Tim Ferris shares excitement filled tales of his life free of the daily grind of work. It’s fluffy, it’s the latest pop business book, it’s an entertaining read but it’s not that revolutionary.

Spoiler alert! I will now sum up the entire book so you don’t have to read it (unless you want to)

First Step (this is the hardest part)
Define what you really really want in life and figure out how much it really costs.

Second Step
Simplify your life so you’re not wasting your time doing things you don’t really want to do.

Third Step
Automize your job or business to free you up to do what you really want to do. Outsource everything, customer service to a customer service company, order fulfillment, etc.

Fourth Step
Check your email and voice mail once a week and make sure everything is running smoothly then go back to surfing or whatever it is you really really want to do.

The hardest part of all this is figuring our what you really really want to do with your life. This is a subject most people struggle with their entire lives, and what you really really want to do may change tomorrow.

I did like two points Ferris made in the book. You will notice in the tag line the phrase, “The New Rich” rather than put a dollar value on what “Rich” is Ferris rightly changes the definition, if your goal in life is to surf in Hawaii then it’s not really that expensive, however if you want a house, a car, 2 kids and spend your time surfing in Hawaii then it becomes more expensive.

Being rich is nothing more than having enough money to follow your dreams.

The other thing I liked was Ferris’ emphasis on totally eliminating non essential and non important tasks from everyday life. Freeing up 3 hours a week to follow your dream isn’t that hard and very rewarding.

All in all I enjoyed the book as it stimulated my thinking but there wasn’t really anything revolutionary in the book.

Score – 3 of 5 watermelons