Tim Ferriss and the 4 Hour Work Week
So, there’s this Tim Ferriss guy that’s some kind of productivity guru. He’s written a book called “The 4 Hour Work Week” which gives you tips on how to streamline the amount of “work” that you do in a day.
In the interest of self disclosure, I didn’t read the book, because I tend to be more interested in what people do than what they say to do. The cliff notes versions I’ve seen on line seem to imply that he has rediscovered the Pareto Principle, or the incredibly well worn 80/20 rule, along with a host of other efficiency principles that seem incredibly hackneyed. I’m not sure what his unique twist is, maybe he’s good at telling stories.
It turns out Tim’s claim to fame is that he’s gotten very good at finding success in niche activities on technicalities, and then marketing the hell out of them.
- He’s a Chinese Kickboxing champion, which he achieved by shoving the smaller opponents out of the ring, and winning through their disqualification.
- He’s an expert at Argentine tango, where he has set a record for spinning. This isn’t really a technical feat, it was more of a novelty act for the Kelly Ripa show.
- He lectures at Princeton’s electrical engineering group (on entrepreneurship).
I think that very few people can actually benefit from what he talks about, mainly because he proposes “outsourcing” minute details of daily planning (to personal assistants in India… seriously!). I don’t know if he’s thought about marketing his book in India (who would they outsource to?). He also is against liberal use of cell phones and e-mail.
I want to mark this up as another “the secret to success is selling secrets to success” type of situations. I could care less about yet another productivity guide, I’d rather hear about how he was able to network and promote himself. That seems to be something he actually knows a thing or two about. From what I hear, his self promotion drive irked a lot of people, and certainly took much more than 4 hours a week. However, I have to hand it to him, it seems to have been very successful.
I’ve looked Tim Ferriss, is most definitely does not do actually what he preaches. He makes all his money from selling the idea of a 4 hour week.
The reason why it sells, is everyone wants a 4 hour week and be wealthy, and you can indeed outsouce work.
But most people won’t.
He may have tried some outsourcing and gave him the basic idea, but other than that it’s snake oil.
It’s like the other day I got an e-mail ‘free laptops’ if you send thus to 20 other people. I said it sounds too good to be true – but I was amazed how many people I knew in businesses sent off the e-mail.
4 Hour Week, sounds bloody great doesn’t it? That’s because it’s a dream a dream that everyone wants along, with a giant penis, lot’s of money for no work and cheap viagra.
So it’s compelling for the same reasons. He knows the secret though you can tell.
I guess doling out self help kind of advice is the shortest cut to big bucks