The Voluntary Life

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 An Unfree World by Harry Browne The Ultimate Guide to Journaling by Hannah Braime Anything You Want by Derek Sivers Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson Getting to Yes by Fisher and Ury

I had an amazing experience getting feedback during the writing of my new book, Job Free: Four Ways to Quit the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom on Your Terms. I had 165 beta readers during development. That's a lot of feedback! This episode is about the process of crowdsourcing feedback, using the example of my experience writing Job Free. I describe the workflows, tools and benefits of crowdsourcing feedback. I also tell you all about my new book, and explain how it can help you achieve real freedom in your own life. Show Notes: Job Free by Jake Desyllas Becoming an Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Presentation on Four Ways to Quit the Rat Race 99 Designs The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki

In this interview, Tuur and Becca talk about life as perpetual travellers, living on bitcoin. They describe how they got interested in bitcoin and how it has become an integral part of their international lifestyle. They also explain how they cope with the roller-coaster volatility of living from bitcoin. Tuur was one of the first investment newsletter writers to recommend bitcoin. He describes his own journey in the industry, and shares his thoughts about where bitcoin is headed. Show Notes: Previous TVL episodes about Bitcoin Tuur Demeester on Twitter Adamant Research Report "How To Position For The Next Rally In Bitcoin"

This episode shares some fascinating ideas about how to understand culture, identity and civilization. The historian Steve Davies argues that rather than being at the end of a long story of "western civilization", we are at the beginning of something radically new, unplanned and totally alien to the historical cultures of both the "West" and everywhere else before circa 1800. I've summarised these ideas in the podcast, but I also recommend that you watch the thought-provoking lecture by Steve Davies. Show Notes: Stephen Davies on Western Civilisation The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

This episode is a review of a fascinating book, The Better Angels Of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker. The following quote summarises the book's main argument: "Believe it or not—and I know that most people do not—violence has declined over long stretches of time, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species' existence. The decline, to be sure, has not been smooth; it has not brought violence down to zero; and it is not guaranteed to continue. But it is an unmistakable development, visible on scales from millennia to years, from the waging of wars to the spanking of children." Steven Pinker Show Notes: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker

This episode is about three concepts that I've found helpful for managing money. These concepts are about the big-picture when it comes to money, rather than the details. They express the mindset for achieving financial independence. Here is a summary of the ideas discussed: Be Your Own CFO: managing your own money as you would manage the finance of a business. Be Investment-Oriented, Not Consumption-Oriented Be A Passive Investor. Show Notes: How to Be the CFO of Your Own Life by Luke Landes How to Become CFO of Your Life by JD Roth E219 How To Do A Monthly Financial Review The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley E155: Review of A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel Please note: I'm not a financial advisor and your money is your responsibility.

Comparative advantage is a simple idea from economics, but its implications are mind-blowing. It is a process that most people misunderstand, but it is at the root of everything that we create. Comparative advantage is intimately linked to what it means to be human. Show Notes: Economist article on comparative advantage Matt Ridley on comparative advantage

Benjamin Constant was a French classical liberal writer who lived through the French revolution and the reign of terror. Assessing what had gone wrong with the revolution, he came up with a distinction between two conflicting ideas of "liberty" that had influenced the people involved— an ancient concept of liberty and a modern one. His distinction is still useful today and can help make sense of the incompatible ways in which different people talk about freedom. Show Notes: The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns by Benjamin Constant (1816)

Portfoliocharts.com is a brilliant, free resource for passive investors. It provides a comparison of all the main passive investment portfolios using funky charts to visually explain the data. The site was created by Tyler, an early retiree with a background in mechanical engineering. Tyler created the site for fun as a personal project, but I think it is the best guide to passive investing portfolios on the web. In this interview, Tyler gives his own take on passive investing and talks about how to use the portfolio charts site. He explains some interesting results from his analysis and shows how they challenge common myths about portfolios. Show Notes: Portfolio Charts Website @portfoliocharts I'm not a financial advisor and your money is your responsibility.

This episode is part 2 of the interview with Justin from Root of Good. Justin talks about how the goal of early retirement differs from mainstream ideas of "success". He provides suggestions for those interested in pursing early retirement. Show Notes: Root of Good Jack Ma Interview

There are many practical steps required to reach financial independence, but there are also some interesting psychological challenges to early retirement. Who would you be without your job? What would you do all day if you never had to work? Justin retired at the age of 33. He writes about financial independence at the Root of Good blog. In this interview, he gives his take on the psychological side of financial independence and describes his early-retirement lifestyle. Show Notes: Root of Good Blog The Early Retiree's Weekly Schedule

Many people find getting started as an individual investor daunting. This episode is about how little I knew about investing when I got started. I describe what I came to expect from investing as I learned more about it. If you are starting out in investing, I think hearing my experience will be relevant for you. Show Notes Fail-Safe Investing: Lifelong Financial Security in 30 Minutes by Harry Browne Where Are the Customers' Yachts by Fred Schwed The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle Previous TVL Episodes on financial independence I'm not a financial advisor and your money is your responsibility.

It took me a long time to work out how to stay on top of my finances. After a lot of trial and error, I developed the habit of doing a monthly financial review. This is what enables me to confidently manage my finances without having to think about money all the time. In this episode, I explain how you can implement your own monthly financial review. Topics covered include: Habits to set up when implementing a monthly review, including dedicating adequate time (about 4 hours per month) and making a detailed checklist or task list to use. Key questions to consider when designing your monthly financial review system, such as whether to use an online finance app or one that runs on your own computer. Stages of the monthly financial review to implement: downloading finance data, cleaning data, inputting data, reconciling, and analysis (budget, investments, and net worth calculation) Show Notes: Some software options for your checklist: Evernote and Omnifocus Some finance apps: iBank, Mint, Personal Capital Software for automating renaming and moving of files: Hazel TVL Episode 181 on budgeting and net worth calculation

In previous episodes of this podcast, I've explored different ways to live a job-free lifestyle. I've interviewed extreme savers, unjobbers, lifestyle entrepreneurs, and startup entrepreneurs. Many listeners have raised an important question about these lifestyles: how do you choose between these different strategies for quitting the rat race? How do you decide which job-free lifestyle you want to pursue for yourself? This week's episode discusses this question and provides suggestions for how to choose a job-free lifestyle. Show Notes TVL Episode 124: Four Ways To Quit The Rat Race Video of Four Ways To Quit The Rat Race Presentation Becoming an Entrepreneur: How to Find Freedom and Fulfillment as a Business Owner

This episode is a discussion with a special guest— my wife Hannah Braime, who is the host of Becoming Who You Are. We've just moved to Panama and we love it here already. In this episode we talk about all the preparations involved in our move, the start of our travel lifestyle, and our first impressions of life in Panama. Show Notes: Hannah Braime Previous TVL episodes on travel TVL episode 130: Interview with Pete Sisco

A listener shared these reflections with me: "I like to think I'm a moral person but many times in my career (and in the careers of friends), I've been forced to choose between unethical behavior and possibly losing my job. I handled this on a case by case manner, where I had to weight the importance of the unethical behavior, the likelihood of me being punished, the odds of me successfully elevating the issue to a superior, how much the unethical behavior would actually hurt the injured party, etc. In other words, my response was ambiguous and led to a lot of sleepless nights." The listener went on to explain that achieving financial independence strengthened his or her moral backbone and make it easier to say no to bad people at work. This is a brilliant insight and highlights one of the great benefits of financial independence. In this episode I share some suggestions about how you can use entrepreneurship, extreme saving and unjobbing to make it easier for you to do the right thing.

"Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough." Charles Warner Over the last three years, I've reduced my possessions to only those things that will fit inside one suitcase and one hand luggage bag. My wife and I decided to pursue extreme decluttering, in order to make a lifestyle of long-term travel more practical. Decluttering was easy at first, but got harder the more extreme I took it. My possessions were not just serving practical needs, but emotional ones too. I had to work out how to address those needs before I could get rid of my stuff. Decluttering also forced me to acknowledge mistakes I had made in the past— mistakes I preferred to avoid thinking about. Overall, extreme decluttering has been a fantastic learning process. I feel much freer because of it. I think that you can benefit in a similar way by decluttering, even if you don't want to reduce your stuff in such an extreme way as I did. Show Notes: Previous episodes on Minimalism Going Paperless part 1 and part 2 Episode on Inventory Home Inventory app GoodReads If This Then That Evernote Apple Photos

In this episode, special guest Hannah Braime talks about how to free yourself from a life of drama and move to a life of empowerment. Hannah is a coach, author, and host of Becoming Who You Are. We discuss some powerful concepts from the field of psychology that Hannah uses in her coaching. She explains how easy it is to get stuck playing a series of roles in your life— acting out a script written by someone else. These roles are all too familiar: "the victim", "the persecutor" and "the rescuer". Hannah explains how to empower yourself to leave such roles behind and live life according to your own plans. I really enjoyed the discussion and I think you will find it both interesting and helpful. Show Notes: Becoming Who You Are Videos about The Drama Triangle Joseph Campbell Transactional Analysis Games People Play by Eric Berne Karpman Drama Triangle The Power of TED by David Emerald

Here is how you reach true conclusions about any question in life: start with undeniable premises and use valid logic. Logic— used in reasoned argument— is the universal, impartial method that humans have for finding the truth together peacefully. Yet very few people use logic consistently. I discuss some reasons why it is so hard to be logically consistent. The most important reason is that it takes courage to follow an argument to its logical conclusion, especially if the conclusion is not accepted by the majority of people around you. If you want to think for yourself, you need more than just valid logic— you also have to have the courage to follow it. Show Notes: Ad Populum Fallacy If A, Then B: How the World Discovered Logic by Michael Shenefelt & Heidi White The Right To Ignore The State by Herbert Spencer Why I Don't Vote by George Carlin Murray Rothbard Hans-Hermann Hoppe

In the last episode I suggested two key challenges to resolve if you want to think for yourself: How do you tell truth from falsehood? How do you know what you can be certain of? This episode is about how the scientific method can help address the first of these challenges: determining truth. I provide a summary of the philosophy of science and the rules for deciding whether a theory qualifies as scientific. However, there is a huge problem with the philosophy of science when it comes to addressing the challenge of certainty. The scientific method—as defined by leading philosophers of science—is self-contradictory. It's not even an accurate representation of what practicing scientists do (which is why scientists tend to ignore philosophers and just get on with it). In the episode, I explain how rationality is the necessary foundation of science—more fundamental even than empiricism—and how it provides the certainty that makes the scientific method possible. Show Notes: Karl Popper This Lecture by Hans-Hermann Hoppe about the philosophy of science provides a deeper discussion of many ideas covered in this episode with reference to economics. Image Source: Bruno Gilli/ESO

You can't be free unless you can think for yourself. If someone else is doing your thinking for you, then it's not your life that you are living. When you know how to think of yourself, you cannot be controlled or manipulated. Your life is truly in your hands and is up to you what you do with it. This episode is part one of a new series on how to think for yourself. The episode introduces the two biggest problems you have to overcome if you want to think for yourself: How can you tell truth from falsehood? How do you know what you can be certain of?

This episode is part two of an interview with Joshua Sheats, host of the Radical Personal Finance podcast. Joshua shares his insights on tax strategies for those pursuing financial freedom. In part one of the interview (last week's episode), we covered tax strategies for employees. In this episode, we discuss tax strategies for entrepreneurs. Joshua describes his own experience developing a lifestyle business and the tax advantages that this provides. Show Notes: Radical Personal Finance Podcast As always, it's up to you what you do with your money. I'm not a financial advisor and you will need to do your own research.

Tax is the biggest expense category for most people. It is crucial for everyone interested in financial freedom to understand tax and develop a tax strategy. Yet many of the leading books on financial independence hardly mention tax. In this interview, Joshua Sheats provides a wealth of insights on this topic. Joshua trained as a financial planner and now runs the Radical Personal Finance podcast. In part one of the interview (this episode), Joshua discusses tax strategies for employees. In part two (next week), we discuss tax strategies for entrepreneurs. Show Notes: Radical Personal Finance Podcast Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley IRA and Roth IRA Mad Fientist Go Curry Cracker Laurence Kotlikoff As always, it's up to you what you do with your money. I'm not a financial advisor and you will need to do your own research.

If you want to quit your job to pursue a more freedom-oriented lifestyle (such as entrepreneurship), there are many challenges to overcome. Some challenges are practical, such as replacing the job income that you no longer have. This episode is about the psychological challenges. Even an unfulfilling job has a psychological "pull" that is easy to take for granted because it provides: A sense of purpose Structure for your life A ready-made community Part of the fear that many people feel about quitting their jobs relates to losing the sense of purpose, structure, and community that comes from a job. To live job-free, you have to create your own sense of purpose, your own structure for life, and your own community. You can hear more about this topic in the podcast episode. Show Notes: E136 Your Purpose In Life E101 How To Dream Big E185 How To Set Meaningful Goals All Previous Episodes On Productivity (for creating structure) E139 How To Build A Network

If you are an entrepreneur, you might want to sell your business one day (or at least have that option). There are many issues to tackle in order to make selling a real possibility. For one thing, you need to identify a potential buyer. This podcast episode provides an overview of the two main groups of potential buyers: strategic and financial. I suggest some issues to consider when looking for each kind of buyer and I explain why I would always prefer a strategic buyer. Show Notes: Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top by Bo Burlingham

Are successful entrepreneurs just "lucky"? This episode is about the role of luck in business. Here are some of the ideas discussed: The main job of the entrepreneur is to minimise chance and uncertainty. "Luck" is not the basis of success, it is the enemy. People confuse the success or failure of a business idea with the success or failure of an entrepreneur's career—they are not the same thing. Successful entrepreneurs have many failures behind them. A business is not static. It is not a matter of chance whether it succeeds or fails. You can adapt and change everything about your business as you go, and thereby improve your chance of success with every step. There will always be influences that are entirely outside your control. But even those things outside your control can be managed and adapted to.

This episode is about the most powerful tool that I know for planning anything. A process map is a tool for visualising a workflow. It's also called a workflow map or a network diagram—there are many different names for this tool. It's a way of clarifying exactly what has to happen to in order for you to get all the way from where you are now, to your final goal. The map shows the dependencies between all inputs, processes, and outputs. This identifies the logic of all the work ahead of you. You don't need to be involved in project management to benefit from creating workflow maps. Visualising your workflows can help you achieve your goals in any aspect of life. However, a workflow diagram is also the basis of many useful project management tools, like a PERT Chart or Gantt chart. If you want to get more into project management, you can use this tool to identify the critical path and critical chain. Show Notes: TVL Episode 120 Eight Tools That Will Free Your Mind The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two InShort Diagramming App (Mac)

This episode is about making sense of two important concepts: frugality and minimalism. Frugality means to be economical or sparing with regard to money, but this definition prompts the question: what are the criteria for deciding if a choice is economical? Similarly, the definition of minimalism (to own the minimum amount of possessions) also prompts a question: what are the criteria for deciding what the minimum is? Both these ideas only make sense if they are defined in relation to your goals and purpose in life. Using examples from entrepreneurship, I suggest ways to define frugality and minimalism in relation to your goals. Show Notes: TVL Episode 136: Your Purpose In Life TVL Episode 116 (for discussion of the 4% rule) The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement Eliyahu M. by Goldratt

In this interview, Sarah tells her early retirement story and talks about life after quitting the rat race. We discuss why she has chosen housesitting both as a lifestyle choice and as a great financial benefit. She discusses the pros and cons of housesitting and provides some advice for people thinking about making the jump to early retirement. Show Notes: Honoring My Compass

In order to gain self-knowledge, you have to reduce the gap between what you think about yourself and reality. Although this is often an uncomfortable process, the truth is always liberating. In this episode, I share two theories from social psychology about why we sometimes lie to ourselves and fool ourselves, as well as suggestions for overcoming these tendencies. I describe some of my own approaches to overcoming self-deception by getting objective data about my life. Show Notes Trivers' Theory of Self-Deception The Better Angels of Our Nature by Stephen Pinker The Dunning-Kruger Effect TVL E200 Quantified Self TVL Episode The Unexamined Business Is Not Worth Building

Jake shares his own tools and systems for independent learning. These are the hacks for proactive learning, rather than being an uncritical consumer of ideas. Topics covered include: Making objectives for your learning and capturing them in Evernote Coping with the information firehose Filtering your search for learning materials using reading lists and subject tagging in Pocket app. Capturing learning resources in databases using apps like Calibre and Evernote Effective note taking with mind maps, highlights and written notes Critical thinking Habits to support learning Automating parts of your learning system Show Notes: Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamantis Evernote app Jeffrey Tucker interview Pocket App Mind Mapping, Mindmaps and Mind Maps: Tutorials, Information and How-tos iThoughts Mindmapping App Voicedream app Drafts app Calibre app IFTTT GoodReads How to Effectively Read and Implement Books TVL 178 Upgrading Habits

This episode is about using technology to automatically collect and analyse data about your life. I share some examples of my own automated tracking of health and productivity data. I'm using various apps to analyse the data in the background and compile all the results into an automated, objective journal. It's getting easier all the time to quantify your life with minimal effort. Doing so can give you objective data and meaningful analysis about whatever matters to you. This can help you to live a more conscious and fulfilled life. Show Notes: Quantified Self Fitbit One by Fitbit Timing App (mac) RescueTime ifttt.com GiftttDy Day One Journal App Applescript Keyboard Maestro

Is owning a car really worth it? This episode is about the financial and lifestyle benefits of deliberately choosing not to own a car (I'm in my early 40s and I've never owned one). Topics covered include: Why owning a car is often a waste of money The health and lifestyle benefits of living car free, especially walking and cycling Alternatives to car ownership including car clubs, peer-to-peer transport (e.g. Uber and Lyft), public transport The problem of car dependency and why it exists Challenges of not owning a car Suggestions for how to live car free Show Notes: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs Life Between Buildings by Jan Gehl TVL E74 City Air Will Make You Free Walking 10,000 steps per day

We are all subject to a psychological process called decision fatigue: every choice you make depletes your willpower and lowers your ability to self-regulate. This is true for trivial decisions as well as life changing ones. By designing trivial decisions out of your life, you can retain decision making capability for the things that really matter to you. In this episode I share some of my own experiences with avoiding decision fatigue and explain why I think minimalism is a great way to help you focus on the things that really matter. Show Notes: Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy Baumeister The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg Article: Decision Fatigue Exhausts Self-Regulatory Resources But So Does Accommodating to Unchosen Alternatives Image Credit: mylerdude

Brett Veinotte is an educator and host of School Sucks Podcast. This episode is an interesting discussion with Brett about the power of conformity and how to resist it. Topics covered include: How conformity to "normal" spending habits prevents people achieving financial independence Solomon Asch's conformity experiments and what we can learn from them How conformity can alter your perception The importance of allies in resisting conformity The role of privacy in reducing conformity The danger of conforming to a subculture (and still being a conformist) How exposure to different views can increase your independence of thought Show Notes: School Sucks Podcast School Sucks Facebook Group Solomon Asch Conformity Experiments Opinions and Social Pressure by Solomon Asch Stanley Milgram's Obedience Experiments Berns' study of conformity The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden Doug Stanhope on Nationalism

In this episode, I interview life coach and author Hannah Braime (my lovely wife) about the relationship between self knowledge and entrepreneurship. Hannah is the host of the personal development website Becoming Who You Are. As a coach she helps people to develop their self knowledge and live a more authentic, fulfilling life. She is the organiser of an upcoming online symposium, The Entrepreneur's Inner World. Topics we cover include: The role of self knowledge in entrepreneurship Key themes that came up when Hannah interviewed 24 entrepreneurs The benefits of entrepreneurship for personal growth Show Notes Becoming Who You Are The Entrepreneur's Inner World Symposium The Ultimate Guide to Journaling by Hannah Braime (free sample chapter here) Anything You Want by Derek Sivers Ep. 142 Extraordinary Time: An Interview With Augusto Pinaud Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less by Cameron Herald The VIA Survey (Online Strengths Questionnaire) The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor Becoming an Entrepreneur: How to Find Freedom and Fulfillment as a Business Owner by Jake Desyllas

Cherie and Chris live on a converted vintage bus that they have packed with technology. They call themselves technomads (technology-enabled nomads). The bus has a solar electric system, lithium ion batteries, a mobile internet setup, and lots of other fun gadgets. Cherie & Chris work online whilst travelling and visiting new places. In this interview they share their inspiring story, including both the highlights and the downsides of life on the road. Show Notes: Technomadia Website

This episode is a review of the classic personal finance book Your Money or Your Life. Topics covered include: The inspiring story of the author Joe Dominguez—an early retiree who devoted his life to promoting financial independence for everyone An overview of the 9 steps to financial independence suggested in the book Strengths of the book, especially its focus on actionable steps that you can take to change your life Weaknesses of the book, especially regarding the discussion of investment. Show Notes: Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

This episode is a review of the book Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35 by Paul Terhorst. Paul and his wife Vicky have been living the early retirement lifestyle successfully for the last 30 years, as perpetual travellers. This book was written back in the 1980s and was one of the first books to suggest a strategy for financial independence. The book is aimed towards employees (rather than entrepreneurs) and especially people in well-paid jobs. Paul discusses how to tackle the challenges of quitting a lucrative career and radically changing your lifestyle. His strategy is an early example of the extreme saving approach that I discussed in my presentation on four ways to quit the rat race. The investment suggestions in the book are out of date now and all the numbers have to be doubled for inflation, however it still contains a lot of useful ideas that will be of interest to anyone aiming for financial independence. Show Notes Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35 by Paul Terhorst Paul and Vicky's Website Article about Paul Terhorst now Four Ways To Quit The Rat Race presentation

I got rid of my TV about 15 years ago and I have never regretted it. In this episode, I provide suggestions for how to upgrade your media diet using far better sources than broadcast media. Here's a summary of the system that I adopted for my media diet: I got rid of my TV (and radio and newspapers too). I did this because vegging out in from of the TV was an addictive path of least resistance for media consumption. I didn't want my choice of what to watch to be limited to what TV channels would broadcast. I actively collect things to watch later from the internet, from streaming services and social media. Everything goes into my media queue. This is very easy to do with capture tools like pocket, instapaper, WatchLater app and Evernote. I also collect things to listen to later and read later in the same way. I tag everything in my media queue with my own tags, so that I know why I have collected each media item. These tags allow me to organise my media queue by projects I am doing, topics I am interesed in, or just different moods I am in. When I want to watch something, I look at my tag lists and make a conscious decision about what to watch. Having a media queue helps me be more discerning about what media I consume. I end up deleting many of the videos before watching them because they don't seem interesting after all. I highly recommend trying life without a TV. Show Notes: Business Insider Article on TV use TVL Episode 120: Eight Tools That Will Free Your Mind Pocket App Instapaper App WatchLater App Evernote Voice Dream App Photo Credit: jason a. cina

Whatever you want to get done in life, a task management app is the most valuable productivity tool that I can recommend to help you. In this episode, I explain what a task management app is and outline why it is so useful. I provide examples of how I use a task management app to help reach my goals, as well as some tips for power users. Topics covered include: Origins of task management apps and some current examples The benefits of a task management app over simple "to do" lists. The inefficiency of switching tasks and the value of focussed work How to use an app to create well-defined tasks that are easier to complete The power of filtering your commitments by context The value of checklists and how a task manager can store them creating your own "perspectives" on tasks The most valuable feature to look for in a task management app: filtering by availability Show Notes: Omnifocus App by Omnigroup Things App by Cultured Code The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

Comedian Rosie Tran interviews entrepreneur, financial freedom advocate, and author of Becoming an Entrepreneur, Jake Desyllas. They discuss the psychology behind financial freedom and the baggage that many people have associated with money, the importance of being on the same page as your significant other, and why less is always more! Great tips on breaking out of the employee mindset and becoming a free thinker! Show Notes: Out Of The Box Podcast

Why are "haters gonna hate"? This episode is a review of a fascinating book called Envy: A Theory of Social Behaviour by Helmut Schoek. Here are some of ideas that are discussed in the review: What envy is and how it differs from jealousy or a desire to emulate The key feature of envy being strongest where status differences are small Why envy exists in every society and why it could never be completely eliminated Why envy is camouflaged The link between envy and irrational thinking Schoeck's theory of why envy exists and how it might have some positive role (as well as being highly destructive) You can cure yourself of envious feelings by turning it into creativity instead of destructiveness Why you must never let haters stop you from doing something wonderful Show Notes: Envy: A Theory Of Social Behaviour By Helmut Schoeck

This episode is about how personal relationships can either be the most important source of support in achieving financial independence, or the biggest hinderance. Topics covered include: Romantic relationships Friends and neighbours Family Show Notes: E166 Retired at 33: Interview with Justin from Root of Good E164 We Plan To Retire At 30: Interview with Mike and Lauren The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley E162 Spend Little, Save More, Travel the World: Interview with Go Curry Cracker E147 Rosie Tran Interview: Financial Freedom and Personal Development Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods by Silverstein and Fiske The Overspent American by Juliet Schor E171 From Million Dollar House To Tiny Home: Interview With Jacki Rigoni 118 Decluttering And Community Selling: Interview with Jorja Leavitt Financial Independence From Parents Image Credit: Charlie Foster

This week's show is a discussion with my lovely wife Hannah Braime about how to read more than 50 books per year (Hannah reads over 100 per year!). Hannah is a life coach and the host of the website Becoming Who You Are. In the episode we talk about why reading matters and share all the hacks we know for getting more reading done. Show Notes: Becoming Who You Are How many books can you read in a lifetime? from Cosmos by Carl Sagan Calibre free e-book library management application Voice Dream iOS App Kindle Highlight Feature MacJournal GoodReads Drafts iOS app Evernote

As an entrepreneur, I wanted to learn more about the project planning because I needed to delegate and collaborate with others. I now see project planning as integral to getting things done in all areas of life. This episode is my own take on an approach called the natural planning model. These are the three minimal steps I use in planning every project: Naming the outcome Identifying the next action Reviewing each project regularly If I am stuck on a project, the more detailed planning I do includes: Mindmaps Creating a project documentation template in Evernote Writing down more details about the purpose and mission to clarify this for myself Journaling and brainstorming Identifying project components and milestones Scheduling and programming tasks in a task management app (I use Omnifocus) Show Notes: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen Omnifocus Evernote Image: Kamil Lehmann

For many years I wanted to set meaningful goals for the year ahead, but struggled with the process. I never knew quite where to start and I often felt like I was just making goals up, without any real emotional connection to them. Consequently, I wasn't really committed to my goals and I found the whole process of making annual goals frustrating. I often gave up and didn't bother with the whole thing. Over time, I've developed a method of setting annual goals as part of my overall productivity systems. Now that I have a method, I find setting and meeting goals much easier and, best of all, the goal-setting process has many other benefits, regardless of whether I meet a goal. In this episode I explain my method of goal setting. Here is a very short overview of the steps: Divide up your life into all your Areas Of Responsibility. I have 15 of them with names like Finances, Health, Relationship, Friends, Writing, Podcasting etc. Make a page for each Area Of Responsibility. I use Evernote, but use whatever works for you. On each AOR page, work out what this aspect of your life means to you. I do this using Mindmaps, unstructured journalling, and some structured writing (details are in the podcast). Add a section to each AOR page where you write down all your specific aims: what you want to change, implement, improve, or enhance about this aspect of your life. For inspiration, review your vision board for each AOR (If you don't know about vision boards see episode 101 on How To Dream Big). Put all your list of aims together and read through to get an overview of everything you want from all aspects of your life. From your list, choose 4 or 5 Big Hairy Audacious Goals for the year ahead—whatever you feel most emotionally committed to. I also choose some Less Hairy goals for the year ahead too. Set yourself a reminder to review your list of goals regularly throughout the year (at least quarterly). Tick off the goals as you reach them. Celebrate reaching your goals. Be supportive to yourself- if you only got to 70% of an original goal at year-end, celebrate the 70% win too. Rinse and repeat at the end of the year. Show Notes: Episode 101 How To Dream Big Getting Things Done by David Allen The Simple Way To Achieve Your Big Hairy Audacious Goals by Hannah Braime Photo Credit: kmillard92 cc

This week's episode is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of my book, Becoming an Entrepreneur. If you prefer reading, you can get the ebook and paperback editions on Amazon. The paperback edition is the perfect christmas gift to encourage your friends to become entrepreneurs! Show Notes: Audiobook on Audible.com Audiobook on Audible.co.uk E-book, paperback, or audiobook on Amazon.com E-book, paperback, or audiobook on Amazon.co.uk

This episode is about the main barrier to financial independence: consuming for status instead of investing for wealth. You have a choice: you can either buy status symbols or your can buy financial freedom, but not both. Topics covered in the episode include: Why everything you think about "the rich" is probably wrong How most high income people blow their chance at financial independence How you can buy financial freedom instead of getting caught in the culture of capital consumption Show Notes: Stop Acting Rich by Thomas Stanley Image Credit: Jonas Nilsson Lee

There are many different routes to financial independence. In past episodes I've interviewed people who have achieved financial independence through extreme saving as a salaried employee. My own route was through entrepreneurship—growing and selling a business. Whichever route you take, you need a strategy to address common challenges. There are three core questions that your plan needs to address: How do you plan to make good money? How do you plan to save a huge amount of what you make? How do you plan to invest what you have saved? In this episode I suggest important things to consider for each of these three components of your plan. As always with money topics, you will need to do your own research. I'm not a financial advisor. Show Notes: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne Image: Sylwia Bartyzel