Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris

The 4-Hour Workweek is not a time management book but a book on how to 'design' your life so that you will only be working 4 hours every week while achieving the same results.

The book works on the idea that retirement need not to be at the end of our productive life but should be divided into mini-retirements to allow us to enjoy the experiences.

Of course, many of us have two objections: money and time.

In the book, Ferris gives a narrative on how he earned more money while working less hours, take advantage of different buying power of currencies, reduce non-essential busy work and a lot of other things.

The book is presented as a narrative, not a how-to manual nor an impersonal analysis of what Ferris calls 'Lifestyle Design'.

What I enjoyed about the book were: Ferris' humorous writing style, the vast list of useful internet sites and other useful tips. Ferris also has a blog that expands on the ideas in the book and provides updates on new 'experiments'.

Highly recommended for those who are serious about taking mini-retirements or even to those who just want to have more time for meaningful stuff without compromising professional results and financial gain.

About the author:
Timothy Ferriss, called "The Superman of Silicon Valley" by Wired magazine and nominated by Fast Company as one of the "Most Innovative Business People of 2007," is the author of "The 4-Hour Body" and the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek best seller "The 4-Hour Workweek," which has been sold in 35 languages. He is a guest lecturer at Princeton University and faculty at Singularity University at NASA Ames Research Center. His blog is one of the most popular in the world (according to Alexa, Technorati): http://www.fourhourblog.com.

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Book review: Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success by John Maxwell

In Failing Forward, John Maxwell shows that failure should not necessarily be a showstopper if we are able to manage the emotions.

Each chapter in the book shares a principle plus real-life examples on how apparent failures were turned into successes.

I read this book a long time back when I was starting out a small team and it was very helpful

I recommend this book to anyone who is stuck and would like to move forward again. Also recommended to those who have read it and are stuck again.

About the author:
John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, coach, and author who has sold over 19 million books. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP and the John Maxwell Company, organizations that have trained more than 5 million leaders worldwide. Every year he speaks to Fortune 500 companies, international government leaders, and organizations as diverse as the United States Military Academy at West Point, the National Football League, and the United Nations. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books which have each sold more than one million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. You can find him at JohnMaxwell.com and follow him at Twitter.com/JohnCMaxwell.
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Book Review: Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson

In Who Moved My Cheese, Spencer Johnson provides insight on how resistance to change brings about certain consequences.

Spenser uses mice and cheese as an analogy to typical human response to change. It's fun and entertaining.

A quick read but includes thought-provoking one-liners that will force the reader to think.

Highly recommended.

About the authors:
Spencer Johnson, M.D., is one of the world's most respected thinkers and beloved authors. Dr. Johnson earned a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of Southern California, an M.D. degree from the Royal College of Surgeons, and medical clerkships at The Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School. More than forty-six million copies of Spencer Johnson's books are in print worldwide in more than forty-seven languages.

Dr. Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California. In addition to being a renowned speaker and consultant, Ken also spends time as a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he is a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees.

Ken has received many awards and honors for his contributions in the fields of management, leadership, and speaking. The National Speakers Association awarded him its highest honor, the "Council of Peers Award of Excellence." He was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training magazine and Lakewood Conferences, and he received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International. Ken also received The Thought Leadership Award for continued support of work-related learning and performance by ISA--The Association of Learning Providers. Ken has been inducted into Amazon's Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 best-selling authors of all time. The business school at Grand Canyon University bears his name. In addition, Ken teaches students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego.

Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, Ken received a master's degree from Colgate University, and a bachelor's and PhD from Cornell University. An avid golfer, Ken belongs to the Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland.

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