Book Review

Have you heard about Timothy Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Workweek” book? It’s actually pretty good, much better than most books on the same subject. Here are some things I learned from the book, things I thought were interesting and valuable, and some quotes mentioned in the book:

“Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to your life” – John F. Kennedy

“Everything popular is wrong” – Oscar Wilde

Different is better when it is more effective or more fun.

Focus on being productive instead of busy.

The timing is never right. Just do it and correct course along the way.

Ask for forgiveness, not permission.

Emphasize strengths, don’t fix weaknesses. Focus on better use of your best weapons instead of constant repair.

Avoid destructive criticism but eustress is healthful for growth.

Risks aren’t that scary once you take them.

“Action may not always bring happiness but there is no happiness without action” – Benjamin Disraeli

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” – Mark Twain

What are you waiting for? Measure the cost of inaction, realize the unlikelihood and repairability of most missteps, and develop the most important habit of those who excel and enjoy doing so: action.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw

Most people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre.

You should strive for excitement not happiness, boredom is the enemy.

Tomorrow becomes never. No matter how small the task, take the first step now!

“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.” – Bruce Lee

80/20 principle: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs. 80% of consequences flow from 20% of the causes. 80% of wealth and income was produced and possessed by 20% of the population. Think about: What 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness? Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?

The goal is to find your inefficiencies and eliminate them and find your strengths so you can multiply them.

Maximum income from minimum necessary effort is the primary goal.

Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective – doing less- is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.

Parkinson’s Law: A task will swell in (perceived) importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. The end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus.

Problems, as a rule, solve themselves or disappear if you remove yourself as an information bottleneck and empower others.

Don’t create a product, then seek someone to sell it to. Find a market – define your customers – then find or develop a product for them. Be a member of your target market and don’t speculate what others need or will be willing to buy.

It is more profitable to be a big fish in a small pond then a small undefined fish in a big pond.

Main benefit of your product should be explainable in one sentence or phrase.

Aim for 8-10x markup, which means that a $100 product should cost no more than $10

Your product should cost the customer $50 – $200. Higher pricing means you can sell less units, obtain higher profit margins, and attract better customers.

Sometimes you can find a generic product that can be repurposed or repositioned for another market.

Information products are low-cost, fast to manufacture, and time consuming for competitors to duplicate.

What do you think about this book and information?