4 ms·

You guys are missing his points. Read his book and you will understand much better. Tim Ferris is about CUTTING OUT THE CRAP. He is about efficiency. Tim ferri

by apsurd 18y ago

You guys are missing his points. Read his book and you will understand much better. Tim Ferris is about CUTTING OUT THE CRAP. He is about efficiency. Tim ferris checks his email once per week. He did this while running a very profitable business. He got to where he is by employing these principles. And unlike other "gurus" that just make money on selling their "guru" information (like rich dad poor dad guy, tony robbins) this guy actually did A WHOLE LOT of things. Now he is sharing his experience on "lifestyle design". His advice is meant to free up your time, to invest in things that actually matter, and actually produce returns. Do you mean to tell me that posting on yc, checking your email a billion times a day, and screwing around on your phone is productive? It's not, you can bash me all you want, but it simply is not. Being up to date on news is bullshit. Sure its "nice to know", but does it really get you anywhere? Read his thoughts on "information overload" and you will understand. All this stuff we are doing, its "nice" but its not efficient, and optimized. If you want to get anything done in this life, you need to be efficient and optimized.

Jasber 18y ago
I certainly agree he has some good ideas--but like everything else, what he says should be taken with a grain of salt. He personally outsources much of his life, including personal e-mails and dating (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/24/mail-your-child-to-sri-lanka-or-hire-indian-pimps-extreme-personal-outsourcing/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/24/mail-your-ch...): Online dating is largely a numbers game, so I hired virtual teams of people all over the world â€” India, Philippines, Jamaica, Canada, and others â€” to compete against each other and set dates for me on an online calendar. Each of them were assigned one of my accounts on either online dating sites like Match.com, or on social networking sites like Friendster, and there would be a $150 bonus to whichever team set the most good dates. Excluding the bonus, the entire experiment cost less than $200 dollars If this is your thing then go for it, for me its too impersonal.
sanswork 18y ago
I haven't read his books so this may be in there but what did he do before releasing these books that makes him different from the other "gurus"? From the sounds of it in your comment he was a successful businessman because of this then decided to write a book about it and became famous but what business was he in before? Wikipedia nor Google have offered any insight into this.
- fallentimes 18y ago
  Drug dealing, actually. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=299663 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=299663
  - apsurd 18y ago
    Geez that thread is filled with such cynical, judgemental, and straight-to-absolutest right/wrong , black/white thinking. I don't get it. Why was it shady? Just because he is good at business/marketing? The drug was geared toward the sports industry and was for athletes to improve performance. I'm not saying his product worked or it didn't, but HE DID NOT MAKE the product. He simply marketed it well. What is also funny is that this guy is the opposite of those "get rich like me" late night informercials. He DOES NOT CARE how much money he makes. He DOES NOT care about material wealth. He does not care about most things our information-overloaded, consumer, more more more, American culture cares about. I just want to officially say "give the guy a break". If you don't agree with him that's fine, its just a point of view, just an opinion, everyone has one - but don't bash a guy that made it - what is the yield?
    - allyt 18y ago
      He DOES NOT CARE how much money he makes. He DOES NOT care about material wealth. Highly unlikely.
    - fallentimes 18y ago
      If you don't agree with the product, why would you ever sell it? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194942 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194942 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194411 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194411
      - apsurd 18y ago
        Those links clearly tell me you are in support of Tim Ferris, so I feel we are on the same page! As for your question, well I would not personally, but I do not see where it mentions that he supports a product he does not believe in? But overall, yes, lets just take the POSITIVE things that we can from this guy, and be done with it. I just wanted to state for the record, that "submitting response posts to articles" always seems to contain 1 of 2 things: 1. "hey look at me, I posted a witty comment". 2. "Fail, F-this guy, wak, fake, douche, etc" Where does that get any of us? Sometimes being a part of these posts is just not worth my energy. (none of this is toward anyone specifically) Absolutism is stupid.

by apsurd 18y ago

Jasber 18y ago

I certainly agree he has some good ideas--but like everything else, what he says should be taken with a grain of salt. He personally outsources much of his life, including personal e-mails and dating (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/24/mail-your-child-to-sri-lanka-or-hire-indian-pimps-extreme-personal-outsourcing/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/24/mail-your-ch...): Online dating is largely a numbers game, so I hired virtual teams of people all over the world â€” India, Philippines, Jamaica, Canada, and others â€” to compete against each other and set dates for me on an online calendar. Each of them were assigned one of my accounts on either online dating sites like Match.com, or on social networking sites like Friendster, and there would be a $150 bonus to whichever team set the most good dates. Excluding the bonus, the entire experiment cost less than $200 dollars If this is your thing then go for it, for me its too impersonal.

sanswork 18y ago

I haven't read his books so this may be in there but what did he do before releasing these books that makes him different from the other "gurus"? From the sounds of it in your comment he was a successful businessman because of this then decided to write a book about it and became famous but what business was he in before? Wikipedia nor Google have offered any insight into this.

fallentimes 18y ago
Drug dealing, actually. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=299663 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=299663
- apsurd 18y ago
  Geez that thread is filled with such cynical, judgemental, and straight-to-absolutest right/wrong , black/white thinking. I don't get it. Why was it shady? Just because he is good at business/marketing? The drug was geared toward the sports industry and was for athletes to improve performance. I'm not saying his product worked or it didn't, but HE DID NOT MAKE the product. He simply marketed it well. What is also funny is that this guy is the opposite of those "get rich like me" late night informercials. He DOES NOT CARE how much money he makes. He DOES NOT care about material wealth. He does not care about most things our information-overloaded, consumer, more more more, American culture cares about. I just want to officially say "give the guy a break". If you don't agree with him that's fine, its just a point of view, just an opinion, everyone has one - but don't bash a guy that made it - what is the yield?
  - allyt 18y ago
    He DOES NOT CARE how much money he makes. He DOES NOT care about material wealth. Highly unlikely.
  - fallentimes 18y ago
    If you don't agree with the product, why would you ever sell it? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194942 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194942 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194411 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=194411
    - apsurd 18y ago
      Those links clearly tell me you are in support of Tim Ferris, so I feel we are on the same page! As for your question, well I would not personally, but I do not see where it mentions that he supports a product he does not believe in? But overall, yes, lets just take the POSITIVE things that we can from this guy, and be done with it. I just wanted to state for the record, that "submitting response posts to articles" always seems to contain 1 of 2 things: 1. "hey look at me, I posted a witty comment". 2. "Fail, F-this guy, wak, fake, douche, etc" Where does that get any of us? Sometimes being a part of these posts is just not worth my energy. (none of this is toward anyone specifically) Absolutism is stupid.