A review of Peter Breggin's book, Guilt Shame And Anxiety: Understanding And Overcoming Negative Emotions , originally published on another podcast hosted by Jake and Hannah, The Psychology Book Club Podcast . Peter Breggin's book is very relevant to many topics covered on The Voluntary Life. In the episode, Hannah and Jake discuss the challenging ideas presented in the book and how they can help you achieve greater psychological freedom. Show Notes Psychology Book Club Podcast Guilt Shame and A...
Sep 04, 2016•46 min•Ep. 260
An interview with Jake by Fumnanya, host of The Limit Breaker podcast. The interview covers interesting questions on the topic of breaking limits in business and life, including Jake's influences, founding and selling a business, the path to a job free life, and much more. Show Notes: The Limit Breaker Podcast Becoming An Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Job Free by Jake Desyllas Jake Desyllas Writing Website Getting Things Done by David Allen Getting To Yes by Fischer and Ury How I Found Freedom I...
Aug 28, 2016•43 min•Ep. 259
This episode is an interview of Jake on the Valiant Growth podcast about getting started with productivity systems. A lot of people want to start using productivity tools and systems, but feel overwhelmed by all the options, jargon, and complexity. This episode will give you clear pointers about how to start simple and achieve massive improvements to your productivity. Show Notes Valiant Growth Podcast Getting Things Done by David Allen The Power Of Less by Leo Babauta Other Productivity Episode...
Aug 21, 2016•48 min•Ep. 258
One of my favourite productivity techniques is the Someday Maybe List— an idea from David Allen's book, Getting Things Done . Many people ignore this particular aspect of GTD, but I love it. This episode provides suggestions about how to get the most out of a kick-ass someday maybe list. Topics covered include: The Purpose of Someday Maybe List The benefits of managing your list in Evernote How tagging, sorting, images, and other Evernote features can make your Someday Maybe List more inspiring ...
Aug 14, 2016•17 min•Ep. 257
Youtube presenters Mike and Lauren are back to talk about travel with kids. We catch up about all the things that they have been up to since I last spoke to them back in Episode 164 . Their adventures include having a baby in Costa Rica, buying an RV, transitioning to life on the road, and planning to buy a barge to live on in Europe! Show Notes: Episode 164— We Plan To Retire At 30: Interview with Mike and Lauren Mike and Lauren Website Mike And Lauren Youtube Channel Episode 254— Perpetual Tra...
Aug 06, 2016•35 min•Ep. 256
Jake was interviewed on World Wanderers Podcast about he sold a business, an apartment, and all of his stuff except one bag, to move to Panama. Jake shares what it has been like to live with less, and what the path to permanent travel has been like, including what has been done and what still needs to be done. He tells us what life has been like in Panama, and the pros and cons to life on the road. Show Notes: The World Wanderers Podcast Job Free by Jake Desyllas...
Jul 28, 2016•55 min•Ep. 255
A fun conversation with Jeremy and Winnie from Go Curry Cracker . Back in Episode 162 , we talked about their path to financial independence through extreme saving, and their lifestyle of perpetual travel in early retirement. In this episode, they talk about their experience of perpetual travel as a family. Their son Julian makes makes a guest appearance too! Show Notes: Go Curry Cracker TVL 162 Spend Little, Save More, Travel the World: Interview with Go Curry Cracker...
Jul 19, 2016•21 min•Ep. 254
Leo Babauta's book, The Power Of Less , is about using habits to help you focus on what matters in life. In this review, I talk about some of the most helpful ideas in the book, especially the suggestions about establishing a productive morning routine to kickstart your day. I also talk about some of the limitations of the book, and make suggestions for other useful books on this topic. Show Notes: The Power Of Less by Leo Babauta Getting Things Done by David Allen The Power Of Habit by Charles ...
Jul 15, 2016•14 min•Ep. 253
Back in episode 217 , my wife Hannah and I spoke about the beginning of our adventure moving to Panama. In this episode we talk about a lot of big changes that have happened since then! The episode provides an insight into our story, but it also touches on many themes important to The Voluntary Life. We discuss travel, minimalism, and adapting to big changes in life. Show Notes: TVL Episode 217: Panama Our Adventure Begins TVL Episode 77: Internationalising Yourself Becoming Who You Are...
Jul 06, 2016•31 min•Ep. 252
Entrepreneurship is not just about building a business, it is also about building yourself. I see entrepreneurship as an intensive personal development program. This episode is from a recent interview that I gave about this topic on the Valiant Growth podcast. Show Notes: Valiant Growth Podcast Becoming an Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Job Free by Jake Desyllas Drive by Dan Pink...
Jun 30, 2016•29 min•Ep. 251
This episode contains the introduction of the audiobook version of Jake Desyllas' latest book, Job Free . Whether you want to achieve financial independence and retire early, or simply never work for anyone else again, this book provides an essential guide to the different lifestyle-design strategies open to you. You can get hold of the audiobook on Amazon and Audible , and it will shortly be available on iTunes. If you prefer reading, you can also get a paperback or e-book version on Amazon . S...
Jun 17, 2016•22 min•Ep. 250
If you are interested in minimalism or a travel-oriented lifestyle, moving to a digital-only book library is a great benefit. Even if you don't plan to travel, switching to e-books has a ton of other advantages over maintaining paper books. This episode is all about the tools and techniques for managing an e-book library, including: Making the transition from a physical to a digital library. Choosing a database application for managing e-books. Organising an e-book library with tags and other me...
Jun 07, 2016•14 min•Ep. 249
This episode is about the role of rational thinking in life. Rational thinking is a discipline of self-mastery, similar to the discipline of achieving physical fitness. I tackle some misconceptions about rational thinking and answer these questions: What does cognitive science tell us about thinking rationally? What are the costs of thinking rationally, and what are the benefits? Show Notes: How To Think For Yourself Series: Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure They Live...
May 31, 2016•25 min•Ep. 248
If you want to think rationally, what role do your emotions play? Is there a conflict between thinking rationally and experiencing feelings? In this episode, I explain the history of ideas around reason and emotion, and provide an overview of how to think rationally about feelings. Although the Enlightenment was a revolution in thinking rationally, Enlightenment philosophers never resolved their contradictions about the relationship between reason and the emotions, leaving a legacy of confusion ...
May 21, 2016•23 min•Ep. 247
So far, the Thinking Rationally series has generated more listener feedback than any previous episodes! In this episode, I respond to feedback on the topic of faith versus reason. Here are the questions covered: Can reason be accommodated within religious faith? Don't we all live by some kind of faith, anyway? Do I argue that we are "nothing more than matter in motion"? Did I present a fair history of Christianity? Show Notes: Episode 243— Thinking Rationally Part 1: Faith Versus Reason How To T...
May 15, 2016•23 min•Ep. 246
Rational thinking transforms your life, by giving you autonomy and the freedom of the individual. Since it spread during the Enlightenment, rational thinking has also transformed society and created the modern world. Yet many influential philosophers explicitly rejected rational thinking, because they understood where it would lead and did not like what they saw. This episode is about anti-rational ideas. I cover how these ideas emerged as a reaction to the Enlightenment, and why such anti-ratio...
May 08, 2016•21 min•Ep. 245
The biggest challenge of thinking rationally is not learning new techniques, it is overcoming irrational and anti-rational ways of thinking. In Part 1 of this series, I talked about how religious faith conflicts with your rational faculty. This episode is about a secular way of thinking that will derail your rationality. It is a way of thinking about society that seems to be very rational, but is in fact an abuse of reason. Listen to the episode to find out more! Show Notes: The Counter Revoluti...
Apr 30, 2016•18 min•Ep. 244
Rational thinking is the engine behind all the great achievements of the modern world. It is the vital tool for making your own choices and for freeing yourself from prejudices and indoctrination. This series of episodes summarises all the best ideas that I've found about how to think rationally. Part 1 uses the example of the history of Christianity in Europe to explain the conflict between religion and rational thinking. Show Notes: The Closing Of The Western Mind by Charles Freeman If A Then ...
Apr 23, 2016•16 min•Ep. 243
Home ownership is often touted as a financially savvy choice, but is it? This episode explores the financial pros and cons of buying your own home for those interested in financial independence. Show Notes: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley I'm not a financial advisor and you will need to do your own research.
Apr 15, 2016•13 min•Ep. 242
As part of adopting a minimalist lifestyle and becoming expats, we sold everything that would not fit into one suitcase each. The biggest part of our downsizing was selling our apartment and all the furniture in it. This episode is about the practical and psychological lessons from selling the flat, getting rid of all our stuff, and changing from being homeowners to travelling renters. Show Notes: Home Inventory App (mac) Episode 217— Panama: Our Adventure Begins Other Episodes on Minimalism Job...
Apr 06, 2016•17 min•Ep. 241
Kevin Koskella from the Freedom Lovin podcast interviews Jake about the ideas in his book, Job Free, as well as life in Panama, entrepreneurship, and the permanent portfolio. Show Notes: Freedom Lovin Podcast Job Free by Jake Desyllas (now in paperback and kindle)
Mar 23, 2016•41 min•Ep. 240
Preparing for a life of travel involved getting rid of anything that I could not take with me in one suitcase. One big source of clutter to address was clothes. My clothes took up a lot of space, yet I hardly ever wore many of them. As part of my extreme decluttering, I got rid of every item of clothing beyond a minimal set that would fit with my one-suitcase plan. The process included making an inventory, deciding what to keep or get rid of, and selling or giving away a huge amount of clothes. ...
Mar 15, 2016•15 min•Ep. 239
This episode is about how I moved all my data into the cloud. This has been an essential part of adopting a digital nomad lifestyle but is also relevant for anyone who wants a more minimalist, clutter-free life. I digitised any data that could be, such as music, movies, photos, books, and documents. Once digital, I moved all my data into cloud storage of one kind or another. Then I got rid of all data clutter that was part of my stuff: CDs, DVDs, photos, spare computers, etc. Now all my data liv...
Mar 06, 2016•25 min•Ep. 238
Brian Sovryn of the Sovryn Tech Podcast interviews Jake about his lifestyle of perpetual travel and minimalism, and the technology that makes it possible. Show Notes: Sovryn Tech Episode 165 Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Mobile Document Scanner Calibre E-Book Management Evernote VoiceDream AirBnB Uber Google Translate Keyboard Maestro Mac Power Users Podcast TripAdvisor Offline Guides TripIt Becoming An Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Job Free by Jake Desyllas...
Feb 29, 2016•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 237
The Free State Project is a social experiment encouraging 20,000 people interested in "liberty in our lifetime" to move together to New Hampshire. The idea is to create an intentional community of like-minded people who are interested in personal and political liberty. By concentrating people with similar values in one place, the aim is to have a greater impact on the local culture and thereby generate more freedom. In this episode, I interview Stephanie Murphy and Brian Sovryn—two members of th...
Feb 22, 2016•50 min•Ep. 236
Brett Veinotte from the School Sucks Podcast and Jake Desyllas from The Voluntary Life discuss the process of upgrading and maintaining positive habits. Topic covered include: Habits may seem trivial, but the are the most important part of a productivity system Two approaches to change: slow and steady vs. New Year's resolution Triggers for activating habits vs. friction against habits How do we do it? morning routine, 7 Weeks (Android app), Jake uses Way of Life (iOS) No matter what else is goi...
Jan 31, 2016•37 min•Ep. 235
This week's episode comes from Joshua Sheats, host of the Radical Personal Finance podcast: "Most of us in the Radical Personal Finance community are pursuing our own financial independence. And most of us want to get there as quickly as possible. But, most of us only have one idea of one way to get there. Did you know there are a bunch of different ways to go job-free and gain financial freedom? I'm excited to bring you my interview with Jake Desyllas, author of "Job Free: Four Ways to Quit the...
Jan 26, 2016•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 234
Part 2 of the discussion between Brett Veinotte and Jake Desyllas about using Horizons of Focus for productivity and purpose. In this episode, we conclude our discussion by talking about how to identify your vision for your future, and how to find purpose in life. Show Notes: Episode 232 The Next Level — Horizons of Focus Part 1 School Sucks Podcast The Voluntary Life Productivity Episodes...
Jan 18, 2016•24 min•Ep. 233
Brett Veinotte from School Sucks podcast interviews Jake Desyllas about using Horizons of Focus for productivity and purpose. In this episode (part 1) we introduce the concept of horizons of focus and talk about the best ways to identify actions, projects, goals, and areas or responsibility. Show Notes School Sucks Podcast The Voluntary Life Productivity Episodes Automated Mindmaps Using OmniFocus Horizons of Focus...
Jan 13, 2016•58 min•Ep. 232
Ashe from the Liberty Entrepreneurs podcast interviews Jake about starting a business, selling a business, and financial independence. They talk about Jake's background, becoming an entrepreneur , selling a company, and life afterwards. In this episode, you can hear about the people and books that influenced Jake, and some hacks and suggestions for anyone interested in starting a business. Show Notes: Liberty Entrepreneurs Podcast Becoming an Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas How I Found Freedom In ...
Dec 28, 2015•43 min•Ep. 231
