While I’ve read the 4 Hour Work Week (HERE), I don’t necessarily think it’s going to change your life unless you really, truly work on it. Most of the time though if you’re in an office job, the tasks are impossible to do. If you’re at an ad agency and you only reply to your e-mails twice a day, or every few days, you’re going to get fired. If  you work at a company where clients book things with you, and you don’t reply immediately, they’re going to go elsewhere. Depending on the industry you’re in, many things in the 4 Hour Work Week are out of your grasp. However, if you do find yourself working for yourself, then there are definitely some tips worth looking at. E-mails and Twitter are no doubt locking us into some serious computer addictions, and I don’t like it. I almost never use Twitter now as I find it particularly useless and you  end up trying to catch up on everyones Tweets, wasting hours and hours of time on stuff that really doesn’t enhance your life.

And people also expect you to always answer e-mails immediately, or answer your phone immediately. I’m hardly ever available on my cellphone but if you do call me or sms me, I will probably get back to you…if it’s important. Otherwise I’ll see you around town sometime and we can chat then. What’s the rush? I’m not on call 24 hours a day, and unless I was born as an answering machine, there is no reason for me to be in contact 24 hours a day.As I say, you can’t quite implement the 4 Hour Work Week all at once, but there are certain ways to incorporate some of the rules into your life, and one is not worrying about being on call all day. It’s this fear of missing something that always has our minds elsewhere, which means we’re now living in the now. We’re always thinking of something else, instead of concentrating on what is happening right now.

You’ll see loads of people living in the past and the future. From the past they’ll say “I wish I had been born into better circumstances” then they’ll quickly go into the future saying “In 5 years time when I have more money things will be better” And they miss the whole point of life, living for the moment, living for the now. They stress about the past, about being hurt in relationships and having hard times, then they dream towards the future when they think things will be better. But you’re never in the future or the past, so why is your mind always there? Why are your thoughts always in the past and future, instead of the present? This is the power of now, and there is a book entitled The Power Of  Now by Eckhart Tolle which I’m currently reading, with a few pages left.

I’m not one for business books and I’ve read Rich Dad Poor Dad and in my honest opinion, it’s the biggest load of rubbish in the world. Except for the author, who has made some awesome money from it. I actually don’t know of any of my friends who have read it and put any of the plans into action. In fact let me ask you, do you know of anyone who has used it and become wealthy? While the 4 Hour Work Week offers some good choices, I think it is best combined with a book that actually gets to the root of the problems of the human mind, which is what The Power Of Now does. It allows you to live for the now only. So when you’re reading e-mails, you’re not thinking of anything else. When you’re eating, you’re not worrying about relationship problems. When you’re watching a movie, you’re not stressing about work. It is this constant ‘fear’ that most people live on that is damaging us. And also The Power Of Now teaches you to not become attached to material things and wealth. There are loads of people whose identities are based on what they have and not based the people that they really are.

I’d highly recommend The Power Of Now over any other book currently on the shelves, and I would really recommend it over any other business book. Business books just look at acquiring wealth and assets and don’t deconstruct the true problems of the mind that nearly everyone is afflicted with. Without realising the full potential of the mind and actually finding out where the true meaning of life lies, material and financial wealth is nothing.

It’s not to say I don’t believe in financial wealth, but you also need to use your financial and material wealth in the correct ways. There are too many people who let their wealth define them, and will walk all over others just because they have more than them. Combining financial wealth with intelligent thinking and a peacefulness is the way to go. There are a lot of people with money who are not happy, but that’s because they always seek more, when life is really all about enjoying the present moment and the simple things it offers.

Obviously like any book, you need to use it with a degree of open mindedness. It is obviously quite difficult to be happy if the bank is repossessing your house and you have nowhere else to stay, or if you’re out of a job and have no money. It is all about not focusing on the material things in life, but naturally we all need the basics such as food and a house, but it’s an awesome book that can really make your life much better than it is right now, just through changing the way you see things, and what you think about. You don’t need to acquire anything more to make you happier, which is the exact opposite of many business books.

If you are interested in these books, they’re available at all good book stores as well as online.

Click here to buy the 4 Hour Work Week safely and securely online.

Click here to buy The Power Of Now safely and securely online.

I’d also recommend reading the 4 Hour Work Week blog, you can start off with these two great pieces for becoming more efficient with e-mail:

How To Check E-Mail Twice A Day…Or Once Every 10 Days

and

10 Steps To Become An E-Mail Ninja