As an equity analyst plugging away at models valuing companies and considering the value of an Ivy League MBA with 80 work weeks, breadth has made me pause and reflect. Even as a millennial, a decade after the Global Financial Crisis, with complacency rearing its ugly head, mounting student loan debt (I'm not saying it's not justified), are many of us likely to fall prey to the same worker bee mentality of the generations before us?
This book starts by framing the question as why would you wait until retirement to begin enjoying your life to the full? No, it's not what you're thinking; Ferris is not advocating that you resign right away and give your boss the proverbial. Rather, the aim is to truly begin with the end in mind and discover what it is that you would actually do if you were financially independent. Many people wish for a massive payday but rarely give real thought to what they would actually do with all the money they needed.
Ferris is not against work but the concept of work for work's sake. It is an insidious disease in our society. Many employers care more about face time than output and real productivity. There any practical suggestions in this book to increase your efficacy (getting important things done )as opposed to your efficiency (how well do you do any task whether it is big or small). he basic mantra is , "Are we sweating the small stuff?"l
'The Four Hour Work' discusses escaping the 9 to 5 rat race and seeking to attain a desired lifestyle. Rather than working purely to save for retirement to enjoy it all at the end, the book advocates the idea of regular sabbaticals. Sure, this probably works better if you're single without kids but the basic principles regarding budgeting in depth, what the required income to lease that car, travel to that exotic location or tick that (insert item) off your bucket list becomes less about lofty ideals (eg. I want to be fluent in French, Spanish and German) into framing our minds to break it down into something actionable. ( I will watch 45 minutes of French television daily and attempt to start a conversation with two French people I know every week)
We live in an age where people may scoff at how simple many of the suggestions are but as Leonardo Da Vinci stated, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."I would recommend reading The 4 Hour Work Week or giving the Tim Ferris Show a listen on iTunes.
