The book that inspired me to actually get up and start this blog was "The 4-Hour Work Week", which has some great ideas about how to get priorities straight, how to create a "muse" to generate a semi-passive income etc.
However, I've just noticed a very important area that has been missed in the book.
As I've been playing around with some of the ideas in my spare time, I've found myself experiencing a strange internal conflict that I'd never experienced up until now.
I'm in a great, very challenging, very rewarding job; I recently got married to my fiance who I have been good friends with for 12 years and are happy starting our life together; and I have loads of great friends who I was very happy to see attend the wedding - so why the conflict?
Then it suddenly hit me today.
One of the core messages of the 4-Hour Work Week is about minimising the time spent on your business through automation and through minimising the interactions you need to have with customers and the people you outsource your work to.
The Missing Message
The key missing message is: relationships are still the single most important thing in our lives.
This does not contradict anything in the book, and in the later chapters Timothy Ferris does allude to having fun with friends etc, but I strongly believe that our relationships are the most important thing in our lives and the message needs to be remembered.
Surround yourself with lots of happy, successful people and you will be happy and successful.
In a product-based, automated business, yes you can reduce the level of human interaction required - but in the rest of your life, including in the blogosphere, at work (if you have a job that is not automated) etc - relationships are key. In fact, service-based businesses are built on them.
I still think the book is great, but when I re-read it I will definitely be keeping this in mind, and I walk forward from today with a renewed interest in my relationships. Make sure there is a social element to your goals too!
_______________________________
For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment