COST & CAPABILITIES

The iPhone 4S

Cost: $199 base and should be plenty for most users. After this it is a minimum $15 monthly data charge on top of your cell plan and any text plan you may purchase (with AT&T). It can play, stream and edit music.  Store books and audiobooks, play and record videos and movies, browse the entire world wide web, has one of the best point and shoot cameras money can buy (because you always have it in your pocket), works as a leveler, a compass, a GPS navigator for running, driving, hiking and biking. Works with the amazing Nike plus, can link to infinite social networks, can tune a guitar, cello or kazoo, can deposit your last pay check, control your laptop or webcam from a remote location, update all your bank and investment account balances,  check the distance to your next golf hole…. oh yeah you can also make a voice or video call or send a text message.

AND NOW THERE IS SIRI!

Your Virtual Assistant

Available by email or Skype from your iPhone. $15 per Hour.  Enough said… iPhone WINS!

Now let’s look at more reasons why the new iPhone 4S and SIRI combine to be the best VA money can buy.

Something has happened since the 4 Hour Workweek was first published in April of 2007:

1. The world lost one of its most influential pioneers of new technology and
2. That pioneer left us with one of the most influential new technology’s

I have never owned an iPhone until two weeks ago. And although I knew it would streamline my workflow, help with my commute and be a much needed update to my old palm device that I have used since 2001 for my medical apps. I don’t think I really was prepared for just how much so.

Yes, I have played with many an iPhone and been the proud owner of a blackberry for many years. I had seen the ads on TV for Apples newest technology SIRI. It looked cute! But Apple has truly done something here and it is absolutely relevant to many of the concepts in the 4-Hour Workweek.

Just what can SIRI do? If you don’t know and you have and iPhone 4S ask her and she will be happy to tell you. But, that list pales in comparison to her true skills; skills you can only truly comprehend once you have had the time to get to know her.

DICTATION

The single greatest obstacle to doing most things is taking the time to write it down or type it.  Especially on a mobile device with a keyboard the size of a small matchbox.  This is where SIRI truly shines. I also believe this to be her greatest utility. It is the backbone of everything else that I am about to discuss. To say that SIRI is merely good at dictation is a grave understatement. If you speak clearly and at a decent pace SIRI will blow you away with her ability to get it right. It is as good as having a personal secretary following me around with a clipboard and pen 24/7. She is brilliantly integrated into almost every application on the iPhone. And once you start to use her, you will never go back. Taking the typing out of texting or twitter discussions makes you wonder why you don’t just use your new iPhone and call the person. It will also make you look super-fast to your barbaric finger typing friends.

REMINDERS

I love this, my patients love this, my family well what can I say… it will grow on them! If I need to review an x ray report in the afternoon:

• ME: “SIRI remind me to check Mr. Smith’s X-ray at 5 pm”
• SIRI: (in a split second) “Here is your Reminder for today at 5 pm should I create it?”
• ME: “Absolutely SIRI I would love that”
• SIRI: “OK I will remind you”

Done! At 5 pm SIRI reminds me to check that X-ray, or pull that lab, or call that consultant, or remind me to remind my actual medical assistant to do that for me… I will refer to this as double outsourcing.

• ME: “Remind me to buy tickets for my wife and I for the Brandi Carlile Concert at the Rio next weekend”…Done.

How about “I need to buy tickets to the Brandi Carlile Concert at the Rio this weekend?”  Not so good, she was looking for restaurants. I guess she can’t get everything right.

• ME: “Remind me to drop off the movie as I leave the house”

SIRI uses its GPS skills to ring my phone usually about 1/2 block from my house. Doesn’t work so well for the garbage, unless you are OK driving back to your house.

NOTE TAKING

While driving, running, working out at the gym, or taking a number two….ideas come to me constantly. Especially if I am listening to a good audiobook. Ideas for this blog, ideas for other projects honestly it is endless. I love this part of SIRI. I used to try to hand write a note in a small notebook on the steering wheel while driving, or with voice notes on my blackberry that always went un-reviewed.  Now, I gently push the iPhone front button wait till I hear that gentle sound and say NOTE: “Blog entry – how to outsource to your iPhone 4S” or “Note: buy toilet paper when I go grocery shopping!”

TWITTER AND TEXTING

I have dictated patient notes in my car for years using a small SONY handheld recorder that the hospital has supplied me. This isn’t so bad. But I have never really been able to communicate safely while driving besides talking through my Bluetooth. You have probably seen it on the commercial where the guy is running and asks SIRI to send and receive a text message. But this can also work in apps like Twitter and Facebook where you can now use your commute to build social equity. The problem is reading the note as it comes back to you. I would advise doing this sparingly if you want to live to be old but even when you are not driving this is extremely handy and with practice can be done safely (or so I tell myself).

CALCULATIONS & WOLFRAM ALPHA

• ME: “SIRI how much is 100 lbs. in kg”
• SIRI: OK here you go: 45. 36kg

I did this the other day… to impress my colleagues:

• ME: “SIRI how much is a 30 year mortgage at 3.5% of $350,000”
• SIRI: In less than 3 seconds it showed me the loan period the annual percentage rate the loan amount, the monthly payments, the effective interest rate, the total interest, principal and total payments paid and a full 30 year payments table!

All I know is Wolfram is a cool name and whoever he is he is a math whiz! I love it!

SETTING ALARMS & TIMERS

My wife and I love this one. As parents of a toddler time outs are a common theme in our house. We try to limit these to the age of our children. We used to use a piggy timer which was fine but not always available. Now my daughter knows there will be no shorting SIRI.

• ME: “Honey I am putting you in a timeout  for 4 minutes. SIRI set the timer for 4 minutes my daughter is in time out”
• SIRI: “Your timer is set for 4 minutes”
• ME: “SIRI will my daughter ever grow out of temper tantrums?”

SIRI doesn’t seem to understand this request….. Oh well, time to call my parents!

GENERAL GUIDANCE AND DIRECTIONS

• ME: “SIRI I need a haircut where is the closest Supercuts and what time are they open till today?”

I get a list of available locations near me but SIRI doesn’t know what time they are open till. So she suggests I call, which she then does for me. Or at least she connects me. This takes less than 10 seconds.

I love this most on long road trips:

• ME: “SIRI how far to our hotel on 156 palms avenue?”
• SIRI: “Ok let me think…”

And within seconds I have a map showing my actual moving location and the exact distance and point to point direction. You knew this was cool before SIRI, but she just makes it even more spectacular!

TRANSLATION

If you have followed my blog you may know that I work in a mostly Hispanic community. Prior to two weeks ago I would often log onto my desktop computer and use Google translate to compose complicated phrases that I could not express well.  But now with the Google translate app and SIRI it is truly breathtaking. Granted Google had a pretty good speech recognition program as part of Google translate but SIRI is better. This simple tool alone makes me think language courses may soon be a thing of the past.

FOR BLOGGERS AND WRITIERS:

Don’t even get me started on the apps for blogging: WordPress, Evernote, Stat Fever, MindMeister and Analytics Lite… are enough to make any bloggers mind swirl. I am going to write some future posts about this. But man, these have already changed my life. Not to mention the ease of use with social networking apps.

FUTURE GENERATIONS

SIRI is in BETA. That means she is just getting started. I wish SIRI could categorize for me and work within apps. Such as “SIRI open Evernote and create new category – blog Ideas: number 1. Blog about iPhone 4s and outsourcing…. number 2. Blog about APPS to help with a 4 hour workweek. This would be more streamlined and really help to organize all the data which is something I find myself taking time to do later.

Also, I wish SIRI could do some other medial tasks like enter airplane mode, mute itself, turn on and off its Wi-Fi or data connection, change backgrounds, take pictures etc. etc. This will come I am sure, and I can’t wait.

EXERPT FROM THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK ON OUTSOURCING

“IN FACT, in the next few days, I outsource a whole mess of online errands to Asha (from the personal service YMII): paying my bills, getting stuff from drugstore.com, finding my son a Tickle Me Elmo. (Actually, the store was out of Tickle Me Elmo’s, so Asha bought a Chicken Dance Elmo—good decision.) I had her call Cingular to ask about my cell-phone plan. I’m just guessing, but I bet her call was routed from Bangalore to New Jersey and then back to a Cingular employee in Bangalore, which makes me happy for some reason.

Ferriss, Timothy (2009-11-18). The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content. (p. 123). Crown Archetype. Kindle Edition.

MY TAKE

Bangalore you have a whole new competition, and she is just getting started!

She was 35 years old  and the circumstances around her untimely death are as breathtaking as the thought of a world without her gentle spirit.

To those closest to her she was known as DOVE to the rest of us she would be simply the “person who always put a smile on your face”.

The fact that she would be taken from this world by the hands of a man who claimed to love her most, is a gentle reminder that love is subjective, if not at times irrational.

Regardless, it is in these times that I am often my most reflective.  And as I sat there trapped within the endless rows of black slacks and wind-swept maroon dresses I felt a little more grateful to be alive.

What struck me most was not the sheer magnitude of people who came to pay their respects but the words they had to say. About the life of DOVE.

Reflected in their words was a genuine sense of loss, for  a person who connected with other people in a way that you cannot get from a million self-help books… Sorry Dale Carnegie.

//

Upon returning home I was welcomed by my mom who had kindly come to our house to watch our two young children.

In remembrance of Dove and her family, again I felt grateful. To have known the unconditional love of a mom who dedicated her life to the love of her children and now to her grandchildren.

I jokingly asked her if she would say something nice at my funeral… channeling the Tim Ferriss deep inside her she said: “I don’t think so, I may just have it outsourced!”

Very Funny!

Which brings me to todays discussion.

//

The professional world can be a cold and sometimes lonely place. Dove was a lawyer and what made her shine was her ability to be compassionate and caring in a very competitive, cut-throat world.

In the words of her college professor: “She never knew until today that Dove was in the top 5% of her graduating class…this of course was not the kind of information Dove would think you needed to know”.  In regards to the hard-driving, winner takes all law school mentality, the professor went on to say:  “Dove changed her law school more than law school changed Dove”.

This was readily apparent by the flowers she continued to wear in her hair and the way she would approach a case: People first and business, although important, was placed where it should be, a respective second.  That is if nothing was in second places way, such as a social cause.

Many people I know would say you can not live this way and be successful. Dove would go on to prove them otherwise.

Her best friend later said: “As we parted after college and went our separate ways I asked Dove if she would remember the people back home” Dove said  “You are MY PEOPLE” but then again Dove treated everyone as though they were HER PEOPLE.

Even a casual friend and member of her book club stood up to speak: “Dove” she said, called me the week before her death.  She left this message on my phone: “When I get back let’s get together, you are such a wonderful person!”

When is the last time I took a moment to send a friend a message like that…? I am not sure if I have ever taken the time to send my friends a message like that.

//

Which brings me back to my point:

Outsourcing my Eulogy.

Some day I am going to die. No matter how many slow carb meals I digest or how much Alpha Lipoic Acid I take (yes that is an affiliate link)….. I am going to die.

You, my faithful reader, probably won’t be there. Ted my virtual assistant won’t be there, Twitter, a large majority of Facebook, and yes even many of those whom I do know, probably won’t be there.

And what about Tim Ferriss… he will definitely not be there.

So who will be there? And does it matter?

Is it ok to live a mediocre existence in pursuit of free time and mini retirements knowing that even in death the 80/20 principle held true: i.e only 20% of the people you met you gave 100% of your attention too.

What about the other 80 percent?  Do we ignore them because they don’t have something that we can profit from?

I surely know that in my own life some of my greatest finds have been in that 80% while in pursuit of that beloved 20.

//

In my will I decided I am going to leave the name and email address of a virtual assistant just in case my mom can’t think of anything to say.

But, I hope my life is more meaningful than that.

I hope that after all is said and done the impact I have on the world will affect more than just the bottom line.

In the 4-Hour Workweek Tim Ferriss defines the New Rich (NR) as:

1. to have others work for you.
2. to prevent work for work’s sake and to do the minimum necessary for maximum effect.
3. to do what excites you.
4. to do all the things you want to do and be all the things you want to be.
5. to be neither the boss nor the employee, but the owner.
6. to make a ton of money.
7. to have more quality and less clutter.
8. to think big but ensure payday comes every day.
9. to have the freedom from doing what you dislike.

I wish I could ask Dove what she thinks about this. How she would define the New Rich, but I never had the chance.  After listening to all the people speak at her funeral I imagine it would look something like this:

1. to work for the benefit of others.
2. to do the maximum necessary to ensure everyone has at least the minimum necessary to live.
3. to do what excites you because that will excite others around you.
4. to do most of the things you want to do as long as it doesn’t hurt those around you.
5. to be a boss when you are called to be and an employee when needed to be and an owner if you want to be.
6. to make a true friend.
7. to have more quality and less clutter.
8. to think big regardless of payday.
9. sometimes you have to do what you dislike in order to have the freedom to do what you do like. Or, in order to help others have the freedom they deserve.

At the very end of the service we watched as Doves mom released 5 beautiful white birds of the same name into the sky. They hovered for a while in the vicinity, cautious to leave their surroundings.

Then one dashed straight up and away, in response, the other 4 followed suit. I watched as her spirit was released. And in an instant they were all gone, never to be seen again.

But, in their wake we sat grounded by our chairs. In observance of the silence and the sounds of waves crashing.

And it is at that moment an idea was finally solidified in my head.  That to be a great leader, to be truly remembered in this world requires more from us than the pursuit of maximum output from minimum input.

This is fine if we want to satisfy our quest for the New Rich as defined by the 4-Hour Workweek.

But then again, what good is life if in the end the meaning that we crave is left to be outsourced?

Some Homework

Maybe take a moment to answer these questions for yourself:

• What do I wish my life to look like?
• How do I wish my life to be on a day to day basis?
• What would I like to be able to say I truly know in my life, about my life?
• How would I like to be with other people in my life; my family, my friends, my business associates, my customers, my employees, my community?
• How would I like people to think about me?
• What would I like to be doing two years from now?  Ten years from now?  Twenty years from now?  When my life comes to a close?
• What specifically would I like to learn during my life; spiritually, physically, financially, technically, intellectually?  About relationships?
• And alas: How much money will I need to do the things I wish to do?  By when will I need it? And how will I spend it?

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Hi Everybody,

My name is Ted and I am one of the many faceless virtual assistants as you travel the path of design in hopes of becoming one of the new rich. I have been a virtual assistant for over four years now and I would have to say that I am happy about it.

If you are thinking that this is a common job here in the sunny shores of the Philippines, let me tell you that it is not. Nobody even understands what I do.

My own mother can’t even tell her friends what I do. All she can do is shake her head and tell them I’m unemployed.

Before I started working as a Virtual assistant I have worked for six years in the Call Center Industry. You know. We are the people you scream at because your phone is not working or the internet connection slow.

We smile, say the right words, press mute and curse at you in languages that you would not understand.

It was the same thing over and over again, until my wife started taking in jobs online. She got to stay home and earn a living, why not me. I started with a few small jobs and now I have several clients and a couple of assistants to help me out.

I was introduced to the Four Hour Work Week through a client and I was blown away. I still work for a living and I am still in search for that elusive Muse, but I am getting there.

Unfortunately, I have been the only one who thinks that the concepts found in the pages of Tim’s book can even be possible.

I now work less hours but I get paid more than the average stiff here. I have also applied the teaching to allow me to work anywhere. Imagine sitting by the beach in Boracay sipping margaritas as I do research for a client in Australia or the US.

My virtual assistant journey has brought me here today, as I saw Stephen’s job post in Odesk. I have always been active but never really muscular. I have actually planned to run a marathon this year but my knee does not seem to want to cooperate.

My Physical therapist friend suggested that I needed to build more muscle mass which made his job post a perfect fit for my needs.

My wife has also been asking me rather forcibly to go to the gym. I always find an excuse not to. Now that I talked to Stephen, all the excuses have gone away. You can just imagine the smile on my wife’s face.

I stand 5’4” but I am not short, I’m just not tall. I weigh a sexy 138 pounds. I don’t know how much of that is fat but I would guess it would be between 20 to 30%. At the end of this, I hope to cut that in half while gaining at least 10 pounds of muscle.

I don’t really know what my goals are for the moment but at the end of the 90 days, I hope to look awesome. Hopefully, it improves my basketball game as well. Another benefit would be lowered blood pressure as I am genetically predisposed to have high blood pressure.

______________

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead

Ted will be writing about his life as a Virtual Assistant and his 4 Hour Body journey here as well as on our competition site fourhourbodyversusbeachbody.com (unfortunately this site is no longer in commission).

You can hire Ted or contact him at Odesk (Ted’s Profile)

You can follow his journey: Sign up to receive updates via RSS or email or join us on Facebook

Related Posts:

• The Four Hour Body: How to Outsource Your Workout!

I had always wanted to test the idea of a virtual assistant but it seemed vague, possibly costly and  to be honest even with the 4 Hour Workweek in hand this still looked like a daunting task. I decided that it would be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone, overcome my fears and begin my first “comfort challenge”.

I would go through the process of seeking out and finding my very own virtual assistant and I would see if this person would be willing to do my workouts for me. Seemed simple enough. And what better way to live the 80/20 principle? My virtual assistant, if willing, could do 80 percent of my workouts for me and I would loose 20% body fat! This plan sounded foolproof!

Thus began the search:

It took me about 5 minutes to create my account on Odesk and 10 minutes to create my original job posting. Here is the job posting as it appeared on Odesk:

What happened next completely blew me away.

I received only 2 responses to my job posting. Each response was sent directly to my email inbox. After reading this one, right away something was very clear:

I had not found the 4 Hour Workweek, but the 4 Hour Workweek had found me!

Here is Ted’s Original response (June 4, 2011)

Hi,
You might just be the answer to my wife’s prayers. My wife has been asking me to go to the gym for God knows how long, but I can’t seem to build that motivation muscle to get my butt into the gym.
It doesn’t matter that the gym is a five minute walk away, it could be a million miles and I would still not have the interest to go there. I would rather play basketball.
I don’t really need the job but I do need to go to the gym. I am not fat, I just lack muscle. But, I always tell myself that I have to work.  If you hire me, I can tell myself that I am working.
Now, why should you hire me?, you may ask? Well, i have been writing professionally for close to four years now. Also, I have read Tim Ferriss’s Four Hour Workweek and I have been trying to implement that to my life. I’m still looking for my muse, but I have been able to free up a lot of my time thanks to my assistant and I can practically work anywhere.
Just some questions, though. I do not have a copy of the 4 hour body, will you be providing a copy of the workout routine. Do you need a video record of the workout itself, because as you can tell from my application letter, I am kind of shy.
I have attached a sample of my previous work for your perusal. You can also check out some of my other work through the link below.
http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/509223/theodore_espiritu.html
Thank you and I hope to work with you soon.
Sincerely,
Ted

_________________

Well, Ted did hear from me soon and we have been communicating via e-mail for the last 3 weeks.

Ted lives in the Philippines. He is a father, a motivated entrepreneur, and a full time Virtual Assistant, as is his wife.

We have been able to secure access to a gym in the Philippines and using Amazon’s digital delivery I was able to send him a copy of the 4 Hour Body that he has been reading on his PC. He has undergone a full medical evaluation by his doctor and he has spoken to a personal trainer at his gym. He officially began Occam’s Protocol this week.

I can not wait to share with you Ted’s journey as he progresses through the Four Hour Body on his way to better health.  His wisdom and insights into the process are unique, and proof that the ideas within Tim’s books are capable of transcending cultural and socioeconomic boundaries.

Join us here as we introduce Ted and his life as a Virtual Assistant: A Journey From Muse to Muscles!

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