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• The 4 hour work week

• 
  Ian Cleary

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  The 4 hour work week

  Hi All,
  
  Here's a summary, a really interesting book...enjoy
  
  Test the most basic assumptions of the work-life equation
  
  How do your decisions change if retirement isn’t an option
  What if you could use a mini-retirement to sample your deferred life plan reward before working 40 years for it
  Is it really necessary to work life a slave to live like a millionaire
  
  “are you suffering from a tolerable and comfortable existence doing something unfulfilling”
  
  NR (The New rich): To distribute recovery periods and adventures (mini-retirements) throughout life on a regular basis and recognise that inactivity is not the goal, doing what excites you is.
  
  Don’t Work for Works Sake (W4W). After years of repetitive work you will often need to dig hard to find your passions, redefine your dream and revive hobbies. The goal is not just to eliminate the bad but it’s to experience the best in the world.
  
  Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life
  John F. Kennedy
  
  The following rules are the fundamental differentiators to keep in mind:
  
  1. Retirement is flawed for 3 reasons:
  
  It is predicated on the assumption that you dislike what you are doing during the most physically capable years of your life.
  
  Most people won’t be able to retire and maintain a good standard of living
  
  If the match does work (i.e. you amass a load of cash for retirement) it means you are ambitious and hard working and will be bored one week into retirement.
  
  Aim for 1 month of high intensity learning for every 2 months of project work
  
  
  2. Interest and energy are cyclical
  
  Alternating periods of rest and activity are necessary to survive.
  
  3. Less is not lazinesss
  
  Focussing on things of greater personal importance is not laziness.
  Focus on being productive not busy.
  
  4. The timing is never right
  
  Just do it and correct course along the way
  
  5. Ask for forgiveness not permission
  
  If it’s not going to devastate people around you try it and then justify it.
  
  6. Emphasis strengths, don’t fix weaknesses
  
  Focus on better use of your best weapons instead of constant repair.
  
  7. Things in excess become their opposite
  
  Too much of anything is not good.
  
  8. Money alone is not the solution
  
  9. Relative income is more important than absolute income
  
  Calculate based on the Euro and Time.
  
  10. Distress is bad, eustress is good
  
  Distress refers to harmful stimuli that make you weaker, less confident and less able.
  Eustress – Role models that push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress – stress that is healthy.
  
  Many a false step was made by standing still
  Fortune Cookie
  
  
  Action may not always bring happiness but there is no happiness without action
  Benjamin Disraeli
  
  Most people choose unhappiness over uncertainty
  
  Most who avoid quitting their jobs entertain the thought that their course will improve with time or increases with income. This seems valid and is a tempting hallucination when a job is boring or uninspiring instead of pure hell. Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough clever rationalisation.
  
  I am an old man and have known a great many troubles but most of them never happened
  
  Mark Twain
  
  
  If you are nervous of making the jump or simply putting it off because of fear of the unknown consider the following:
  
  1. Define your nightmare, the absolute worst that could happen - Is this really that bad, how likely is this to happen?
  
  2. What steps could you take to repair the damage or get things back on the upswing, chances are it’s easier than you could imagine.
  
  3. What are the outcomes or benefits, both temporary and permanent of the more probable scenarios?
  
  4. If you were fired from your job today what would you do get things under financial control?
  
  5. What are you putting off out of fear? What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.
  
  6. What is it costing you – financially, emotionally and physically – to postpone action.
  
  7. What are you waiting for.
  
  
  Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first of second problem, at which point you throw in the towel.
  
  Ask yourself not what you want, what are you goals but ask what would excite me?
  
  Parkinsons law dictates that a task will swell in importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for it’s completion. The end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus – ask are you being productive or just active, am I inventing things to do to avoid the important.
  
  Creating demand is hard, filling demand is much easier. Don’t create a product and find someone to sell it, find a market define your customers and the find or develop a product.
  
  If everyone is your customer then no-one is your customer.
  
  To find profitable niches ask yourself:
  
  What social, industry and professional groups do you belong to or understand.
  Which of these groups have magazines.
  Find out the rate card and back issues to find repeat advertisers in the area of interest
  Main benefit of the product should be explained in once sentence.
  Aim for 8 to 10 times markup
  Cost to customer in the region of 50 to 200 dollars
  Test the market – don’t ask if they would buy ask them to buy
  Best – Look at competition and create a more compelling offer using 3 pages
  Test – Test the offer using short google adwords advertising campaigns
  Divest or invest – cut losses with loosers and manufacture the winners for sales rollout.
  
  Beating the competition – use more creditability indicators (media, academia, testimonials, associations)
  Create a better guarantee
  Offer a better selection
  Faster or free shipping
  Make sure PPC is not to vague or misleading, need qualified customers
  
  Surround yourself with smiling positive people that have absolutely nothing to do with work.
  This post was modified on 09 Feb 2009 at 04:23 pm.
  • 09 Feb 2009, 4:22 pm
  Ian Cleary wrote: > Hi All, > > Here's a summary, a really interesting book...enjoy > > Test the most basic assumptions of the work-life equation > > How do your decisions change if retirement isn’t an option > What if you could use a mini-retirement to sample your deferred life > plan reward before working 40 years for it > Is it really necessary to work life a slave to live like a millionaire > > “are you suffering from a tolerable and comfortable existence doing > something unfulfilling” > > NR (The New rich): To distribute recovery periods and adventures > (mini-retirements) throughout life on a regular basis and recognise > that inactivity is not the goal, doing what excites you is. > > Don’t Work for Works Sake (W4W). After years of repetitive work you > will often need to dig hard to find your passions, redefine your > dream and revive hobbies. The goal is not just to eliminate the bad > but it’s to experience the best in the world. > > Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens > to you in life > John F. Kennedy > > The following rules are the fundamental differentiators to keep in > mind: > > 1. Retirement is flawed for 3 reasons: > > It is predicated on the assumption that you dislike what you are > doing during the most physically capable years of your life. > > Most people won’t be able to retire and maintain a good standard of > living > > If the match does work (i.e. you amass a load of cash for retirement) > it means you are ambitious and hard working and will be bored one > week into retirement. > > Aim for 1 month of high intensity learning for every 2 months of > project work > > > 2. Interest and energy are cyclical > > Alternating periods of rest and activity are necessary to survive. > > 3. Less is not lazinesss > > Focussing on things of greater personal importance is not laziness. > Focus on being productive not busy. > > 4. The timing is never right > > Just do it and correct course along the way > > 5. Ask for forgiveness not permission > > If it’s not going to devastate people around you try it and then > justify it. > > 6. Emphasis strengths, don’t fix weaknesses > > Focus on better use of your best weapons instead of constant repair. > > 7. Things in excess become their opposite > > Too much of anything is not good. > > 8. Money alone is not the solution > > 9. Relative income is more important than absolute income > > Calculate based on the Euro and Time. > > 10. Distress is bad, eustress is good > > Distress refers to harmful stimuli that make you weaker, less > confident and less able. > Eustress – Role models that push us to exceed our limits, physical > training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our > sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress – stress > that is healthy. > > Many a false step was made by standing still > Fortune Cookie > > > Action may not always bring happiness but there is no happiness > without action > Benjamin Disraeli > > Most people choose unhappiness over uncertainty > > Most who avoid quitting their jobs entertain the thought that their > course will improve with time or increases with income. This seems > valid and is a tempting hallucination when a job is boring or > uninspiring instead of pure hell. Pure hell forces action, but > anything less can be endured with enough clever rationalisation. > > I am an old man and have known a great many troubles but most of them > never happened > > Mark Twain > > > If you are nervous of making the jump or simply putting it off > because of fear of the unknown consider the following: > > 1. Define your nightmare, the absolute worst that could happen - Is > this really that bad, how likely is this to happen? > > 2. What steps could you take to repair the damage or get things back > on the upswing, chances are it’s easier than you could imagine. > > 3. What are the outcomes or benefits, both temporary and permanent of > the more probable scenarios? > > 4. If you were fired from your job today what would you do get things > under financial control? > > 5. What are you putting off out of fear? What we fear doing most is > usually what we most need to do. > > 6. What is it costing you – financially, emotionally and physically – > to postpone action. > > 7. What are you waiting for. > > > Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are > uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first of second > problem, at which point you throw in the towel. > > Ask yourself not what you want, what are you goals but ask what would > excite me? > > Parkinsons law dictates that a task will swell in importance and > complexity in relation to the time allotted for it’s completion. The > end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or > higher quality due to greater focus – ask are you being productive or > just active, am I inventing things to do to avoid the important. > > Creating demand is hard, filling demand is much easier. Don’t create > a product and find someone to sell it, find a market define your > customers and the find or develop a product. > > If everyone is your customer then no-one is your customer. > > To find profitable niches ask yourself: > > What social, industry and professional groups do you belong to or > understand. > Which of these groups have magazines. > Find out the rate card and back issues to find repeat advertisers in > the area of interest > Main benefit of the product should be explained in once sentence. > Aim for 8 to 10 times markup > Cost to customer in the region of 50 to 200 dollars > Test the market – don’t ask if they would buy ask them to buy > Best – Look at competition and create a more compelling offer using 3 > pages > Test – Test the offer using short google adwords advertising > campaigns > Divest or invest – cut losses with loosers and manufacture the > winners for sales rollout. > > Beating the competition – use more creditability indicators (media, > academia, testimonials, associations) > Create a better guarantee > Offer a better selection > Faster or free shipping > Make sure PPC is not to vague or misleading, need qualified customers > > Surround yourself with smiling positive people that have absolutely > nothing to do with work.