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Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

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Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#11

Post by qaexl »

iamelgringo wrote: post #8

Mr. Ferriss is a master at self promotion. That doesn't mean that there's not good stuff to be learned after you sift through the self-promoting crap in the book. Tidbits I picked up: * Throw a quick 3 page website up as a sales letter to market a $100 product. Point $200 worth of ad-sense at it over 10 days to see if you get any uptake. If you have more than 2 signups or "buy-ins", you've past the break even point a…

Yeah, the Taiwanese with whom he competed with are pretty serious about Face. When I read the excerpt about it, I rolled my eyes and thought Ferris was full of it, claiming to be a national kickboxing champion. After reading the account, however, I have to admit it was a good hack. Throw people out of the ring. There isn't much way for the judges to cheat on that either, heheheh.

Ferris recently got a new TV show on History Channel, airing as a pilot. It is called "Trial By Fire", where he attempts to learn skills that normally takes 10 - 20 years to master and learn them in about 5 days. The show is interesting to see how the strategizing works. I have no idea if there are going to be more made, but if they were, Ferris promised showing skills like car racing.

Of course it is probably a way to get all of the stunts he wants to learn financed by a TV Network, but that's the point. What he wants to do isn't necessarily what I want to do, and applying the skills of hacking to life is a good thing.

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#12

Post by GHFigs »

jwesley wrote: post #6
toby wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really enjoyed the lifestyle message of the book, which I think is an interesting goal, but the "specific information" about how to implement it kind of upset me. There's enough room in this world for a few people to be selling vitamins or "information products" via infomercials, but that's only because there are a lot of people doing other things. Good for him that he found his niche, but it's totally misleading t…

The misleading aspect you mentioned is exactly what irks me about the book. It is a fantasy being sold to every person working a dull job. The glorification of the no-work, jetsetting lifestyle is misleading as well. To have a profession and be a member of a community should be a source joy and accomplishment, not something to run away from. I think most people would find traveling the world alone, constantly indulgi…

When something becomes boring and meaningless, whether it's a dull job that should be a source of joy, or the globetrotting you thought was what you wanted, you do something else.

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#13

Post by rtw »

medearis wrote: post #5

I have a buddy who apparently took the 4HWW to heart and moved to Argentina to work as a freelance software engineer... he seems to be doing well. Personally, I thought Ferriss made it seem a little easy, but who knows? Did you actually do all of the challenges? I guess you can't knock it until you've tried it.

Does your buddy need to travel back to consult with customers in the US (assuming that is where he is from)? Was he an established consultant before the move?

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#14

Post by hs »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #9
toby wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really enjoyed the lifestyle message of the book, which I think is an interesting goal, but the "specific information" about how to implement it kind of upset me. There's enough room in this world for a few people to be selling vitamins or "information products" via infomercials, but that's only because there are a lot of people doing other things. Good for him that he found his niche, but it's totally misleading t…

People have this strange tendency to read 4HWW like a recipe book. I don't understand it. At one point in the book, Ferriss himself (indirectly) provides the explanation for why his own book focuses so much on his particular experiences and goals: He prefers to read books written by people that have actual experience doing something , rather than theoretical extrapolations. And so he's written such a book. He offers…

"He prefers to read books written by people that have actual experience doing something, rather than theoretical extrapolations"

i also find that books written from author's experience superior

examples: pg's essays, htgr by felix dennis, ferris among others

actually pretty much everything else (author who sings own song, cook who eats own food, etc)

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#15

Post by medearis »

rtw wrote: post #13
medearis wrote: post #5

I have a buddy who apparently took the 4HWW to heart and moved to Argentina to work as a freelance software engineer... he seems to be doing well. Personally, I thought Ferriss made it seem a little easy, but who knows? Did you actually do all of the challenges? I guess you can't knock it until you've tried it.

Does your buddy need to travel back to consult with customers in the US (assuming that is where he is from)? Was he an established consultant before the move?

He does have to travel to meet with clients, but from what I've gathered, it is not particularly frequent. He had a pretty solid resume as an engineer and is definitely one of the most creative, smart people I know, but I don't think that he had much of a list of prior clients. As I recall, our school kind of set him up with his 2 main clients. Its quite a bold move on his part and inspiring to me. It's only one data point, but its certainly an example of how its possible to carve out a niche.

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#16

Post by rtw »

medearis wrote: post #15
rtw wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your buddy need to travel back to consult with customers in the US (assuming that is where he is from)? Was he an established consultant before the move?

He does have to travel to meet with clients, but from what I've gathered, it is not particularly frequent. He had a pretty solid resume as an engineer and is definitely one of the most creative, smart people I know, but I don't think that he had much of a list of prior clients. As I recall, our school kind of set him up with his 2 main clients. Its quite a bold move on his part and inspiring to me. It's only one data…

Pretty cool, thanks.

Coincidentally... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=408190

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#18

Post by jbjohns »

jwesley wrote: post #6
toby wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really enjoyed the lifestyle message of the book, which I think is an interesting goal, but the "specific information" about how to implement it kind of upset me. There's enough room in this world for a few people to be selling vitamins or "information products" via infomercials, but that's only because there are a lot of people doing other things. Good for him that he found his niche, but it's totally misleading t…

The misleading aspect you mentioned is exactly what irks me about the book. It is a fantasy being sold to every person working a dull job. The glorification of the no-work, jetsetting lifestyle is misleading as well. To have a profession and be a member of a community should be a source joy and accomplishment, not something to run away from. I think most people would find traveling the world alone, constantly indulgi…

I'm not sure if you meant it this way, but personally I'm not going to joyfully embrace the glorious opportunity to throw away 45+ hours of my life every single week to help make some rich people richer.

Personally I wouldn't just travel (maybe 2/3 months a year), I would write libraries to help the programming languages I like and do various CS research. I think there is so much more to discover in our field.

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#19

Post by maneesh »

medearis wrote: post #5

I have a buddy who apparently took the 4HWW to heart and moved to Argentina to work as a freelance software engineer... he seems to be doing well. Personally, I thought Ferriss made it seem a little easy, but who knows? Did you actually do all of the challenges? I guess you can't knock it until you've tried it.

i took it to heart and am now living in Buenos Aires as a freelance software engineer. I communicate online with my clients, and work on my own projects with the free time that euros/dollars -> peso conversion gives. I recommend it!

Re: Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek

#20

Post by bemmu »

iamelgringo wrote: post #8

Mr. Ferriss is a master at self promotion. That doesn't mean that there's not good stuff to be learned after you sift through the self-promoting crap in the book. Tidbits I picked up: * Throw a quick 3 page website up as a sales letter to market a $100 product. Point $200 worth of ad-sense at it over 10 days to see if you get any uptake. If you have more than 2 signups or "buy-ins", you've past the break even point a…

One problem with outsourcing is that people tend to have a lot of context to their tasks that whoever they hire to handle it for them won't have. There can be miscommunications about what needs to be done, the other person might not understand what the requester likes/dislikes, they might have to ask for extra details etc. and often it may be just faster to do it yourself.
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