The Voluntary Life

Jake is interviewed on The Sample Hour podcast with the host, Drew Sample. We had a wide-ranging discussion covering options for living a job-free life, productivity, minimalism as a parent, and motivation— including the fear that motivates me. Show Notes:

• The Sample Hour
• Job Free by Jake Desyllas
• Becoming An Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

In this episode, I respond to listener feedback about peaceful parenting. Some of the topics covered include:

• Is spanking justified?
• What about minor kinds of aggression in parenting, such as confiscating possessions?
• One listener's experience of practicing peaceful parenting for 18 years.
• How come I argue against the use of psychotropic drugs on children?

Show Notes:

• Previous Parenting Episodes
• The Myth Of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

Although it might not seem like it, disagreeing is a skill. To disagree well is not only an important skill, but also a learnable one. Most people disagree so poorly that they fail to even make an argument. This podcast episode presents Paul Graham's excellent article "How To Disagree" and discusses the concept of a hierarchy of disagreement. Show Notes:

• How To Disagree by Paul Graham
• Graham's Hierarchy Of Disagreement
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

Hannah and I discuss ways to design a life without regrets. Hannah talks about how to use journaling to stay conscious of what really matters to you. I explain my own journaling exercise inspired by her approach- Each week I complete the following sentence stems:

• The most courageous expression of my feelings at the moment would be…
• The best opportunity for quality time this week is …
• If I were to let myself be happier, I would …
• The most extraordinary thing that I can work on these days is …
• The best thing I can do to get more transparency in what I do these days is …
• The best opportunity for automation in what I do these days is …
• The thing am I doing regularly that I least inspired by is …
• We are at our best these days when …
• The thing I am most concerned about going wrong this week is …
• The way I would handle that is …
• The thing I am most resisting at the moment is …
• The most audacious goal that haven't fully admitted to myself is …

Listen to the episode to find out more! Show Notes:

• Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
• Journaling for a Life of No Regrets by Hannah Braime
• Paul Graham's Todo Items (in response to Bronnie Ware's article).
• Episode 269: Review of A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine
• The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion by Elle Luna
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

This episode is about three principles of philosophy applied to parenting:

1. Children own themselves (all people are self-owners).
2. Parents have positive obligations towards their children (all individuals are responsible for their own actions).
3. It is wrong to initiate aggression against children (initiating aggression against anyone is unjustifiable).

Philosophical principles don't provide detailed prescriptions for parenting, but they do give a framework for understanding which parenting practices are ethical. If a principle is valid, then all its logical implications are valid too, even if those implications challenge widely-accepted practices. In the episode, I show how these principles can be applied to reevaluate many common parenting practices. Show Notes:

• TVL Episode 272 Why I Choose Peaceful Parenting
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

What will you do when you reach financial independence and job freedom? In this episode, I suggest some of the major opportunities that make this lifestyle worth striving to achieve, based on my own experience. Good luck on your journey, and let me know what you think! Show Notes:

• Job Free by Jake Desyllas
• Becoming An Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas
• Episode 254 Perpetual Travel With Kids Part 1: Interview With Go Curry Cracker
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

Paul Johnson's book, Intellectuals, provides many examples of the disastrous personal lives of intellectuals like Jean Jaques Rousseau, Karl Marx, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Why do so many intellectuals—who famously argue for a better society— behave so badly in their personal relationships? Johnson suggests a few explanations, such as their need for attention and desire to post-rationalise bad decisions. There is also something about the way that these intellectuals think that leads them to neglect the people close to them. They share a faulty view of society, from which it makes sense for them to care so little about their personal relationships. In this episode, I argue that a correct understanding of society leads to investing in your personal relationships, because your society is your relationships. Show Notes:

• Intellectuals by Paul Johnson
• Episode 244 Thinking Rationally Part 2: Imaginary Creatures and Machines
• Become A Patron of TVL to get bonus episodes and rewards!

Jake's guide to the most helpful books on productivity, including why each one is recommend and what to expect from it. Show Notes:

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Making It All Work by David Allen
• Ready For Anything By David Allen
• The Power Of Less by Leo Babauta (Review in TVL Episode 253)
• Manage Your Day-to-Day edited by Jocelyn Glei
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (Discussion in TVL Episode 178)
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
• How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler
• The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo (Discussion in TVL Episode 120)
• The 80/20 Principle By Richard Koch
• The 4 Hour Workweek By Tim Ferriss
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Dan Pink
• Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister
• The Universe Doesn't Give a Flying F-ck About You by Johnny B. Truant (Discussion in TVL Episode 141)

Personal freedom comes from individual choice and individual responsibility, as opposed to collective identity and collective responsibility. If you want to achieve personal freedom, don't join imaginary teams. Listen to the episode to find out more! Show Notes:

• TVL 244 Thinking Rationally Part 2: Imaginary Creatures and Machines
• TVL 245 Thinking Rationally Part 3: Anti-Rational Ideas

Jake's guide to the most helpful books on entrepreneurship, including why each book is recommend and what you can expect from it. As mentioned in the episode, if you want to get a free copy of Jake's book "Negotiate For Mutual Profit", sign up to the TVL mailing list here. Show Notes:

• Becoming an Entrepreneur: How to Find Freedom and Fulfillment as a Business Owner by Jake Desyllas
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• The Founder's Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman
• The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
• Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
• The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
• The Goal by Eliyahu M. by Goldratt
• Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. by Goldratt
• The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufmann
• Getting to Yes by Fischer and Ury
• Negotiate For Mutual Profit by Jake Desyllas (free when you sign up to TVL email list)
• How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins
• Drive by Dan Pink
• Discipline Without Punishment by Dick Grote
• Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type by Isabel Briggs Myers
• Built to Sell by John Warrillow
• Finish Big by Bo Burlingham
• Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
• Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
• How To Get Rich By Felix Dennis