the new rich
Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week (T4HWW).
A brief summary of the book by Tim Ferriss.
Ferriss uses the acronym DEAL for the four main chapters of his book. The acronym stands for: Definition, Elimination, Automation and Release. Also, Ferriss notes that if someone has a regular job, the order of the steps will be DELA, not DEAL.
- Definition means finding out what a person wants, overcoming fears, looking beyond society’s “expectations”, setting goals, and finding out what it really takes to get where a person wants to go.
- Elimination is all about time management, or rather not time management. This is achieved by using Pareto’s Law, commonly called the 80/20 rule (80% of your benefits come from 20% of your efforts) to focus only on those tasks that bring the most benefits, and by using Parkinson’s Law (work expands to fill the time available for its completion) to control the amount of time spent on work. Ferriss says there’s a difference between efficiency and effectiveness. The book emphasizes effectiveness.
- Automation is all about building an automatic and sustainable source of income. This includes techniques like; drop shipping, automation, Google AdWords and AdSense, and outsourcing functions and jobs to virtual assistants in developing countries to free up personal time.
- Liberation is the successful automation of one’s lifestyle and liberation from geographic location and work.
I read the book in a matter of days and the key ideas are:
- Principles – The philosophy of life! Set goals and objectives.
- Time Management – Be more efficient. The biggest wastes of time; lack of empowerment, wasted time, and time-consuming activities that do not achieve their goal. He talks about email in depth.
- Manage people and processes.
- Create an income machine.
There are some challenges in implementing Ferriss’s plan:
- You have to define what you want and that is not easy!
- You have to be able to communicate and learn to say no the right way.
- You have to be focused and hardworking, and you should only work on essential tasks.
- You have to be an insightful person who can decide if you are becoming the nouveau riche.
In conclusion, an excellent insight into one person’s journey towards a different lifestyle. It’s all about how to get to a 4 hour work week… Yeah! I said 4 hour work week. I’ve recommended the book to people I know, so grab a copy and read how you can take control of your life and become one of the “new rich.”