How to be a millionaire without having millions?

 

 

ABSTRACT

 

How we can reach the millionaire lifestyle without a huge amount of money? Timothy Ferriss has been working on to solve the dilemma of how one can make good amount of money without working around the clock.  At the moment he works only a four hours per week and earns relatively well. He travels a lot and has lot of free time to do what he wants and to fulfil his dreams. He hasn’t quit working hard, but he has optimized his work and delegated time-consuming tasks, so he doesn’t need to work full week. He has outsourced himself and written a book about the subject so others could also enjoy more of life, not just work all the time.

 

People don’t actually want to be millionaires, but they want to have nice experiences that they think only millionaires can have. For example, they might want to travel more often, have a nice house, eat more often in fancy restaurants and just have a nice standard of living. Ferriss uses a term “New Rich” which means the people, who make their life luxurious by using what they already have: the time and the mobility. They don’t waste their time in small tasks but take action to make their life like they want it to be. That is also called “Lifestyle Designing”.

 

The New Rich go through the process which is called DEAL (Definition, Elimination, Automation and Liberation). It doesn’t matter whether the person is working for a monthly salary or as an entrepreneur, these four steps will help to reach the millionaire lifestyle without a huge amount of money.

 

 

D IS FOR DEFINITION

 

The New Rich stands out from the crowd because of their goals, prioritization and the way of thinking of life in general. It makes a huge difference if one thinks in New Rich way. For example, regular nine-to-five worker could think that he works for himself, but the New Rich want to make others work for them and save their precious time. It’s all about how to define a word success. Does success mean a lot of money or a lot of free time for someone.

 

Doing less doesn’t mean that a person is a lazy one. By doing less meaningless work one can focus on the things that matter the most and have greater personal importance for one. ”Focus on being productive instead of busy” (Ferriss, 2007, 33). One doesn’t need to do everything by oneself, one can always delegate things to someone else to do. Many entrepreneurs try to do everything by themselves and that only causes a burnouts and unhappy life. Just focus on the good things and let others do less interesting parts of one’s work.

 

 

E IS FOR ELIMINATION

 

Multitasking doesn’t lead to the New Rich way of living. It is not important to work more and more for each day, but to remember the quality of your work. One doesn’t need to feel busy; hurry is often just a sign of a poor time management. If some task takes lots of time, it doesn’t make that task more important. It is not about the time one has spent, but the results one gains.

 

It is good to set a clear deadline for one’s work, that makes working more effective. Time is wasted because there is so much time available (2007, 73). When one shortens work time to limit tasks to the important, one complies with a Parkinson’s Law. The point is to have a certain time limit and complete tasks in that time. It is simple as that, but one needs to stay strict about it. By concentrating only in the one task at the time and not checking phone or email or chit-chat with workmates, one accomplishes tasks more effectively and in less time.

 

 

A IS FOR AUTOMATION

 

One can save plenty of time and shorten workweeks by automating some tasks. The main skills of the New Rich are outsourcing and communication. Becoming New Rich doesn’t just mean working smarter but creating that kind of systems to make oneself “unnecessary”. However, one need to be sure to eliminate unnecessary items before delegating those. Never automate anything that can be completely eliminated from work. And never delegate anything that can be automated.

 

There is a list of some tasks one can easily automate and outsource:

• Arranging meetings and interviews.
• Searching information from Internet.
• Doing background work for some project.
• Creating documents and word processing.
• Website maintenance (publications, design).
• Writing comments and posts.
• Proofreading of texts.
• Job search and employee interview.

 

 

L IS FOR LIBERATION

 

When one has followed all the previous steps, one finally has more time to do what one wants. All that might sound kind of a scary and challenging, but it is really achievable. It is all about the right mindset of the New Rich.

 

Many of us think that retirement is the right time for doing whatever the person wants. Then it’s the right time to enjoy the result of long work history. But what if one could enjoy the freedom of the pension time in small parts during one’s work career? That is what New Rich lifestyle is all about. One can enjoy life more stress free by working effectively and with good time management.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

So, don’t lose your dreams just for working hard. One can achieve the dream life by rationalizing and clarifying working time. Don’t waste time for the things that can be automatized or delegated and don’t do things twice. There is no reason why one should constantly check some pointless emails or double check some things that have been for example already delegated to someone else.

 

And remember, there is no need to be perfect. Perfectionism is often just a waste of time, when one could do the same thing in a less effort and with a same outcome. Less is more and more in the New Rich way of thinking means more free time, more enjoying and more time for true dreams.

 

REFERENCES

 

Ferriss, T. (2007). The 4-Hour Workweek.