But telling people this doesn’t sell books.
The only real meat in the book is building your automated side biz. This is just building your website, testing it, and outsourcing all tasks. It’s nothing new, and Ferris is not an expert entrepreneur. In my experience the market is fickle and changes frequently, especially as it relates to the internet and online marketing. I can’t help but think that the entire “New Rich” concept is a branding ploy to roll out a series of self-help seminars. It’s easier said than done. Written in a fun, engaging style, I would file this under financial porn.
Well I don’t even want to work 8 hours a day. It’s not that I’m lazy, I just have other things to do, and if you enhance your productivity there really is no genuine reason to work that many hours a day. Many 1-star reviewers accused the 5-star reviewers of being “plants.”
He doesn’t work four hours a week but he sure can talk a game. Anyway, I give the book 4 stars. Again, it can be done. I don’t believe in self-fulfilling prophecies. But I disagree where he says that the goal should be excitement. This is a personal preference but speaks to me of a more extroverted, energetic personality type, one which I do not have. They’re books about equity investment, Real Estate Investment (REI), entrepreneurship, Time Management, and Kiyosaki-like stuff. Here Ferriss advocates getting automatic cash flow (residual income).
I liked his emphasis on thinking about what you are doing and dropping the things that aren’t important. That may sound obvious, but many people confuse busyness with productivity.
Thoreau, the classic American minimalist, covered all the same material far more eloquently 150 years ago. So why not read Thoreau instead”
Granted he may be saying not all can quit or want to quit their jobs and offering ideas on how to be more productive. He uses quotes from a lot of famous hardworking successful people to justify his points. What do you do while you are hiding from the boss” Mr Ferriss recommends starting a highly profitable online retail business that’s so highly automated it can be operated in only four hours a week.
Every single one of them is valuable in their own right and reading those books probably made this book far less “out there” to me. SELL GUITARS.