The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss - Latest Comments in New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Kelson — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:01:47 -0000

Hey bubba,

Listen I just finished reading your book and I thought it was brilliant. I honestly think holding a competition here for the folks for a night on the town with you and hell I dunno Bono or something like that somewhere remote and completely unorthodox (Eastern Bulgaria? XD) would be a pretty swav event after reading what you did at the university during your "seminar" on selling drugs. I'm a first time poster on here and I figured I would start by firing ideas up. Hopefully one of them hits home? Being 18 my "creativity" tends to come out a bit wack sometimes :P

Anyways, thanks for your time,

Kelson

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Kristin Wilson — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:59:25 -0000

here goes a long comment but pertinent i think:

I personally decided to skip hating my life until that elusive day of retirement and instead traded a cubicle and the hum of florescent lights for the rainforest and an unlimited supply of sugar bananas. At 22, I went straight from business school to Costa Rica (subsequently ping ponging around Central America to land in Nicaragua for the time being). 3 years later and still living it up, I couldn't shake the nagging doubt and uncertainty about when this trip was supposed to end. Was it all too good to be true? Were the US immigration authorities going to drag me back to the land of traffic light cameras and tabloids?

The 356,928th "when are you going back home?" question prompted me to start questioning my style of life: no TV, selective media exposure, taking Mondays or Fridays (or Monday through Friday) off, getting just as much enjoyment out of perfecting my raw coconut ice cream recipe one day as I would jet setting to a bachelorette party in NYC another. Is this allowed in real life??? All family, friends, acquaintances and clients had either written me off completely or would use guilt to try to bring me back permanently to good 'ol America: Land of the Free, Land of Reality TV.

Had it not been for my little sister idly coming across 4HWW at her college bookstore and subsequently gifting it to me, I might never have realized this existed. Never again will I doubt my very non-boring life, my intuition or the truth that if you chase only money, you will never be satisfied or fulfilled, or grossly misinterpret money for success until it's too late. I encourage all of you to do something you're passionate about, and quit what you're doing if you're unhappy immediately if at all possible. I've found that when you're out of your comfort zone, your built-in, subconscious human safety net will kick in and somehow, it always works out...

Right now I'm at chapter 7 and completely amazed (and a little weirded out) regarding how much the book parallels my life. Tferris, if you happen to be in Prague in September, LA in October, Cartagena in December, Central America through June or Bali next summer, look me up.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

abaybay — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:22:27 -0000

your text is screwed up on this page!

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Mathias — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:15:22 -0000

I really love your "time is currency". It doesn't make sense do be a trillionaire if you can't use some time to do what you absolutly want to do. It's like living a life only for the mission of feeding your childrens greed when you die. How fun and inspirational is that on a scale of 1-10:)?

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Brent Goodman — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:04:29 -0000

great post! I know many millionaires and most of them I don't envy their lifestyle at all. I have a few friends who always seem to have fun, and they make less than 50k/yr.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

George Beinhorn — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:02:58 -0000

After two hard years working in a legal office, helping defend a case with profound First Amendment implications, I spent two weeks on Kauai. As a benevolent fate would have it, a check didn't arrive, and I had $300 to cover expenses. Zounds. Well, I'll tell you, it was wonderful. I completely lost the separate-and-above tourist consciousness. I was only too aware that I was, financially, at or below the level of everyone I met, from sun-blackended little Japanese farmer's market sellers, to grocery store clerks. "Hm, can I afford to rent a snorkel?" "Two oranges and a half-tub of tofu for dinner will keep me from feeling hungry later." It was deeply restoring, and I wrote some of my best words.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Nate — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:48:17 -0000

Tim and others who get it,

Fantastic! I am so glad that I have found a community that is with me that traveling the world is not just for the "lost souls". People used to tell me (Mostly my parents) that while I was seeing the world in my late teens and early twenties, sooner or later I would have to get a "real job"!

I listened to them, went back to school, graduated in engineering and now hove a nice, stable, well paid, great benefits and suffocatingly boring "real job".

The funny thing is, I really miss the constant learning and flexible schedule of being a student. The only thing that I feel of benefit is the security/stability, not the income. Because just as you have realized, we adjust our lifestyles to our incomes. I used to take entire 2-3 month vacations abroad for the summer, but now just a "too-weak" vacation.

Security/stability can be replaced with monthly cash-flow. So here goes, after working part-time on some other projects, my wife and I have been able to supplement our income just enough to quit it all, pack up our things, rent out our house and move to a coastal tourist community in Taiwan! Just like you, I will be programming my day around learning the language and enjoying "my" time with my wife and newborn child. Some of my friends and colleagues just can't understand why I would "jeopardize my career" when in fact the stuffy career was exactly what I wanted out of my life!

Thank you for your inspiration, I knew that there were others out there that are crazy enough to chase your dreams!

Kampai, Gambei, Cheers, Prost, Salut!

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Everett — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:49:24 -0000

Hey Tim,
Love the book. I'm getting my website redone for 160 bucks after a posting on elance.com. The book has opened up a load of possible "muse" ideas in my head - but I fear the procrastinator in me will soon take over and I'll end up just 'talking' more. How can I keep motivated when i serially put things off? I have a really cool 'scalable' fully automated business that could work. But everyday further from when I finished 4HWW, the plan is becoming a bit of "well maybe when I..." and soon, "ah s$#%, I should of..." Any advice for a person whose philosophy on life is "will get er' done"? I turn 30 in six months, and if I screw those up, that'll suck.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

antoinette — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:10:47 -0000

Tim, i have read most of your book. While I am enjoying it and learning a lot. Unfortunaltly, i jsut don't see how anybody can acheive that success without an investment. I have two business. One is my bread and butter . I am a personal lifestyle manager amd the other is a struggling hat business (new) i had to fire my web guy . I know have a non functioning website. i do not have the money to fix it. In fact i am struggling just to keep the roof over my head and have thought of getting the day job just to help pay the bills . I would rather poke my eyes out with bicyle spokes LOL. I am single mother with two kids that shares custody. While i would love to pack my bags and set sail. Its unrealistic. Its like "what came first the chicken or the egg". That's how i feel. You still need money to make money and no one is going to do anything for free. Do not get me wrong. you have the tools for me but i cannot use them until i have a few thousand laying around and or my children are grown up.
love the read . keep writing
antoinette

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Neil Tucker — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 14:13:38 -0000

Hi Tim,

I've been reading your book for the last few days and its suggestions have already started to help me to deal with my "lack of time" to do what I want. Your Eliminiation, Automation & Delegation strategy (I've been using the acronym EAD to better remember it) has been especially helpful because its so simple and practical.

I was surprised at some of your ideas in chapter 15 however. While I agree that being happy and doing things for others are necessary daily habits, the ease with which you pushed aside the question "What is the meaning of life?" was curious.

Scientific evidence that the universe had a begining, along with our knowledge of its immense complexity screams evidence of a designer. Anybody who found a watch on a deserted beach would not assume that it had no maker because they couldn't see one. Knowing more about our maker and his reason for making us would surely add meaning to our life and help us to set the right priorities in a world that offers us countless options.

The search for such valuable knowledge might create stress and cause a few knicks and bruises mentally, but it would also help us to avoid setting the wrong priorities in our short lives and add depth and meaning to any happiness we already enjoy.

Thanks again for your enjoyable, easy to read and helpful book.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Brenda — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:06:55 -0000

Hi Timothy

Wonderful book! Especially appreciated the 'Filling the Void . . .' chapter, which had the ring of truth to me.

I've had a great but time-devouring career, first as a journalist, then as a not-so-successful entrepreneur followed by speech writing. Each career brought along its own 'meaning', which I embraced wholeheartedly.

But the existential angst of having to get up each morning and create meaning all on one's own seems different. More challenging but also, if you manage to do it right, more meaningful.

As you say, no man, or woman, is meant to specialize in doing just one thing, all the time, forever.

Now I better get back to work investigating my own version of 4HWW and follow your advice about not frittering away time on email.

Thanks for sharing your discoveries

Cheers

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Rusty — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:05:34 -0000

Good stuff. The book "Your Money or Your Life" was the first good resource I read about things like this. I think Tim's 4HWW book usefully goes even further by pointing out that most companies are fundamentally hostile to anyone working fewer hours, no matter how productive the person is.

I was in a downsizing company and took a voluntary buyout in 1996, using the proceeds to travel for a year. Was biased toward SE Asia so I could afford more time. Had really gamed the frequent-flyer-miles system as well, mostly on self-paid leisure trips.

One year became more like three as I was just plain lucky with the '97 currency crash, and I also dipped into the IRA. A HUGE no-no, I know, but the thing just happened to be pumped up in the dot-com bubble and then collapsed, which it would likely have done to a lesser extent anyway.

In '99 I started using eBay as a travel-income supplement, before everyone and his brother were trying to do that. It got leaned on more and more after the dot-com bust, providing just enough to keep me out of the workforce. Hours were long, pay uncertain, benefits nil, but the time flexibility (for travel) and being my own boss, plus the whole idea of having to work for someone else again, were enough to make me fight repeatedly to hold it together.

My lifestyle still depends quite a bit on geoarbitrage (especially with health care and prescriptions done in Thailand on biannual trips). Ebay and PayPal are both very greedy companies that have seriously hurt whatever goodwill the sellers used to have, so I'm looking for a new gig along Tim's lines to cut working hours. It's often hard to be striving for time freedom when you're completely surrounded by those who are on the work-spend treadmill, whether by choice or (usually) not. It may require a change of scenery to thrive.

I have some of the parts, just need to add some more.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Jonathan Franzone — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:06:26 -0000

Wow, there's a lot of comments... and I can see why. This article was absolutely earth-shattering for me. I know that sounds strong, but I've been going through somewhat of a personal conflict with the expenditure of hours in my day. I haven't read your book yet, but after reading this I'm just about over the edge and ready to buy it.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Matthew — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:12:35 -0000

Hey all,

has anyone taken the dale carnegie course? Im considering taking it but it is very expensive. I want to make sure it is worth it. Thanks!

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

will — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:17:23 -0000

Thanks for the great Book Tim, I try to implement as much as I can into my life from it.

Will

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

YM — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:31:33 -0000

Tim,

Very interesting post. I do agree that people (especially in this valley) define their happiness by their wealth, and your four steps on how to feel "happy" are right-on.

The reason I said 4 steps is that, I found the last one ("Develop competitive social groups outside of work") a bit troublesome. It's always good to know that there's life outside of work, of course, but do I really have to make my extracurricular activity a macho ego fest? If that hedge fund manager actually is better than me, now, do I blame my lack of fund to hire a personal golf coach? I would replace the last step with what you are already doing... helping others in need. As you probably already know, serving others who are less fortunate gives you perspectives on life and wealth, and teaches you compassion and humility. That seems to make many, including myself, happy, don't you agree?

Always thought-stimulating posts. Looking forward to more travel posts (e.g. tips on cheap Tokyo trips)!

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Hunter Nuttall — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 13:58:03 -0000

Great article and great post! But aren't we understating the importance of money just a tad? Tim, I believe that you can do whatever you want for $5,000 per month, but that's only because you found a way to make that money without having a job.

Suppose you were making $5,000 a month, but it was from a job that was sucking the soul out of you, and you saw retirement from all employment as a necessary step towards happiness. And suppose that like most people, the only way you could think of to replace your income was to save up $5 million or so in order to get $5,000 a month as distributions from a mutual fund. In that case, you probably wouldn't see your $5,000 monthly salary as enough both to do whatever you want now, as well as quickly save up $5 million so you could quit your job and live a life of purpose.

I do see your point though. It reminds me of the old man in the original Legend of Zelda who would lock you in a room and demand "Your life or your money." You had to either give up 100 rupees or a heart container. It was always an easy choice for me.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

mikeG — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 00:18:17 -0000

question, what is your opinion on franchise, like opening a coldstone or a McDonalds. they have a buissness model already in place, are market proven, and I would think it wouldnt be to hard to automate them either.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Rich C — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:11:37 -0000

http://www.halojumper.com/n...

World Tandem Record ... 30k not 18k ... sorry :)

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

The Other Side — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:48:46 -0000

Tim,

As a guy who cherishes "experience" over "things," do you have a long list of great (mentionable) experiences that you might share with us?

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

JOSE CASTRO — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:47:58 -0000

TIM,

Outstanding reference to Fight Club, another movie that reflects the overworked people in our society is seen in Boiler Room.

I spent 2 weeks in NYC, mostly in lower Manhattan, and it was amazing to me to see how so many people seem so stressed out running around without a clear presence of what is going on. Since i have read your book, I have reduced my hours from 40 to 15 hours. I own a concrete biz and am in the mist of opeing a t-shirt co. Great info, i use the blog as supplemental info, as i would with vitamins in the morning.

Best,

Jose C

###

Jose, you "daily dose" of blog comment just made my day ;) Thanks for participating in the discussion!

Rock hard,

Tim

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Aaon — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:17:39 -0000

The root issue here is that they are insecure because they feel the need to keep up with the Joneses. They talk about their neighbors having more, so they need more. They have plenty but are compelled to have more so that they can brag at a higher level.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

mike — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:03:17 -0000

Well i just picked 4HWW up tonight, and im allready through chapter 4. Some things line up with my current thinking, others vary, but not by alot, and make alot of sense. I gusse thats the point though isnt it? I havn't checked out the "Monk and the Riddle" yet as Tim suggested. I'm itching to read more to find out how its all possible, and I allready have some ideas, lets see how much they match up :)

My biggest concern right now is that I'm still not even fully capable of compleatly takeing care of my finances, so how am I going to get off the ground with out the 9-5 I so dread. Curently i work part time at a job while I get through school, one that I hate (sales floor) becuase I spend 90% of my time doing NOTHING, simply becuase there is nothing to do, and getting yelled at for doing anything thats not work related. (kinda sounds like Tims ice cream shop job).

Sorry for the rant there, but on another note, what do people think of the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", its another i have stumbled across in the last month, but not yet read, though heard good things about it.

Oh, and though i doubt your the type to watch much TV, any chance of you makeing an apperance on the Colbert Report, i think your make a great guest.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

The Other Side — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:50:32 -0000

Thanks Anne. I'll check out "The Soul of Money."

Speaking of books and jumping off planes, for anyone needing just that extra nudge into the unknown, the following are great:

"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand: How to quit and just not care. And what it means to truly love one's work.

"Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse: Rich prince turned wanderer.

"The History of Rasselas" by Samuel Johnson: A novella masterpiece written in a week. Another prince searching for answers.

Re: New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar

Anne — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:56:26 -0000

Dear "The Other Side":
I think Kristen is right on the ball by suggesting volunteering, especially when I read your phrase, "when one has expended one's own creative powers". Good Grief! The best part of life is EXPANDING one's creative powers! One great way to do that is to put yourself in volunteer situations with groups who have big visions but seemingly limited resources. The key word is "seemingly". What happens in volunteer roles is that you begin to realize what can only be achieved WITHOUT money. Money can prevent you from using and growing your creativity, which is really limitless. A great book on this topic is "The Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist. Check it out.
Anne