Why I hate The Four-Hour Work Week book

Ok, hate is a strong word.  

“Resent” is probably more accurate. Because it really messed up my business. 

Ok, FINE… the book didn’t actually mess up my business. My misapplication messed up my business. 

Have you ever done that? Heard advice from an expert and thought, “What an amazing strategy! Why the heck am I not doing that?” 

So you try it and… it’s messed up. 

Why does this happen? Maybe because you did what I did with The Four-Hour Work Week: misapplied a valid strategy.

You see, when I read that book, I was starting my business. The author, Tim Ferriss, wrote about strategies for dealing with an established, profitable business. 

He had the problem of not enough time. 

I had the problem of not enough clients or income. 

I tried to use his solution for my problem.  

The disconnect is so obvious… now. <forehead smack>

But it wasn’t obvious to me at the time, and I spent years frustrated, feeling like a failure and judging myself, “Tim would be so disappointed in me and my 30-hour work week! What am I doing wrong?!” 

When you’re considering a large investment of your time, money or attention, be sure to ask yourself: 

• What is my main goal? 
• What problem do I need to solve in order to reach this goal? 
• Will this investment solve this problem? 

My misapplication of The Four-Hour Work Week strategy was one of timing. I was applying this strategy at the wrong time in my business. 

Very few strategies are inherently wrong for all businesses all the time. The misapplication of a strategy is generally where things go off the rails. 

NOTE: I’m pretty geeked about this concept of misapplying a valid strategy, so you’ll see this theme in future blogs. My goal is to save you time, money and sanity by helping you discern the best strategies to grow your business.