4 Hour Work Week?

For a while now, I've been looking into reading a particular book: Tim Ferriss's 'Four Hour Work Week'. At some point or another, I was unable to get my hands on it. My shop couldn't stock it, I refused to spend money in another shop (and anyway, I couldn't find it) and I didn't have the time to top up my pre-pay credit card. All in all, the world did not want me to read that book.

However, a friend of mine gave me a book for my birthday that I already had. He was okay with me exchanging it, given he gave me the same book the year before but forgot which one he picked up, so I headed into the Realm Without a Name, the Dreaded Bookshop, my Rival, to exchange the book.

End result? I found Ferriss in the Business section and only had to pay a few euro extra (less than a fiver!) to buy the book. I didn't feel like Judas leaving, so that was fine. Just, you know, never again.

I've been reading the book since, though not constantly, and trying to find ways to implement his advice as much as possible while I'm still in college. This means I'm chasing certain dreams in step-by-step processes, but several of them at a time, and getting my head around what I'll be doing with my life.

I'll admit, not everything Ferriss has to say will apply to my life, at least not in the immediate future. I don't foresee myself needing a virtual assistant, or taking part in one of his Comfort Challenges (simply because it's the sort of thing that doesn't fit into Irish culture: asking strangers for their number. Plus, teenage girls make themselves look much older outside of school...and I don't want to get arrested for confusing a seventeen year old with a twenty two year old!)

In saying that, there are still things I can consider. While I'm still reading the book, it's clear that there are some ideas and concepts that can be applied to my life, even if I don't go quite as far as only working four hours per week. Work, for me, is writing a book. I enjoy it too much to only do it for four hours per week. I would do it more if I could, but, you know, college.

Still, I think it's a worthwhile read, and it's making me want to do something with my life now, rather than wait for some golden opportunity to just arrive at my door.

That's not how life works. But then, I'm talking about applying the advice of a man who works as little as possible.

We'll see what comes of reading this book. In the meantime, I've still got a few months left in college, exams and breaks included, before I'm free to take a shot at being a "grown up".

I don't know the meaning of the term.