Timothy Ferriss speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003, where he presents entrepreneurship as a tool for ideal lifestyle design and world change. Described as a Serial entrepreneur and ultravagabond he has amassed somewhat diverse and interesting set of experiences:
- Princeton University guest lecturer in High-Tech Entrepreneurship and Electrical Engineering.
- Cage fighter in Japan, vanquisher of four world champions.
- First American in history to hold a Guinness World Record in tango.
- Advisor to more than 30 world record holders in professional and Olympic sports.
- National Chinese kickboxing champion.
- Glycemic Index (GI) researcher Political asylum researcher and activist.
- MTV breakdancer in Taiwan.
- Hurling competitor in Ireland.
- Actor on hit TV series in mainland China and Hong Kong.
The book urges you to forget the old concept of retirement and the concept of what he calls the deferred-life plan — there is no need to wait for your retirement to enjoy life and every reason not to. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, high-end world travel, monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is his blueprint for how to achieve it.
In the book he teaches you:
- How to outsource your life and do whatever you want for a year, only to return to a bank account 50% larger than before you left.
- How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs.
- How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of little-known European economists.
- How to train your boss to value performance over presence, or kill your job (or company) if it’s beyond repair.
- How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”.
- What automated cash-flow “muses” are and how to create one in 2-4 weeks.
- How to cultivate selective ignorance—and create time—with a low-information diet.
- Management secrets of Remote Control CEOs.
- The crucial difference between absolute and relative income.
- How to get free housing worldwide and airfare at 50-80% off.
- How to fill the void and creating meaning after removing work and the office.
It’s a fascinating read, from which every aspiring entrepreneur should be able to sport an opportunity to improve their business, even if they are not convinced they want to join the new rich.
You can buy The 4 Hour Work Week - Timothy Ferris from You can buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon USA.
This blog is about business opportunities and ideas that I spot, think of or hear about and think are useful and interesting. It is intended to provide ideas and inspriation for you to help you find the right business idea for you to then grow it into a successful business.
I was amazed to first hear about this guy, i watch an interview of him on CNN the day he released his book and i had to learn more. But the more i researched about this guy, the more i found out that maybe alot of his amazing claims were hype just to get people to buy his book.
Don’t get me wrong, im sure he only does work 4 hours per week, but his business is unique, not every business could adapt the same model:
For example:
Ferriss’ book was released to the public on April 24, 2007. On the very same day, Ferriss’ book received 17 five-star reviews on amazon.com written by first-time amazon.com reviewers, leading journalists to question the credibility of these early reviews.
On pg 284 of Ferriss’ book, he shares with his readers a poem that he claims to have received from a terminally-ill girl. The poem, titled “Slow Dance”, is actually taken from a well-known email chain letter that was circulated on the Internet in 1999. The said poem was originally written in 1991 by David L. Weatherford, an adult male child psychologist.
Ferriss makes a number of claims on his blog and in his book, including:
In an article on his blog, Ferriss claims to have gained 34lbs of muscle in 4 weeks (not substantiated). The claims in this article have been criticized as being misleading and deceptive.
I would say make your mind up about this guy, by all means read his book but if it sounds too good to be true …..
Interesting, though I think it’s still worth reading even if a lot of it does turn out to be hype/stretching the truth there’s still some ideas in there that should at least provoke people into taking a new look at their business and spotting some new opportunities.
34lbs in 4 weeks sounds rather unlikely, I don’t think even Arnie and pals have ever claimed anywhere near that much.
I have an issue with Ferriss ethics, rather his LACK OF ethics. This guy is dangerous: he’s spreading false hope and questionable values without any concern about the lives he may damage. Many people have repeatedly asked Ferriss to back up his many dubious claims and to date, he either refuses to - or can’t - substantiate his claims. Just see the wikipedia article on Ferriss which raises a lot of questions about his claims. His publishers are also suspiciously quiet over this whole issue of Ferriss’s credibility. Neither Ferriss or his publishers have made any attempt to clear the air over his contentious claims. James Frey, anyone?
Joe
There are however a lot of ideas in the book that are possible and should provoke some thought in entrepreneurs.
Does Princeton University still have him guest lecture?