"This is a whole new ballgame. Highly recommended." Dr. Stewart D. Friedman,
Work/Family Advisor to Al Gore and Jack Welch
February 12th, 2009
(Photo: Dunechaser)
Napoleon, though mostly known as a little man with a funny hat, is regarded as one of history’s great commanders. He was also well-known for his unusual but effective methods of information management.
Here are just two examples from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay entitled “Napoleon, or The Man of the World“… Read More
Popularity: 11% [?]
October 28th, 2008
Ah, lawyers. It’s a love-hate relationship.
Just this week alone, I’m working with a literary attorney (publishing), an entertainment attorney (TV), and a corporate financing attorney (angel investments). All three are great.
Yesterday, though, I received the threatening letter below from Protocol Integrated Direct Marketing, whose call centers I recommend in the 4HWW. WTF?
Click to enlarge… Read More
Popularity: 5% [?]
September 12th, 2008
Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park: more than 50 million albums and counting. (Photo: norrelb)
Rather than sprinkle these announcements around, I figured I’d just load up one post. Hope to bump into some of you at one of these!
I’ll be doing an opening keynote with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park fame at BlogWorldExpo in Las Vegas, Sept. 21st at 9am. Hosted with Rohit Bhargava of Ogilvy Worldwide, it’s going to be a blast. Here’s what we’ll be covering… Read More
Popularity: 2% [?]
August 22nd, 2008
For English subtitles, choose “Danish” from the “Choose Language…” drop-down.
There is a misconception that lifestyle design is just for entrepreneurs or CEOs.
In reality, the principles — borrowed from economics and behavioral psychology — can be applied within organizations and groups with even more dramatic effects.
Just watch the 25-minute segment above from the Danish equivalent of the BBC (DR1), where lifestyle design is tested by both an employee at insurance giant Codan and by the CEO of a fast-growing microbrewery. For English subtitles, choose “Danish” from the “Choose Language…” drop-down.
Who made more progress? The boss or the person with a boss? The results might surprise you… Read More
Popularity: 5% [?]
August 12th, 2008
“Nothing bothers me more than sloth. The objective is to fix mistakes of ambition and not make mistakes of sloth. I work my ass off.”
-Tim Ferriss, from the new issue of Men’s Journal, Sept. 2008
Since I’m going nuts preparing for Burning Man, this post will be a short one.
The quote above is from the latest issue of Men’s Journal, where the main editorial cover story is a profile of me and the rise of The 4-Hour Workweek. There are also fascinating profiles of John McEnroe (awesome insight into his tennis strategies) and Gavin Newsom, as well as a cool snapshot of Tonny Sorensen, CEO of Von Dutch and former world champion in Tae Kwon Do.
The journalist, Larry Smith, spent almost three full days with me and covers a lot of details that haven’t been covered before, including background and education; core tenets of lifestyle design and common misinterpretations; interviews with family, professors, and friends; experiments involving critics; even how I organize my environment and home… Read More
Popularity: 4% [?]
SPRING 2005, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
I had to bribe them. What other choice did I have?
My lecture at Princeton had just ended with smiles and enthusiastic questions.
At the same time, I knew that most students would go out and promptly do the opposite of what I preached. Most of them would be putting in 80-hour weeks as high-paid coffee fetchers unless I showed that the principles from class could actually be applied.
Hence the challenge.
I was offering a round-trip ticket anywhere in the world to anyone who could complete an undefined “challenge” in the most impressive fashion possible. Results plus style. I told them to meet me after class if interested, and here they were, nearly 20 out of 60 students.
The task was designed to test their comfort zones while forcing them to use some of the tactics I teach. It was simplicity itself: contact three seemingly impossible-to-reach people—J Lo., Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton, J.D. Salinger, I don’t care—and get at least one to reply to three questions… Read More
Popularity: 12% [?]
The Oracle of Omaha, the world’s richest man. (Photo: Stephanie Kuykenal/Bloomberg News/Landov)
It’s 1:33am in Omaha and I can’t sleep.
Much like pre-Santa jitters as a 7-year old, I’m so excited to potentially meet Warren Buffett tomorrow for the 1st time that my little reptile brain won’t turn off. Ridiculous? Perhaps, but he (Warren, not Santa) is perhaps the greatest investor the US has ever produced.
So what do you say to the world’s richest man if you, by some miracle, end up standing at the urinal next to him? You better know in advance or you’ll sound like a Hannah Montana fan.
This is why learning to elevator pitch — how to deliver your message is 60 seconds or less — is one of the most important skills to develop if you ever plan on interacting with real players and demi-gods like the Oracle of Omaha… Read More
Popularity: 12% [?]
April 25th, 2008
This fireside chat at Google in London was also simulcast to their offices in Ireland, Sweden, and Moscow. It was a blast.
It covered tons of topics never discussed on the blog before: proposed improvements to Gmail (please!), the real original book title, using telephone vs. e-mail, principles and case studies, metrics (including exercise), analysis vs. intuition, the declining dollar and personal outsourcing & geoarbitrage, and much more.
If you’re bored at work, you can listen to the audio while you browse Facebook :) My collection of 55 odd videos on YouTube can be found here if you want more semi-productive distraction before 5pm.
TGIF and have a wonderful weekend!
Popularity: 8% [?]
March 25th, 2008
The 4-Hour Workweek launches in the UK next week on April 3rd, and I’ll be in London to bring it to the Motherland with a bang.
For all you readers and friends in Europe, come have a pint with me!
From the UK publisher: order before April 3rd with “ESCAPE” as a promo code at checkout and you get 30% off and free shipping in the UK (maybe Europe?). This is cheaper than in the US. Learn more here.
Party and Reader Meetup in London on April 2nd at 6pm:
I invite all blog readers, book readers, and friends to come to London on Wednesday, April 2nd from 6pm – 9pm GST to have a drink with me at the reserved room at the Pitcher and Piano in Trafalgar Square.
Please register here if you might come so we have an idea of head count, though walk-ins are welcome:
Pitcher and Piano (reserved room)
40-42 William IV St, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 4D
Colette Bacalhau / Andy Seach
T: 020 7240 6180
It’s a good idea to follow me on Twitter for any last-minute changes or other parties and mischief.
The location might change, so please refer back to this post before heading over, but there will be a get together in London with lots of laughs and joie de vivre… and no little amount of alcohol. If you have recommendations for a cooler place that can hold 100+ people, please let me know in the comments. This is a BYOB (buy your own beer) event, but I’ll sponsor the next one when we’re dealing with pesos :)
See you all in the land of funny cars, funnier policemen, and ridiculously expensive sandwiches!
###
Odds and Ends:
-Uberblogger Robert Scoble discusses my blog PR tactics in the newest issue of Fast Company
-I dissect the travel bag contents of a Sci-Fi TV show host on DVICE
-The Wall Street Journal looks at why people are helpless to stop grazing on web data
Popularity: 6% [?]
February 19th, 2008
I’d like to invite you to leave your personal mark on The 4-Hour Workweek. After 31 printings (!) and more than 25 languages, you can put your signature on a global phenomenon… and travel the world for free… Read More
Popularity: 8% [?]
