The Voluntary Life

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This week's episode is a discussion with Hannah Braime about a very interesting book called Against Therapy by Jeffrey Masson. We recorded this for the Psychology Book Club Podcast. I'm including it on The Voluntary Life because it is highly relevant to everyone interested in self-knowledge and psychological freedom.

Show Notes:

• Psychology Book Club Podcast
• Against Therapy by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
• The Assault On Truth by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
• One Nation Under Therapy by Christina Hoff Summers

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This episode presents some very interesting data on the average age of entrepreneurs when they start their first business. You might find the results surprising...

The research cited is the Kauffman Foundation study in the US and the Sandler Training study in the UK.

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This episode presents the implicit principles that underpin non-peaceful parenting, and contrasts them with the principles of peaceful parenting that was discussed in Episode 278. Show Notes:

• Episode 272 Why I Choose Peaceful Parenting
• Episode 278 Three Principles Of Philosophy Applied To Parenting

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Is unselfishness a virtue? Or is the idea of unselfishness a trap used to prevent you from living your own life? What is selfishness anyway?

This week's episode is about different theories of selfishness, including Harry Browne's idea of the unselfishness trap and an alternative definition of selfishness by Oscar Wilde.

Show Notes:

• Become A Patron of The Voluntary Life

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This week's episode is a response to this listener email: "I am very close to the financial independence. I have listened to some podcasts you have on the topic, but I still have some doubts. I know that my parents will not understand why I am not getting up every morning to go to the office. I know that my friends will ask about my next professional challenges and why I decided to quit. I cannot mention the financial independence because it will generate envy, and that is not a comfortable situation. Is lying the only solution? Or breaking up with your parents, brothers and friends?" Show Notes:

• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
• TVL Episode 189— Envy: A Theory Of Social Behaviour By Helmut Schoek

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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 Life
• Fail-Safe Investing by Harry Browne

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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 system
• Behind-the-scenes information about the running costs of the podcast
• Three e-books by Jake
• And 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 Page

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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 Page
• TVL 232 The Next Level — Horizons of Focus Part 1 (School Sucks Interview)
• TVL 185 How To Set Meaningful Goals For The Year Ahead

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

"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". His theory emphasises the destructiveness of stupid behaviour, and explains why it is so underestimated and misunderstood. Show Notes:

• The Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity by Carlo M. Cipolla
• The Five Universal Laws Of Stupidity by Corrine Purtill
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