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4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
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Top reviews from the United States

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Sam
1.0 out of 5 stars terrible for starting your own business and living your life
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
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The author attempts to promote his working lifestyle for the reader broken down in four steps. I have to start by sayings this book is written at a very low reading level and a lot of needless filler.

The author breaks it down in four steps D E A and L
D is for definition and is probably the only part of the book of any substance. If you’re under 23, naive, and never stand up for self you might get something out of it. It’s mostly work mindset a lot of people have developed over a year or so in the work world.

E is elimination which is his time management section. Honestly there is some good advice , however,there are way better books on the topic. He advocates the low information diet which basically being willfully ignorant.

A is for automation. In this section he advocates for first automating/ outsourcing as much in your life as you can to save time and money.

But the main focus is setting up a business online that sells things of little value very overpriced and attempting to automate that. Having worked in online marketing, I can tell you the information here is outdated, vague, and not very thorough. If you want to set up a business online I would recommend reading a different book. He also advocates calling yourself an expert and teaching courses on topics you have no authority in. Ultimately, this is where the book falls apart as this is his central way to live the four hour work week, which if you take a look at his own life he isn’t living that way.

For L is for liberation and I took his low information diet and stopped reading.

Conclusion: this book is for naive, weak, dummies who hate their jobs and will take any terrible advice to give them hope. Ultimately this book is like his own online business which sold a product of little value he wasn’t an expert in. Which is what this book is.
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N. Gramlich
1.0 out of 5 stars Read the negative comments...
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2019
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They will tell you all you need to know.

Even starting the first chapter, I could feel my BS-ometer beginning to wiggle upward on the scale. About the time I got to the outsourcing - where he proudly admitted paying someone $4 an hour to do his work for him - then read the "result" from one of his readers where he (a chef) was able to hire some brown person to cook for him at $5 a meal... (leaving me to wonder if that chef would happily work for $5/hr to cook for someone else) that's when I realized that this covertly racist and utterly lazy method of making/saving money went against my every moral fiber.

When I read parts of it to my husband, he shook his head and said it sounded toxic. Of all the other books you can read that will set your soul in the right place to earn money ("The Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist, "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown) - this one screams selfish, greedy, lying, and morally-bankrupt. Half of the stuff in here I can't even fathom working - outside of getting you fired. The concept of "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission" irks me in so many ways - namely, that it takes a dire lack of respect to pull off. This book reeks of disrespect.

I'll end by saying - read those negative reviews if you want a really solid look into what this book is about. Into the recycling bin it goes.
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Jeffrey W. Fredericks
1.0 out of 5 stars I Took The Author's Advice, In One Respect
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2017
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An excerpt from the book:

"Practice the art of nonfinishing. This is another one that took me a long time to learn. Starting something doesn’t automatically justify finishing it. If you are reading an article that sucks, put it down and don’t pick it back up. If you go to a movie and it’s worse than Matrix III, get the hell out of there before more neurons die. If you’re full after half a plate of ribs, put the damn fork down and don’t order dessert. More is not better, and stopping something is often 10 times better than finishing it. Develop the habit of nonfinishing that which is boring or unproductive if a boss isn’t demanding it."

This book has no redeeming qualities. So, I've decided to put it down, and I won't be picking it back up. For this one bit of advice, I thank the author.

Maybe some people get something out of it. For me, it was a huge waste of my precious time. I like the concept of lifestyle design. I think it is a valid concept. However, his egocentric advice is useless to someone in a different stage of life. This book is NOT one size fits all.

I only hope I can get my money back.
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All the things!
5.0 out of 5 stars Flipped my thinking on its head
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2018
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I am honestly not entirely sure what to say about this book. The message is stop working harder, start working smarter. As a USA Today bestselling author with multiple number 1's under my belt, I wasn't completely sure how the advice in this book would apply to me, but actually, I came up with several ways to implement this without quitting writing (to move into sales) or hiring a ghostwriter. I was uncertain how to take my personal development to the next level before I bought this book. I'm now working more efficiently. I spent the last 2 months on a mini-retirement traveling the world with my husband, and my book sales are up on new titles. I am spending FAR less time on the little things and overall I feel like I have a positive plan going forward, which is exactly what I needed. If I ever meet Tim Ferriss in person I'd like to thank him.
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Top reviews from other countries

Ed
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of paper
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2020
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Total and utter waste of words on paper - too many words at that, and too many papers.

I've listened to Tim's podcasts for good few years, and respect his interview skills and the type of people he invites.
But that does not make him a writer - if that were the criteria then all radio/tv broadcasters/new-readers/weather-reporters will be writers too. Too much content thrown into the book in a false hope something somewhere may be of use to someone.
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Karen M.
1.0 out of 5 stars total rubbish
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2018
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I'll never get that time back! I got so bored reading it I started skimming....nothing worth reading.
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Salim
2.0 out of 5 stars Too subjective and totally unrealistic!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2018
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If you really want to become more lazy and see your results going down instantly that's the right book for you! It leaves all to outsourcing and delegating.. As an example: one of the best quote i've read in the book is to give your business to outsourcers for support and tell them "my customers are your customers" -- Do whatever you want! Apart from some of the tools described in the book a bit excessively (to get more pages?) globally i woudn't recommend this book I'm really disappointed...
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Stu
1.0 out of 5 stars Best thing about it is i never have to read it again
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2018
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Only good for people running their own business or people who can do all their work on a pc so useless to most people
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Himanshu Jain
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book !
Reviewed in India on March 24, 2018
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At first I decided to download this book for free from the net, but that would be an absolutely wrong decision ! Everyone should buy it , it has so many useful tactics to reduce your work and work "smartly"! If you went through the school system , you should read this book to overcome the donkey mindset they instilled in us !
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