Podcast: The Tim Ferriss Show (LS 81 · TOP 0.01% what is this?)
Episode: #836: The 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of Freedom
Pub date: 2025-11-19

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This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equally interesting question is: what wouldn’t I change? What stands the test of time and hasn’t lost any potency? This episode features three of the most important chapters from the audiobook of The 4-Hour Workweek. The audiobook, produced and copyrighted by Blackstone Publishing, is available wherever audiobooks are sold. You can find it on Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, Downpour.com, or wherever you get your favorite audiobooks.

This episode is brought to you by:

Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses: https://gusto.com/tim

Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support: https://livemomentous.com/Tim 

Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business: https://shopify.com/tim 

Coyote the card game​, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens: https://coyotegame.com

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:00:00] Start.
• [00:02:31] Mini-retirements: embracing the mobile lifestyle.
• [00:09:22] The birth of mini-retirements and the death of vacations.
• [00:11:03] The alternative to binge traveling.
• [00:16:14] Purging the demons: emotional freedom.
• [00:18:43] The financial realities: it just gets better.
• [00:24:24] Fear factors: overcoming excuses not to travel.
• [00:30:08] When more is less: cutting the clutter.
• [00:39:29] The Bora-Bora dealmaker.
• [00:43:11] Questions and actions.
• [00:44:22] Take an asset and cash-flow snapshot.
• [00:45:02] Fear-set a one-year mini-retirement in a dream location in Europe.
• [00:48:38] Prepare for your trip.
• [00:59:42] Adding life after subtracting work.
• [01:01:51] Depression and boredom: it's normal.
• [01:05:31] Frustrations and doubts: you're not alone.
• [01:12:01] The point of it all.
• [01:13:37] Learning unlimited: sharpening the saw.
• [01:17:24] Service for the right reasons.
• [01:20:05] Questions and actions.
• [01:22:46] Make an anonymous donation to the service organization of your choice.
• [01:24:05] Take a learning mini-retirement in combination with local volunteering.
• [01:28:42] The top 13 new rich mistakes.

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