Who believes this ****

[SnakeOilSalesman]

Who the **** believes this guy? Why would you buy this book? Use your own intellect. Don't say you see a line when there isn't one there just because you want to see one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

[DrummerDave]

What specific *thing* that is discussed in the book do you disbelieve exactly?

The idea of starting a company and minimizing the amount of work you have to do?
Or the idea of outsourcing?
Or the idea of reducing your hours in the workplace?

Or is it the implementation of the idea you disagree with?

Do I "believe" everything Tim says? No. I think he overlooks some things that do not affect him, but affect many others. Does that mean he should have written a book that was applicable to 100% of the readers? Do you believe such a thing would be possible?

The idea here is you take some good ideas, you think about life a little differently and make it work for you.


That's just my $.02

PS, to answer your quesion, I bought the book based on the suggestion of someone else who had read it.

[Monkiii]

I certainly can't see your line (of thinking) Snakey.

Watcha' trying to say exactly? And why exactly are you bothering to register and post on this forum?

You're funny. :)

[REOBULK]

The world is flat, don't explore because you'll fall off......

[Sven]

Who the **** believes this guy? Why would you buy this book? Use your own intellect. Don't say you see a line when there isn't one there just because you want to see one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

Snake, why bother registering here?
Don't say you don't see a line when there is one there just because you don't want to see one.

[eleighj]

Don't believe him then! There are things in the book that are thought provoking and if it provides you with new tools or ideas; can't hurt!

[VancouverDave]

Who the **** believes this guy? Why would you buy this book? Use your own intellect. Don't say you see a line when there isn't one there just because you want to see one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

I have to say that snake oil salesman might have a point. While I enjoy reading Tim's book and his style. I do see a pattern in the formula for the book that I think I've see in other books, books before the internet was about and 'mail order' was the way to make millions, at least acording to the books at the time.

The formula simplified, loosley goes like this;

Q. How do you make a million dollars?

A. You write a book called "How to make a million dollars" and sell a million copies for a dollar each.
Inside the book, you instruct the reader to write a book called "How to make a million dollars" and sell a million copies, yep for a dollar each.

Of course you couldn't do that, it would be to transparent. However if you change to title to something else equally as enticing like say ahem "four hour work week" and then you build out the content a bit more with lifestyle suggestions etc... you'd end up with a book that's interesting but could well have been built with the 'end in mind' of how to write a book around the above formula.

I think that's one of Tim's principles to start with the end in mind, also be a bit cheeky, some might say a bit of a con artist in some respects.

[DaveinHackensack]

I have had something of a roller coaster ride with respect to my opinion of Tim and the 4HWW. At first, after reading the book I was inspired, and it helped push me off the fence to launch a couple of business ideas I had been thinking about, even if I didn't follow Tim's method of testing it before you build it.

Then, after reading Kamakiri's breakdown of BrainQUICKEN, it seemed pretty clear that there's no way Tim was netting $40k per month selling supplements, and that his real muse was his book. To Tim's credit, he promoted the hell out of the book, in innovative ways, but if he didn't come from a wealthy and connected background (East Hampton, St. Paul's, Princeton) he probably wouldn't have gotten the book deal in the first place.

I also thought that "lifestyle design" -- at least the part where you encourage young people to go travel and live on the cheap -- is not a particularly new concept. A subset of young people have been doing that for years -- surf bums, ski bums, slackers, etc.

But couple of things have given me a renewed appreciation for the 4HWW recently. One is the interactions I've had with a couple of individuals I found on this forum. The other is the interaction I've had with a client of one of my businesses. I saw from his e-mail address that he had his own financial online business and e-mailed him, suggesting there might be ways for us to work together. We ended up speaking by phone and he gave me some excellent advice about promoting my business -- and he mentioned that he had used some techniques from the 4HWW in doing so. Now I am following some of the same steps.

My current view is that even if Tim was wildly exaggerating the success of his supplement business, it doesn't mean that there aren't some good techniques and resources in the 4HWW. Also, you have to be realistic about what the book can and can't do for you. It can't tell you how to make money. You have to figure that out on your own. But it can tell you how to streamline the process.

Absorb what is useful.

[officer_dibble]

I'd agree with much of what Dave says. The book pulls together a number of useful ideas eg 80/20 rule - waves hands a little - and then tells you don't have to work and can still have a great life.

The truth - for most - is slightly different.

I see the whole FHWW as a bit like monks living off the kindness of local villagers. The monks don't work - just pray all day. The villagers effectively pay them for praying by giving them food etc. Clearly if everyone wanted to be a monk the whole thing would collapse - and equally the world couldn't survive if everyone decided to sell ebooks/supplements to each other and wanted to outsource their business to live the good life.

The bad news. It is effectively a ponzi scheme albeit a very elaborate multi-faceted one (a bit like our own economy). There are limits to how many people can do this.

The good news is that most people don't want to do that and are happy dreaming about the idea. It's a big old world out there - and there is definitely room for a few more thousand people to bum around doing cool stuff and running semi-automated businesses to fund it. And Tim gives you a fairly good idea about how to do it.

But the barriers to entry are also sufficient that even most readers are not going to manage to attempt it - nevermind implement it.

The tone will put a lot off - there is strong sense of entitlement/self obsession/self-promotion in places (like reading Sartre - it reads too much like something written by a 20 something bloke without any responsibilities).

A good number who try it - will try to copy the examples in the book (hence the number of supplement related muse ideas on here) and probably fail at that.

Others simply won't have the skills to realise their TMI or dreamlines (there was a guy on here who wanted to raise a million/day in six months from scratch).

Still others will end up with a business that they love rather than a muse that funds their lifestyle.

Nearly all won't make it last for more than a couple of years as the thing about the internet is that there's a very low barrier to entry and an awful lot of folks willing to work for a few dollars a day. Your muse will get worked out, copied by others or become irrelevant as the world moves on. You'll probably need to keep creating and testing muses - which then becomes your job.

For myself - I've escaped my noisy London office and exchanged it for a quieter place in a smaller city where I can finally afford to buy a house with a garden. I can work from home, the office or train as I like within certain limits (I usually have to be in London a few times/month).

I've automated, eliminated and delegated many of my work tasks (being a manager helps). People have noticed how more productive I am. I'm generally less stressed than previously.

My muses are approaching $900/month on peak months. They are fully automated and cost nearly nothing to run. Each new muse is getting easier to set up and run as I've learnt what works and automated more of the parts of the process (eg basic internet marketing). For me - they are hobbies (I like my job - mostly).

My zest for learning is back.

Much of this I was doing or putting in place before I read the 4HWW - but what it has done is helped me focus on particular things and put names to ideas. The book has its problems - some of them outlined above but it is helpful (particularly if you read some of the source material it spawned from).

[EditorDude]

Still others will end up with a business that they love rather than a muse that funds their lifestyle.

.

Perhaps that's the point - doing what you love and making money from it.
And it doesn't necessarily mean you need an online automated biz to do it (but it certainly helps). If you discover what you really love doing, then it just happens. You enjoy the sheer process of doing it. It's up to you to figure out how to make money from it.

[officer_dibble]

Perhaps that's the point - doing what you love and making money from it.
And it doesn't necessarily mean you need an online automated biz to do it (but it certainly helps). If you discover what you really love doing, then it just happens. You enjoy the sheer process of doing it. It's up to you to figure out how to make money from it.

Thanks so much for digging out this old thread. It's fascinating to re-read what I and others said a year or so on. A bit like opening up a time capsule. Oddly enough I find my opinions haven't changed much.

For me, it's been another great year following parts of the Four Hour Work Week. I've had several months where my muses have brought in more than double my day job's salary and also just had a merit-based pay rise at my day job too. I am less stressed than ever. And I have actually written some of the principles of the four hour work week into one of the company's strategies.

EditorDude - I think it's possible to do either. Have a muse which funds what you really love or have a business which you love. It is a darn sight easier to work on a muse that you love though (although it can have its dangers - you can be blinded to something which isn't going to make you money).

My first few muses were exactly that - I loved doing them and they hardly made a dime. The reason - I had entered a very small market which was difficult to monetise.

I also had a few muses which I hated and I couldn't persuade myself to work on them long enough to get them properly off the ground.

Do I work a Four Hour Work Week or spend my life surfing the waves in some exotic sun-drenched locale? Nope - but I do really enjoy what I do now.

[adam.sn]

Maybe I'm the exception to the rule... but I've found almost ALL the tips in the book to be effective.

And I do believe that everyone can take advantage of the majority of the tools. It just involves a bit of creativity and determination and a willingness to learn & study.

Yes... the setup and learning curve can be steep... but you definitely can make good money working 4 hours a week. I work for the sake of work because I enjoy it... but if I dropped to JUST 4 hours a week... I'd probably be pulling in around 60k a year.

I also believe that anyone can do this work and that is the way individuals are going. Gone are the days of the 40 year career. Most people will now have at least 5 careers in their lifetime and more small businesses are leveraging each other for services or expertise.

There's a market for everything.

Cheers
- Adam

[steveeakin]

Maybe I'm the exception to the rule... but I've found almost ALL the tips in the book to be effective.

And I do believe that everyone can take advantage of the majority of the tools. It just involves a bit of creativity and determination and a willingness to learn & study.

Yes... the setup and learning curve can be steep... but you definitely can make good money working 4 hours a week. I work for the sake of work because I enjoy it... but if I dropped to JUST 4 hours a week... I'd probably be pulling in around 60k a year.

I also believe that anyone can do this work and that is the way individuals are going. Gone are the days of the 40 year career. Most people will now have at least 5 careers in their lifetime and more small businesses are leveraging each other for services or expertise.

There's a market for everything.

Cheers
- Adam

Adam's key word: DETERMINATION

It's amazing how many people read it, think it sounds great, don't do anything and complain about it.

[outofbandii]

I think one of the most important things to note about the 4HWW life is that you could eventually end up working only 4 hours a week (if you want) but there's a lot of solid effort to be put in at the start in building systems/products/the business.

Most folks won't start an incredibly successful business without putting in a lot of hard work (I know there will be exceptions).

But business is fun :)

[mlconsulting]

I was so fed up with my 9-5 job I was seriously, seriously contemplating putting a gun in my mouth and pulling the trigger(ok, I don't own a gun but a stomach full of sleeping pills, pain killers and booze will do the trick just as well).

I might not be a millionaire today, and I am not sure I would want to be one. But I will tell you this, I wake up when I feel like it every morning, work until I get tired or bored on my laptop on one of my muses(some very successful, some not so much). Then I go work out or volunteer my time helping kids, or enjoy a captain and cola with friends.

Life is that simple for me now. Though I do not like the title of Tim's empire(Four hour...) Tim isn't trying to sell us anything that I don't want to buy. I read a lot of self help books(probably because I need help) and this is the book that has had, by far, the most profound impact on my life.

Tim: I bet you are used to people saying 'thank you', well I might be the first to say "Thank you Tim, your work literally saved my life"

[outofbandii]

Wow, well that's some testimonial. Glad you didn't take the pills, well done on making those changes!

[Rossyboy]

I found the book to be extremely motivational and it accelerated my progress on my new business. I had been mulling the idea over for a while but after I read 4HWW I got further in the following six weeks than I had for almost a year!

I also found the tips on drop shipping and product creation very helpful, in as much as they were things I'd never really considered before, so to me it opened up a lot more possibilities.

As to whether the book is 100% true isn't really the point in my eyes as it is a very interesting, motivational, feel good, entertaining book, which is pretty much what I want from this kind of writing!

I'm trialling one of my ideas shortly and will have a few experiences to share if all goes to plan :)