Tim Ferris, An Arrogant Git…. But He Might Just Be Right

Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by in Featured, General, Saving Money & Finances

You may have guessed from the title but I have just finished listening to the Four Hour Workweek… You know that book that took the internet by storm a few years ago and has just had a new flurry of interest due to an update.

I have been wanting to read the book for quite some time as some well respected bloggers recommended it with high esteem. As some of you know I am in Cairo, Egypt so had some trouble getting a hold of the book but I eventually managed to find the audio book version. Sadly it wasn’t the updated version.

The basics of the Four Hour Workweek Week are simple. Eliminate distractions, get your work done as effectively and as quickly as you can and then kick back and enjoy life. Eventually you want to aim at outsourcing every aspect of your life possible so you can kick back and relax even more… A great concept but not necessarily realistic for everyone (Tim would disagree with me there).

Now here is the overarching thing about this book. Tim Ferris is one of those “I have done this” people. At every possible point in the book he likes to tell you what he has done and how easily and cleverly he did such a thing. If I met him in a bar I would think he was lying about everything and I would hate him for his sheer know-allness and arrogant nature. However it seems Tim has done a lot of this stuff so you really feel compelled to keep listening / reading to find out how! When he says something bluntly and selfishly you cringe… and then the following thought is “but he does have a point”.

Also he uses a lot of case studies and assuming it’s all true you start to believe that some of this advice could actually improve your life. The book is laid out very well and takes you on a journey of not checking email through to traipsing through Europe on a shoestring budget, on your terms!

I guess the book is great in many ways and it will be getting another listen. It gives you ideas, challenges your conventions and tells you to spend some time now enjoying your life. You can’t fault these ideas.

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Things you can fault are Tim’s personal methods to achieve this stuff. He often suggests that you lie or manipulate others to get your own way. He does offer some alternatives but overall you realise pretty quickly that this journey is filled with selfishness and if you really do completely follow his lead you may well be left with the guilt of the lies you created to get yourself where you are.

However I don’t think following this book to the tee is necessarily the point. Tim simply lays down a lot of things that I want to do. I want automated business so that I can pursue things that would help this world. I want to outsource my mundane work and supply jobs for people in poorer countries and I don’t want to constrain my geographical location. This book helps push me further into looking into all these areas with much more seriousness and also supplies some of the resources needed to try things out.

Already my Geography is not too constrained and I make a reasonable amount of cash in automated income, nothing great yet but I have tasted some of the stuff I want to do.

Immediate things this book has pushed me to do are increase my productivity and look at hiring a Virtual Assistant to help grow my online business. I’ll be working regular weeks for a while yet though I think… When the debt is gone though, who knows!

Useful Reads Related To This Post:

While you are in Four Hour Workweek reading mode you should also read the awesome review over at Money Funk: The 4 Hour Work Week Book Review

Also Ruth, The Web Career Girl, recently wrote a great post about making better use of your time and that fits perfectly with the start of the book: 4 Ways to Win the Battle Against Procrastination

You may also want to read this post from Penelope Trunk, it really tickled me :) : 5 Time Management Tips I Learned From Hating Tim Ferris

So what do you think, are you going to read 4 Hour Workweek, have you read this book? Do you like / hate Tim Ferris…. I want your opinions and comments.

PS: I have to legally tell you that links to the 4 Hour Workweek on this post are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission if you purchase the book….

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10 Responses to “Tim Ferris, An Arrogant Git…. But He Might Just Be Right”

  1. Mrs. Frugal

    15. Feb, 2010

    Wow, great review. I’ve been thinking about reading this after seeing it referenced on another blog. I think I’ll definitely give it a read now. Thanks!
    .-= Mrs. Frugal´s last blog ..What I Won’t Sacrifice =-.

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  2. Forest

    16. Feb, 2010

    @Mrs Frugal… Thanks very much :) , let me know what you think when you do read it.

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  3. Money Funk

    16. Feb, 2010

    So you feel the same way I do – arrogant b*stard. LOL. Okay, maybe not that extreme. But one needs to realize that Tim has done it all because he implemented the factors outlined in his book. So have you put yourself on a low information diet???

    I keep telling myself I need to reread it (even though I just read) because the hype effects are wearing off, yet there are factors I would like to continue practicing.

    Nice review. :)
    .-= Money Funk´s last blog ..Menu Plan Monday – I am going on a diet! =-.

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  4. Forest

    17. Feb, 2010

    @Money Funk, ha ha, I wanted to write that but didn’t want to offend any of my more sensitive readers…. I noticed I never got any comments on my Say F**K You To Black Friday post so I aired on the side of caution here!!

    He did have some great points but he is a selfish selfish man. I will however be listening to it a few more times and will start implementing some of the time saving techniques to start (saying that I have been following up on emails and chatting with partners on skype since 8 this morning, it’s 12:30 now!).

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  5. Tracey

    17. Feb, 2010

    Great post – just finishing listening to the original audio book myself and I felt the same way when I first listened to it a couple of years back. There are some amazing challenges to my own sense of comfort, and I tend to need to filter the choices into something acceptable for my own personal ethics. But I think it’s got some good foundation concepts that we can all use to help ourselves get back on track or onto a new track.

    Taken with a bit of salt and implementing on my own terms I do think it’s a worthwhile “read”!

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  6. Forest

    17. Feb, 2010

    @Tracey, Thanks very much :) … I really like your explanation for how to make use of this book. It does take some controversy and discomfort to make people listen so I am sure he pushed even his own ideas to get the points across.

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  7. Austin

    05. Mar, 2010

    I orginally picked the book up because I thought it was called “Four Day Work Week”; regardless, I loved it.

    It’s one of the very few truly original books I’ve read. It doesn’t fit everyone’s agenda and that’s okay, but it’s great for some readers.

    Austin @ Foreigner’s Finances
    .-= Austin´s last blog ..The 5 Books That Changed My Money Life =-.

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    • Forest

      05. Mar, 2010

      Thanks Austin…. yeah it certainly is original and I applaud it for that. I have taken on some of the philiosophy’s into daily life and am going to read it a few more times to get me motivated to stream line my life.

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  8. A Tim Ferriss Fan

    29. May, 2010

    You have the brains of a nimrod. Just look at your world and judge for yourself how selfish you really are right now. Then you can place Tim in perspective. Getting to your goals is not selfish and it’s self-righteous people like you who hold the world back. And just so you know, Tim Ferriss is not paying me to write this.

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    • Forest

      30. May, 2010

      Hi Ferris Fan :) ….. I think it may have helped to read my article properly…. I love the book, I love the concepts but at times it felt like Tim was more about himself than the well being of others… Caring about the people around you is not holding the world back.

      Great book, I recommend it to everyone, just my take on it… I am sure Tim is a lovely bloke in real life, he seems cool in his video’s.

      If he did pay you to write it that would be extremely crappy, ha ha, so I am glad he didn’t…. Now go calm yourself down and consider not insulting people directly for opinions of a book….

      Maybe I am a Nimrod, who gives a crap anyway :)

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