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Opt Out: Rethink Success, Reinvent Rich, Realize the Life You Want

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Forward by Michael E. Gerber, World's #1 Small Business Guru.

“This is a well-written book that shows you what you need to do to get out of debt, build your financial fortune, and take control of every part of your personal future.” -Brian Tracy, Author of Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires.

"Dana picks up where Tim Ferris left off. Perfect for the 4HWW devotee." -Amazon Reader

Opt Out is a lifestyle book....or is it a book about entrepreneurship in disguise? There's a reason the forward is by Michael E. Gerber, the world's most famous small business guru. Opt Out isn't a story about a guy who made a bunch of money and sailed off into the sunset. It's a playbook for people who want to own their life, control their time, and be the master of their destiny. It is a book about business, and real estate, but not based on high claims that neglect hindsight bias. This book is a tool chest for rogues and misfits who want to deliberately build their dream life.

A fresh take on the 4HWW lifestyle by popular podcaster Dana Robinson, whose own Opt Out journey includes a year in Bali, and a life less tethered. A great read for digital nomads, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to break free of the rat race to build the life they want. If you loved Rich Dad/Poor Dad, Millionaire Next Door and the 4 Hour Work Week, you'll resonate with Dana's approach to opting out and building the life you want. Whether you want to live in a mansion, drive a luxury car, and be your own boss...or want to vagabond around the world, or live on an island and not work for a year, you can’t do it by following the rules. You’ve got to opt out. And as entrepreneur Dana Robinson has learned, escaping the rat race doesn’t come by working harder and spending less. It comes from knowing the tricks employed by other dropouts and rebels that have enabled them to beat the system and live the life most of us only dream about. Opt Out is the story of serial-entrepreneur Dana Robinson’s life-long quest to learn the secrets of those who have successfully tapped into the hidden path to real success. Opt Out shows how to hack the system offers an in-depth instruction manual for anyone looking to reinvent their own lives in a world that rewards those that take path less traveled.

The only question is – are you ready to opt out?

Dana Robinson is an attorney, entrepreneur, law professor and Linkedin Learning educator. But, those credentials didn’t get him the life he lives. Dana’s entrepreneurial ventures began when he was a kid, selling the family chicken eggs to neighbors, mowing lawns and making hair clips he sold to girls in middle school. He launched his first real business at 19, sold that four years later then started another. Since then he’s owned, co-owned and invested in over a dozen from shoes to audiobooks; shelving to wine barrels; software to real estate. Along the way, he’s gathered a tribe that might appear to be a motley crew of non-conformists and the unemployable. But, that tribe is actually made up of subversive millionaires who are living a life that most people envy. They do what they want, when and how they want. Dana’s opt out life includes living in seaside mansions and driving luxury cars. But, it also includes a year in Bali surfing, exploring, and writing this book.

Dana didn’t cash out with millions, win the lottery or inherit a dime. He’s not another business guru, or a tech billionaire. He’s just an average middle-class guy who hustled and reinvented what it means to be rich through counterintuitive ideas, hacks, and opting out of the mainstream approach to life, money and business. He’s achieved what people think success is all money, cars, homes, travel and luxury goods. But, not the way others accomplish this. He broke the rules and stole the good life. He reveals his secrets in this book.

239 pages, Paperback

Published May 10, 2018

47 people are currently reading
63 people want to read

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Dana Robinson

86 books

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Lindsay.
360 reviews71 followers
November 12, 2018
The BEST "success" or personal finance book I've read. Highly recommended.

What sets "Opt Out" apart from other books on personal finance is it's unique attitude. I've read 2 kinds of personal finance books: the first kind offers readers a frugal mindset with the basis being to cut expenses and pay off debt; the second kind is oriented toward investing or running a small business and tends to be more technical.

"Opt Out" does neither of those. Instead, it offers you an alternative MINDSET to money in particular and your life in general. This mindset shows you how to see money differently. Instead of seeing it as the means to get the things you want, you see it as part of a greater picture of the MANY different ways you can pay (or not pay) to get what you want. With every chapter sprinkled with numerous real-life examples, it's a mindset that's easy to accept and bring into your own life.

Yes, there are some tips included about doing things to save money (see chapter on DIY and on bootstrapping a business). However, those are a very small part of the various options given to you.

Dana Robinson also co-hosts a podcast called the Opt-Out Life (which is how I found this book), and I also recommend that as well.

GO READ THIS BOOK!
50 reviews2 followers
February 6, 2022
The author has some good things to say, and he speaks from the wisdom of experience. However, as a general book on finances, etc. I would not recommend as there are many other general books that give much better advice. This book will appeal to a certain genre of person, e.g. someone who perhaps really wants to be aggressive in, say, real estate dealings on a small level, and doesn't mind having people living with them, or moving very often. These can be good ways to get 'ahead' but would not appeal to everyone. He is also an attorney, and tech-savvy, and some of his ideas revolve around using the internet, etc. to make things happen, generate Google ad revenue, things like that. For the right person it may work, but will not be for everyone. Mostly he is telling his story, of what he did and how it worked, and it did work. He is a hard worker and a smart guy, and I was inspired to look again at my own ways of squeezing here, expanding there, etc. I read it pretty fast as he did not set out, nor did he achieve, a work of literary greatness, but nevertheless if you like perusing for ideas in a gig economy or just getting some inspiration from someone who's made his ideas work, it's a quick read.
1 review
July 16, 2018
Not just another "change your life" book that tells a great story but leaves the reader with no practical advice on how to achieve their own personal success. Dana spends multiple chapters describing different useful and concrete examples on how to other people have successfully created new income streams and how I can go out and start (or even buy or trade for) my own small business to compliment my day to day job now with the idea to make it work with the schedule and lifestyle that I want in the future.
Profile Image for Kim.
313 reviews
July 9, 2019
I’m at a point in my life where I can definitely start accumulating things - not having to always buy used from Poshmark and Craigslist. But, this was a great reality check and reminder that maintaining that mindset and approach to life and running my business will afford me the flexibility and freedom to truly opt-out. I enjoyed this!
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