[bigbootyluvr]

I know this is going to hurt many of you, but read on...

I think it is time someone looked closer at this guy tim ferriss.

Bullshido.com, the martial arts website that exposes frauds in the martial arts community, did an expose on his claim of "Vanquishing four mma world champions".

I personally emailed two of his "VA's" in india that he mentioned in his book for help and they basically laughed at me; they only work with major corporations, not individuals; Even his "Chinese kickboxing championship" claim is now in question by people in the san shou community.

Some of his ideas are neat, but is he selling the steak or the sizzle? A lot of dudes write about shit they NEVER did (for example, tucker max, he's the ultimate liar of them all) and rep themselves as experts or playboys, taking advantage of innocent dudes with good intentions...i'd like to see proof of some of tim ferriss' claims....

I already called out that fake "Tony Ryan" on his joke of an ebook, now i'm asking any tim ferriss fans to come defend him and his claims. Besides his book, have ANY OF YOU actually hired a virtual assistant in india? Have ANY of you used his suggestions to successfully start a business?

[Roosh]

Time to page gringoed... he's a strong supporter of Tim's work.

[FretDancer]

I'll stick with my Aikido

[Entropy4]

4HWW was very inspiring when I first read it. I went back and tried to read it after I had started my business and was making money and I couldn't get through the first 100 pages. Talk about 80/20 principle, it's 80% hype and 20% usable advice.

I have tried to hire VA's and out-source to India, and they're a nightmare. It's pretty well known in the internet marketing world that you only outsource the absolutely most menial shit to India/Pakistan because you're going to get really inconsistent and shitty work back. I've got three guys who do web work for me and all are American. They're all reliable, fairly cheap and do great work.

Ferriss is a natural born salesman and marketer, and that shines through. I have no doubt that he actually built a successful online business... as his marketing skills are obviously up to snuff. But as far all of his other advice... meh. His advice on becoming "fluent" in a language in 3 months is fucking bullshit. And I'm no nutritionist or personal trainer, but I know enough about working out to know that a lot of his exercise advice is bunk. If you go to the forums on bodybuilding.com, they rip his stuff to shreds and laugh at it together.

With that said, he does drop a gem on his blog every now and again.

[kimleebj]

(01-13-2011 04:37 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  

Bullshido.com, the martial arts website that exposes frauds in the martial arts community, did an expose ...

My favorite, a Kiai master getting his fraudulent ass kicked

[speakeasy]

(01-13-2011 01:36 PM)Entropy4 Wrote:  

4HWW was very inspiring when I first read it. I went back and tried to read
Ferriss is a natural born salesman and marketer, and that shines through. I have no doubt that he actually built a successful online business... as his marketing skills are obviously up to snuff. But as far all of his other advice... meh. His advice on becoming "fluent" in a language in 3 months is fucking bullshit. And I'm no nutritionist or personal trainer, but I know enough about working out to know that a lot of his exercise advice is bunk. If you go to the forums on bodybuilding.com, they rip his stuff to shreds and laugh at it together.

Interestingly, he has a whole page dedicated to him: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/tim-ferr...rhuman.htm

The whole think reeks of snake oil though.

[Entropy4]

(01-13-2011 08:11 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(01-13-2011 01:36 PM)Entropy4 Wrote:  

4HWW was very inspiring when I first read it. I went back and tried to read
Ferriss is a natural born salesman and marketer, and that shines through. I have no doubt that he actually built a successful online business... as his marketing skills are obviously up to snuff. But as far all of his other advice... meh. His advice on becoming "fluent" in a language in 3 months is fucking bullshit. And I'm no nutritionist or personal trainer, but I know enough about working out to know that a lot of his exercise advice is bunk. If you go to the forums on bodybuilding.com, they rip his stuff to shreds and laugh at it together.

Interestingly, he has a whole page dedicated to him: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/tim-ferr...rhuman.htm

The whole think reeks of snake oil though.

That's just selling supplements with his name on it. Again, he's a great marketer, and that site is first and foremost a supplement business. Get on the forum there. The forum there is to bodybuilding what this place is to traveling for pussy. It's full of a bunch of pro and amateur bodybuilders and athletes and personal trainers. They shit all over him.

Here are some examples:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread...=125035181
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread...=129635023
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread...=123452901

[Kickb]

I bought the four hour workweek. hired myself a virtual assistant to do research over a variety of college assignments. I am pretty sure they got all their info from wikipedia

[oldnemesis]

(01-13-2011 04:37 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  

Some of his ideas are neat, but is he selling the steak or the sizzle? A lot of dudes write about shit they NEVER did (for example, tucker max, he's the ultimate liar of them all) and rep themselves as experts or playboys, taking advantage of innocent dudes with good intentions...i'd like to see proof of some of tim ferriss' claims....

As I said before:

I've read "four hours workweek", and it is a typical self-improvement book, with 50% of basic common sense and 50% of strategy which worked for author, but would unlikely work for anyone else. This one is probably similar.

Now I'd say it is 50% of basic common sense, 10% of something which worked for author (and for him only), and 40% is bullshit ranging from misinformation to blatant lies.

Quote:

Besides his book, have ANY OF YOU actually hired a virtual assistant in india?

I've hired some people in Ukraine to do some work for me (even before 4HWW was released). However I hired them for per-project basis, and they had to be monitored closely, it was definitely not order-and-forget. And I know the Ukrainian culture, which made things easier. The major issues happen when Americans hire assistants outside USA and expect them to work the same way and do exactly like their fellow Americans would do, just ten times cheaper. This will not happen.

And hiring a VA in India to handle your finances and pay your bills, as Tim suggests, sounds like the most stupid idea I've ever heard. And I really doubt he gave them his credit card and SS number as he claimed.

But why "test" him? It should be obvious for every adult person that you cannot support yourself all your life while working four hours a week.

[oldnemesis]

(01-14-2011 12:37 AM)kickboxer Wrote:  

I bought the four hour workweek. hired myself a virtual assistant to do research over a variety of college assignments. I am pretty sure they got all their info from wikipedia

From the first three lines of Google search results. And this is exactly where your professor would find them, and kick your outsourcing ass

Also, I don't really understand the point here. Basically instead of studying something you're paying your assistants to study it at your expense? Maybe I didn't get it, but why?

[Agent_GQ]

Ferriss is a professional bullshit artist. It's a combination of what entropy (master marketer salesman) and nemesis (50% common sense) have said about him. Quite a bit of stuff in the first book was common sense. But the way ferriss packaged, hyped, and wrote about these common sense things made people think he was revealing the Theory of Everything.

[beebopaloo]

Well, Tim Ferriss doesn't try to conceal the fact that he is 'lifehacking', which is the same as saying that he is getting a lot done with the minimum effort. I like that approach to stuff and obviously it is working for him, since he is a talented individual.
That said, I am agreeing with someone else in the post who said that some of his blogpost are gems.

The advice might not always be directly applicable, but still he's got some legimitation in the form of being a MOTIVATOR above all. Go to the website and see how many comments his posts get.
Surely a lot of people like what he's got to say, and in that way he's bringing a lot of people to think outside the box. A part of his appeal is that he's entertaining and inspirational, which is actually half of the battle.

OP wanted to test Ferriss' stuff: I have been using his muscle building protocol, and it works wonders.

[Moma]

(01-13-2011 06:15 PM)kimleebj Wrote:  

(01-13-2011 04:37 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  

Bullshido.com, the martial arts website that exposes frauds in the martial arts community, did an expose ...

My favorite, a Kiai master getting his fraudulent ass kicked

No respect for the elderly, LOL!

[gringoed]

(01-13-2011 10:54 AM)Roosh Wrote:  

Time to page gringoed... he's a strong supporter of Tim's work.

I think there are like 3 other Tim Ferriss threads that pretty much deal with the same issue.

You have to keep certain things in mind when you're reading any advice book:
1. There is no such thing as a truly original thought, so what you're reading is information that's already out there but repackaged.
2. The goal of a published book is to make money, so a book that does well will be a mix of hype and good content. If there wasn't hype, you'd never hear of Tim Ferriss in the first place.
3. You spent $15 for something that is meant to appeal to a broad audience. The information is not custom tailored to you, and if you wanted it to you'd pay thousands.


Now keeping all that in mind, to answer the OP:

"I personally emailed two of his "VA's" in india that he mentioned in his book for help and they basically laughed at me; they only work with major corporations, not individuals"
-Yes, Tim recommends a couple firms that were small at the time. 4HWW became a #1 bestseller so these companies were inundated with requests. I found my own part-time VA from the Phillippines on my own and am 100% happy. If anybody wants a referral PM me.


"Even his "Chinese kickboxing championship" claim is now in question by people in the san shou community. "
-Honestly I dont care if it turns out to be somewhat ilegitimate, because it's just one example of many illustrating a point that certain goals/achievements can be "hacked" by understanding the rules. Using game to get with girls is no different.

You asked for personal examples...

Among many other things, one thought that really stuck with me from 4HWW was that wealth = time x money. Once that resonated, that one concept compelled me to tweak my real estate business in order for me to make solid money every month while working very little and being able to live anywhere.

Tim Ferriss doesnt do real estate, so very little of the info could be directly applied, so I found my own solutions. Instead of looking for drop-shippers as is recommended in 4HWW, I was looking for people that could go to rent court for me as an example.

By early 2010 my business had come such a long way towards valuing my time that I did a 5 month vacation in Argentina and Brazil. No way would that have been possible without the changes I made after reading 4HWW. I have many more of these in store in the near future.

If you want more examples, just look outside this forum. Read comments on his blog posts and the links to people's muses. Read the case studies from 4HWW extended edition. Listen to the "Lifestyle Business Podcast." Read his amazon reviews.

Tim started the new "lifestyle design" movement by being a master marketer and promoter, and I think that's a really good thing that people are finding clever ways of exiting the rat race. My .02

[Entropy4]

Don't get me wrong, the book is very inspiring, but the specifics suck. I mean, if we judged every book by its intention and it's overall sentiment, then every book could be considered "good."

The new book though, is just other information re-packaged as his own and shilled with unrealistic promises. Total scam.

[Kickb]

(01-14-2011 04:13 AM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 12:37 AM)kickboxer Wrote:  

I bought the four hour workweek. hired myself a virtual assistant to do research over a variety of college assignments. I am pretty sure they got all their info from wikipedia

From the first three lines of Google search results. And this is exactly where your professor would find them, and kick your outsourcing ass

Also, I don't really understand the point here. Basically instead of studying something you're paying your assistants to study it at your expense? Maybe I didn't get it, but why?

It was over some stupid assignments. I had my VA research johan Sebastian bach. Some big drug lord. Did it so I could have more free time

[gringoed]

(01-14-2011 03:40 PM)kickboxer Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 04:13 AM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 12:37 AM)kickboxer Wrote:  

I bought the four hour workweek. hired myself a virtual assistant to do research over a variety of college assignments. I am pretty sure they got all their info from wikipedia

From the first three lines of Google search results. And this is exactly where your professor would find them, and kick your outsourcing ass

Also, I don't really understand the point here. Basically instead of studying something you're paying your assistants to study it at your expense? Maybe I didn't get it, but why?

It was over some stupid assignments. I had my VA research johan Sebastian bach. Some big drug lord. Did it so I could have more free time

lol seems pretty silly to me too. You pay a college to teach you things and then you pay somebody else to learn.

[thekiller]

I think you guys are a bit harsh. ANY and ALL information should be taken with a grain of salt. The four hour body has a lot of good information, including the Chapter on doing due diligence when looking at statistics and research, should be required reading for most consumers. His testosterone protocol has been working for me, as well as some of his other advice.

As for the Four Hour Work Week, I agree it's light on specifics but damn if it didn't make me think outside the box and take my first international vacation. The REAL gold is the forum for the book where the readers share stories, ideas and information. His blog is good too and from his videos it's obvious he's actually LIVING the lifestyle.

He even admits he won that Chinese medal by exploiting a weakness in the rules, gotta love that! Especially given that Chinese culture teaches to exploit all weaknesses and opportunities.

[Kickb]

It was silly but it was kinda fun to tell people that I outsourced some work

[oldnemesis]

(01-14-2011 02:43 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

-Yes, Tim recommends a couple firms that were small at the time. 4HWW became a #1 bestseller so these companies were inundated with requests.

Do you know this as a fact? Or you're just speculating it happened that way? No pun intended, just want to make it clear whether it is a fact or a speculation.

Quote:

I found my own part-time VA from the Phillippines on my own and am 100% happy.

Could you provide more metrics, like what kind of job you outsource, how often screwups happen, how much you need to fix after them? "100% happy" is a valid metric for you, but not for example for me, as I don't know what it means for you.

Quote:

Among many other things, one thought that really stuck with me from 4HWW was that wealth = time x money. Once that resonated, that one concept compelled me to tweak my real estate business in order for me to make solid money every month while working very little and being able to live anywhere.

Now let's be honest - is it really "anywhere"? Could you live in an expensive destination like Switzerland for years? When I went through 4HWW it looked like most destinations Tim claimed to stay for long time were quite cheap.

Quote:

Tim Ferriss doesnt do real estate, so very little of the info could be directly applied, so I found my own solutions. Instead of looking for drop-shippers as is recommended in 4HWW, I was looking for people that could go to rent court for me as an example.

Hmm. Did I understand it correctly that basically you got a bunch of rental properties, and hired a property management company to rent and take care it for you??? I'm asking because I can't believe someone needs to read a book to come to this kind of "solution" (I know a lot of people who live off rental income in Russia, and I'm sure they have never heard of Tim Ferris and his books). So it must be something else. What is it?

Quote:

If you want more examples, just look outside this forum. Read comments on his blog posts and the links to people's muses. Read the case studies from 4HWW extended edition. Listen to the "Lifestyle Business Podcast." Read his amazon reviews.

Then consider that you're dealing with a great marketer and self-promoter, who actually advises to hire other people to advertise your product by posting good reviews in relevant blogs, forums and retailers. Look more careful and you'll see that a lot of those comments either lead nowhere (very vague in terms of what the poster actually is doing), or could have been achieved without 4HWW at all if the person did even basic due diligence. Look on those reviews, and you'll see that quite some of 5-star reviews are done by people who only had one review for that specific book, and they're similar to blog posts in terms of vagueness.

Even if it is not vague, there is still room to play the facts. Personally I could be such a a good example - I have negotiated remote employment five years ago since moving to States, and have been working from home since that, making some really good money. Those are facts I can prove, so if I claim I did it after reading 4HWW, this would immediately make me an "example" like you mentioned. But of course it had nothing to do with 4hww. More, I've omitted here an important fact which, if revealed, would make it significantly less appealing to general population as example. The fact is that I've got some very unique experience, and people with those skills are extremely hard to find on job market. This, of course, is not really the case with most 4HWW readers. And I believe most of his examples are like that.

[oldnemesis]

(01-14-2011 03:56 PM)thekiller Wrote:  

I think you guys are a bit harsh. ANY and ALL information should be taken with a grain of salt. The four hour body has a lot of good information, including the Chapter on doing due diligence when looking at statistics and research, should be required reading for most consumers.

This is an excerpt from "4 hour body", page 42, charter "New rules for rapid redesign":


The caloric argument for exercise gets even more depressing. Remember those 107 calories you burned during that kick-ass hour-long Stairmaster™ session? Don’t forget to subtract your basal metabolic rate (BMR), what you would have burned had you been sitting on the couch watching The Simpsons instead. For most people, that’s about 100 calories per hour given off as heat (BTU).
That hour on the Stairmaster was worth seven calories.


So Tim is saying that your body spent only 7 calories more to support an hour working out on the Stairmaster (going upstairs non-stop for 60 minutes) comparing to if you were sitting on a couch this hour. This is kind of "useful information" he has in this book. Which moron would believe in that?
And how could you burn only 107 calories on Stairmaster in an hour? I do 15 minute sessions on level 8 (max is 15) and it shows 170 calories. Even if the display is 20% inaccurate, it is still at least 140 calories in 15 minutes only, making it 600 in an hour.

[gringoed]

(01-14-2011 05:16 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

(01-14-2011 02:43 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

-Yes, Tim recommends a couple firms that were small at the time. 4HWW became a #1 bestseller so these companies were inundated with requests.

Do you know this as a fact? Or you're just speculating it happened that way? No pun intended, just want to make it clear whether it is a fact or a speculation.

Quote:

I found my own part-time VA from the Phillippines on my own and am 100% happy.

Could you provide more metrics, like what kind of job you outsource, how often screwups happen, how much you need to fix after them? "100% happy" is a valid metric for you, but not for example for me, as I don't know what it means for you.

Quote:

Among many other things, one thought that really stuck with me from 4HWW was that wealth = time x money. Once that resonated, that one concept compelled me to tweak my real estate business in order for me to make solid money every month while working very little and being able to live anywhere.

Now let's be honest - is it really "anywhere"? Could you live in an expensive destination like Switzerland for years? When I went through 4HWW it looked like most destinations Tim claimed to stay for long time were quite cheap.

Quote:

Tim Ferriss doesnt do real estate, so very little of the info could be directly applied, so I found my own solutions. Instead of looking for drop-shippers as is recommended in 4HWW, I was looking for people that could go to rent court for me as an example.

Hmm. Did I understand it correctly that basically you got a bunch of rental properties, and hired a property management company to rent and take care it for you??? I'm asking because I can't believe someone needs to read a book to come to this kind of "solution" (I know a lot of people who live off rental income in Russia, and I'm sure they have never heard of Tim Ferris and his books). So it must be something else. What is it?

Quote:

If you want more examples, just look outside this forum. Read comments on his blog posts and the links to people's muses. Read the case studies from 4HWW extended edition. Listen to the "Lifestyle Business Podcast." Read his amazon reviews.

Then consider that you're dealing with a great marketer and self-promoter, who actually advises to hire other people to advertise your product by posting good reviews in relevant blogs, forums and retailers. Look more careful and you'll see that a lot of those comments either lead nowhere (very vague in terms of what the poster actually is doing), or could have been achieved without 4HWW at all if the person did even basic due diligence. Look on those reviews, and you'll see that quite some of 5-star reviews are done by people who only had one review for that specific book, and they're similar to blog posts in terms of vagueness.

Even if it is not vague, there is still room to play the facts. Personally I could be such a a good example - I have negotiated remote employment five years ago since moving to States, and have been working from home since that, making some really good money. Those are facts I can prove, so if I claim I did it after reading 4HWW, this would immediately make me an "example" like you mentioned. But of course it had nothing to do with 4hww. More, I've omitted here an important fact which, if revealed, would make it significantly less appealing to general population as example. The fact is that I've got some very unique experience, and people with those skills are extremely hard to find on job market. This, of course, is not really the case with most 4HWW readers. And I believe most of his examples are like that.

Oldnemesis: You really seem to have an anti Tim Ferriss agenda, which is quite silly because he's just an author and not a politician or somebody that has any kind of control over your life. You still have a choice whether to read his books or not, whether to pay for them or not (library), and whether to heed his advice or not. I've read dozens if not hundreds of books that were crappy and stupid but if I don't like them I don't become a hater, I just forget about them and go on to new books that work for me.

"Do you know this as a fact? Or you're just speculating it happened that way? No pun intended, just want to make it clear whether it is a fact or a speculation."


-This is what the VA companies told me when I called them in 2007, and Tim confirmed it in a blog comment. I dont really understand your point here, are you saying that VA's don't exist for regular people? You know they do, so why are you fretting?

"Could you provide more metrics, like what kind of job you outsource, how often screwups happen, how much you need to fix after them? "100% happy" is a valid metric for you, but not for example for me, as I don't know what it means for you."


-I've personally outsourced cold-calling and data input with zero problems. I paid $5/hr where I would have paid $12/hr or so for the same labor locally. Tim (and Ramit Sethi I think) have written about how to properly deal with VA's to avoid problems, namely miscommunications. I followed them. There are many other people who have used VA's for other purposes. Listen to the Lifestyle Business Podcast.
Tim's point in the book is to TRY it because at the very least it's cool and inexpensive. Give it shot and report back. If you've spent $50 and aren't happy, drop it. It's supposed to be fun.


"Now let's be honest - is it really "anywhere"? Could you live in an expensive destination like Switzerland for years? When I went through 4HWW it looked like most destinations Tim claimed to stay for long time were quite cheap."


-Anywhere. Geoarbitrage is a beautiful thing though. Upgrade your lifestyle AND spend less. FYI Tim has also spent lots of time in Germany and Japan before he wrote 4HWW.


"Hmm. Did I understand it correctly that basically you got a bunch of rental properties, and hired a property management company to rent and take care it for you??? I'm asking because I can't believe someone needs to read a book to come to this kind of "solution" (I know a lot of people who live off rental income in Russia, and I'm sure they have never heard of Tim Ferris and his books). So it must be something else. What is it?"


-You missed the point. The book shifted my priorities towards valuing time more. It did not give me any specific solutions.


"Then consider that you're dealing with a great marketer and self-promoter, who actually advises to hire other people to advertise your product by posting good reviews in relevant blogs, forums and retailers. Look more careful and you'll see that a lot of those comments either lead nowhere (very vague in terms of what the poster actually is doing), or could have been achieved without 4HWW at all if the person did even basic due diligence. Look on those reviews, and you'll see that quite some of 5-star reviews are done by people who only had one review for that specific book, and they're similar to blog posts in terms of vagueness.

Even if it is not vague, there is still room to play the facts. Personally I could be such a a good example - I have negotiated remote employment five years ago since moving to States, and have been working from home since that, making some really good money. Those are facts I can prove, so if I claim I did it after reading 4HWW, this would immediately make me an "example" like you mentioned. But of course it had nothing to do with 4hww. More, I've omitted here an important fact which, if revealed, would make it significantly less appealing to general population as example. The fact is that I've got some very unique experience, and people with those skills are extremely hard to find on job market. This, of course, is not really the case with most 4HWW readers. And I believe most of his examples are like that."


-Right. I guess there's no real case studies out there then. BTW Tim Ferriss is paying me $10/hr to defend him on this forum. Busted!

"And how could you burn only 107 calories on Stairmaster in an hour? I do 15 minute sessions on level 8 (max is 15) and it shows 170 calories. Even if the display is 20% inaccurate, it is still at least 140 calories in 15 minutes only, making it 600 in an hour."


-Do you know this as a fact? Or you're just speculating it happened that way? No pun intended, just want to make it clear whether it is a fact or a speculation.

[thekiller]

O.N. I think you owe Tim Ferris an apology because you are obviously burning loads of calories being worked up over something so trivial. :-)

[Vacancier Permanent]

I'd like to chip in here about my personal experience with Tim's book.
I first read his 4 hour work week in June of 2007 after returning from a 2 months trip to Brasil and Argentina in April/May 2007. At the time, I had a nice cushy and well paying job. I always wanted to have a profitable internet biz and travel the world, but I was still at that time in a wishing mode rather than a do or die mode as I was in a comfortable situation.

I consider his book one of the most important and decisive ones I have read so far as it expanded my mind and introduced me to notions that completely changed my life ever since. Things such as mini retirements, outsourcing tasks, geo-arbitrage, new rich mentality. Sure, I had read/heard about these things, but it was in his book that I saw them in a such a clear way that made so much sense. I also consider his book as the catalist that gave me that kick in the butt from moving from the wishing mode to the doing mode as it gave me a general direction/guide of what's available and how to achieve that. I spent the next few months learning as much as I could about the topics covered in his book (mainly mini retirements, geo-arbitrage and building online businesses) and started actively looking for a profitable and legit biz to start online. Then around Xmas 2007, found what his my current biz and never looked back.

Now, 3 and half years later after first reading his book, I am living the location independent lifestyle, have my own profitable legit and fully automated online biz that allows me to finally live the kind of lifestyle I had always envisionned and dreamt about. I have also been using outsourcing with great success, specially whenever I need graphic designing jobs (new templates for my full page ads in magazines, brochures, flyers...) be done by outsourcers. I have found a top notch graphic designer on Elance from London, UK who charges me abotu 15-20 bucks an hour and I've been using that same guy on a consistent basis for the past year or so. If anyone wants a referral to a top notch graphic designer, pm me. I think I already referred 1 or 2 people already to him.

Anyways, I also get the impression that like usual, the ones complaining and whining about him, his book and others like him, are people that have not tried his methods and are not successful themselves (yet) but would be if they had a more open mind. And of course, as usual, the ones who are successful and have tried some of his stuff, are not complaining nor whining about it. That's just my observation so far, not only on this forum but other forums as well and in general as well.

All in all, I consider this book one of the most important and decisive ones in where I am today. I always refer to it as a guide. I have strongly suggested my younger cousins, friends and even my own younger brother to read it as an eye opener and mind expander. Sure, it's not a complete guide, it's more of a general guide kind of thing. And of course, each person would have to add his own twist/style as well as hard work to creat their own "spot in the sun" so to speak as we say in French.

Hope this helps, this is my personal experience with this book, his content and the impact it's had on me an. d my life. As always, YMMV.

Old nemesis,
You're one of the posters I enjoy reading the most on this forum, however, I feel that you're way too over analysing things at times. This is a good quality but also not so good at others as being overly analytical/critical might make you to miss some good opportunities. Not referring to anything specifically but rather in a general way...

Cheers.

[thegmanifesto]

I agree with much of what Vacancier Permanent said.

And I always find it interesting how this guy stirs up such positive and negative emotions in people. He must be doing something right.

Sure he grabs ideas from other places and repackages them. And the title of course, should not be taken literally. He says many times he writes titles for attention.

The mindset stuff is I think what he delivers best. I had many of the ideas myself, however he clarified them.

Bottom line, you can't expect the world for $11.45 or whatever the book is being peddled for.