The 4-Hour Workweek

Part 1: D: Define Your Dreams | Chapter 1: Choose Your Lifestyle

Most people think they want to be millionaires so they can stop doing a job they don’t like, travel, buy nice cars, spend time with the people they care about, or practice a passion or vocation. However, there isn’t a direct relationship between money and lifestyle. If you have a lot of money but don’t have any control over your time or who you spend it with, you probably won’t be happy.

For example, an investment banker might work 80-hour weeks and make a lot of money but never have any time to use it. A freelancer might work 20 hours a week for a fifth of the banker’s salary, but while she might have less money, the money she does have has more practical value. She’ll be able to use it to do whatever she wants, with whomever she wants, and whenever and wherever she wants (4Ws). You don’t need to be a millionaire to live your dreams—you only need the amount of money they require.

Paradoxically, you can increase your income by decreasing whatever it is you’re doing now. Day jobs and conventional businesses are set up to funnel everyone through the traditional lifestyle—work for three or four decades straight, and then retire for the rest of the years you have left. This is an uncomfortable, inefficient system, and Tim Ferriss challenges it in The 4-Hour Workweek. The book lays out a four-step process for starting a “muse” business that makes you enough money to escape the 40-hour workweek of the rat race. Throughout this summary, this end goal will be referred to as the 4HWW lifestyle. (Shortform note: The 4-Hour Workweek offers suggestions on how to significantly reduce your working hours. The goal doesn’t appear to be to work exactly four hours every week. Ferriss himself works more than this.)

The four steps to achieving the 4HWW lifestyle are define, eliminate, automate, liberate (DEAL). Part 1 will address step D: Define Your Dreams. The other parts will be addressed in subsequent chapters.

(Shortform note: The original edition of this book was written in 2007. This expanded and updated edition was published in 2009 and includes new content such as excerpts from the author’s blog, resource recommendations, and many case studies.)

Deferrers vs. the New Rich

There are two types of people, Deferrers (D), and the New Rich (NR). Type D people follow cultural conventions. They work for 30-40 years of their life and then retire. Type NR people reject these norms. Instead, they alternate work and periods of rest. The 4HWW lifestyle is a specific version of the New Rich lifestyle.

There are several differences between Deferrers and the New Rich:

  • Deferrers want to work for themselves, while the New Rich want others to work for them.
  • Deferrers want to work on their schedules, while the New Rich don’t want to do any work they don’t have to.
  • Deferrers want to retire quickly, while the New Rich want to have “retirement” periods throughout their whole lives, with the goal of doing exciting things during these times rather than simply not working.
  • Deferrers want to be able to afford everything they want, while the New Rich want to do and be everything they want. (The New Rich can buy things if they want, but they don’t focus on material items.)
  • Deferrers want to be the boss, while the New Rich want to be the owners—this way they can disengage from work.
  • Deferrers want to make a lot of money to have money, while the New Rich want to make a lot of money so they can use it to do something they want to do.
  • Deferrers want more of everything, while the New Rich want quality over quantity.
  • Deferrers want a big payday, while the New Rich focus on daily payday.
  • Deferrers want to stop doing things they don’t want to. The New Rich want this too, but they don’t simply want to not do things, they want to live their dreams.

For example, Olympic skier Dale Begg-Smith is a member of the New Rich. When he was thirteen, he started an IT company with his brother to finance his ski training. Sometimes, he had to miss practices to help run the business, but in spite of his imperfect attendance, Begg-Smith was just as good a skier as his teammates. However, because his coach succumbed to the status quo, he forced Begg-Smith to choose between the team and his business. Begg-Smith moved to Australia (their team had a more flexible coach) and kept working at both his business and his skiing. At the next Olympics, he won gold in mogul freestyle.