Kissing the Anvil for Four and Sixty Six Hours a Week

This week I read for the first time “The Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris, “Sex Money Kiss” by Gene Simmons and Watched the True Story “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” [Warning Youtube Video Auto Plays Sound]* by Sacha Gervasi.

According to these three works:

• You only have to work a few hours a week to become rich and independent. (4HWW)

• Only if you work really long and hard will you become successful. (SMK)

• Even if you are very talented, inspire other talented people (who themselves become rich) and keep working hard for thirty YEARS you may still not get rich. (A!TSOA)

My life is very similar to Tim Ferris’s in the 4HWW. I am my own boss, i have a good education, I move every 3-4 months (US, CA, SK, SE, UA, MG, LV, IE, etc…), i work off my laptop, i take classes and learn new crap as i travel around.

The only big difference is that i don’t work “four hours per week” and neither does Tim. He just defines “work” differently than most people do. He more or less defines work as chores that can not be outsourced and that you don’t want to do. Thats a pretty narrow definition of work.

At any rate he has convinced himself that he only “works” four hours a week and so is satisfied.

If you want to know anything about living the 4HWW just ask, I have been doing it for about 5+ years and can give you the real deal.

Gene Simmons in “Sex Money Kiss” tells everyone to work harder and longer. Working gets you money. If you work longer you make more money. Work on weekends, holidays, every day.

That being said, enjoy your work, go for your passion. Always have a fall back plan just in case things don’t work out. Spend at half of your means. Stay away from mind altering substances and the people who use them. Get layed as much as possible. The seventy hour work week.

Because Gene was good at making his passion profitable, he more or less doesn’t “work” at all by Tim Ferris standards. He is considerably more rich, famous and successful than Tim.

Lips and Robb of “Anvil!” worked hard, influenced other more successful musicians such as “Slayer” and “Guns and Roses.” They have been working for THIRTY YEARS to make themselves as famous as possible, but they still need to work a nine to five job to live a middle class lifestyle. Talent, hard work, insane amounts of dedication and still so little in return.

“The Story of Anvil” is inspiration from a NON “success” story, which is a rare thing.

My Take

Ninety-Nine percent of people who read 4HWW wouldn’t be comfortable at all living such a lifestyle and wouldn’t have the slightest chance at being more productive outside of their cubical. Face it, people like to be told what to do. The vast majority of people need leaders or to be a leader of others. Being your own leader is a rare and not necessarily a glamorous mutation.

You have to work your butt off to make your life anything more than just a long hypnotic walk on a treadmill.

Gene is right, hard work is how everyone got successful. The “10000 hours of work to become an expert,” idea is no joke (See “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell or read How To Become a Hacker).

You still need a fall back plan, like Anvil, a reality check, “if this doesn’t work I am going to work a nine-to-five for as long as it takes to realize my bigger goals.”

Too many people (i am looking at you American College Students) make insane demand on reality that “if I can’t get what i think i am worth, then i don’t have to work at all!” I say this from first hand experience as someone who has once had such a delusion.

tl;dr

To me the moral of these three works is:

No matter how hard you work, in order to be monetarily successful you must convince other people that you are worth more than you actually are.

None of these books/movies said anything at all like this, but its just what i take away from reading all of them over the course of a week.

* Yes that is their “official site” as far as i can tell. Its a good start, but they could really do for an update. Its a damn shame they have such a crap website.