So, how have you done “living in the now”? Have you had a glimpse or captured the “Power of Now”? Speaking of the “now” and coming across yet another book that I’ll rave about. Some of you may have come across the book called "The 4 Hour Work Week”. Catchy title eh? I know what you’re thinking. A 4 hour work week, yeah right! Impossible! Well, Timothy Ferriss's stories and travels beg to differ. There is already a mass following and videos all over Youtube of individuals who have put some of his theories to practice. I’m one of those individuals who is going to be putting many of his techniques to use. Stay tuned for updates on the testing of his principles.
The concept of the book is bang on and in one way or another, it relates to what Eckhart Tolle talks about in his teachings. How much time do we live for ourselves. How much time does our busy, demanding schedule actually leave for us to recognize the very moment we are in? Our conditioned environments breed the mind to be cultivating for the future, while dwelling on the past which eliminates the “now”. Luckily I’m coming to the realization, I don’t want to be stuck all my life working for this retirement that may never really come. With dwindling pension plans and limited government assistance for retirement, chances are we’ll all be living a much less exciting retirement than we have visualized for our future, unless we take action now. Why not take mini retirements throughout your vibrant and healthy years rather than saving it all up for the future.
In this world of technology we are trying to be more efficient and save time to be more productive. The problem is, with tools like email and virtually everyone sporting a BlackBerry, we’ve accepted these interruptions as okay. An Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto is of great influence to Timothy Ferris and “The 4 Hour Work Week”. Pareto’s 80 / 20 Principle is the single most contributing factor when it comes to accomplishing the life style design of the “new rich”. (The “new rich” is a coined term that Timothy Ferriss uses to describe individuals like himself, who are living the “dream”.) Back to Pareto’s law, 20% of our job or work we do contributes to 80% of our results. After a couple years of 12 – 15 hour days operating his own business, Timothy Ferriss realized this law. By recognizing that 80% of his business came from only 20% of his clients and that the other 80% of the clients were consuming 80% of his time only producing 20% of his business, he cut the later off. His profits grew 40% over the following month!
Unfortunately we are cursed with the obsolete legacy of the 9 to 5. Our work isn’t measured by performance in this twisted world. Since we have an 8 hour work day, we will fill our day. Not to say the entire day was 100% productive. We are measured by effort and hours worked. If we are “on the clock” for a 12 hour day, our boss is happy. However, if we accomplished the exact same amount of work in 2 or 3 hours and took off for the day, it’s a completely different story. In that case in the eyes of the boss, we should be 4 times as productive in that same 12 hour day right? It doesn’t quite work that way. So if you’re interested in escaping the office and getting just as much work done or more. “The 4 Hour Work Week” is a great place to start. Check out this 5 minute video!
Scott Wain
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