A Holiday Miracle

By Brick | December 27, 2007

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It’s December 24th, and I am in Borders doing last minute Christmas shopping. There can be a certain panic associated with shopping on December 24th, and certainly because of the seemingly endless demands of my job, I have left too much of my holiday shopping until the last minute. But the bookstore is a great place, in my opinion, to pick up a whole bunch of gifts all at once - a veritable “one stop shop” - who cannot possibly benefit from some nicely packaged information? And besides, they gift wrap at this location.

So I deftly start picking up some great gifts: Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat for my globally aware sister, Kevin Smith’s My Boring Ass Life for a friend who donated a Saturday to help me drink - I mean build a deck - and has completely memorized the screenplay of Jay and Silent Bob, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma for my wife. I have everything I need but of course I continue to browse, and that’s when it catches my eye: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris. The cover promises that this book can help me “escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich”. I don’t know what or who the new rich is, but I know instinctively that I definitely want to be one of them. I am sold. I have always had a soft spot for the self improvement genre, I suppose due to an unconscious acknowledgement that I could do better in life. And it comes with such credibility: “The #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller”! I personally don’t know anyone at the Journal, but I am quite sure they know something about great books.

Alas, I have already overspent on gifts this year and being a member of the aforementioned 9-5 crowd, there are certain financial realities. I add up the price of the three gift books and realize that The 4-Hour Work Week is simply a luxury I cannot afford, despite it’s promise to liberate me from this very financial predicament (what irony!). So with a little sadness, I put the book down and make my way to the checkout. The line is easily 25 people deep so I settle into a catatonic near sleep state staring blindly forward at nothing, the kind of poor micro rest you wrenchingly take advantage of anyway to get a second’s respite from your hectic life and its endless demands (job, kids, money, etc. etc…)…

Cashier: Next

Me: (delay as I awake from my reverie and walk to the counter) Hi

Cashier: You realize that if you buy three books today, you get a fourth one free.

Me: No I didn’t (to myself: if I did, I would have four books with me, wouldn’t I?)

Cashier: Why don’t you grab another book. You can come right back to me once you have it and you won’t have to wait in line.

Me: Ok!

Clearly, this is a sign! I was meant to read The 4-Hour Work Week. I am now quite sure that this book will transform my life. However, here’s the thing, I have bought and read quite a few self improvement, business leadership type books, and while they are all usually a pleasure to read, I wonder if they have really changed my life that much. Maybe, I have been able to take some of that mentoring and have made some incremental improvements to my lifestyle. Maybe. But I am still not rich, am I? I am still working 60+ hours a week, I am still totally stressed out! What makes The 4-Hour Work Week any different?

I have decided to find out. In a fit of creativity, it dawned on me to follow any “instructions” in the book seriously and create a journal documenting my trials and tribulations, my successes and failures, my hopes and dreams as I use The 4-Hour Work Week as my blueprint for lifestyle transformation! This being the 21st century, it is only fitting that such a journal be a blog, a blog you find yourself reading right now! So welcome all, wish me luck, and follow along on my quest to join the new rich!

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Topics: 4-Hour Work Week, Background Information |