Whos has read the 4 Hour Work Week?

I read it back in 2007 and it literally changed my entire life plan. It got me to look at the internet as a tool that I could use to make money.

I learned about eCommerce sites from the book and started building sites almost right away. I build and have built all of my sites to be as automated as possible which is another technique I got from the book.

I've read it. It's okay. For me there was too much stuff on getting away to remote places and living the life of a jetsetter. I don't need 40% of a book to go on about how I should spend the money I earn.

The stuff about business is decent. There are at least three case studies on Internet marketing that are good. There's a lot of stuff about outsourcing. There are also some good resources in there though they might be a bit dated now.

On a scale of 100 I'd give the book 78.

4 Hour Work Week is excellent in getting your mind to think about models....What I've found to be a perfect compliment to it is The $100 Startup. What I like about this book is that it goes over many business examples and walks you through specific exercises.

I like to think of 4HWW as more theoretical and 100SU as more practical. You will open your eyes to lots of possibilities when you use both in tandem!

That book combined with a reading of RichDadPoorDad will blow most peoples mind. Most of us just don't get the concept of residual income and would benefit from it. Yes, much of The 4 hr work week is not directly related to what we do here, but it does such a good job of "selling" us on the concepts needed to pursue our type of work, it is pure gold for those who haven't made the jump.

The books effect on you will be relevant to your own experience in business, marketing and life in general.

4 Hour Work Week is a book I've read twice. And it was the book that actually led me to discover warrior forum. So whether warrior forum realizes it or not, its getting a lot of indirect traffic thanks to Tim Ferris. Or thats what intuition tells me.

Once you read about things like automation and outsourcing, and type these terms into google, its only a matter of time before you find WF.

I'd rate the book higher than a 78 out of 100. Maybe because I've read some business books that were absolutely discpicable. The book may be a little too visionary, but it doesn't change the fact that its still very resourceful... compared to a lot of other books I can think of.

Sure a lot of parts could have been removed, that I didn't even care for, like the traveling part, but you can say that about almost any book. My own rating would have to be a B-. In context to other books in its niche. Plus I liked Tim Ferris's writing style a lot.

What I didn't like about it was all the random and shameless promoting. He links to his blog about 100,000 times (I didn't really count) which personally annoyed me. And when I found his blog, I couldn't find anything on it to keep me there.

The reason I liked the book however, it that its been indirectly responsible for a lot of success I have now. Like for one, just realizing how elimination, automation and microtesting work. Or realizing some of the tricks that successful companies use to make money. Like how its better to have a higher priced premium product, sold exclusively by one distributor, vs many. Who wind up competing with each other and driving your product off the shelves. The book is what got me interested in marketing/business in the first place (I've read about business prior to it but never to the point of taking action). And because of it, I have read many other books now on sales, nlp, business and marketing. So in some wierd way, I also give the book an A+. Just due to timing. Had I never read the book, I would have never taken initiative to start my own business, nor would I have left my job, and be making the money I make today.

So in that respect, the book did change my life. Just not directly. My success is the culmination of many factors, but 4 Hour Work Week is definitely what lit the fire under my ass.

I love the 4hww. It changed my life. Although I was running a successful online business, I was wasting a lot of time. When I read how to automate everything it changed my life. And the concept of freedom to live anywhere at a lower cost of living is better than making more money but being tied to a specific location was mind blowing for me.

I read T4HWW and rate it as probably the most influential book I've read in the past decade or so. Sure, I've read others that I've enjoyed more, but Ferriss has a way of getting into your head and making you see the possibilities in a way that few can. Also, just personally, being a guy who likes traveling and languages I found that the other sections of his book (and blog) to be very interesting, not just the business part.

As for what specifically I've done as a result of the book, three major things come to mind:

1. Got into IM for real. Before I read it I'd been "gathering information" on IM, but never actually put anything into practice. After, I got a website up and started making sales. Doing things very part-time, I've now got a more or less completely passive income (okay, once a month or so I write a blog post, and I buy a Fiverr gig or two to help with SEO) of over $1K/month, which ain't bad.

2. In the real world I run a language school, and once every six months or so I fire my worst student. Lowers my own stress considerably, and keeps the others in line, hahaha.

3. Twice I have taken two complete months off from my school and life here and spent time in another country. My business didn't die, and things turned out fine...just like Ferriss said they would.

For my money, Ferriss is a little weird but definitely knows what he's talking about in any number of areas. I bought The Four-Hour Body and am getting The Four-Hour Chef as well, so I guess I've been more or less completely sucked in. But I have yet to be disappointed in anything that I've spent money on from him.

To the person above who said that it's not that easy to just check out of life, I have two comments. One, life is just as "real" in a foreign country. As an expat myself, I can tell you this first-hand. Two, you're not "checking out". You're just changing your life, i.e., exchanging one set of friends and commitments, etc. for another. Believe me, your life will be just as real and entangled in another country as it was in your original one. It's just that now it will cost a lot less.

I think that a lot of people (not necessarily the guy above) mis-read T4HWW to mean that you set things up and then go lie on a beach all day. (Admittedly, the cover of the book gives this impression.) But Ferriss has said many times that that's not the idea. The ideas and techniques in the book give you the power to spend less time doing what you don't want to do so that you have more time to do what you do want to do.

2.5 years after reading the 4HWW I was a full time IMr. Before that I was a few years into a profession that was okay, but not as fun as IM. It introduced me to the potential of earning a living online. From there I discovered WF and was on my way.

The one lesson taught I use every workday is to get 2 important tasks done first thing. I do this about 90 percent of the time and it's the key for me. Those 2 tasks take 1.5 to 3 hours every day. If that's all I get done, that's okay.

I loved the book. About a year after reading it I Was fortunate to live that lifestyle and still does.

People think it's not possible but it really is.all it takes is one good affiliate site with a few automated, high converting traffic sources and it's a done deal.

Not saying it's easy. It does take time and dedication to get to that point but once there, it's like a mini retirement.

Cheers

I thought it was good, the information on e-commerce sites and drop shipping were good.

If not for that, the way I think about working/life after reading it made it worthwhile.

I just read the automated chapter, not finish yet. I don't have much time to read now.

I read it once, about 2.5 years ago.

I already knew about outsourcing before that and was involved in outsourcing most of my IM business already at that time.

I didn't think about outsourcing tasks from my personal life though. I found that interesting.

The part about elimination, automation, liberation process I did like and he did show a process or steps how to go through each stage.

But for the rest of the book I actually don't remember what else was in there. So I guess it didn't make too much of an impression on me.

Now if you created a thread on "The E-myth" by Michael Gerber, that is a book that we could talk about. and a book I would say was revolutionary for me.

I have read 4HWW and got a lot of great tips and ideas from it.
This book Gave me a lot of "AHA Moments" and Ideas that inspired me.

Pros of the Book:
It teaches you to think 'Outside the Box'
It can Literally Change your life. I can easily believe that many people 'saw the light' after reading the book and changed their '9-5' mentality. It can help to shift you into the new direction.

You get some good list of information and resources
Some of them may be a little bit outdated, but some would still be useful. Thinking about it.... It is possible that I found out about "WarriorForum" from this book. I just don't remember how I found it, but time when I was reading this book and time when I came into the Warrior Forum matches.
Hmm.... very interesting. It is possible that I (similar to Redshifted's experience) found this forum through this book

You can come up with some new Business Ideas
Learning from Author's experience, you can try to create something similar to his business model or you can use his model for other businesses.

Time Management and Outsourcing ideas
Pretty good ideas and something I got quite a few useful points from.


Cons of the Book:
Some parts of the book are not giving much value.
Of course you can get rid of some parts (Travelling in particular) without loosing anything
Self-promotion
You can be sure that Tim Ferris is promoting himself and his blog in the book a lot.
Sometimes it feels like some Over-sized "Report" that keeps offering an additional product.
Author works more than 4 hours a week
You can be sure, that Tim Ferris did not really work 4 hours a Week to get to the point he is in now.
I am sure that he was working more than 4 hours a week to be successful, but I believe also that he is enjoying most of the time of his work and that is why he can claim that he is "Working 4 hours" only, the rest of the time does not feel as much as 9-5 Work anymore - it is much more fulfilling.

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Anyway this book has great amount of ideas that you can use.

Even with shortcomings mentioned, It was very inspiring for me and I got a lot of great ideas because of it. I would definitely recommend this book. It worth your time.