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RE: A defence of Tim Ferriss's Four Hour Week - important book for other reasons than you think

in #economy7 years ago

I think the word "Work" itself needs a whole new definition today.
I can't remember who said it and too lazy to look it up, but it was something like, "Doing something you enjoy is not work."
Have to agree with that after years of working at the wage slave game.
When my daughter died and I had a break down, I was done. Done with society and done certainly with work.
I went to live in a shack in West Virginia arriving from the UK with just the pack on my back. We survived on my small, very small war pension,
I convinced my fiancee life on a sailing boat would be more life rewarding, so e moved onto an old beat up sailboat and worked our way down the east coast.
A return to the UK showed me exactly what I wasn't missing.
The same miserable faces of family and friends I'd left, all chasing the weekend for some free time to spend what they'd sacrificed the rest of their week for. Pathetic.
I heard Portugal was a good bet for poor pensioners like me so off we went to the Algarve.
We both ghostwrite novels. Probably more than four hours a week but hardly taxing and most days are spent on the patio or the beach.
The clock only ticks one way. It never goes backwards. Those, minutes, hours, days and years can never be reclaimed to play with once you decide to retire.
Thanks for the last payment by the way, it was greatly appreciated.

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Yes I agree that the concepts of work and jobs need to be looked at. Too many outdated assumptions.
Sorry to hear you had such an ordeal. I hope you found a more peaceful and rewarding life though. If anything it points out that life is too short to waste on trivialities...
Working a job you hate to be able to buy stuff you don't really like...

Re the comment reward: paid with pleasure!
I like to reward people who take it seriously and put in an honest effort.
I really don't like the random lotteries. They are not stimulating the right behaviour or adding something meaningful.
In the end they are manipulations of the system... Garbage in = garbage out...

I was fortunate enough to have the war pension, small as it was to allow me to escape. As long as I don't go chasing fancy cars and big houses, life becomes a great adventure especially sharing it with my fiancee @smuggly-sparrow.
That, I think is another key to making a success of the 4 HWW. Having a reason not to work. Perhaps a bit of a catch-22 for some but plenty are in relationships they feel trapped in and prefer to be in some cubicle for 8 hours a day to escape. Poor buggers.