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The 4-Hour Workweek

Timothy Ferriss

26 readers recommend it across 21 discussions

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THE WORD OF MOUTH

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Original Hacker News comments, in the readers’ own words.

xucian
Zero to one The lean startup The 4-hour workweek The subtle art of not giving a f*ck -- What I've found out, biographies are the best thing for me because I always want to know what happens next, but I also learn invaluable lessons from the biographee (just googled this term now and it exists!), so it's a nice mix of story and self-help
jasiek-net
Same here - Zero to one - really inspiring book! And Lean startup - far too ambitious for me at the moment, but I learned a lot from it. 4 hour work week - I would say it’s more like a fiction book, but still fun to read. 7 habits of highly effective people - it’s saved my life in high school, I knew some parts of it by heart.
tmaly
Getting Things Done - the 2001 version I read two years ago, I use the general idea and it helps to have a clear head when your fighting fires daily. Never Split the Difference - some very practical negotiation strategies. Mini Habits by Stephen Guise - short book but awesome method. I am still doing the one pushup habit since last March. How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck by Steve Stockman - I wanted to improve my video production for my programming course for kids. I am still learning but this book has been a huge help. The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking by Barbara Minto - huge help with improving my written communication at my job. The Coaching Habit by Michael Stanier - short book but huge help when your transitioning to managing people. Made to Stick by Dan Heath - was a huge help in planning how I would teach elementary students last month about programming. The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch - aside from application of Pareto principle, I took away the idea that books provide the best bang for your buck for knowledge density. The 4 Hour Work Week - great inspiration to start your own thing. The $100 Startup - like the 4HWW but with more details.
nexus2045
Interestingly, the biggest eye-opener of reading the 4HWW is the part when Ferriss defines the word muse. I used to only think that it was a dichotomy of 1) boring 9-5 selling out your soul for the rest of your life, or 2) VC-backed startup scaling like mad and ending in a 7+ figure acquisition, but never considered the option in between: lifestyle businesses that are "automated", so you can actually do other things with your life.
graeme
The Four Hour Workweek. It showed me: 1. How to make a business without "experience" 2. A model of how to make an automated business Changed my life and led me to create a mostly automated business that is still going seven years on. Note: this book often rubs people the wrong way, and requires caveats. The four hours refers to maintenance work, in my interpretation. I could maintain my business on four hours. But, it would gradually atrophy. So, I grow it. But, with the liberty to take a lof of time off, when I want. For those allergic to Tim Ferriss, Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling is an excellent read. But, the four hour week was the book that hit me like a ton of bricks and changed the course of my life. The business, if anyone is curious: https://lsathacks.com

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orthoganol
Wow, The Game I had totally forgotten about. Along with the 4 Hour Work Week, those are two books that gave me totally new measuring devices for success and attractiveness when I was in my early 20s. 4HWW redefined 'elite' as young entrepreneurial globe trotters (location freedom), and was probably the main igniter of the digital nomad movement, while The Game redefined attractiveness (for men) as a predominantly behavioral thing - boldness, non neediness, confidence etc. - not a wealth, credentials, or even primarily physical attributes thing (and pretty much ruined going out to bars for half a decade). Agree or disagree, those books really, really impacted thinking for millennials.

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mikejames16
Depends on what you're after. If you like the 4 hour work week and want to change your lifestyle then I'd read inspiration for the four hour work week; vagabonding by Ralf Potts and more recently the obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday. At the end of this month I'll be heading off on a round the world trip with no return ticket starting in india. I have the four hour work week to thank for that, I changed my job to one where I was able to work remote, started my own product gocaller.co.uk whether it's going to bring income to support long term travel will be interesting to see, nevertheless it's a fun ride. I feel more confident now that I can go back to doing what im doing now I love software development and the interesting people I've had the pleasure of working with

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hvass
The Black Swan (anything by Taleb really), Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, Epictetus' Discourses, Fish that ate the whale by Rich Cohen, Man's Search for Meaning, Titan, Principles by Ray Dalio (not really a book, but really worth reading, plus it's free), 4HW by Tim Ferris, The Strategy Paradox. Also Teddy Roosevelt's biography has been very influential.
cgore
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. He is some weird combination of crazy person, scummy used-car salesman, and genius. The best idea from the book is his "dreamline" idea, and I have been doing it since around 2009. It really helps you focus your effort, and get rid of tasks that don't accomplish your goals. [And from your Jahreslisten: the Bible.]
nopassrecover
Some books that stood out this year (many not for their intended reasons) The 4 Hour Work Week (Tim Ferriss) - In parts entertaining, interesting, self-promoting, educational, inspirational, attractive and undesirable. Definitely worth the read and a great call to action. Will make you consider what you want and how you can achieve it. The Game (Neil Strauss) - Truly interesting story and an interesting view on human dynamics and hacking one of the more important systems (dating). A great view on what is most important - ends or means. Will make you consider how people work, what motivates them and whether success cures emptiness. Losing my Virginity (Richard Branson) - The awesome and entertaining story of Virgin with lots of great advice and startup David vs Goliath inspiration. Will make you consider what determination and the little guy can achieve. Business Stripped Bare (Richard Branson) - Branson's more focused take on business advice and patches on bits of the Virgin story since the first book. Will make you consider the power of being genuine and growing a company with people treated as smart humans. On Writing (Stephen King)…
zavulon
I'm going to go ahead and recommend "4 Hour work week" by Tim Ferris, BUT - you have to take that book with a big grain of salt. Some of the stuff he's talking about is fluff, and he's gotten some fair criticism over it - but he has some invaluable, very practical advice on automation of certain areas of a business, passive income streams, etc. Personally, I found it very helpful in moving from "full time job, but want to start my own business" stage to geting there and doing it full time.
charlesju
I think that we should do all 4 categories and create a discussion thread the first of each month for each 4 categories so everyone can talk about what they want to talk about it. I really like 2 and 3, personally. Can I suggest our first book be "4 Hour Workweek"? I am reading it right now, very interesting book and concepts, I would love to get everyone's opinion on it.
hbien
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2325563013_d62ca9cde5.jp... (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2325563013_d62ca9cde5.jpg?v=0) I'm a fan of "The Pragmatic Programmer". Other books I thought were a good read: getting things done, 4 hour work week, and founders at work. I've also got all 6 seasons of 24 on my bookshelf =/, probably not the most productive times of my life.