When I first read the 4 Hour Workweek, I got extremely excited, enough to the point where I changed a large portion of my everyday habits, from checking email and scheduling meetings, to designing products for direct response marketing campaigns, something I've never considered before. The book has had a profound influence on many young entrepreneurs, musicians as well. I never considered myself to be an entrepreneur until reading this book. There seems to be a lot of romanticism about the entrepreneurial lifestyle in our culture: a rogue, do-it-all yourself mentality that is only adopted by a risky elite. Needless to say, I was down for the task of entrepreneurship.
After a year of applied philosophy, I can see I am still prone to many bad habits I have yet to shake.
The first would be...INPUT
Input, or information, or work for work's sake, is the poison pill of effectiveness.
I watch the Daily Show too much...it's time to forget it, it really is a negative show when you think about it, even though Jon Stewart kicks ass.
I have relegated checking Facebook to Saturdays only, a huge win for me. If you are prone to checking Facebook daily, it'll take about a week or two to get used to a new lean social networking system, and you'll be far better off without the anxiety of keeping up with your "friends" or updating your status. Believe me, the News Feed will not miss you.
Second bad habit is phone conversations
I love catching up with friends and family, especially now that I have relocated to Nashville, TN. It's comforting to know my friends are still the same, finishing up college or grinding through dental school, but sometimes these phone-calls can last the length of a good movie, and you could have been designing or composing or practicing or networking or meditating or...you get the idea.
It's best to schedule a day for all non-work related activities. May I suggest the traditional day of rest, Saturday or Sunday. For me, I schedule all non-work related pleasure for Saturdays. This involves: phone-call catchups, beer drinking, sugar-eating, barhopping, mindless TV watching and Chinese food. Come Sunday, it's back to business.
Once you've scheduled your vices, it's easy to maintain focus during the week, knowing that you'll be able to do whatever you want in just a few days, six at the most. Hopefully you've gotten so drunk, talked so much, and ate so much food that you won't even be considering that day until mid week, the earliest.
THE ONLY RULE TO EFFECTIVENESS IS...OUTPUT!
After reading the Tim Ferris bestseller, I had an amazing abundance of business ideas, that never went anywhere. I spent the majority of last year finishing up grad school as well as working multiple jobs. I rationalized I didn't have the time to start a business. To be honest, I didn't. I spent the majority of my leisure time reading books on business and marketing and watching interviews with renowned film composers on Youtube. Input to the max.
I am now composing music for a film trailer and input has taken a backseat to productivity. Hallelujah!
Output leads to creativity
Ouput leads to flow
Output leads to action
Output leads to self-knowledge
Output leads to wealth
Output is a way of life
Keep putting things out there!
After a year of applied philosophy, I can see I am still prone to many bad habits I have yet to shake.
The first would be...INPUT
Input, or information, or work for work's sake, is the poison pill of effectiveness.
I watch the Daily Show too much...it's time to forget it, it really is a negative show when you think about it, even though Jon Stewart kicks ass.
I have relegated checking Facebook to Saturdays only, a huge win for me. If you are prone to checking Facebook daily, it'll take about a week or two to get used to a new lean social networking system, and you'll be far better off without the anxiety of keeping up with your "friends" or updating your status. Believe me, the News Feed will not miss you.
Second bad habit is phone conversations
I love catching up with friends and family, especially now that I have relocated to Nashville, TN. It's comforting to know my friends are still the same, finishing up college or grinding through dental school, but sometimes these phone-calls can last the length of a good movie, and you could have been designing or composing or practicing or networking or meditating or...you get the idea.
It's best to schedule a day for all non-work related activities. May I suggest the traditional day of rest, Saturday or Sunday. For me, I schedule all non-work related pleasure for Saturdays. This involves: phone-call catchups, beer drinking, sugar-eating, barhopping, mindless TV watching and Chinese food. Come Sunday, it's back to business.
Once you've scheduled your vices, it's easy to maintain focus during the week, knowing that you'll be able to do whatever you want in just a few days, six at the most. Hopefully you've gotten so drunk, talked so much, and ate so much food that you won't even be considering that day until mid week, the earliest.
THE ONLY RULE TO EFFECTIVENESS IS...OUTPUT!
After reading the Tim Ferris bestseller, I had an amazing abundance of business ideas, that never went anywhere. I spent the majority of last year finishing up grad school as well as working multiple jobs. I rationalized I didn't have the time to start a business. To be honest, I didn't. I spent the majority of my leisure time reading books on business and marketing and watching interviews with renowned film composers on Youtube. Input to the max.
I am now composing music for a film trailer and input has taken a backseat to productivity. Hallelujah!
Output leads to creativity
Ouput leads to flow
Output leads to action
Output leads to self-knowledge
Output leads to wealth
Output is a way of life
Keep putting things out there!
