The 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of Freedom (#836)

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. 

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Even though it was published in 2007, it was one of Amazon’s top-10 Most Highlighted Books of All Time last time I checked in 2017. 

Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? 

This episode features three timeless chapters from the audiobook of The 4-Hour Workweek:

(1) The chapter on taking mini-retirements, which challenges the deferred-life plan and shows you how to distribute recovery and adventure throughout life instead of saving it all for retirement.

(2) “Filling the Void,” which addresses what happens when you actually achieve lifestyle design and must face the unexpected emotional and philosophical challenges of having a lot of time on your hands.

(3) “13 Mistakes of the New Rich,” where I outline the most common pitfalls I’ve seen people encounter when implementing the book’s principles.

The chapters are narrated by the great voice actor Ray Porter. If you are interested in checking out the rest of the audiobook, which is produced and copyrighted by Blackstone Publishing, you can find it on Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, Downpour.com, or wherever you find your favorite audiobooks.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

• Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses
• Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support
• Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business
• Coyote the card game​, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens

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Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

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

Meditation, Retreats, and “Slowing Down” Resources

• The Art of Living Foundation (Course II): International course recommended as a short silence retreat to reset.
• Spirit Rock Meditation Center: California-based meditation center offering retreats.
• Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health: Massachusetts center for yoga, retreats, and self-care programs.
• Sky Lake Lodge: New York–based retreat center mentioned as a contemplative option.

Charity, Philanthropy, and Volunteering Resources

• Charity Navigator: Independent charity-rating site to compare and select nonprofits.
• Firstgiving: Platform for creating personal fundraising pages; Tim used it with Room to Read.
• JustGiving: UK analogue to Firstgiving mentioned for charity donations.
• Room to Read: Education-focused nonprofit Tim partnered with (via Firstgiving) to build schools in Nepal and Vietnam.
• Verge Magazine: Magazine featuring foreign relocation and volunteering case studies.
• All Hands and Hearts Disaster Response: Disaster relief organization mentioned under volunteering options.
• Project HOPE: Health-focused international relief organization.
• Relief International: Humanitarian relief and development organization.
• International Relief Teams: Disaster relief and development NGO.
• Airline Ambassadors International: Organization leveraging airline employees and travelers for humanitarian aid.
• Ambassadors for Children: Nonprofit arranging volunteer travel programs.
• Relief Riders International: Volunteer travel program combining horseback riding with humanitarian work.
• Habitat for Humanity – Global Village Program: International volunteer building program referenced explicitly.
• Planeta – Global Listings for Practical Ecotourism: Ecotourism directory recommended for practical and responsible travel.

People, Books, and Ideas

• Paul Fussell – Abroad: Quoted on travel as a form of study.
• Rolf Potts – Vagabonding: Quoted on the importance of improvisation in long-term travel.
• Mohandas Gandhi: Quoted: “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”
• Charles Kuralt: CBS News reporter quoted on how highways can let you “travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.”
• Saint Augustine (354–430): Quoted on perfection and discovering one’s own imperfection.
• Joel Stein (Los Angeles Times): Credited with coining the “two-week (too weak)” trip joke.
• Fanny Burney: English novelist quoted on travel “ruining” happiness by raising your standards.
• Jules Henry: Anthropologist quoted about “the storehouse of infinite need” in modern industrial culture.
• Robert Henri: Artist quoted on the sacrifices needed to be free, happy, and fruitful.
• Paul Theroux — To the Ends of the Earth: Quoted on boredom when the route is too predictable.
• Anne Lamott – Bird by Bird: Quoted on being engrossed in something outside oneself.
• Bill Watterson – Calvin and Hobbes: Quoted on “not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do.”
• Anatole France – The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard: Quoted on switching kinds of labor to relax.
• Joseph Campbell – The Power of Myth: Quoted on seeking experiences of being fully alive.
• Viktor E. Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning: Quoted on the need for striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal.
• Dave Barry: Quoted on Americans discovering that people abroad “still speak in foreign languages.”
• Ellen Bialystok & Kenji Hakuta – In Other Words: The Science and Psychology of Second-Language Acquisition: Cited regarding adults learning languages faster than children when work is removed.
• Oscar Wilde: Quoted: “Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people we personally dislike.”
• Paula Poundstone: Quoted on adults asking kids what they want to be because adults are looking for ideas.
• Thich Nhat Hanh: Quoted on the “miracle” of walking on the earth and being present.
• Frank Wilczek: 2004 Nobel Prize–winning physicist quoted on the necessity of making mistakes.
• Articolo 31 – “Un Urlo“: Italian rap group quoted: “I’ve learned that nothing is impossible, and that almost nothing is easy.”

People and Case Studies

• Josh Steinitz – NileProject.com: Cancer survivor turned global vagabond and cofounder of a site providing customized itineraries to travelers.
• Jen Errico: Single mother who took her two children on a five-month world tour and later planned a move to a European ski chalet.
• Robin Malinosky-Rummell: Traveled through South America for a year with her husband and seven-year-old son, including time in Patagonia.

Selected Travel, Places, and Experiences

• Smithsonian Tropical Research Island, Panamá: Private island trip with local fishermen and hidden dive spots (tied to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute).
• Mendoza wine country, Argentina: Location for chartering a private plane over vineyards and the snowcapped Andes.
• Baffin Island, Nunavut: Arctic location where Josh watches narwhals from sea ice.
• Narwhals: Rare whales (“unicorns of the sea”) with spiral tusks; central to the Baffin Island story.
• Baños, Ecuador: Volunteer site for building wheelchairs.
• Suriname: Volunteer site for shepherding leatherback sea turtles.
• Recommended “vagabonding” starting points: Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba); China (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei); Japan (Tokyo, Osaka); England (London); Ireland (Galway); Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai); Germany (Berlin, Munich); Norway (Oslo); Australia (Sydney); New Zealand (Queenstown); Italy (Rome, Milan, Florence); Spain (Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla); Holland (Amsterdam).

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:00:00] Start.
• [00:02:31] Mini-retirements: embracing the mobile lifestyle.
• [00:09:22] The birth of mini-retirements and the death of vacations.
• [00:11:03] The alternative to binge traveling.
• [00:16:14] Purging the demons: emotional freedom.
• [00:18:43] The financial realities: it just gets better.
• [00:24:24] Fear factors: overcoming excuses not to travel.
• [00:30:08] When more is less: cutting the clutter.
• [00:39:29] The Bora-Bora dealmaker.
• [00:43:11] Questions and actions.
• [00:44:22] Take an asset and cash-flow snapshot.
• [00:45:02] Fear-set a one-year mini-retirement in a dream location in Europe.
• [00:48:38] Prepare for your trip.
• [00:59:42] Adding life after subtracting work.
• [01:01:51] Depression and boredom: it’s normal.
• [01:05:31] Frustrations and doubts: you’re not alone.
• [01:12:01] The point of it all.
• [01:13:37] Learning unlimited: sharpening the saw.
• [01:17:24] Service for the right reasons.
• [01:20:05] Questions and actions.
• [01:22:46] Make an anonymous donation to the service organization of your choice.
• [01:24:05] Take a learning mini-retirement in combination with local volunteering.
• [01:28:42] The top 13 new rich mistakes.

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Want more timeless tools from The 4-Hour Workweek? Listen to this episode on The Art of Refusal and The Low-Information Diet. These elimination strategies are the foundation that creates the freedom for mini-retirements—teaching you how to protect your most valuable resource (time) by saying no to both people and the endless stream of information competing for your attention.