for a while.  But the absence of our own fingerprints on the business will eventually stall it and lead to failure.  In this book, he provides us with a road map: (1) the mentality (Thoreau’s simplicity and self-reliance) and (2) the system (an online business structured to produce passive income).  Now, it is up to us to inject our creative ideas into this roadmap.  That will, in turn, provide us with the vehicle to success.   

To help us with this process, Ferriss does provide us with lists of free and paid resources.  These are advantageous, and I recommend using them to the fullest extent possible.   

I should also mention that, throughout the book, Ferriss exhibits a brash and egotistic personality (including some funny stories).  That might block his message, but I think we should look past that and focus on his content because it is, indeed, very valuable information.  (I guess people who succeed and break out of the 9-5 grind should be entitled to some confidence, even if it spills over into cockiness.  No one is perfect.)

This is a great read, and all aspiring entrepreneurs should add this book to their resources. 

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