The 4-hour Work Day - Shadowing Fortune 500 Ceos and Self-made Millionaires

Wouldn't you love to work 4 hours a day and still manage to create an empire of wealth that far exceeds your wildest dreams? Heck, why not work toward a 4-hour per week schedule? If you don't believe that it's possible, then it definitely isn't! Just keep in mind that the self made millionaires have unrelenting belief in themselves and that they will achieve whatever goals they set for themselves.

While it might seem unfair, the reality is simple. Fortunes are being made by a very small percentage of people. These fortunes are collected by the industry leaders as they continue to spend less and less time in the office, on business calls, on business travel, and worrying about office politics.

In fact, there is an elite class of today's wealthy that shares some common characteristics: they don't come from old money, they've achieved millionaire status on their own, and they are trading the traditional concept of retirement (work to age 65 then live off savings) for multiple mini-retirements all throughout their lives!

So why is it that most people are putting in 80, 90, and 100+ hours per week to pull in a $70,000 annual salary (give or take a few grand) while others, who are no more talented than you and I, are pulling off high 6-figure and 7-figure incomes and they hardly work a 20-hour week?

The answer is simple. But I have to add this caveat: to understand the answer is one thing. To put it to practice is another. Not that it's difficult to do; it is simply that most people don't believe that they can.

Unfortunately, most people dream of what they want and then they stop there. You've done it. I definitely was a victim of this phenomenon as well. You're probably doing it in some way, shape or form this very moment. You have a clear idea of that gorgeous house, luxury cars, private school for the kids, all the free time in the world to spend golfing, vacationing, hiking the Appalachians for 3 months - whatever your particular dream plays out like. And then Poof! It vanishes into thin air. Monday morning alarm clock rings and you're off the rat race, the daily grind, the worm hole.

So what can you do to change things around so you are taking advantage of 4-hour work days and living it up the rest of the week?

Action Plan & Leverage

The problem stems primarily from the fact that most people don't follow through with an action plan. A good action plan focuses on leveraging the resources that are within arm's reach in order to transform your dreams into reality. It is this action plan, simply stated, that you will need in order to design your lifestyle and have complete control over what you do, when you do it, how you do it, and with whom you do it. It is then the practical application of leverage that will ultimately give you the time and financial freedom that you seek.

Successful entrepreneurs have already figured this out and are in continuous and evolving implementation mode. They have the same dreams as you. The only difference is that they have an action plan to acquire and recruit the appropriate resources, and the wheels are put in motion.

Daily Affirmations

Do you regularly and systematically remind yourself what it is you are working toward? If not, you must consider that this is one of the most important and most overlooked requirements for success. Countless CEOs and entrepreneurs have for years repeatedly and publicly confirmed that if there was one thing that they could trace back to being the main reason for their success, it was the daily routine of affirmation.

My vision (my dream) is posted in clear view in my home office as a daily reminder of where I’m heading. At the beginning of every day, I have a brief yet focused moment of orientation. It is the friendly tap on my shoulder that defines what I am working towards. There is no mistaking where my ship is sailing, even if I do experience the occasional rough seas that tosses my ship slightly off course. This sets the positive, motivational tone for my day.

Achieving More with Less Time

When was the last time you took all day to finish a project that could've taken just an hour to complete? We've all been there. Thanks to deadlines, most of us who have a naturally tendency to procrastinate will perform with the highest degree of efficiency in the 11th hour. Let's be honest - we all have other things we'd rather be doing, right? We might have a month before a particular project is due, but the majority of the work is done in the final 3-5 days.

Have you considered how vastly different your daily routine might be if you planned better and focused all your energy on being as highly efficient as possible? It's not as difficult as you might think. And it's actually very motivating when you align your goals with your dreams.

A Case In Point

I used to work 14-hour days when I started my first company selling insurance (I have since moved on to a much more satisfying and flexible business). At that time, my primary means of income was commission from the sale of health and life insurance policies. Every appointment I had was a face-to-face appointment and so it goes without saying that I never made a sale unless I drove to somebody's home or office.

Now think about all the time I wasted on the road, driving to and from appointments. And to further compound the wasted time, I did not generate sales from every appointment (I've never met anyone who has 100% closing ratio). So aside from the drive time for appointments I did sell, I had 4-6 times more time wasted on appointments with no sales. This was a huge cause of my frustration with that business.

So I reinvented my business by cutting out 100% of my drive time!

The Result

I generated the same income in 4 hours work per day that I did in 14 hours when I was driving to every appointment. In fact, I later went on apply this same technique to my network marketing business and it has dramatically improved my quality of life! Now I have the extra time to devote to anything I want: I can focus more on quality family time, getting involved in other investment projects, golfing, exercising, etc.

Final Thought

Articulate your dreams. Write them down. Read them over and over again every day until you have them imprinted so clearly in your mind that you can begin to imagine yourself already achieving your dreams. It is then, and only then that you can begin to seek out ways to dramatically improve your life and your business. You can work less and achieve more - but you have to want it.

See you at the top!