I’m enjoying a new (to me) book titled “4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris. I was inspired to read it after watching an interview with the author about a different topic, and people in the audience kept asking him questions about issues and questions raised in his book.
After realizing that the book is not a “slacker’s guide to life: how to get away with doing as little work as possible off get rich schemes” – I decided to read it. I don’t agree with every conclusion he makes or suggestion he offers, but it’s one of the first books I’ve read in a while where the author truly see’s life differently than I do. I like that.
I’m only half way through the book, but I can’t seem to shake a statement made towards the earlier part of the book that seems to be a common thread through all of the chapters.
“When nothing seems to be working, what is the cost of a little experimenting outside of the norm. Almost nothing… outside of the mental Olympics you will need to play!” – Tim Ferris
Tim address tension in a way that is unique. He is a HUGE EXPERIMENTER of life. Everything that most people just assume to be reality, he pokes, tests, and challenges to see if it’s really, truly, reality or something we’ve simply culturally settled on. He suggest (in my own words) that many things we struggle with (tension) exists because we’ve accepted it as reality, however if we push back, challenge, and maybe even run some experiments on it… we might actually find another way, a better way, for us.
He calls it Lifestyle Design and challenges the widely accepted reality of a deferred life plan (work hard for 45 years and retire to finally do the things you want to do). He believes there is another way, a better way, to choose the life you want to live now and lose some of the unnecessary tensions along the way.
For 2016, my ONE WORD for the year is #whatif?
I personally plan to do some experimenting in life, challenge some of my own thoughts about “how things are,” and begin the journey with God to see “how things could be.” In my work, with my family, in my mental and physical health… are there things that require some experiments outside of the norm?
I understand that once I get past the FEAR of trying something different (jump through the mental Olympics as Tim calls it), that God might have some crazy new #whatifs? in store for me. I’ll do my best to share some of these experiments with you along the way.
I’m hoping that with all of my goals this year (the new book, SPD blog, and more) there will be some great new wisdom I can share, lessons we can learn, and ways we can challenge any and all unnecessary tensions we have!
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