September 23, 2009
Anyone read this yet? It could be a life-changer, but I’m reserving my final impressions for the period AFTER the euphoric discovery phase. You know how it is — you come across some new book/CD/system that makes you see things in a new way, and you just know that This is the thing I’ve been looking for all my life! But after a few weeks or a few reads, you realize you’ve just purchased/read/stolen more re-heated schlock by some hack system marketer who just rewrote everyone else’s material. At that point everything is back to normal and you really regret Facebooking and Twittering all your friends about the book/CD/system.
What — you’ve never done that? Uh…me either. I’m talking about other people.
Nonetheless, I’m excited about some of the ideas in this book. How attainable they are, we’ll see. Some of it is pure crap if not unethical. For example, the author teaches “How to become an expert in four weeks.” Citing an example of a friend of his, he shows how you just need to join a couple of associations, read a lot of books and give a talk. BAM! You’re an expert. I see that kind of crap in Washington all the time — kids who have barely completed their internships show up to this or that event or TV show pretending to be experts on this or that. It perpetuates mediocrity and suspect that this advice teaches thousands of people how to basically scam other people.
That said, the other principles in the book seem sound. The book resonated with me because I’m at the exact point where I need it. I’m the entrepreneur who’s overworked and yet the only man who can make the big decisions. His advice to automate and/or eliminate repetive tasks is awesome. And the idea about outsourcing? Fantastic. I didn’t think that was attainable. As much as I hate sending jobs overseas, well, a few bucks a week to take a huge load off my shoulders? It’s a simple cost/benefit analysis, and the benefits for having Nadeem, my Pakistani buddy, maintain my customer calendar are just too great. And for what I’m paying him, he can feed his family for weeks. (More on Nadeem in another post).
Anyway, let me know what you think of the book if you’ve read it. If you haven’t, do so. It’s not a silver bullet, but if you’re looking for ways to save time and have more quality time with friends, family or even just yourself, it’s pretty damn good.
Been meaning to read it … haven’t had the time:)
Did you find Nadeem through Odesk or something else?
Read it when it first came out. Read it again. Listened to it on audiobook. Read it again. Tried some of the strategies. Didn’t work for me.
I was just at a seminar where a handfull of real estate investors were discussing the 4HWW and the consenscus was that it just isn’t a workable and most importantly scalable model in the long run. Just as you let go of your operation, you’ll find things slipping away and headed down the wrong path. End result? You have to be there. No one cares/knows/works as hard for your business as you.
That being said, the concepts and tactics are eye-opening and I do look at my ROI and ROT a lot closer and look for opportunities to outsource labor (for example, I have trained a college kid to go door-to-door to expired’s and pre-foreclosures rather than doing the knocking myself…)
Turns out, I like work. I find it satisfying. The concept of a long vacation/early retirement(or whatever he calls it…) is a good one and I think it is important to break away from your existing operation or in between ventures if only to clear your head and re-start your creativity.
He has a great blog too BTW.
You’ll also like “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, “The Power of Less” by Leo Babauta (also a great blog @ zen habits)…
I read 2-3 books at a time, so if you need reading fodder along these lines, let me know. War of Art should be first though. It was even more life changing than 4HWW.
Cheers,
Taylor
Taylor,
Thanks! Sounds like we have about the same impression. I’m so sick of all of these alleged silver bullet solutions for all your life’s woes. I’m glad that the 4HWW author has a system that works for him, but come on — the ‘do nothing, get everything’ approach to life just isn’t that realistic. At least not for everybody.
Definitely send me some titles. I don’t have much chance to network, but if I can keep the reading up, that’s something. It helps to avoid stagnation and monotony, at the very least.
Jimi,
I found Nadeem through a Catholic message board. We exchanged some PMs, eventually began chatting, and we’ve maintained a correspondence ever since. Itt’s going on three years now.