I just got finished reading Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (aff) and it really left an impression on me, to say the least. I first heard of this book and author when ProBlogger interviewed Tim Ferriss about the 4-Hour Work Week. After reading the interview, I was intrigued and wanted to find out what this was all about.

I’m normally not much of an impulse buyer, but I jumped right on to Amazon and ordered the book. I did check out Tim’s website and blog first and found some good information on other topics, too, like bodybuilding and nutrition, of all things. This and the other articles related to the content of the book sold me on making the purchase.

I started reading right away and found Tim’s conversational style of writing to be refreshing and accessible. There isn’t a whole lot of technical jargon to bog you down. This book is a quick and relatively easy read. I say relatively because there are exercises at the end of most chapters that are intended to help the reader change his or her mindset over to one that will be more conducive to attaining the goals of the book.

So, what are the goals of this book? Tim’s whole philosophy centers around freeing yourself from the wage slave life so that you can fill your life with excitement. Sounds great, huh? It’s not as shallow a concept as it may seem at first. He talks about the stress and boredom of the average 9-5er and how many people spend 30 or 40 or even more years living this lifestyle in the hopes of someday being able to enjoy life.

This idea really resonated with me. Tim relates his fears of becoming the bald, fat guy in the red BMW convertible. As soon as I read this, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Since I was a teenager, I noticed how many of the really nice cars I saw on the road were driven by old guys. I shuddered at the thought of spending my whole life in drudgery to get to the point of driving that beautiful yellow convertible Corvette and then getting out with a cane or a walker. You get the idea, right?

Tim starts off talking about why you should want to change your life and join what he calls the New Rich. His points are simple and direct and will make a lot of sense to those who don’t like a bunch of fluffy nonsense. After that, he goes into the how-to of changing your life.

His ideas aren’t all new or groundbreaking but it’s the way they’re put together that makes this book worth the money. He includes many stories from his own life as well as stories of others in the New Rich who have taken a similar approach to life and changed theirs for the better. This helps the reader to see what people have done and that it really is possible.

If you’re looking for a detailed, paint by numbers text, don’t bother. This book isn’t about telling you every little detail to start a business and make lots of money. That’s not what it’s all about. This book is about changing your mindset more than anything else. Once you have the proper view of life, this type of change becomes possible.

At any rate, Tim’s book is good. It’s highly motivational for those of us who are interested in changing our lives and getting out of the rat race. If you find yourself terminally bored and hating life right now, pick up The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (aff). Even if you’re not at that state at the moment and you’re not looking to completely make over your life, this book has lots of tips that will have you wondering why you never realized that before. Pick up a copy and let me know what you think about it.