The Voluntary Life show

The Voluntary Life

Summary: Ideas for finding freedom in an unfree world. Interviews and discussions about entrepreneurship, financial independence, personal freedom, investing, minimalism, productivity, long term travel and freedom in personal relationships.

Podcasts:

 297 The Role Of Cash In Investing | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

There is a saying in investing that "cash is trash", because cash provides such low returns and loses value owing to inflation. Yet every investor has to deal with cash in some way and there is always some role for cash within a portfolio. So how much of your net worth should you have in cash? Why hold it? When should you rebalance in and out of cash? Harry Browne thought carefully about the role of cash with his permanent portfolio strategy. His insights on cash are useful for all investors, regardless of your particular approach. In this episode I explain the role of cash in investing from a permanent portfolio strategy perspective. As always, your money is your own responsibility. I am not a financial advisor. Show Notes: Become A Patron of The Voluntary LifeFail-Safe Investing by Harry BrownePrevious TVL Episodes on The Permanent PortfolioListen To Episode 287

 296 No One Is Coming To Save You | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This week's episode is a response to this listener email: "I've been a long term listener, but honestly I'm having a difficult time [seeing why I should be] a paid subscriber. I listen to several podcasts and a similar characteristic seems to be FI and hosts who are millionaires. Provide real value for those who don't enjoy that status and the money will come. There's too many of us who want to be financially independent but don't have a system to get there. Figure out a way to teach the methods and you'll never have to ask for donations." The Voluntary Life now has a Patreon page! In the first week of TVL on Patreon, my patrons have received:The first exclusive patron podcast episode (How To Sort Your Life Out Part 2)An Evernote template for Areas of Responsibility from my own productivity systemBehind-the-scenes information about the running costs of the podcastThree e-books by JakeAnd lots more!Become a Patron today to get all these goodies and more to come, including this week's patron-only episode, "How To Do A Daily Review".  Show Notes: The Voluntary Life Patreon PageListen to Episode 296

 295 How To Sort Your Life Out Part 1 (and Patreon!) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

The Areas of Responsibility framework is a very powerful productivity technique for sorting your life out. It helps me answer questions such as: What am I doing with my life, and why?Is what I am doing right now a good use of my time?What should I devote my efforts to in order to build the life I want?In this episode I introduce Areas of Responsibility and explain how to start implementing them. I've also got some big developments to tell you about. I want to completely upgrade The Voluntary Life, provide a whole new range of bonus content, and enable new ways for you to connect with me and other supporting listeners. Please help me by becoming a patron of the show and supporting me with a monthly amount of your choosing, through Patreon. Sign up and get your bonuses now at patreon.com/thevoluntarylife The first bonus episode has already been recorded and it goes deeper into the same theme as this one, as Part 2 of How To Sort Your Life out. Show Notes: The Voluntary Life Patreon PageTVL 232 The Next Level — Horizons of Focus Part 1 (School Sucks Interview)TVL 185 How To Set Meaningful Goals For The Year AheadListen to Episode 295

 Special Announcement: Keynote Presentation At The Freecoast Festival | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

I will be giving the keynote presentation at the Freecoast Festival on the 9th September 2017 in beautiful Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The festival runs from the 8th to 10th September. The theme this year is "Living A Voluntary Life"— so the topics will be highly relevant for TVL listeners. Both my wife Hannah and I will be giving presentations on Saturday 9th September. My keynote will take place on a catered cruise on a special cruise boat— so if you want to hear it, get a ticket for the cruise as well as the general admission. If you get a ticket before the end of June and use the promo code "Jake", you will get a free Freecoast T-Shirt too, with the logo shown below. Get your tickets at https://freecoast.org/festival/What is the Freecoast Festival all about? Listen to the special announcement

 294 The Five Laws Of Stupidity | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

"Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake."Carlo Cipolla In the 1970s, an economic historian called Carlo Cipolla wrote a provocative article titled "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity". This week's episode is about his theory of the destructiveness of stupid behaviour and why it is so underestimated and misunderstood. Show Notes: The Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity by Carlo M. CipollaThe Five Universal Laws Of Stupidity by Corrine PurtillListen To Epsiode 294

 293 Girona: Our Adventure Continues (featuring Hannah Braime) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This week's episode features Hannah and me discussing our move to Girona. We talk about adapting to a travel lifestyle with a baby, the challenges of minimalism and travel, beautiful Girona as an expat location, and many more topics! Show Notes: Hannah BraimeTVL 254: Perpetual Travel With Kids Part 1: Interview With Go Curry CrackerListen To Episode 293

 292 A Listener Question About The Decision To Have Kids | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This week's episode is a response to this interesting listener question: "Hi Jake, I would like to hear your thoughts on making the decision to have a child. I am 33 years old, and there are lots of expectations on this one. I find it difficult to escape this identity trap and to know for myself if I want to become a parent or not.  I know it's a BIG one, and it is personal, but your podcast is probably the only place which talks about parenting from a unique perspective different than the norm. I will be curious to hear your view, especially as a new parent." Show Notes: Episode 290: Escaping The Identity TrapEpisode 283: Minimalism and Parenting (Featuring Hannah Braime)Episode 268: A Listener Question About Family Pressure, Expensive Weddings, And KidsListen to Episode 292

 291 Setting Up A Nomadic Business With Estonian E-Residency: Interview With Ilias Ismanalijev | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Ilias Ismanalijev is a web developer based in Belgium. When Ilias started his own company straight after college, he wanted to be able to manage the business online and travel easily as a digital nomad. In this interview, he explains why he chose to to found his business in Estonia using Estonian E-Residency. If you are interested in different options for running a nomadic business, check out our discussion of Ilias' experience. Show Notes: Ilias' websiteLeapIN.EU Listen To Episode 291

 290 Escaping The Identity Trap | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

The identity trap is an idea from Harry Browne's book How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World. Harry suggested that some widely held assumptions about life are false. By accepting such false assumptions, you lose your freedom. He called these false assumptions "traps". The identity trap is the belief that you should be the person that others want you to be, rather than being yourself. In the episode, I suggest two key questions to ask yourself in order to escape the identity trap. Show Notes: TVL Episode Discussing How I Found Freedom In An Unfree WorldHow I Found Freedom In An Unfree World by Harry BrowneListen To Episode 290

 289 Managing Your Productivity System (Valiant Growth Interview) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This weeks episode is about how to manage your own productivity system for getting things done. It comes from an interview that I did a while ago on the Valiant Growth podcast. In the interview, I talk about various techniques for managing your own productivity system, including: The different components of a productivity systemUndertaking regular reviewsChoosing between different productivity tools, such a task-management apps and paper-based systems.Show Notes: Valiant Growth PodcastEpisode 258 Getting Started With Productivity Systems (Valiant Growth Interview)All Previous Productivity EpisodesListen To Episode 289

 288 A Listener Question About Working Hard And Missing Out On Life Experiences | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This week's episode is a response to this listener question: "From what I gather, for much of your 20s and 30s you worked very hard on building your business and for long hours each day. It has clearly paid off for you, as you've sold the business and enjoyed many years of financial independence. But is this something you'd recommend for younger people? What's the best way of thinking about the work/life balance at that stage of life? I find myself thinking, what if I worked extremely hard for many years and died in a freak accident before I'd got to have significant life experiences? It may seem like pessimism, but to focus almost entirely on ones work must require some delayed gratification, unless your truly love your work. Similar issues are involved with extreme saving. I thought you might have some good insights about the sort of questions to ask yourself to get a better understanding of how to approach this." Show Notes: The Voluntary Life Community on FacebookJob Free by Jake DesyllasMr Money MustacheEarly Retirement ExtremeListen to Episode 288

 287 Freedom Surfer: Interview With Simon On Location Independent Business And Lifestyle | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Simon writes for digital nomads, perpetual travellers, and location independent entrepreneurs on his blog Freedom Surfer. In this interview, he talks about his own journey to location independence and his thoughts on the pros and cons of this lifestyle. He explains how he tackles the practical challenges of perpetual travel, such as business formation, banking, and taxation. Show Notes: Freedom SurferListen to Episode 287

 286 Wireless Life: Interview with Sebastian Kühn on running a location-indenpenent business | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

In this week's episode, my guest Sebastian Kühn talks about the benefits and challenges of running a location-independent business. He shares his own experiences setting up businesses in Hong Kong and Estonia, as well as his thoughts on the Estonian E-Residency program. Sebastian Kühn is a the author of a website for digital nomads called Wireless Life. Show Notes: Wireless LifeRecording of Sebastian's Webinar on Estonian E-Residency and Business FormationListen To Episode 286

 285 Making It All Work | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This week's episode is a review of David Allen's book, Making It All Work. This book is about applying principles of productivity beyond work, to life as a whole. The review is a discussion between myself and Chris Stefanick taken from Chris' podcast, Choice Conversations. Show Notes: Choice ConversationsMaking It All Work by David AllenHow To Read A Book by Mortimer AdlerOther episodes on productivityListen to Episode 285

 284 What The Founder Shows About Entrepreneurship | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

It is not often that Hollywood makes movies which explore real business challenges. The Founder is a movie about how Ray Kroc created a global restaurant franchise from a small business started by the MacDonald brothers. This podcast episode is about what entrepreneurs can learn from the ideas shown in the movie. Show Notes: The Founder (Movie)Fact Checking The FounderGrinding It Out by Ray KrocBecoming An Entrepreneur by Jake DesyllasListen To Episode 284

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