The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Timothy Ferriss

From Amazon.com                                                

What do you do? Tim Ferriss has trouble answering the question. Depending on when you ask this controversial Princeton University guest lecturer, he might answer:

“I race motorcycles in Europe.” “I ski in the Andes.” “I scuba dive in Panama.” “I dance tango in Buenos Aires.”

He has spent more than five years learning the secrets of the New Rich, a fast-growing subculture who has abandoned the “deferred-life plan” and instead mastered the new currencies—time and mobility—to create luxury lifestyles in the here and now.

Whether you are an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, this book is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.

Peak Oil Resources Review:

Something of an odd book for a Peak Oil related site I know.  It struck me however, as having principles that could well be applied to preparing for Peak Oil and its accompanying economic impacts.  The book is based upon looking at the typical work-life arrangement of slave-save-retire in a whole new way. Instead of being something of an indentured servant to a company (or business that you own), Ferriss challenges you to make changes that will affect your over all quality of life, including your financial life.  In doing so, he theorizes, you will then be free to pursue other interests and things that actually are life-giving rather than soul-sucking. 

How does this all relate to Peak Oil?  First, this book provides an opportunity to develop sources of income that make your Peak Oil preparations possible, to whatever degree you deem suitable.  In doing so, you may achieve a greater independence than if you are simply cash strapped and chained to a go-nowhere job.  Second, it presents some options for how to free up your valuable time (which is worth more than money) to which you could devote to developing skills needed to survive a lower energy diet post-Peak Oil.  Finally, by challenging the status quo (isn't that what we Peak Oilers do already?...), it makes challenging other society assumptions easier.  Simply by entertaining the thought experiments in this book alone is eye-opening.  Apply it to Peak Oil, geopolitics, etc, and you may just find yourself thinking for yourself for the first time in your life!    

Timothy Ferriss
Tim received his BA from Princeton University in 2000, where he studied in the Neuroscience and East Asian Studies departments. He developed his nonfiction writing with Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee and formed his life philosophies under Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe.  A serial entrepreneur and ultravagabond, Ferriss has been featured by dozens of media, including The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, NBC, and MAXIM. He speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003, where he presents entrepreneurship as a tool for ideal lifestyle design and world change.  Tim has been profiled in The Success Principles, the New York Times bestseller written by Jack Canfield, and is a main character in the upcoming feature-length documentary "As Seen on TV," produced by Emmy Award winner Dan Partland.  He is 29 years old, and The 4-Hour Workweek is his first book and magnum opus.