The Voluntary Life

In the last episode I suggested two key challenges to resolve if you want to think for yourself:

1. How do you tell truth from falsehood?
2. 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:

1. How can you tell truth from falsehood?
2. 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