Environmental Visionaries Part Three: Timothy Ferriss and the Four-Hour Workweek (?)

By Marcie Barnes

"Human life has long been focused on the exclusion of the environment and the rest of the food chain, hence our current race to imminent extinction. Serves us right. The world does not exist solely for the betterment and multiplication of mankind." (p.273, used with permission)

I had many, many, many "aha" moments while reading The Four-Hour Workweek. Mostly because of my own disjointed ideas about - well - life and how it should be lived, my love for entrepreneurship, and confusion over the overwhelming messages in society about a lot of things including the environment. Yes, Tim's book is largely about business and personal productivity (and sometimes is categorized as "self-help"). I stumbled across his book via his blog via a fitness blog - and well - what I am trying to say is this is a must-read for anyone looking to cut through the clutter in their life in all kinds of ways - health, fitness, business, stress, the environment, charity, the list goes on...

The above quote really sums up my thoughts on the issue at hand (and my three-part series). There's just so much clutter out there that it's hard to make decisions on a daily basis about just about anything. That is, of course, until you truly educate yourself on all sides of an issue and test your faith on whatever it is. Tim is beyond his years in doing just that, and he can show you how, too. I really think we humans have a gene for innovation, which has ensured our survival. Ironically, the way things are moving now, we really are in a race to imminent extinction. Let's use our innovative genes towards saving our planet, and therefore our species. As shown in Horton Hears a Who, it takes all of our voices working together and we can make a difference. And as Don Henley said in The Last Resort, "You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye" - which means to me, an idealistic view of -whatever- will only lead to its destruction. Let's get back to eating and living the way Mother Nature intended.

Please start by checking out this post on Tim's blog, The Unusual ROI of Going Green... which is an informative post about how making "green" choices can benefit you as well as the rest of humankind (oh and the planet) in ways you probably didn't think of before. And if you're one of those who scoffs at the "green" movement, then hey, maybe you can make some money in the process. But it's not all about money, it's about having what you need to survive and be happy...we knew that, right?