I think the 4 hour work week is a load of crap

The 4HWW isn't a load of cr*p, but it also isn't how you start your biz - it is how you finish it.

Take, for instance, email. You can waste hours a day on email - constantly checking and answering, etc. By checking it once or twice a day - bingo! You have already saved time.

Same thing with the phone - why spend hours on the phone if you don't have to? Have them send an email. It is quicker and you can check it when you want to.

Outsourcing is another beautiful thing. Why spend 10 hours writing a month's worth of blog posts? You don't have to! Outsource it!

Does that mean you cannot write them yourself when you want? Of course not, but the key is that you do what you want to.

Most people start an IM biz because they don't want to have another job. They want to be free to spend time the way they want to - and the 4HWW explains how to use technology and outsourcing to achieve that goal.

Its not as hard as you might think to make a system. All you need is a book and sometime. There are ways to make it even without a huge budget. I have not read the 4 hour work week yet, but I am going to place it on the to do list.

What is wrong with that?

As I said in my post, most people get into IM so that they do not have to work another job. They want to be able to make money and enjoy the freedom of an IM lifestyle.

The 4HWW (yes, I know you said you were not talking directly about the book, but by choosing the same title for the thread as the one used for the book, people get confused) signifies this attitude - and shows how it is possible.

Is is possible that some people work 5 or 10 hours a week? Sure. It still beats 40+ any day of the week. Spending 10 hours a week doing something you enjoy vs. spending 40+ doing something you don't. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....I know which one I would choose. :rolleyes:

Are you kidding me?

Entrepreneurs create corporate world...

Ha ha... while I might not work as many hours as I could, you can bet that if I could make enough to survive on 4 hours a week, I'd put in quite a few more than that and bank it away!

I think the most important distinction is the idea of getting to a point eventually where you can have your cake (money) and eat it too (have time to enjoy it). But certainly that is no way to get a business off the ground.

BUT... I agree there is WAY too much BS about how quickly and easily you can start making big bucks online.... terms like "autopilot" and "cash machine" do give people the idea that with a few clicks of the mouse..... out shoots the cash!

I wish.

Then, perhaps, editing your title to something like "The idea of working only a few hours a week is a load of cr*p" might get better results for you.

By choosing a title that is so similar to a book title, you will inevitably garner responses that are in reference to the book. :rolleyes:

I took almost 3 years to make my first dollar... YEAH! Do I regret it now? Sure NO! I never worked more than 3-4 hours a day.

Anyways, I might just say that I am not throwing advice on anyone that wants to be a millionaire... Yet. Because I am not a millionaire yet. So I don't know what to say to those who want to be millionaires... What I do know is any number of hours you put in are big enough when you know what you are doing... More importantly when you know what NOT to do... And how to invest.

Guess what, all that info is present here on this forum... for IM'ers.

Even if its not, try saving up $5K for coaching from a very successful person. Just reverse engineer what they are doing and then Just do it... Simple..

3 hours a Day *10 working days in 2 weeks = 30 working hours.

I'd say that amount of time is more than enough for anyone to rebrand PLR products, and above average salesletters can be purchased from the WSO section for less than $500 bucks easily.

And then its a passive income for life.

Move on to the next project... So yeah if you have just 2 hours a day to begin with, you still have more than enough time on your hands to create a BIG internet business.

-Lakshay

Sounds more like a nightmare to me. I'd go friggin bonkers.

But I suppose if I was working for somebody else , I may feel differently.

Chrisoldcorn you miss the point, this is all about working smarter not LONGER. Why would you want to work 40 hours weekly and make 30k per year when you can do 4 hours making 300k?

I love all the opinions of people who say this can't be true.

If you ask people in the offline world if you can make a lot of money online they will probably tell you it's a load of crap too. Why? Because they have a mindset that you must have a brick and mortor store, with big overhead and everything and they just know that you can't make any real money with that internet stuff. They know because they have tried it. They had a high school kid put up a website 5 years ago and it doesn't do anything so they are experts.

You know they are wrong, don't you. Or at least you believe it.

Just because you haven't figured out that you don't need to do everything yourself or don't have a business plan that will bring in a full time income and reduce the number of hours per week you work to 20-10 or dare I dare I say 4 hours per week then don't assume the no one else has either.

Why not change your mindset?

I used to put in a lot of hours in my full time online business. I thought I had to do it all myself. I had really created a job. The 4 Hour Work Week Idea and other similar information changed my thinking. Now I think like a business owner, but not the kind of owner who works 12 hours per day or is at my customers command 24/7. The kind of owner who has set up systems that don't require my time to keep the business running.

Today I can work 4 hours a week or less and my income would not go down.

So instead of fighting the whole idea and telling everyone it can't possibly work, learn from those who have done it. Look at things you can do in your own business to cut back your hours. Maybe you won't ever reach 4 hours per week but you might be able to cut back to 4 hours per day.

RMX

Having to work 4 hours per week does not mean it starts that way. And again who says 4 hours a week has to be easy. If you were in IRAQ and went on the battle ground in the frontline of fire for only 4 hours per weekk would it be easy? The idea of having to work long hard hours to make a buck is archaic and of the industrial age. We, my friend are in the information age. Today you can do the work once and get paid for it many times over. That to me is the classic 4 hour work week. Better yet pay someone to do it for you and then get paid over and over again. Think of the CEO of a fortune 500 company, does he have to work 60 hours per week the way you do? Yet he will make $3M per year easily. Working harder or longer is not the way to make more money. It takes working a lot smarter. Wise up!!!

I agree when you start any business online or offline you have to invest time and some money. However, as you progress you have the flexibility to work hours when you are most productive. The great thing about internet marketing is that it gives you options.

Working 4 hours a week is not a sign of a successful businessman in this business, it is a sign if someone who has made it and gets others to do the work.

The 4 hour work week never starts that way. You obviously have to put in the effort and time to build an automated business system. Just like a rocket uses a lot of fuel to launch into outerspace then it only takes the force of the strength of a baby to keep it moving in space.

Remember...

Obsession is how lazy people define dedication.

This might be true for some but it's not
true for all, which means it's not true.

Because if it were true, then it would be
true for everyone - and it's not.

Russell might work hard - I'm sure he
does, but he started as a college student
and was probably making more than 95%
of Warrior's working 2-3 hours per day.

Dr. Mike, another successful marketer
started by working a few hours everyday
before work.

If I was content to just let my affiliate
business run on autopilot, then a 4-Hour
Work Week and a 6-figure income is a done
deal. It isn't a possibility - it was DONE
years ago.

The *hard work* came in figuring it
out - doing it is not *that* hard, especially
with the availability of so much cheap
talent.

The point of the 4-Hour Work Week isn't
"You can get rich doing nothing while sitting
on your ass" - he says that's not the case
a number of times.

It's working smarter, more effectively
and efficiently. And it has nothing to do
with fully-automated, get-rich-quick, push-
button systems any fool can do.

Eric Louviere made a great post a while
back that essentially said if you aren't
making what you want to make it's because
you have a business model that will only
allow you to reach a certain level - you
need a new business model.

I'll add to that - if you don't have the
lifestyle you want it's because your business
model sucks.

I see people, and Allen himself has warned
of this on numerous occasions, working
their asses off to write hundreds of articles,
to build *authority sites*, to make a few
pennies here and there.

If that is you, then YOU ARE MISSING THE
FUNDAMENTAL POINT OF BEING ONLINE -

LEVERAGE

Content isn't king - leverage is king.

- If you have a list, you have leverage.
- If you have the right information, you have leverage.
- If you have even a little money and you spend it
wisely, you have leverage.
- If you have a good idea, you have leverage.
- If you have friends, and they have ANY of the
above, you have leverage.

And you don't need a lever long enough to move
the earth - money doesn't weight nearly that much.

The common denominator in John's post
isn't number of hours worked - it's leverage.

Screw content - I'm not here to educate
the world. I'm here to sell my ideas to
people who are willing to pay for them
because they make THEIR life better too.

With that business model "the work your
ass off for pennies model", no the 4-Hour
Work Week isn't a possibility - but then
again I don't personally consider that to
be marketing - it's article writing and
publishing. It's passively hoping to make
money. Marketing is a verb in my book.

Yes, hard work is involved but if hard work
was the KEY to the equation then why aren't
ditch diggers rich?

Because hard work is a fallacy; a fallacy
perpetrated in large part by people who benefit
from the hard work of others AND those who've
bought into the fallacy.

Years ago it became clear to me that money
and work (career) are related but two different
animals.

I'm not so much ranting against hard work,
because I think hard work is good for the
soul. But hard work for money? What a
waste of life and what matters most. I
don't care to hold anyone up on a pedestal
who preaches that hard work for the almighty
dollar is what you should be doing 12-16
hours per day.

Some people choose to hop on an airplane
and parade around the world to this event
and that while they have young kids growing
up without them - is that who we're
looking up to? Is that what we consider
to be "a good guy".

Bullshit.

That's a self-centered, ego-maniacal
juvenile who's placed fame and fortune
first.

OK . . .

Smart work is the point of this - and if
you're not smart then you're only left with
one alternative.

"Any complexity in life is the ego trying to
undo the simplicity of reality."

This stuff isn't hard. It does not require a
12-16 hour work day. Anyone who does that,
who says that, who advocates that or sells
you products that require it is not someone
who deserves your respect and admiration.

Period. It's like a drug dealer peddling crack -
and I hate to break the news, but you are the
addict.

Chris, and everyone else - you question this
concept because you have no faith in your
ability to live it.

Anything - ANYTHING - is possible.

Don't cheat yourself.

X

I can appreciate both sides of the this, but there is one defining issue here for me.

I remember long ago being told (during my Amway days) that if I put in the 12 - 16 hour days while my kids were young, that when they got older, I could have more money and time to spend with them.

The problem is, the times when they are little are the most precious - and you never get them back.

My kids are 15, 12, 10 and 4. They are not babies, but they still need their Mommy.

So I will limit the time I spend working on my business. I want financial freedom, but untold millions at the price of missing out on the kids' childhood isn't worth it. Financial freedom (for me) can be achieved in far fewer hours during the day.

Will I work at night? Yes.

Will I work around my family's schedule? Yes.

JMHO and YMMV.

Phil, I guess at that point you would have a 4 hour work week. That is the point isn't it?

You were only the muse that got me
started John.

Thank you!

I hope my post doesn't come across
as singling you out.

X

The real hard work is facing and dealing with rejection, not thinking big, failure and self-doubt. Do that and the rest is easy and takes little time.

Hi John

My point was that a work ethic was being touted as a virtue in itself, specifically at employees by company owners who themselves are frequently working less hard as a result of the leverage of their labour force.

I don't doubt that there are many highly successful people whose success is due, in part, to the 12-16 hour days they put in. Whether you call this by the term work ethic, drive, ambition, obsessiveness or megalomania, it is a factor in their achievements. Ruthlessness and a necessary disregard for other areas of their lives (e.g. family) may also have played a part in their success.

What is asked in the original book is how you would define success. The author clearly defines it differently from, say, Donald Trump. The notion of a successful life can be simply doing what you want (in the author's case, travelling) whilst funding your lifestyle by leveraging your working efforts into just a few hours each week.

Others may define success by the quality of their family life.

The high-powered "successful" executive working 80+ hours each week is not necessarily someone to admire or aspire to.



Frank

John -

My post has nothing to do with a lack of work
ethic. I'm a life-long overachiever and I don't
hesitate the least to say that my "cruise mode"
outdoes the average person's bust ass mode.

The point I intended to make in my post
is that hard work, in and of itself, is NOT the
cause of success.

Take this as an example: When I was a teen
I was skinny. I wanted nothing more than to be a
great athlete. I worked out SIX hours per day -
that included weight training, a conditioning
class with one of the top wrestling teams in my
state, two hours of swim practice and then more
weight training.

I was in phenomenal shape - but peaked at 147lbs
and made no progress towards my goal of being
a stacked stud.

Today, the latest trends in body building seem to
advocate working out 3-4 times per week for 30
minutes of INTENSE training doing fewer exercise,
but more efficient exercises.

(If a bunch of muscle heads can figure that out,
then why is the concept so difficult to grasp
here?)

Work ethic has not been questioned here - but
instead the perceived path to the desired result
that many still believe is the 16-hour work day.

I got off on the article/authority site tangent,
not because that's what you referenced, but
because that's what a lot of people on this
forum are doing to try to become successful
at IM.

I work a fraction of the hours today that I
did when I began online - and my income has
increased proportionally. I started with that
same basic model because it was "free".

It's a shit model and I don't mind writing that
for anyone to read.

The original post in this thread says that the
4-Hour Work Week is a load of crap.

I'm saying that the paradigm many here have
been sold and bought into is the load of crap.

Did I need to work 12-16 hour days the first
4-5 years I was online? Since I made little
money doing that it's at least fair to say that
had NO direct impact on financial results.

Maybe - MAYBE - that's what needed to
occur to get it through my thick head what
I should be doing - I wasn't blessed with the
awareness of "how to" products then.

But more likely, my lack of knowledge was
why I had to work hard - there is NO lack of
available knowledge now if one knows where
to find it (AND what to believe).

2-3 INTENSE hours of work per day is plenty
to have a good financial life if you utilize the
leverage available. The rest of the day you
work on other areas of life that are of equal
or greater importance.

When I see people working 12-16 hours per
day, and proclaiming that proudly,
I think "What a fool I WAS and what a fool
you ARE."

X