6 Golden & Balanced Life Lessons From the Book “4 Hour Work Week”
Do you make mistakes of the sloth or mistakes of ambition?
Wishes we all have in common are:
- A dream vacation to Thailand
- Hop into a comfortable hammock with one hand sticking out
- And the urge for the hammock to connect two trees
- Das all!
Young Timothy Ferris had the same urge. But he had to reset his mindset. Why? Today, we go to school and watch Netflix TV shows, but none of it has changed our life.
Means whoever told you that:
- The school has the best knowledge, Netflix is real, travel is a waste is a liar.
As Darius Foroux says,
“Look at unsuccessful people and their habits and do the opposite of it.” (rephrased).
Ferris did the same.
His book is a creation of everything you will need to know to crash yourself in the hammock in Thailand — the chances are — you might even get a hammock supported by two trees. But, the gist is to read the author who tells you it’s possible.
So I read. Mind you, I loved it!
Let’s get straight to 6 lessons from Four Hour Work Week. Shall we?
1. Never Check Email in the Morning
Timothy Ferris writes:
“This is the greatest single interruption in the modern world: email consumption and production.”
Ferris believes many entrepreneurs take it upon themselves to:
- Respond to emails and queries
- Manage website
- Look into refunding and exchanging stuff
It’s not an ideal practice.
Our minds can make a limited amount of decisions per day. And using our brains to reply to wasteful and nonserious emails can limit us from making good decisions.
Ferris advises you to delegate your emails. He receives almost 1000 emails daily and has an automated staff in 3 counties who take care of his workload.
Then, what does he do?
Step 1: He relaxes and only replies to crucial emails. His automated team sends him a portion of important emails each day.
Step 2: Ferris has an allotted time to check emails (E.g., 1 pm)
Ferris calls this method: working in batch.
2. Are You Bound to One Place? Or Do You Pretend?
Timothy Ferris writes a quote that still rings bells in my ears:
“Being bound to one place will be the new defining feature of the middle class.”
Most people don’t travel for these three reasons:
- Lack of money
- Child problems
- Don’t have an allowance from the office
If you look closely, the reasons boil down to the following:
- Lack of knowledge
- Fear problems
- Never asked from “work from house” from office
Travel is not difficult.
Of course, what you think of it is. Ferris approximately lived in the USA, Ireland, Argentina, and the US. He always believed in the quote by Steve Jobs:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
Don’t travel during retirement. Travel knowing you have managed work at the back.
To avoid getting bound to one place:
- Learn new languages as it motivates you to travel
- Don’t fill up whole bags
- Buy the necessary thing when upon reaching
- Buy ticket flights in the end. (The airline would be happy to give you in half rather than waste a passenger seat for $0)
Easy!
3. The Best Way To Make Employers Jealous
Ferris warned me:
“If you quit the job and sit on your bum, I won't hire you either.”
At the moment, I was like: you joking, Squidward?!!
He further clarifies that a resume should be an art. To fill the gaps, you can use some words like:
- Once-in-a-lifetime experience…
- Personally trained…
Ferris says that if you travel or not, your resume has to stand out. If you use words like:
Example 1: Had once-in-a-lifetime experience as a paragliding expert.
Example 2: Or professionally trained with the Navy in Akdeniz.
You are more likely to land jobs. (Fear not.)
The idea, by Timmy, is to make people jealous. Add details like when reaching an interview, the employer would personally meet you and ask about your experience.
Your resume should scream into the employer’s ears. For that, use the fitting synonyms.
4. Mistakes of Ambition and Sloth
Ferris clarifies there are two types of mistakes;
- Mistakes of ambition: the result of incomplete knowledge
- Mistake of sloth: the result of laziness and fear
Knowing all the facts still prevent people from making decisions. Ferris quoted examples: marriages becoming toxic, bosses becoming rude and much more.
The simple reason: you overstayed your welcome.
Mistakes of sloth are the most common mistake and leave more residue behind. Ferris clarifies that the consequences of lousy decision-making don’t get better with time.
If you’re overstaying your welcome, it’s a mistake of a sloth.
So, if something is preventing you from not taking action, it’s either:
- Lack of knowledge
- Fear, or
- Laziness
5. Don’t Be Feared by Fear
Ferris says he had a habit:
Every time something bad happened to him, he would simply note down negative self-talk in a journal. He mostly applied this practice while traveling.
He further says that whenever something disturbs you, ask yourself 3 times and put the answers down on paper.
Ferris guides that writing problems down on paper, which is no big deal, but you have to let somehow it evaporate from your mind, is the best approach.
Practice 1: Writing things down tells your brain that you know and removes them from your head.
Practice 2: Ferris recommends a practice, which indicates wearing any bracelet. Anytime something bad happens, switch the bracelet to the other side.
This way, you can overlook negative self-talk by juggling the bracelet every time.
6. Timing Is Never Right
All of the sayings by Ferris changed my perspective on life. Especially:
“The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it also doesn't get out of the way to line up all the pins.”
The universe is always neutral — it hardly helps but never counters back on problems.
What Ferris says is true. We hope to do many things “someday,” but we forget that “someday” isn’t on the list of days for a reason.
- It’s only 7 days.
- We, humans, have made the 8th day all by ourselves.
Ferris says:
“Someday is a disease, and it will take your dreams to the grave.”
What should we do?
As Ferris says in the perspective of the book:
- Take mini-retirement plans
- Don’t save for retirement at a specific age because inflation will eat it up all
- Do things today, don’t be a sloth
- Don’t think long term
Parkinson’s law (favored by Tim) means to set deadlines focusing on short-term rational goals.
Final thoughts:
If you haven’t figured out how to afford a trip to a hammock house in Thailand, perhaps you have figured out the steps to get there.
- It’s not hard.
Remember, a mistake from lack of knowledge and laziness exists.
You cannot dodge and invent a new one.
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