4 ms·

While I agree that it's bullshit that you can be successful working 4 hours per week, there was a good point in the book: It's not worth making yourself unhappy

While I agree that it's bullshit that you can be successful working 4 hours per week, there was a good point in the book: It's not worth making yourself unhappy working relentlessly in an unfulfilling job in order to enjoy the fruits of your labor in some distant future. Better to work less hours so you can enjoy your life while you're young.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
While bringing your spending and corresponding expectations in line with that income level.
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quickConclusion 9y ago
Tim Ferris got to 4 hours per week by working 70+h per week for a long time, then firing his least profitable clients, automating/delegating and giving up about growing his business further. you'll never get there working 4 hours a week. And you'll never do 4 hours a week if you are passionate about your job, or a rat racer. src: his book the 4 hours work week
gingerlime 9y ago
There's a pretty wide spectrum between 4 hours per week and working yourself to death. As a co-founder/technical person, I immensely enjoy what I do. Frankly, I'll get bored pretty quickly sitting at the beach and staring at the ocean. It's fun and relaxing, but I kinda "get the point" after some time. Whereas, there are endless challenges to keep me motivated, curious, and ultimately satisfied "at work". It was more or less the same satisfaction and fulfillment I had as an employee. I just enjoyed the challenges and still got compensated generously back then. Disclaimer: I didn't read the book. I'm sure it has some great points or it won't resonate with so many people. Also I should mention that at our company we instated a 45-days holidays per year policy (this includes personal and public holidays, we're 100% remote, no VC, but no dreams of mega money). So we do see a lot of value in not working to death.
- cimmanom 9y ago
  Sure, but you don't have to spend all that time staring at the ocean. You can spend it exploring the cities of the world and all the history and culture they have to offer. You can spend it learning new things. You can spend it hiking or skiing or skeet shooting. You can spend it with friends and family. You can spend it writing or painting or woodworking. You can spend it volunteering or building an organization to make the world a better place. You can spend it doing for fun what you used to do for work. We spend so much of our lives working just to be able to feed and house ourselves. There are so many things we could do with our lives if we didn't have to, and lying on the beach is only one of thousands.
b0rsuk 9y ago
I've heard this point of view before - Robert Kiyosaki, his books and the Cashflow board game. It's based on the assumption that work is something inherently unpleasant, and therefore it needs to be reduced, ideally to 0. Aside from ethical implications of this parasitic lifestyle (it's how to abuse the capitalist system, not how to fix it), to me it smells of solving the wrong problem. I think Robert Kiyosaki and possibly Tim Ferris (I haven't read books of the latter) simply haven't discovered what they enjoy doing in life... or are encouraging others NOT to get to know themselves. What their abilities are. It's not true that what you love will always be your best job. For example professional gamers earn little, because playing games is enjoyable in itself. Game developers put up with higher than usual workplace exploitation, because they work on something quite fun. Models put up with abuse, because being a model is glamorous. So unless you're lucky with a passion in something that's quite unique AND profitable, the trick is finding a pragmatic interest, which is enjoyable but not to the point where managers feel they can take advantage of you or competition is very fierce. Oh, and reasonably well paid. "Find a job you like, and you'll never work a single day of your life" - Confucius "If you love something, you shouldn't do it for money." - Unknown(?) I used to think the 2 are mutually exclusive. They are NOT. If you care about your profession too much, it puts you at risk. You might try to make a PERFECT product and never ship. You might get in arguments with people how something must look. You might agree to poor work conditions or bad pay.
- chrishynes 9y ago
  Having read both Kiyosaki and Ferris, I see their views a bit differently. Neither of them suggest a goal to eventually quit working. They might say stuff like "never have to work again" for marketing purposes, but the key there is the choice to be able to decide whether to work or not, and on what. They're both advocating a level of financial independence where you can pick and choose the work and do what you want to do rather than grinding at a job that's not particularly interesting to you just to pay the bills.

toomuchtodo 9y ago

While bringing your spending and corresponding expectations in line with that income level.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

quickConclusion 9y ago

Tim Ferris got to 4 hours per week by working 70+h per week for a long time, then firing his least profitable clients, automating/delegating and giving up about growing his business further. you'll never get there working 4 hours a week. And you'll never do 4 hours a week if you are passionate about your job, or a rat racer. src: his book the 4 hours work week

gingerlime 9y ago

There's a pretty wide spectrum between 4 hours per week and working yourself to death. As a co-founder/technical person, I immensely enjoy what I do. Frankly, I'll get bored pretty quickly sitting at the beach and staring at the ocean. It's fun and relaxing, but I kinda "get the point" after some time. Whereas, there are endless challenges to keep me motivated, curious, and ultimately satisfied "at work". It was more or less the same satisfaction and fulfillment I had as an employee. I just enjoyed the challenges and still got compensated generously back then. Disclaimer: I didn't read the book. I'm sure it has some great points or it won't resonate with so many people. Also I should mention that at our company we instated a 45-days holidays per year policy (this includes personal and public holidays, we're 100% remote, no VC, but no dreams of mega money). So we do see a lot of value in not working to death.

cimmanom 9y ago
Sure, but you don't have to spend all that time staring at the ocean. You can spend it exploring the cities of the world and all the history and culture they have to offer. You can spend it learning new things. You can spend it hiking or skiing or skeet shooting. You can spend it with friends and family. You can spend it writing or painting or woodworking. You can spend it volunteering or building an organization to make the world a better place. You can spend it doing for fun what you used to do for work. We spend so much of our lives working just to be able to feed and house ourselves. There are so many things we could do with our lives if we didn't have to, and lying on the beach is only one of thousands.

b0rsuk 9y ago

I've heard this point of view before - Robert Kiyosaki, his books and the Cashflow board game. It's based on the assumption that work is something inherently unpleasant, and therefore it needs to be reduced, ideally to 0. Aside from ethical implications of this parasitic lifestyle (it's how to abuse the capitalist system, not how to fix it), to me it smells of solving the wrong problem. I think Robert Kiyosaki and possibly Tim Ferris (I haven't read books of the latter) simply haven't discovered what they enjoy doing in life... or are encouraging others NOT to get to know themselves. What their abilities are. It's not true that what you love will always be your best job. For example professional gamers earn little, because playing games is enjoyable in itself. Game developers put up with higher than usual workplace exploitation, because they work on something quite fun. Models put up with abuse, because being a model is glamorous. So unless you're lucky with a passion in something that's quite unique AND profitable, the trick is finding a pragmatic interest, which is enjoyable but not to the point where managers feel they can take advantage of you or competition is very fierce. Oh, and reasonably well paid. "Find a job you like, and you'll never work a single day of your life" - Confucius "If you love something, you shouldn't do it for money." - Unknown(?) I used to think the 2 are mutually exclusive. They are NOT. If you care about your profession too much, it puts you at risk. You might try to make a PERFECT product and never ship. You might get in arguments with people how something must look. You might agree to poor work conditions or bad pay.

chrishynes 9y ago
Having read both Kiyosaki and Ferris, I see their views a bit differently. Neither of them suggest a goal to eventually quit working. They might say stuff like "never have to work again" for marketing purposes, but the key there is the choice to be able to decide whether to work or not, and on what. They're both advocating a level of financial independence where you can pick and choose the work and do what you want to do rather than grinding at a job that's not particularly interesting to you just to pay the bills.