The 4-Hour Workweek

I’m guessing you’ll be getting about 20, 347 requests for that guys name who has millions to spend! But, really, folks, ”Luck is the residue of hard work!” and Robert, you have put in the time! Congratulations!

Good for you, Robert for making such a good sale. But, other than that, well, silly me, here I was thinking life was all about something deeper than outsourcing grunt work to a VA (Virtual Assistant) in India or someplace who gets paid nix, sells his daughters because he can’t afford a dowry…etc…etc.

Kudos for the good sale… but you are making my muse envious. She’ll quiet down, I guess, and we can get back to work doing our due diligence. Congratulations, Robert.

Congratulations. We have a saying in my part of the world– when the Goddess of Wealth comes to bless you, don’t go to wash your face. On behalf of the grunt workers association we’re raising our prices twenty fold. Effective immediately. :)

Hear Hear! Bianka. I too was struck by this point. Artists give their work away all the time to good causes i.e. flood relief for Irene, struggling arts organizations, trades for work. Seems an exchange of this considerable size (who among us couldn’t use that sort of cash?) would be used to reduce first debts to our own budget but more importantly our own debt to society for being lucky enough to benefit from Wall Streets business practices. Robert, do the Buffet thing and help out some folks around you, but don’t tell them where it came from. Don’t take credit and don’t tell your readership. Artists should be the good conscience of society and remind us of our better side and what to strive for in our short sojourn here.

Congratulations, Robert! Your time and effort, called ‘work ethic,’ paid off. Some people make a living investing in the stock market. This time, the investor was willing to purchase one of your wonderful pieces. If that is not ‘sharing with the public, the Arts,’ then I don’t know what else it is called. The Investor just made another investment. I’m only jealous because I don’t spend my time figuring out stocks and all of that mumbo jumbo. If I had the smarts to do it, I would. Don’t be fooled by Buffets of this world. They have their money hidden to prevent taxes. The reported income is what they feel would be their “fair share.” Most Investors are like Artists. They donate part of their wind-fall money to their communities to make a better place to live (write-offs). Artists do the same, donate to worthy causes to help others (write-offs). If I had the kind of money that some Investors/Business people had, I would rather give back to my communty rather than line the pockets of Federal Government for them to vacation in far off islands/countries. Most of the protesters on Wall Street don’t know what they are protesting. My adice to you: Stay home and paint. You will be much further ahead.

It has been written, when you start to see work as play, as giving yourself to the world, as being an agent of change, you finally shatter the perception of work as a burden. Possibly “The 4 Hour Work Week” is more a catalyst to wake people into reality of their surroundings — [is that really true, did you walk up the stairs, with your painting for 60,000. and walk out with cheque in hand. Amazing – nice.]

That does it. I’m going to the beach today, taking along my “digital sketchbook”.

How about getting paid just to exist — “The Zero Hour Work Week” Amazon Books —

I read the 4-hour workweek awhile back but it kind of goes against the whole 10,000 hour theory of hard work rather than talent being the key to success. Don’t see how it can really apply to painters. And here I am wasting time on the internet. Sigh.

I think working only 4 hours a week would be a sure path to an early grave, or at least to bad health issues such as Alzheimer’s. I have told my students that creating art can help to prevent dementia, after all isn’t the brain a muscle and as the saying goes: Use it or lose it. Michelangelo lived until he was 88 and worked until his dying day, I hope that can be the case with me.

This collector was educated and smart enough to flip an IPO and buy good art. I would imagine both talents come from study and hard work, so would not agree with the “Occupy Wall Street” mentality.

Great letter, especially this paragraph: “E is for Elimination. Eliminate all the junk in your life. Less TV, e-mail, telephone, Web surfing–in other words, don’t waste your time with stuff that won’t get you anywhere. Hmm.” But, don’t eliminate Robert’s letters!

I’m not certain whether you are telling Ferriss’ story about a $60,000 sale or your own, and if it’s yours, congrats! If it’s Ferriss’ then I say congrats, because he is a supremely good self promoter. He sells everything. Googling his name is like locating Ferriss’ Resources on anything you can possibly want from minimalist methods for rapid body transformation, i.e. the Four Hour Body to the Four Hour Work Week that you mentioned. I think I will enjoy my life and my art far more when I follow your example and spend hours in my studio rather than e-directing an overseas artisan to do my work. Cruise ships are full of these pieces and uninformed tourists shell out thousands for them — free glass of wine tho.

I always knew you were really smart and talented Mr Genn and witty todays letter adds genius to those observations

Congratulations on the sale and thank you for sharing Robert. The 5 people I associate with most due to circumstances beyond my control….(unless I was a ruthless bitch and ditched them all) are my husband (non-artist overworked,A type whom I love) my daughter (young struggling single parent), my grand daughter (16 months and the most upbeat upwardly mobile of all!) and my 86 year old father who is intellectually far beyond me and my dog who I classify as a person because she is my constant companion. She shows a patience and a tenacity that my best friend whom I get to see infrequently does not possess when dealing with my mercurial personality. What a mix for success?……off to my studio….thinking about elimination and lifting weights…. By the way if we artists did not have the rich to buy our work where would we be? Everybody can be bought for a price when it comes down to money. All life is compromise and idealism is wonderful but reality is different and ruthless speculation with no regard for others is unforgivable.

I visualize our senses and sensations falling in line with one other, forming a grid or foundation of some kind — for a greater good. Giving each of us the tools we need for learning and playing, we’re working it out getting better at everything — this increases our capacity for empathy and love. We are those same children so long ago who sat up on our mothers laps; 4-Hour Day appears to be a tap on discovering yourself and learning to live your own life — we are all walking the same path in and out of here. You become your own ladder of success — no one gets hurt. … honouring those who have suffered greatly and strive to overcome obstacles of unusual proportions — The truth is for everyone — do not get lost in the crowd, we are aloud to shine.

Robert, why would you be marching with Wall Street protesters when your best clients and best friends are the wealthy IPO guys and the top stock brokers? A mixed message.

The market value of an artwork is whatever someone is willing to pay for it! No reason for discomfort there. Putting together a big IPO and selling it probably involves a large amount of knowledge, skill and time. There is nothing wrong with getting very rich from honest, ethical work that adds value to our society and does not depend on fraudulent manipulation of the financial system, or exploiting the workers, consumers, or polluting the environment. Unfortunately, unbridled greed, corruption, abusive political power, and arrogance is what we’ve seen from some the “1%” in the past decade or two, and it is destroying our middle class. The financial transgressions of corporate financiers resulted in great harm to many artists. More and more of the little, ordinary people have had it and we aren’t going to take it anymore. Thank you for wondering about what “Occupy Wall Street” is about. I hope you will attend with an open mind in order to meet people and find out more. Please bring your sense of ethics, ideals, wisdom, and concern for the future of our society. Creative artists have a lot to offer to the conversations and visions of the “99%.”

I think that the letter is a very clear message that it is the time to raise above our individual needs that have been so easily manipulated by the big shakers, and to grasp the big picture.

Wow, there are protests going on against the excesses in Wall Street up in Canada too? Finally! Americans are upset enough to fight back. Could it be reminiscent of the protests of the 60s – early 80s? It might get interesting. I should go join them!

I’m with you on this one Robert, I’m doing exactly what I want the way I want!

Your letters are my mental dessert. I save them up on my BB, when I have time I can taste every bite. I’m a middle school art teacher, needless to say the mental stimulation from your letters is a welcome treat!

Your letter should make us artists aware that there is money out there. Plenty of money. It is easy to look at your own paltry balance sheet and to listen the barrage of negativity in the press and imagine there is a hundred dollars left in town to be divided up among 5,000 people. There are plenty of folks with money to spend. Your guy just made a million so for him sixty thousand was no big deal. It’s all a matter of zeroes. Some folks have a lot more zeroes tacked on to their income and savings. It is our job to find that fellows like your new well heeled collector friend. That is the trick that eludes the vast majority of artists. We need access. Access to money often means access to the opportunity to make more money. In our society there are all sorts of legal ways of what in politics is termed influence peddling. This is how many people are cashing in. It’s also called ‘affiliate marketing. This is how the income streams flow into the accounts on the web. If I’m a Realtor and my buyer has poor credit, I refer him to the credit repair service in town and get a kickback. If he needs a mortgage, I send him to the mortgage company and get another kickback. I’m making all sorts of easy referrals and taking in lots of free cash for sending customers to affiliates. I heard an economist lately saying that the problem is the economy is that their aren’t enough customers and sales. People are making big money giving companies access to customers. Facebook is a prime example. Wall Street is nothing more than a system to make big money. Brokers make big cash when the market is down and when it is up. It’s a cash cow that most of us have no access to. That’s why people are mad. Wall Streets’ decisions affect us in a huge way, but we are excluded from the bonanza.

Heartiest congratulations, Robert, on that kind of a sale in these parlous times. You are an example for us all, and this kind of a sale is cause for celebration in the art world. Your books have attained biblical status with me – they keep me motivated and thinking, as I strive to do my thing with paint among the other activities that engage my time.

I do hope you don’t mean that last statement!

The money is not the issue for me. But I think the buyer’s way of choosing art is repulsive. The real joy in appreciating art is in discovering a tangible work that touches your soul. You may relish a particular artists’s style reputation, personality, marketability, etc., but how can you buy a piece that will really reflect your personal discernments and appreciations without seeing it first? Obviously, Robert, you’re taste in art is trustworthy. But what is the buyer’s taste? Is he seeing future value in dollars? Is he even engaged in the process of appreciating the painting? Does it matter?

My customer base is the slightly upper middle class and they have taken a real hit in this economy. So, yeah, I’m speaking out for and joining up with the protesters. But I’m also doing it for those with no options left, as a result of unregulated corporate greed and the horrible unemployment/underemployment situation.

It is a dilemma isn’t it. I once was in a business which I never charged enough for. Now I live modestly in retirement but could have lived higher on the hog if I had charged what my competition used to charge. I sleep fine these days.

Enjoyed reading the concept of DEAL! Now I too am off to my studio! Thanks!!!

I appreciate all you had to say but am somewhat disconcerted by the ‘you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with’ (sic). Yikes. I will have to think that one through. Sincerely, Akke Stretch (such an artful name don’t you think)

I don’t think the master painters–Klee & Rembrandt & Matisse come to mind–had definitions for what they wanted to do. When you read their writings, they usually discussed motive more than goals. But of course, us modern artists obsess over goals and definitions. Maybe that’s one reason why there is so little originality.

Hmmm, from what I have seen in the corporate world, one of the recipes for success is to climb over many dead bodies and then write a bestseller about the view from the top. As George Carlin put it – it’s a club and we ain’t in it.

An apt quote: “It is said that power corrupts, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.” (David Brin)

I have been a follower of your letter and absolutely live for the days when I receive it in my inbox – such insight and wisdom. Thank you for sharing it all!

I’m more than a little confused by your last newsletter. You chose to sign off saying you were off to join the protest against Wall Street. After re-reading your letter a couple more times (just in case I missed something), I can only hope you meant that as tongue-in-cheek. For you had just finished telling us how you personally benefited from someone who was lucky enough and bold enough to make a nice profit on a business deal. That person, whom you now refer to as your new friend, then took the opportunity to share his earnings with you in the form of $60,000 for one painting. That, my dear, is the essence of “spreading the wealth” and I do hope you and your readers are clever enough to realize that. For I would give my eye teeth to be able to sell one painting for a price that is currently twice my annual salary.

Hey- Ronda- Robert’s sale price was 5 times my annual salary- at least! I don’t actually make enough to live on. I keep having to find help- periodically.

I have one other question relating back to being undiscovered… Who- exactly- is it- we’re supposed to be discovered by? Is there only one supreme discoverer- and are we all supposed to be discovered by the same whatever?

The Wall Street protests are not about anyone making an honest profit in their endeavors: it is about being given ridiculous compensation on the shoulders of others’ labor while they struggle for bare subsistence. This commission didn’t “cost” anyone anything except Robert’s accumulated lifetime vision and expertise. His work is worth whatever a patron feels it is and his reputation can command. No, the protests are about corporate greed that literally came close to bringing the US economy to its knees … and then they got bonuses for doing so. These protests are about wage earners so desperate they will labor for less than a living wage, no insurance, a crippling workload, and a corporate culture that will chew them up and spew them out if they don’t produce, because there are twenty more in line for the same job. Individually produced art isn’t even close and hat’s off to anyone, including Robert, who has worked hard enough to garner such a price at this stage of his career.

Robert got his fair price, but he is aware that his income this time came from a source that shouldn’t be. What’s not to understand there? Sounds crystal clear to me. Every one would make that sale, and hopefully most would, as Robert, wish that the buying power get’s more equally distributted. At least that the people who actually do the work get some of that “wealth spread”.

The only options for the un-anointed masses are to be poor and free, or be corporate slaves rewarded by an all-inclusive vacation and shopping at Costco. Artists often chose to be poor and free. There are no other options for masses. The elite can do better, but that’s a very small number of people. Kudos for those who achieved that with hard work and quality.

The broker worked hard to get where he is and to stay there. There are probably few more demanding lines of work. He chose to work with money. Our esteemed Genn chose to work with paint. Not all things are equal, including careers. The broker turned around and supported an artist; something we artists are always preaching about. I’m sure Genn spent some of his earnings and so on. Thank you for your consideration of this point of view.

Trickle down economics does trickle down–slowly

Work with paint makes the world a better place. Working with stocks at the level criticized by the protesters destroys the economy for the benefit of the few. This kind of a broker works hard for a few years after which he is a rich man. The people who lost their jobs and savings are a byproduct of his work.

10 years ago there were many more Wall Street stock brokers and other successful professionals buying alot more art than they are today. So many artists were able to make a decent living due to the previous economic situation. You were certainly the beneficiary of wealthy client. Good for you Robert, take it while you can. We all could use more collectors of the likes you just made.

As far as the DEAL is concerned, I have a good handle on “D”, struggle with “E” by getting caught up with things like this and other technological innovations that eat away at my time, can’t relate to “A”, but find “L” to be a big part of my life, whether it be time in my studio, talking to other artists, taking time for exercise, or looking for beauty when I am away from my studio. Thank you, Robert for the time you take to share your thoughts. They certainly do resonate for many of us and provide valuable insights.

Robert, I think it’s wonderful that you were able to have such an amazing experience, and I hope you refuse to feel guilty about this sale. Enjoy your life, enjoy the money, and smile when you think about it. You’re story will pass down through your family and become the stuff of legend. “Remember that time when….” As for the OWS gang, I’ve read a partial list of their requests and find them baffling – a living wage whether working or not? Free, uh, everything? How would corporations pay those of us working to supply the free everything if they don’t get to charge for their services and products? Or if all of their profits went to the huge tax debt that would ensue? I’m baffled. It seems as though nobody wants to start at the bottom and work their way up, anymore. I’d be willing to bet that you and your $60,000 buyer both had some lean years before the money started coming in, and paid your dues, as they used to say. Why does the OWS gang think it’s so much more special than the rest of us? Thanks for this story, and go buy something cool:) I would!

Great sale Robert. Take the money and now go out and protest that mean guy who is sharing his wealth with you.

For a lot of people, there is no ‘work your way up’ anymore. That’s part of what they’re protesting. The bankers who crashed the economy by committing mortgage fraud and other forms of questionable investing strategies never got punished for their crimes. They got bailed out with billions of taxpayer money, and those same bankers got huge bonuses for crashing the economy for everyone else. Meanwhile, the average working person in trouble did not get bailed out, and while they struggle to find a job, or pay their underwater mortgage, banks and corporations are just sitting on tons of cash. No one is giving the average person a bailout, but these people are also now facing cuts to the social programs that were designed to help them survive until they can find jobs. Do a little research beyond the corporate owned news outlets, and you’ll find that there is plenty to get angry about.

So Stewart, Ronald and a few more of you…you are saying you are ok with the fact that the law protects CEOs who get millions in bonuses while workers in their companies get massively laid off? You say it’s ok that factories get closed while the cushioned executives move on to the next cushy job with millions in sign up bonuses? Wow! You use a bullying language, but I think you should start to get concerned because too many people nowadays see through that kind of attitude. Power balance can slide from the money power to the power of the masses very rapidly – you just need a critical mass of impoverished intelligence, unemployed youth and laid off workers… you know, the people who have nothing to lose. Does that ring a bell? Thank you to the OWS protesters for bringing issues up while there is time to make changes peacefully. They are not perfectly organized, but that’s a good thing – by the time they are it may be too late for talks.

Robert, I read this a few days ago while traveling and I finally got the time to put my nickel into the pot. Why would you only do what you love for four hours?

There seems to be a conflict between accepting the client for your painting and at the same time protesting his existence? Why question what others choose to do with the money they have made. He did after all choose to surround himself with your beautiful painting. Perhaps this is his connection to your world. Wealth does not come easily for all and is usually the result of hard work. That wealth has supported the arts for thousands of years. I do not understand the need to protest.