I read the 4 hour workweek as i'm sure a lot of others here have, that topic has been done plenty of times and I cannot say this article is aimed directly at Tim Ferris and his work, but certainly he is the one in my mind that brought the phrase "lifestyle design" to the masses.

I know when I read the book I felt something was "amiss" about the message, this was long before I found TMF and this site which kind of highlighted the problem, I thought this was a good article that sums up what I felt was "amiss" with the whole "lifestyle design" message, namely, that is lends itself completely to the seduction of event over process...

Why lifestyle design will make you miserable | Peter Shallard

Thanks for posting this. I felt the same thing about the 4 hour workweek. I couldn't put my finger on it but it just wasn't for me. Stopped about halfway...skipped to where he started talking about outsourcing Virtual assistants from India...closed the book, and gave it to someone else.

Maybe I missed something. But I think I found what I missed (and then some) in Mr. De Marco's book.

Good stuff - a couple of quotes stood out for me:

"Wannabe writers want to “have written” not actually write."

Definitely event over process here and it applies to much more than writing.

"The idea of building a business so that you can do something else is a dangerous one. Most businesses fail. The ones that succeed require the kind of work that few people apply to their full time office jobs."

There's a lot of argument against the "do what you love" philosophy of choosing a business but I think there's equal danger in basing your business solely on what you think will make you the most money. You have to love what you're doing enough to be willing to put in the time and effort to succeed. That doesn't mean you have to love the actual business itself but you have to have enough interest in the daily processes that go into building the business to actually stay in business.

Not to mention that unless you're building a business to sell once you've "succeeded" you're going to have to live with and work in the business you created for a long time...

I have no problem with "lifestyle design" but I think it's an expensive proposition. Just like designer clothes, shoes, houses, designer anything will tend to cost a lot of money. I will certainly create a "designer lifestyle" one day which will include free time, a nice place to live, and travel but only after I have provided enough value to the world. The problem with the 4 Hour Workweek is that it tries to take a shortcut and the result is people who are living a lifestyle they can't afford, much like a poor person who buys a designer purse they really shouldn't be buying.

I agree with that, I don't think there is anything wrong with the overall concept of lifestyle design, I mean essentially all it describes is living a life of control by divorcing time from money and being able to have the freedom to pursue your interests.

That is a message that clearly resonates with this board and it's members, I think nearly everyone here aspires to a life where they have this level of freedom, the difference comes in that with the TMF there is no avoiding the process to achieve these aims, build up your business with the greatest amount of passion and dedication you can muster, enjoy the journey and as a by product of the valuable asset or assets you created, you will be able to exercise your new freedom and "design" your ideal lifestyle in the same way MJ and other successful entrepreneurs are doing and will always do.

I think this is why MJ's book is so profound in this day and age, it tells people what they NEED to hear instead of what they WANT, the masses want event over process and a title like The Four Hour Workweek" could hardly be more provocative in that respect, and that is why it sells like hotcakes!

Good post. Actually, awesome post.

You know what's the problem with the world today? Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Everyone reads a book and thinks himself an expert.

Everyone wants a cool lifestyle. But what is a cool lifestyle? Owning a Lambo? I don't even like to drive.

Being free? Well, I bet that the slowlaner working 9 - 5 is freer than the "4 Hour Workweek Fanatic" that is working his way around the world.

Working in a restaurant in China is not better than working in a corporate environment in the US. It's worse actually.

I've read the Four Hour Workbook. I have it in hardcover in my library. I liked the book. I can't say it was a bad book. But I was looking for something different than most people - not the mindset but the how-to.

I've read the 4HW because I didn't knew how to outsource a few tasks of my business (read-proofing, customer email) and I wasn't willing to buy another 30 hour course on outsourcing. And for "how-to" advice on outsourcing it was excellent.

But for the minimalist lifestyle, well, less doesn't really make me happier.
Traveling around the world with $1000? The odds are against you. What if you break your leg in Iraq? You are dead. Achieving that kind of liberty on a budget requires a huge dose of luck. And we all know that luck tends to equalize in the long term. If you throw a coin 100 times, you can expect that 50% of the time it will fall on one side and 50% on the other.

The same in the 4HW. Yes, let's say that you want to "have a lifestyle design". You want to build passive income sources (btw, an online business actually requires 20 - 35 hours per week to maintain) in order to travel on your bike in China.

If your business is generating $50.000/month or even $10.000/month, then go ahead. $10000/month to pay for your travel is more than enough, especially if you leverage the power of the dollar.

At $10000 you can afford a medical insurance, decent travel, personal security (guess what, if you check-in in cheap hostels you can get robbed or worse, if you are a girl, raped).

So, I don't believe this crap called lifestyle design. I am self-employed and I don't do lifestyle design. Lately I don't pick my phone when I'm out but my business is my lifestyle.

Once I get out of this business and I can start something based around a system (something I could franchise), I may get some freedom ... but I'd rather spend it in the more traditional ways.

Razvan

I found that article very misleading. The quote "The idea of building a business so that you can do something else is a dangerous one. Most businesses fail. The ones that succeed require the kind of work that few people apply to their full time office jobs." really doesn't capture the idea of lifestyle design.

Why would you build a business otherwise? Who builds a business, just to work in the business? Don't we build a business to make money so we can do something else?

I don't think the author believes that you can build a successful business part time. But isn't that what most people do? They work a job and work on their business at night and at some point will quit their day job. Their "part time" work is obviously successful enough for them to quit their day job. I would bet that their are tons of people making good money working 3-4 hours a day and enjoying their lives everyday.

Is Tim Feriss some kind of a scapegoat on this forum? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there's a bit of confusion and fanaticism (fan-boy-ism) here and I'm not sure, but I think it revolves around terminology, goal-setting, and exit strategies.

If you read Tim Feriss's 4hww book you should realize two things:
#1 He (apparently) works his a$$ off when establishing a business, waaaaaay more than 4 hours a week when establishing a business, then automates it and then tapers into a lifestyle of four hour work weeks punctuated by "mini-retirements", financed by the revenue from that mostly-automated business. I'm not sure how many times he's actually done this, by the way. I think he has his nutritional company and his book, and is an investor in many small startups.

#2: There isn't much difference between that and the Millionaire Fastlane . Feriss is focusing on revenue generation to finance a vacation-based lifestyle while Demarco is focused on building wealth to finance early retirement. Same effect - in the end you're "upgrading" your lifestyle. It's like a different way of accounting or book-keeping, but the bottom line is the same - a change in lifestyle.

You're not going to hit that proverbial 4 hour work week without building value and impacting milllions, whether or not it's mentioned in Feriss's book doesn't really affect that statement (but mentioning that in his book would make the process more reproducible). And you're not going to build a multi-million dollar nest egg (like Demarco) without some kind of automation or systematization of the processes involved - whether it's outsourcing , franchising, or delegation to subordinate employees. Forget the word "outsourcing" if it bothers you so much, and use the words "process-building". Also substitute the phrase "retirement planning" for "lifestyle design" if it irks you. But if you sidestep the terminology involved you'll see that these two books are not just flip-sides of the same coin, they're also complimentary.
I'm sure Feriss could sell his nutritional supplement company and retire, but apparently he's content owning it and living off the revenue. What's wrong with that approach? He has more control over his "retirement income" than someone who sells his business and puts his money into financial instruments. And as author-celebrities, both he and Demarco probably have similar workdays, though Feriss is (IMHO) more visible. I'm going to guess that right now Demarco actually comes closer to having a 4hww than Feriss does but I'm not sure how much time he spends managing his finances, and I can't guess who is more wealthy or has a better lifestyle.

Anyhow, it's back to my 40-hour-work-weekend for me. I'll be checking in here and the 4hww forum often...

Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Workweek (4/5): Money for nothing - Automation | Evomend breaks down the 4hww phases, btw.

There is nothing wrong with trying to make money so you can enjoy life. That author made valid points but the overall message is wrong. You don't need to enjoy what you do to succeed in business. It's a plus but not a requirement.

I agree with it. What the author is saying is that people have the dream of where they want to be, so they start a business because of that...but it all goes downhill once they don't really want to put the work in...the dream then slips further away because they weren't motivated to build the bridge to then go and cross it.

There is a fine line between "doing something you enjoy" and creating a successful business (which you'd enjoy if it was successful) What I've learnt from my experience is that I love running my own business. However, I hate selling my "poorer products" so to speak. Hence why I'm here on this forum. I wouldn't change my entrepreneurial life-style for a second, just the product. All other skills are universal, right?

So if you want to live in the land of milk and honey, you will do so, because from the word go, you want to control your destiny...be it, the beginning, middle and end.

biophase said:

Why would you build a business otherwise? Who builds a business, just to work in the business? Don't we build a business to make money so we can do something else?

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People who like the work. For some folks, their "work" is something they really love doing, and if they can get paid well for it, all the better. These people design a business around an activity that they love doing (think of the person who LOVES taking care of kids starting a daycare center). I know MJ is a strong detractor of the "do what you love" school of thought, and for the most part he is right. However, that doesn't mean that because you love something you shouldn't do it.

For example, I LOVE coding. Even if it wasn't my occupation (which it wasn't in years previous) I would still code in my spare time. However, it just so happens that something I love is also something that I am well compensated for. So when I decided to "do what I love" it was a match made in heaven. In contrast, I have a relative that was a teacher and an artist. She tried to "do what she loved" and become a full-time artist. It was a failure. The only difference was that the market found what I love (coding) to be more valuable than what she loved (painting/drawing). That is just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

This doesn't mean that I will only "do what I love" regardless of what the market says. I don't particularly love internet marketing, but I acknowledge that I need to learn about the field and do it in order to increase my compensation when "doing what I love". The biggest thing that I keep in mind is that just because I love programming, that doesn't give me permission to ignore the other aspects of my business (marketing/sales, accounting, legal issues, etc).

biophase said:

I found that article very misleading. The quote "The idea of building a business so that you can do something else is a dangerous one. Most businesses fail. The ones that succeed require the kind of work that few people apply to their full time office jobs." really doesn't capture the idea of lifestyle design.

Why would you build a business otherwise? Who builds a business, just to work in the business? Don't we build a business to make money so we can do something else?

I don't think the author believes that you can build a successful business part time. But isn't that what most people do? They work a job and work on their business at night and at some point will quit their day job. Their "part time" work is obviously successful enough for them to quit their day job. I would bet that their are tons of people making good money working 3-4 hours a day and enjoying their lives everyday.

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Am I the only one who's "something else" would involve still working in the business just with a much larger advertising budget?

mcjon77 said:

For example, I LOVE coding. Even if it wasn't my occupation (which it wasn't in years previous) I would still code in my spare time. However, it just so happens that something I love is also something that I am well compensated for. So when I decided to "do what I love" it was a match made in heaven. In contrast, I have a relative that was a teacher and an artist. She tried to "do what she loved" and become a full-time artist. It was a failure. The only difference was that the market found what I love (coding) to be more valuable than what she loved (painting/drawing). That is just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

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Actually, I don't think that's "just the way the cookie crumbles", I think that the financial value of what you love to do should be the key, deciding factor. If you love to do something that is lucrative, that's great - run with it. Otherwise MJ's philosophy should apply.

77startup said:

Am I the only one who's "something else" would involve still working in the business just with a much larger advertising budget?

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No, you're not alone. My idea is extremely close to that - my first goal is to provide internet marketing for other peoples businesses using my own company. Once that aspect of the business is organized/systemitized and profitable I'll begin developing/marketing my own products. So essentially yes, I'm going to graduate to a much larger advertising budget, and it will be financed by providing advertising services to other businesses. My "internet marketing company" will evolve into the "internet marketing department" of a much larger company.

I just get the feeling when reading the 4HWW that the whole lifestyle design movement is very self-centered and adolescent in its mentality. Instead of living at home and having mommy and daddy take care of your basic needs so you can play everyday, you create a "muse" to act as mommy/daddy for your finances. In either case, it's about having someone else (mommy, muse, or Indian outsourcers) do the heavy lifting so you can live life like a beer commercial. I can see how it appeals to 20 and 30-something single males who are still stuck in "adultescence". Most people should realize that selling phony workout pills and then turning that into a Get Rich Quick guru business is like hitting the lotto and that such a thing won't happen for most people.

Most people will have to grind it out in a business and, if they bust their hump and are in the right place at the right time, they might be able to cash out young.

While there is something to be said for systematizing a business (the E-Myth is better on this topic anyway), the lifestyle design concept leaves a bad impression on me.

Jeremy said:

While there is something to be said for systematizing a business (the E-Myth is better on this topic anyway), the lifestyle design concept leaves a bad impression on me.

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I disagree with much of what you've said because 4hww showed me how to leverage outsourcing (odesk.com is awesome), but I just want to make a point of thanking you for pointing me to the e-myth. I never looked into it before and after finding the e-course online, it's on my reading list now.

Edit: Oh crap, there are like ten books, an e-course, coaching, seminars, etc etc. Not to hijack the thread, but If I only read one book, which one should it be?

I'm into financial reports and bank account design.:coffee: