Five Reasons Vibram’s Five Finger Shoes Will Rock Your Socks Off
by projecthitchhiker on July 24, 2009
in Awesome Stuff, Lifestyle Design
“I’m not being seen in public with you if you’re wearing those – things.”
– A friend’s girlfriend to her boyfriend about his Vibram Five Finger Shoes.
So why would you wear them? My five favorite reasons:
1) They will make you run faster than Kenyans. Or at least, faster than you already run.
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Screw New Years Resolutions: A BETTER way to make change in 2009
by projecthitchhiker on January 21, 2009
in Accountability Lists, Four Hour Workweek, Language Learning, Lifestyle Design, Personal Development
“I’m going to quit smoking, lose 20 pounds, give up drinking hard liquor and run at least an hour every day.” How many people out there have ever actually succeeded with New Years Resolutions? Why does it always fail? My theory is that it’s too much all at once. It becomes more painful to continue with the extreme lifestyle makeover than the short-term pleasure you would get reverting to your old habits.
Dear Email: If You Haven’t Heard Back From Me By Now, You Never Will
by projecthitchhiker on January 8, 2009
in Four Hour Workweek, Lifestyle Design
EVER. Okay, so that’s a little harsh and not completely true. But here’s what I did. It being the New Year and all, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about making changes. Seemed like an appropriate time. And in all this reading I came across some great stuff. Notably, I discovered this blog and then through it, this blog — where I found a few excellent articles on processing your Email Inbox to ZERO and keeping it there:
2009 Is Gonna Rock (Plus: Christmas French Lessons)
by projecthitchhiker on January 3, 2009
in Accountability Lists, Awesome Stuff, Four Hour Workweek, Lifestyle Design, Personal Development, Travel
(photo: New Years 2007 in Nha Trang, Vietnam)
2009 is going to be fantastic. But first, a cliche look back at 2008:
Most important lesson learned in 2008
The number one rule: Do what you love. Don’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks about you.
Top Non-Fiction reads of 2008
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts and The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. These two books are required reading for anyone who wants to travel or doesn’t like the idea of spending their life in an office cubicle.
Tim Ferriss-ize Your Language Learning (plus: Rocking Out In Kyushu, Japan)
by projecthitchhiker on October 13, 2008
in Four Hour Workweek, Japan, Language Learning, Personal Development, Travel
My friend Josh recently wrote a blog post about learning Spanish — what has been working, and what hasn’t — and asked for strategies from his readers. When I sat down to write a comment, I realized I had too much to say for just a short paragraph, so here it is. These are strategies that have helped me (and people who I have recognized as effective second language learners) pick up a new language quicker than average — not because we are smarter, but simply because we focus on time-efficient and effective strategies.
Josh’s Four Hour Workweek
by projecthitchhiker on November 2, 2007
in Personal Development
I’ve recommended the book The Four Hour Workweek to pretty much everyone I’ve talked to in the past few weeks, not because I think that everyone should go the route of starting their own internet business, but because there are so many useful lifestyle changes that anyone can take from it.
My good friend Josh wrote me about the changes he’s making since starting his Four Hour Workweek:
Mike,
It’s monday and I’m checking my email, one of the two times that I’ve been checking my email. I haven’t watched tv today. I’m opening my spanish txt book tonight and starting to learn. I want to be fluent for Cuba. I called the guy that runs www.camerasforhealing.com and he’s interested in taking me to Sierra Leone. I cleaned out my RSS feeds, I’ve stopped visiting forums, going on facebook more than once a day to check for msgs and business related issues. I got all of my processing done as well as paper work in only 2 hours. I’ve read about 2/3 of the book, officially starting it on Saturday and most of the reading on Sunday, it’s had a major impact already. I’ve made notes throughout it as well as written ideas in the front cover. I have a few good ideas for businesses.
My Four Hour Workweek Experiment
by projecthitchhiker on October 23, 2007
in Four Hour Workweek, Lifestyle Design
So I started reading the Four Hour Workweek a second time (if you haven’t read it, go to amazon.com right now and order it! Warning, however — you should only buy it if you want to quit your job.), and I’m starting to put some of the principles into action in my life:
The 80-20 rule:
This rule says that 20% of all your actions produce 80% of your results. Or 20% of all input equals 80% of all output. This isn’t set in stone, and the output number is often higher. Tim cites an example in his own business where 90% of his customers were causing him most of his headaches, yet were only bringing in 5% of his profits. He subsequently “fired” his headache customers, concentrated on his big customers (10%) who were making him over 90% of his profits!